2 July, 2009The IMF Regional Office demands the immediate reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya, the return of democratic institutions and the restoration of constitutional order in Honduras.
LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN: Representing affiliates in the region, the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean condemns the military coup in Honduras on 28 July against President Manuel Zelaya, against democracy and against the people of our sister country, Honduras.
President Manuel Zelaya was democratically elected president, in accordance with the constitution, and has a mandate to govern until January 2010. The military, which kidnapped and expelled President Zelaya from the country, want an end to democracy and have violated the will of the people as expressed through the ballot box.
The Regional Office, in a letter signed by the Regional Director, Jorge Almeida, expressed its solidarity with the Honduran people and the social and trade union organisations that are resisting this savage authoritarianism. "We are taking action jointly with the international trade union movement. We call on all democratic governments in the region to defend democratic institutions and the sovereign will of the people by putting pressure on the usurpers of power in our sister republic of Honduras."
We demand the immediate reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya, the return of democratic institutions and the restoration of constitutional order in Honduras.
Napoleón Vallecillo, of the Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros y Metalurgicos de Honduras ((Miners and Metalworkers Federation of Honduras) says that "all FETRAMIMH affiliates have joined the resistance to the coup." He added that the Honduran people are permanently in the streets "demanding the return of President Zelaya and the punishment of those who carried out the coup."
The IMF Regional Coordinator for Mexico and Central America, Gregorio Santana, said that "at no time and in no circumstances is a military coup acceptable." He added that the alleged violation of the Honduras constitution should be resolved with the President and all the country's institutions, through the democratic system. President Zelaya should be allowed to return."
The IMF Regional Office reiterated its call to affiliates to take action in solidarity with the Honduran people by writing letters or taking other initiatives to demand the immediate reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya and the return of democratic institutions to Honduras.