Report from Honduras: Marching for dignity

Helmut Peter Enns, a Canadian on an accompaniment trip to Honduras, reports on the situation there.

Tuesday, August 11 2009, 6:45pm

This morning our entire group joined one of the marches approaching Tegucigalpa from the North. This was the smallest group, and therefore the fears were that it would be targeted by the police and army. We joined the walk at 9:15, finding about 500-800 men and women resolutely heading for the capital. Many had been walking for a week. A blind man, his hand on his young daughter's shoulder had done the whole trek. A teacher, who showed Normas the bruises where the police had beaten her. A mother of four, and candidate as vice-president (not for one of the two main parties) in the hoped for election. Tom asked her if she was afraid of being attacked. She said her fear was not for herself, but for her children, one home from University in Cuba and carrying a flag in the accompanying picture. We stayed with the group for 3 and a half hours, getting well into the city, past the obvious point of police intervention. After an hour of rest, we rejoined the group, where they seemed to have come to a stop, facing a solid line of police in full riot gear.

What we only learned later after we had left the march was that the other groups of marchers started arriving around 10:00 a.m. Therefore the series of speeches by union leaders, by President Zeleya’s wife and daughter, and others was over by the time we arrived with our small, more vulnerable group. We had been in the right place, accompanying those in danger. Being present at rallies is not our main purpose in being in Honduras.

For an hour or two, the crowd waited patiently, and then turned around. Despite warnings and protests from the marshals of this walk, the frustrated younger members took to rock throwing, shattering many of the windows in a Pizza Hut and a Burger King. The crowd dispersed, and the police slowly moved forward. We felt our role as observers was over. And perhaps our role as protectors, as we were eyes and ears of the U.S. and other countries, was over so we hailed taxis and headed back to the hotel. On the way, Tom, Sidney and Patty, heard that possibly someone in the march had been shot from a bus, and subsequently protesters burned the bus, so they headed for the union hall where much of the protest is organized.

Watching the news on TV back in the hotel room, it's obvious that there were other acts of vandalism, frustration, or provoked retaliation. Shots of the burning bus and of a torched fast food joint are featured regularly.

So what was today about? First of all as a foreigner, a Canadian, it was a day of experiencing what true commitment look like. Once again it showed the unfaltering determination of the people to return Honduras to a state of democracy. It demonstrated a people fed up with having their country run by 10 or 12 wealthy families, a people deciding it was time they had a say in running the country. There was no doubt that we were witnessing a passion for justice. Justice for every man, woman and child of Honduras. A passion for dignity, not just for those with most of the money, but for those risking their jobs and lives by being part of this movement, those with no jobs, but willing to join this walk, having faith there would be food, water, and perhaps a floor to sleep on as they journeyed to the capital. A passion for a better future for their children, Honduras' greatest asset. A passion for a life where peace, respect, and equality are no longer only dreams.