At present we are informing you that our compañero Rafael Alegría, peasant
leader of Honduras and member of the International Coordinating Committee of
the Via Campesina is receiving threats from landholders and members of the
national police after a bloody confrontation in the Struggle for the Land,
between the Grupo Campesino Guadalupe CARNEY and the Osorto Family, occurred
on Sunday, August 3 of this year, in the community Silin, Trujillo, Colón,
where 11 people died, and two were wounded.
As result of the the above, Mr. Henry Osorto, commissioner of the national
police and directly involved in the agrarian conflict, has declared before
various communication outlets that our compañero Rafael Alegría and other
peasant leaders are those responsible for this tragedy, accusing them of
promoting the actions carried out by the peasants to recover the land and in
addition qualified them as terrorists, guerillas, exploiters of peasants,
revolutionary agitators, and who live at the cost of the peasants.
Therefore, we the peasant leadership of Honduras are making it known that we
are not responsible for this tragedy, as we are interested in resolving the
agrarian conflicts in a non-violent way, and have demanded that the
Government of the Republic, through the National Agrarian Institute (INA),
resolve at once all agrarian conflicts in the country, especially the lands
of CREM, in order to avoid precisely these types of situations.
For all that has been explained here, we are asking all member organizations
of the Via Campesina on the national, continental and international levels,
human rights organizations and the general public, for your solidarity for
our “compañeros dirigentes” - peasant leaders - who are being threatened
because of this conflict; the peasant groups are struggling for a piece of
land, in order to produce basic foods, as an inalienable right of all
people.
We ask the President of the Republic, Manuel Zelaya Rosales and the
Secretary of Security, Jorge Rodas Gamero, to guarantee the lives of the
peasant leaders, including that of the compañero Rafael Alegría.
Please send your messages demanding of these competent authorities security
for our compañeros, the email for the Presidential Dispatch is:
despachopresidencial sdp.gob.hn and to the Minister of the Secretariat of
Security sseg_06 hotmail.com.hn with copy to our email:
viacampesina amnettgu.com.
Tegucigalpa, M.D. C., August 7, 2008.
International Operational Secretariat
La Via Campesina