Solidair met koffieboeren Honduras
Verite - 20.08.2002 01:10
Police used tear gas and nightsticks to disperse
more than 1,000 coffee workers protesting for more farm aid in the capital
Tuesday, injuring at least 14 people.
Honduran Coffee Workers Clash With Police
By FREDDY CUEVAS Associated Press Writer
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras
The coffee farmers have been protesting and blocking roads across the
country for more than a week to demand the government extend them $20
million in low-interest loans to help soften the blow of falling world
coffee prices.
On Tuesday, demonstrators blocked a highway near the town of Pito Solo that
links the country's northern and western provinces to the capital,
Tegucigalpa. Later in the day, the protesters traveled in buses to the
capital for a street march.
Once in Tegucigalpa, the protesters began smashing car windows and throwing
bottles and rocks. The city's police chief, Coralia Rivera, was injured when
he was hit in the head by a rock, said police spokesman Danilo Orellana.
Some 160 police officers used nightsticks, heavy plastic shields and tear
gas to disperse the protesters, he said.
Orellana said four coffee union leaders were arrested and charged with
inciting a riot. Among them was Jose Angel Saavedra, a liberal former
federal legislator.
More than 120,000 Honduras live from coffee, which is Honduras's main crop.
The price of coffee has dropped from $184 per 130-pound sack to less than
$44 per sack in the last four years. Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Aug 13 (Reuters) - More than 500 Honduran coffee growers were arrested and 24 were injured on Tuesday after clashing with police on their
way to a protest to demand government aid for their ailing industry.
The police used tear gas and a water cannon to subdue
demonstrators, and three coffee leaders were among
those arrested in the incident in El Zamorano, 16 miles
(25 km) north of the capital Tegucigalpa, police
spokesman Danilo Orellana told Reuters. The protesters
were in buses on their way to the capital to take part
in the demonstration.
"After we stopped their caravan the coffee growers
blocked the highway with vehicles and began to throw
rocks and stones at the police. The police had to
respond energetically to break up the highway
blockage," Orellana said.
Honduras, like all of Central America, is deep in a
coffee crisis. A worldwide coffee glut has pushed
international prices down to the point that many
growers cannot afford to harvest their beans. There are
110,000 coffee growers in Honduras and they are
demanding that the government of President Ricardo
Maduro make good on promises of $20 million in loans to
the coffee sector's 65,000 growers. The growers say the
loans would add up to $6 for each 100-pound (46-kg)
sack of coffee for farmers, which would allow them to
make enough to harvest.
Coffee growers said they are also protesting because
the government wants to add a 3 percent interest rate
to $40 million in previous loans that were interest
free. "We are going through a crisis and we're not
going to accept ... that the $40 million they loaned us
interest free suddenly has a 3 percent interest," said
Jose Saavedra, leader of the National Coffee Growers
Association (Anacafe).
Finance Minister Arturo Alvarado told journalists that
"given the financial situation the country is in, we
cannot hand out loans without charging a minimum amount
of interest."
Despite the crisis, Honduran coffee exports have not
fallen much this year. Honduras exported 3.06 million
46-kg bags (or quintals) of coffee between Oct. 1, the
first day of the 2001/2002 harvest and Aug. 2, down
just slightly from the same period of the previous
coffee cycle.
_____________________________________________________________________
Honduran police arrest hundreds of coffee growers
Dear Fair Traders,
We are writing to you today with an urgent and
important request to support more than 500 Honduran
coffee growers who were arrested and 24 who were
injured on Tuesday en route to demand government aid
for their ailing industry. As you know, coffee farmers
around the world are facing poverty and starvation.
Being arrested and attacked while trying to demonstrate
peacefully is unacceptable!
Please call or write to the Honduran embassy NOW to
demand that the Honduran government:
1) Undertake a full investigation to determine why the
blockade was instituted and whether it was indeed a
violation of the farmers¹ rights of expression,
peaceful assembly, and movement within their country.
2) Undertake a full investigation of the police¹s
actions to determine whether they were warranted, and
then censure police staff as necessary.
3) Undertake a full investigation to determine whether
the arrests were warranted and ensure that every farmer
receives a fair and impartial trial with valid charges.
4) Promptly provide Honduran coffee farmers with the
loans as promised: totaling $20 million and bearing no
interest.
5) Ensure that the rights to peaceful expression are
preserved in Honduras
Below you will find a sample letter/fax, phone call
³talking points², contact information for the Honduran
embassy and consulate, and a Reuters article on the
situation. Please also email Global Exchange to let us
know you took action:  fairtrade@globalexchange.org.
Thanks!
