Death squads unleashed in Honduras

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promise,” “There is no planet B,” “Bla Bla Bla … Act now,” “Change the politics, not the climate” and “Climate justice now.”

Political parties, trade unions, and peasants organizations were also present in this colorful, radical, and truly internationalist demonstration through the bitterly cold streets of Copenhagen to the fortress of the Bella Center, where the summit itself was taking place. If the majority of the official negotiators seemed to have no answers to the threat of climate chaos, those on the streets had many.

The repression of protesters by the police has become a big issue. During Saturday’s march, almost 1000 demonstrators were encircled by the police and prevented from moving. Many had to wait up to five hours seated directly on the tarmac—hands on the back—before being taken to the detention center. All but a few of those arrested were released without charge within few hours.

Actions by a small group of “Black Block” supporters was used by the police as justification for their action. At the former Stock Exchange and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stones and firecrackers were thrown. But the police intervention happened almost 1 km. further along the route of the demonstration, making it completely arbitrary who was in fact detained. In the run-up to the summit, the Danish parliament had hastily approved the “Scoundrels Act,” a package of new laws that include the right for the police to hold people for 12 hours (it was previously six) in preventive arrest without the right to appear before a judge.

The COP15 also became the occasion for the convergence of many thousands of grassroots activists to debate the challenges and solutions to global warming. The main center for the debates was the Peoples Climate Summit.

A common declaration was agreed upon (see www. kilaforum09.org). In the same way as the slogans of the demonstration, the declaration also poses a radical approach to climate change, as shown by its title System Change—Not Climate Change. It points toward the need for “a just and sustainable transition of our societies to ... Climate change ...(continued from page 1: “U.S. brokers sham accord at Copenhagen climate talks”)

were suspended on the very first day after the delegates from the poorer G77 nations, led by Sudan, complained—and rightly so—that the richer ones would be wriggling out of their obligations to make drastic cuts in their carbon-dioxide emissions. The G77 and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), led by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, denounced the COP 15 deal as a cop-out.

Evo Morales, indigenous president of Bolivia, placed the blame for the global ecological crisis squarely on the capitalist system—where it belongs. In an interview on “Democracy Now,” he called for limiting global The human-rights situation in Honduras is getting progressively worse, with reports detailing a rightwing offensive that includes not just harassment but kidnapping, torture, and murder. The international spotlight that shined on Honduras after the coup against democratically elected President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya has now disappeared, and the right wing that has traditionally controlled the country is now free to pursue leftists and pro-democracy activists without fear of bad press.

President Zelaya is still holed up in the Brazilian embassy while the coup-installed de facto government runs Honduras. The Brazilian government, which had sharp words for the U.S. government following the latter’s support for the November presidential elections held under the coup, is now saying that it has found common ground with the United States and that Zelaya should leave the country.

The United States, for its part, has essentially supported the coup since its inception and played a most pernicious role.

The president-elect, Porfirio Lobo, is waiting to take power Jan. 27.. In the meantime, the right-wing terror is in full effect, with those that supported the National Resistance Front (the leading group that coordinated strikes and protests) being targeted primarily.

The murders of resistance activists had begun after the coup took place, but the intensity since the election has increased substantially. The repression is similar to that seen historically across Latin America against activists, but its viciousness and the tacit U.S. compliance with that viciousness should evoke strong empathy and solidarity by human-rights supporters.

temperature rise to one degree Celsius, and he was absolutely right to do so. We can cool down the planet if we draw down carbon by leaving all fossil fuels in the ground and by establishing a zero-growth, zerowaste, steady-state, green, sustainable democratically-planned socialist economy powered by genuinely clean energy.

The Danish government faithfully proved its subservience to the fossil-fuel industry, whose lobbyists were working overtime and calling the shots at the conference. The mass movement of thousands demanding climate action and justice in the streets of Copenhagen was met with brutal force by the Danish politi, who pepper sprayed, beat, and arrested protesters. Even accredited delegates were clubbed as they tried to leave the Bella Center.

Six youths who had organized for the National Resistance Front were gunned down in Tegucigalpa (the capital city) on Dec. 7. A leading LGBT rights activist and National Resistance Front organizer, Walter Trochez, survived a kidnapping attempt and was later gunned down while walking home.

Carlos Turcios, vice-president of his local chapter of the Resistance Front, was kidnapped on Dec. 16, and his body was found the next day. His head and hands had been cut off. Santos Corrales Garcia, another organizer for the National Resistance Front, was “arrested” by men wearing government uniforms on Dec. 5. His body was later found also decapitated. These are only a few of the grisly murders that have taken place.

The National Resistance Front has made an effort to lay low, while planning a massive organizational effort in the upcoming year. The historically dominant right wing in the country (who put the coup into effect) is now attempting to silence all opposition through its use of terror and violence on the most committed and dedicated activists. They aim to instill fear in the resistance and stop any effort to change Honduran society into something that might represent the aspirations of the majority of poor and oppressed Hondurans (Honduras is the second poorest country in Central America).

The right-wing death squads will continue to pursue activists and militants across the country until Hondurans succeed in ridding themselves of the decrepit oligarchy—which stifles even the most tepid reforms (such as those enacted by Zelaya). And for those of us in the United States and around the world, it is essential to raise an outcry against these horrible human-rights abuses and to mobilize in solidarity actions with the Honduran people. n Climate crisis activists are currently being held in jail, and there is an international campaign to win their release.

To their shame, reformist Greens and liberal think tanks, who are always willing to compromise and settle for the bare minimum, have hailed the Copenhagen climate accord as a step forward even though they admit it falls short of their expectations.

It is clear that despite the numerous actions that occurred around the world, the movement must involve the vast majority of toilers in each society on the planet who are committed to mobilizing ceaselessly if we are to wrest the productive forces away from the capitalist class and expropriate them for eco-friendly purposes. That is the only we way we can possibly save Mother Earth from ecological collapse. n Socialist Action january 2010 5