From the Oct. 2 edition of The Tico Times. For clarification, I am interning for The Nica Times, in Nicaragua, which is owned by the same company that runs The Tico Times, in Costa Rica, which I interned for two years ago.
By Mike Faulk
The Nica Times
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – As many as 1,000 protestors showed up at the Radio Globo station Wednesday morning only to run for cover around 11 a.m. after military officers chased them up the street, threw tear gas at them, beat them with batons and arrested at least 30 people, according to witnesses.
The protest was the biggest yet following Monday’s executive order limiting freedom of speech, assembly and the press by interim President Roberto Micheletti. The turnout at protests by sympathizers of ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has shrunk drastically this week from thousands of people to 500 at most following the decree.
Protestors had blocked one lane of traffic outside Radio Globo but said they weren’t disturbing the peace when military officers moved in.
David Romero, the director of Radio Globo, which officials took off the air Monday following an interview with Zelaya when he asked sympathizers to flock to Tegucigalpa for “one final struggle,” said the military herded the protestors like sheep, surrounded them, then began their assault.
“They attacked without warning,” Romero said. “The protestors didn’t want to fight.”
Cesar Caceres, spokesman for interim President Roberto Micheletti, would only say he didn’t know enough about the incident to confirm what happened. Caceres said the protest had not been given previous approval by the national police.
Under the executive order limiting freedom of assembly, protests of 20 or more participants must be given previous approval by the national police. Caceres said protestors at Radio Globo had not notified police about the rally.
Volunteers for the Resistance Front said more people stayed home this week because they fear retribution from the de facto government, which took power June 28 after Zelaya was arrested by military officials at his home and forced into exile in Costa Rica.
Protests Monday and Tuesday saw only several hundred demonstrators, many of which seemed more pensive than excitable as they stood between two rows of riot police enclosing the street in front of Francisco Morazon Pedagogic University.
Zelaya sympathizer Jose Luis Calix said resistance supporters are staying home for fear of being arrested or beaten, but others aren’t showing up because the government’s closure of pro-Zelaya media has made it harder for them to know where to go.
“We no longer have the right to stay informed,” Calix said. “They’ve done everything they can to keep us in our houses.”
But Caceres says the executive order was imposed to curb violence and prevent further damage to private property as the result of protests the resistance allowed to get out of control.
“Of all the protests leading up to this decree, not one of them was peaceful,” Caceres said Tuesday. “[The Resistance Front] tried to create a sense of terror among the population.”
The National Congress expressed dissatisfaction with the decree Monday, and Micheletti responded in a press conference saying he would take the issue to the Supreme Court and Supreme Elections Tribunal for their opinions on possibly repealing it.
Various international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also condemned Micheletti’s executive order.
National police and military officials continued to use their new broad powers to repress freedom of assembly Wednesday. Tensions were running high among the few who remained outside the radio station following the attack.
“If we were armed, they wouldn’t attack us,” said Oscar Tabora, one of the organizers of the Radio Globo protests. “We’ve almost had enough. The people, we have our own ways of defending ourselves.”
Resistance protestor Maera Medina’s eyes were still watering from the effects of the tear gas. She said police went after protestors indiscriminately.
“They were beating people like they were animals,” Medina said.
Military officers hung around a block away from Radio Globo for about an hour following the attack. The remaining protestors shouted obscenities at them as they boarded government trucks and flew by in a caravan.
The soldiers just smiled and waved.
Caceres said Micheletti is continuing to meet with officials from other branches of the government to decide when he will lift the executive order.
Cesar Murcia, another volunteer for the Resistance Front, said the attack was an abuse of power by the interim government. Murcia said these attempts to discourage protestors aren’t working, despite the fact that very few protestors remained outside Radio Globo.
“We still have conviction and we still have an objective,” Murcia said.
Caceras said Micheletti’s ultimate goal is to keep the country’s political atmosphere stable as the presidential election in November draws near.
Caceres said accusations of Micheletti acting dictatorial are ludicrous.
“He will stay in office until Jan. 27, the end of his term,” Caceres said. “Not one day longer, not one day less. It’s that simple.”
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