I will not allow them to organize a new coup d’étatsays the president // The president of Venezuela expresses solidarity: Imperialism is lurking in its attempt to recolonize
▲ Supporters of Honduran leader Xiomara Castro arrived in Tegucigalpa from various parts of the country.Afp Photo
AFP and Prensa Latina
The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, September 15, 2024, p. 20
Tegucigalpa. To the cry of Xiomara you are not alone!Thousands of Hondurans wearing red and black t-shirts and flags took to the streets yesterday in support of the president, whose government is shaken by a video showing her brother-in-law meeting with drug traffickers, allegedly negotiating financing for the 2013 campaign.
Thousands of people close to the government with banners with slogans such as: “They will not return, cachurecos (crooked), They will not return”, I support the Tax Justice Actamong others and coming from all corners of the country, gathered in front of the Presidential House of the capital in support of Xiomara Castro, immersed in the drug scandal uncovered shortly after she announced the end of the extradition treaty with the United States.
From a platform in front of the massive gathering, Castro paid tribute to the Honduran resistance and the Libre party; he also stated that they gave everything to the cause of the people and from the streets in 12 years and seven months, they resisted coups, fraud, exile, murders and looting by the narco-dictatorship and they never gave up until they defeated them.
He added that he will guarantee the cleanliness and transparency of next year’s general elections, in a call to the Honduran people to defend the democracy that is exercised in the country.
As coreligionists, we have to support her in everything that (the president) asks of us.Carlos Umanzor, a 65-year-old farmer who arrived from a border area with El Salvador, told the AFP news agency.
Castro, wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, who was overthrown in a coup in 2009, faces a crisis after announcing on August 28 the cancellation of the extradition treaty – in force since 1912 but applied from 2014 – alleging that it could serve to prepare another bang in Honduras.
The opposition, however, says Castro ended the instrument to protect members of his government and political family.
Last Friday, thousands of people with torches marched in Tegucigalpa against the decision.
Three days after announcing the end of the treaty, a brother-in-law and a nephew of the president resigned: the secretary of Congress, deputy Carlos Zelaya, after admitting to the prosecution that he met with drug dealers in 2013, as revealed by a video leaked by a specialized news site, and argued that at the time he was unaware that these people were engaged in illegal activities, as well as his son, the Minister of Defense, José Manuel Zelaya.
Those present at the mobilization expressed to the press their commitment to continue the fight for the people together with the president.
I will not allow them to organize a new coup d’étatCastro continued in front of the thousands of supporters who arrived by bus and surrounded by her husband and members of her cabinet. No more coups!exclaimed the president.
Under the extradition treaty, Honduras handed over to US justice about fifty powerful drug traffickers, including former President Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2022), who in June was sentenced in New York to 45 years in prison for drug and arms trafficking.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro expressed his support for his Honduran counterpart.
I reaffirm my absolute support for the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, and her husband Mel (Manuel) Zelaya. The Bolivarian people stand in solidarity with just causes under any circumstances, especially when imperialism threatens to recolonize the continent. The peoples of Latin America are on alert.he expressed on social media.