Report from Honduras: Searching for truth

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

Thursday, August 13 2009, 8pm

CNN is broadcasting a very distorted report on Wednesday's March. They say first some protesters pushed the vice-president, threw water at him and kicked him. Then the military felt obligated to respond with tear gas. End of story.

We were there. We saw what happened, not in five minutes but over five hours. But how did this all start? This morning, members of an International Human Rights Delegation arrived at the University in time for the march to the Congress. It was an orderly, peaceful, group. The atmosphere seemed positive. We followed young lovers, arms around each other. Grandma chanting with her granddaughter. A father with his little rascal, so proud that his baby was with him to witness this historic event. Music blared from two large speakers, dwarfing the white VW bug carrying them. Garifuna drummers, vendors, flags, banners, and marshals, lots of marshals maintaining order.

When we were a few blocks from the congress, the army appeared. From nowhere, row upon row of plexi-glass shields, metal batons and guns descended on us. The crowd spread down the side streets, but the army was now behind and beside us. The largest crowd was now in a plaza, in front of a church. The forces stopped about 100 yards from us. Did the rock throwing or the tear gas come first? Volley after volley of tear gas landed in the crowd. But this was nothing new to them. Many bombs were thrown back towards the police. Others were doused with water. Luckily I had an extra bottle of water. Then the army advanced, and the crowd retreated. Rocks started flying back at the crowd, as well as tear gas. We got a phone call ordering back us to return to the COFADEH office, about 10 blocks away. We headed back, and down the streets we faced rows of military in formation, shields up, expressionless.

Reports came in of 20 or so young men being savagely beaten at the Congress. A group of six of our group accompanied Honduran human rights workers to attempt to gain access to these men. Feelings obviously ran very high here, the supposed seat of democracy, which now looked more like an army fortress. That is when a congressman was kicked by protesters. We did not witness the vice-president being roughed up, but we did see young men dragged behind police lines, and another row of partly clad men being lead out a side exit.

CNN may give you a video clip, but discovering the truth takes more than a few seconds.

CNN also didn't mention that the military used illegal metal clubs, that three members of the press had their cameras smashed, that 6 people have still not been accounted for, and who knows what other human rights infractions were committed.