Tegucigalpa’s Mayor ordered assault of humanitarian Christmas drive for campesino families of Bajo Aguán, Honduras.

Tegucigalpa’s Mayor ordered assault of humanitarian Christmas drive for campesino families of Bajo Aguán, Honduras.

Domingo 19 de Diciembre de 2010 13:01 RED MORAZÁNICA DE INFORMACIÓN
Tegucigalpa. December 10, 2010. The mayor of the Honduran capital, Ricardo Alvarez, has been accused of ordering the armed men that assaulted volunteers of a Christmas-time campaign aimed at collecting thirty thousand pounds of humanitarian aid for campesino families of Bajo Aguán.

“We denounce, before the national and international community, the sinister and perverse mayor of the capital, complicit in the crimes in Bajo Aguán, conspirator of the coup d’etat and enemy of democracy,” states the indictment.

The organizers of the Teleradio Marathon state tell that a group of eight armed men, without uniforms or identification and riding in two luxury vehicles, TIPO PAILA, assaulted the work group in the center of the collection center, located in the offices of the newspaper El Libertador, which, together with other media outlets, promoted the aid.

According to the accusers, the assault was a “planned sabotage” after which the aggressors identified the spot where, at a press conference hours before, an indictment had been made against the militarization the El Aguán Sector of the Department of Colón and the crimes against the campesino population there.

The attackers parked near the headquarters where the day of solidarity was beginning and later invaded it and bolted out in the two cars they drove, taking with them all the equipment used for the Teleradio Marathon and the provisions received so far.

Hours later, the suspect vehicles were found parked in the offices of the Municipal Town Hall, presided over by Álvarez, in an area known as Hoyo de Merriam, a few blocks from El Libertador, the victims tell.

Those responsible for the solidarity campaign maintain that the vehicles in which the attackers traveled were used during the coup d’etat to chase members of the resistance in the “bloodiest stages of the dictatorship to massacre the Honduran people.”

Additionally, those vehicles were also used by a “contingent of staffers and political followers in the Municipality to engage in political campaigning in the Central District for the nationalist mayor, Ricardo Álvarez Arias,” who took advantage of his post, using it as a platform for launching his campaign as a possible candidate for president of the republic for his party, they highlight.

The families of the campesino families of El Aguán suffer hunger, persecution and death – which have increased after the start of the coup – by the hand of the regime and the private army of the agro-industrialist landlords Miguel Facusse, Reinaldo Canales and René Morales, denounce the supporters of the solidarity action.

Mayor Álvarez, winner of national elections held under the coup, stands out because of his public religious discourse. He is also identified as an active member of the catholic fraction Opus Dei, collaborator in several of Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodriguez’s activities, and some months ago he asked for forgiveness… if had been offensive during “the crisis” [coup d’etat].