Lunch & Learn: Honduras

Come hear about the experiences of those from Chicago who traveled with a 50-member national delegation to Honduras during the last week in January 2018. The delegation participated in public religious ceremonies and vigils remembering those who had been killed, demanding justice for the victims, and accompanying protesters under threat. They challenged U.S. inaction in the face of Honduran impunity for those whose human rights were violated and continued funding for the Honduran military and police despite their abuse of human rights.

Context: Electoral observation teams from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union pronounced the process of the November 26 Honduran elections “highly irregular” and the results of the vote count untrustworthy. Incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) ran for a second term despite a Constitutional ban, was declared the winner weeks after the vote by an electoral tribunal stacked with members of his political party, has centralized power over all other branches of government in his hands, and has become a dictator in all but name. The U.S. quickly recognized his “victory.”

Citizens responded to what they considered a “second coup” (the first was the 2009 overthrow of the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya) by pouring into the streets, unarmed, to protest. In response, JOH deployed all military, police and special forces–many of them funded by the U.S.– against them. By the end of December, 30 were dead, dozens wounded, over a thousand imprisoned, with home raids, disappearances, and torture also used as tactics. By the time the delegation arrived, random people in cities where protests continued were being picked up and charged with serious crimes they did not commit.

Food: Bring your own lunch

Date & Time: 
Thursday, April 19, 12 noon.