[HCCN] Fwd: come with me to Honduras, Fr. Roy Bourgeois

[Judith Robbins]

>
> Twenty months ago, masked soldiers armed with automatic weapons  
> burst into the bedroom of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya,  
> ordering him to board a plane, or die. The plane refueled at the US  
> airbase of Palmerola, then flew on to Costa Rica where it dumped  
> the elected president on the runway, in his pajamas. The soldiers  
> were operating under the command of two SOA graduates: Generals  
> Vázquez Velázquez and Prince Suazo.
>
> Honduras is certainly not the only example of how soldiers trained  
> at the SOA have obliterated the sovereignty, dignity and very lives  
> of people throughout Latin America. But, it is the most recent  
> egregious example. Today - twenty months after the coup and ensuing  
> illegal “elections” - Honduras continues to bleed. Over 4,000 grave  
> violations of human rights have been registered since the coup,  
> including 64 political assassinations since the U.S. approved  
> “election” of Porfirio Lobo.
>
> But Honduras also continues to resist. And, in the resistance  
> movement, comprised of teachers, farmers, trade unionists,  
> feminists, journalists, gay rights activists, indigenous  
> communities, and progressive religious groups, I find some of my  
> greatest inspiration today.
>
> I invite you to join me on a delegation to Honduras, from April 30  
> to May 9, so that we can bring our message of solidarity directly  
> to the Honduras Resistance. We will do so in the spirit of Father  
> James “Guadalupe” Carney, a St. Louis Jesuit priest whose  
> commitment to the poor campesinos of that country led him to make  
> decisions that ultimately led to his disappearance in 1983, under  
> orders of another SOA graduate, General Gustavo Alvarez Martínez.
>
> We will meet with Resistance leaders, human rights activists,  
> journalists, workers and campesino organizations struggling to  
> return democracy to their nation, and will visit places that marked  
> the extraordinary life of Fr. Guadalupe, and led him to choose a  
> path of radical commitment to the poor. In addition, we will visit  
> the U.S. military base at Palmerola which played a role in the 2009  
> coup and is receiving more US funds, troops and drones.
>
> This is a special benefit delegation. Proceeds will go to the SOA  
> Watch “Activantia” program that invites young people from around  
> the Americas to work together to resist militarization and promote  
> a culture of peace.
>
>
> One of these SOA Watch activantes, Jimena Paz, has organized this  
> delegation to share with others the reality of her country: the  
> pain of repression, the hope of the resistance.
>
> In order to facilitate quality sharing, this delegation will be  
> limited to a small size. If you are interested, I invite you to  
> fill out an application, and return it by March 15 to Lisa Sullivan  
> at LSullivan at soaw.org. Click here to download the application form.  
> Lisa is also available to answer any questions you may have about  
> the delegation.
>
> Solidarity takes on many important forms: letters, emails, marches,  
> lobbying, But there is no more powerful way to express your  
> solidarity than to deliver the message in person. And no more  
> transformative way for yourself. After my previous visits to  
> Honduras, I returned with an even greater commitment to the people  
> of Latin America, and with a deeper reserve of inspiration. Join me  
> in bringing your solidarity directly to the Honduran resistance and  
> in doing so, fortify your hope for the cause of peace and justice  
> in our Americas.
>
> Before flying to Honduras on April 30, I will travel to Washington,  
> DC for a week long fast to close the SOA during the SOA Watch Days  
> of Action from April 4-10, 2011. On Sunday, April 10, I will engage  
> in a nonviolent direct action at the White House. I believe that we  
> must up the ante, push the envelope, and risk arrest in order to  
> call attention to the continued training of repressive troops at  
> the School of the Americas and the accelerating U.S. militarization  
> of the Americas. Please consider joining me in the fast and the  
> nonviolent direct action in Washington, DC. Contact our field  
> organizer Nico in the SOA Watch office in DC at 202-234-3440 or  
> Nico at soaw.org for more information about the fast and the action.
>
> Thank you for all that you do to work for a world of peace and  
> justice.
>
>
>
>
> In Solidarity,
>
>
>
> Father Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
> SOA Watch founder
>
>
>
> Click here to download the flyer about the Honduras delegation.
>
> Click here to download the Honduras delegation application form.
>
> Read the invitation from Jimena Paz
>
> Click here for more information about the SOA Watch Days of Action  
> from April 4-11, 2011 in Washington, DC.
>
>
>

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