Deborah and Melissa
1. SAMPLE LETTER/FAX
TO:
In the US: Embassy of Honduras 3007 Tilden Street, NW
Suite 4M Washington, DC 20008 Fax: (202) 966-9751 E-
mail: embassy@hondurasemb.org
Embassies outside of the US are listed at
 http://www.hondurasemb.org/home.htm
Dear Ambassador,
I am writing to express my concern that more than 500
Honduran coffee growers were arrested and 24 were
injured on 13 August in El Zamorano, and to ask that
you ensure that this situation is handled with justice.
The coffee farmers, representing over 110,000 coffee
growers in Honduras, were en route to Tegucigalpa to
demand that the government make good on promises of $20
million in interest-free loans to Honduran coffee
growers.
The farmers, traveling by bus, were blockaded by police
in El Zamorano. As the farmers attempted to get through
the blockade, they were violently attacked with tear
gas. The police have alleged that the farmers threw
rocks at them, but this has not been substantiated.
I am concerned for three main reasons. First, as you
must know, coffee farmers are in the midst of a severe
crisis, facing dire poverty, starvation, and loss of
their lands. They are in desperate need of the
financial assistance promised by your government.
Second, the actions of the Honduran authorities
violated rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, ratified by the government of
Honduras. The blockade set up by the police violated
the farmers¹ rights of expression (Article 19),
peaceful assembly (Article 20), and movement within
their country (Article 13). The government¹s retraction
of the promised interest-free loans would violate the
farmers¹ right to an adequate standard of living
(Article 25). Third, it is not yet clear whether the
strong actions taken by the police were warranted and
whether the arrests were appropriate. Until this is
determined, we cannot be sure that the farmers¹ rights
regarding inhuman/degrading punishment (Article 5) and
arbitrary arrest (Article 9) have been upheld as
specified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As such, I am asking that the Honduran government take
the following actions:
1) Undertake a full investigation to determine why the
blockade was instituted and whether it was indeed a
violation of the farmers¹ rights of expression,
peaceful assembly, and movement within their country.
2) Undertake a full investigation of the police¹s
actions to determine whether they were warranted, and
then censure police staff as necessary.
3) Undertake a full investigation to determine whether
the arrests were warranted and ensure that every farmer
receives a fair and impartial trial with valid charges.
4) Promptly provide Honduran coffee farmers with the
loans as promised: totaling $20 million and bearing no
interest. Reinstating the loans would allow the
government to support the right to an adequate standard
of living.
5) Ensure that the rights to peaceful expression are
preserved in Honduras.
I await a reply regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Name Address
2. PHONE CALL "TALKING POINTS":
CALL (202) 966-7702 in the US Embassies outside of the
US are listed at http://www.hondurasemb.org/home.htm
ASK to speak to the ambassador
TELL the ambassador/consul that you are concerned that:
More than 500 Honduran coffee growers were arrested
and 24 were injured on August 13 in El Zamorano, en
route to Tegucigalpa to demand that the government make
good on promises of $20 million in interest-free loans
to Honduran coffee growers.
- Coffee farmers are in the midst of a severe crisis,
facing dire poverty, starvation, and loss of their
lands. They are desperately in need of the financial
assistance promised by the Honduran government.
- The blockade and arrests violate several rights
guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which was ratified by the Honduran government.
The blockade set up by the police violated the farmers¹
rights of expression (Article 19), peaceful assembly
(Article20), and movement within their country
(Article13). The government¹s retraction of the
promised loans would violate the farmers¹ right to an
adequate standard of living (Article 25). Reinstating
the loans would allow the government to support this
right.
- It is not yet clear whether the strong actions taken
by the police were warranted and whether the arrests
were appropriate. Until this is determined, we cannot
be sure that the farmers rights regarding
inhuman/degrading punishment (Article 5) and arbitrary
arrest (Article 9) have been upheld as specified in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
DEMAND that the Honduran government take the following
actions:
1) Undertake a full investigation to determine why the
blockade was instituted and whether it was indeed a
violation of the farmers¹ rights of expression,
peaceful assembly, and movement within their country.
2) Undertake a full investigation of the police¹s
actions to determine whether they were warranted, and
then censure police staff as necessary.
3) Undertake a full investigation to determine whether
the arrests were warranted and ensure that every farmer
receives a fair and impartial trial with valid charges.
4) Promptly provide Honduran coffee farmers with the
loans as promised: totaling $20 million and bearing no
interest.
5) Ensure that the rights to peaceful expression are
preserved in Honduras.
* Please ask that you are sent a reply regarding this
matter.
-- Deborah James, Fair Trade Director
deborah@globalexchange.org Melissa Schweisguth, Fair
Trade Coordinator melissa@globalexchange.org Global
Exchange 415.255.7296 x245 or x352 415.255.7498 fax
2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA 94110
http://www.globalexchange.org/coffee
http://www.globalexchange.org/cocoa
 Website: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-honduras-coffee-
|
