1000s gathered under the Congress building in support of the hunger strikers
For 38 days (April 7-May 15), 5 Honduran prosecutors carried out a hunger strike under the Honduran Congress building to protest what they saw as the intentional blocking of high-level corruption cases by the Attorney General (AG) and the Assistant Attorney General (AAG). By the end of the strike, the original prosecutors had been joined by over 50 more hunger-strikers from different sectors, there were supporting movements in several other Honduran cities and each night there from a few hundred to a few thousand supporters--including catholic and protestant churches holding services. Several times during the strike there were marches from a few hundred to several thousand people lending support.
Demands:
- They asked that an external audit be carried out of these cases,
- that the AG and the AAG be removed from office or suspended (in part because the process used to name them was improper)
- in the end the protest became an anti-corruption movement in general.
- External audit which will be carried out by a commission named by the Congress. The commission includes several congressmen, representatives of the Honduran Bar Association and one Anti-corruption organization. None of the hunger strikers are on the commission
- Neither the AG nor the AAG was removed or suspended, but the Honduran Congress did pass a law which will allow them to be removed from office if they are found to have been negligent in these corruption cases.
Indirect positive results
- The protestant church was motivated to get involved in justice/social action--and the role of a prominent mega-church pastor mobilized lots of protestants. He was also very good at verbalizing why Christians should be involved in this sort of action
Honduras this Week Article--which highlights the important role of a protestant pastor of a mega-church who went from mediator to advocate to participant in the hunger strike. http://www.hondurasthisweek.com/national.html#corruption - The strike showed the depth of concern in the general public about corruption and that it is possible to mobilize thousands of people around these sorts of issues.
Indirect negative results/rumors
- Politically--the President of Congress (who is running for President) was very resistant to the demands--and ended up both the focus of the protests.
- The current President--Mel Zelaya--from the same party as the president of Congress but not political allies--was rumored to be supporting the protestors in order to hurt the President of Congress's opportunities for winning the presidency.
- The Catholic church--including the Honduran cardinal played quite ambivalent role--probably mostly because of the high-profile role of the protestant pastor. Cardenal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez said that "when the legal structures are destabilised, false leaders or a ‘caudillo’ (strongman) can arise out of the resulting anarchy."
- One of the few times in recent history that the two major political parties and the Catholic church were largely united in trying to defend the status quo. The AG is from the National Party and the AAG is from the Liberal Party and it is rumored each is in place to make sure no serious investigations take place into political and economic leaders in their parties.
- National Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Ramón Custodio told IPS that the rule of law cannot be overthrown, and warned that "those who stand to gain the most from a state of anarchy are the ‘parallel powers’ linked to drug trafficking, that want Honduras to become a narco-state. I have been saying this for days," he said. (END/2008)
