By Carlos Quintanilla
Since the beginning of May, thousands of Honduran teachers led by the Federation of Teachers’ Organizations of Honduras (FOMH) have been marching and demonstrating to protest against government plans to privatize primary and secondary schools. These actions began in Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital, and the provinces of Morazán, Yoro and Cortes, spreading to cities of Comayagua and Lempira.
According to community station Radio Progreso, Honduran educators reject government attempts to scrap the Teachers’ Statute and other legislation guaranteeing the rights of Honduran teachers. The FOMH also demands the reinstatement of seventeen department and municipal directors who have been laid off.
National Front of Popular Resistance activist Gilberto Nuñez, age 27, was killed on May 16. According to Vos El Soberano’s website (<https://voselsoberano.com>) Nuñez, a member of the FNRP’s committee of safety and discipline, told the Committee of Families of the Detained-Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) that he had received several death threats and had being harassed and chased. After taking part in a teacher’s demonstration in front of the Honduran National Congress, Nuñez went home where he was attacked by two individuals wearing ski masks and carrying heavy weapons.
Dozens of members of the Honduran Resistance have been killed since the coup of June 2009 which unseated Manuel Zelaya. The FNRP repudiated the most recent actions of the oligarchy and the government to eliminate the right to public education. According to the Front, after the coup and the implanting of the neoliberal model, the only way out is the installation of a National Constituent Assembly to promote structural transformations in Honduras.
Carlos Quintanilla produces and hosts KPFK’s Spanish Language News Program “Noticiero Pacífica”, which is broadcast over 90.7 FM on Saturdays at 4:00 PM. Noticiero Pacífica is the only independent news program focusing on Latin American issues for the Los Angeles area. P.O. Box 761475, Los Angeles, CA 90076. E-mail: <mailto:notipaci@hotmail.com>
