7 Years Since Honduras Coup - Forced Migration & Solidarity

Today, Tuesday, June 28th marked 7 years since the U.S.-backed military coup in Honduras. It's been nearly four months since Berta Cáceres was assassinated in her home for the powerful organizing she carried out with COPINH to protect Indigenous territories. But two weeks ago, H.R.5474, the “Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act,” was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. TAKE ACTION TODAY! Click here to ask your member of Congress to support H.R.5474, which calls for an immediate suspension of U.S. security assistance to Honduras "until such time as human rights violations by Honduran security forces cease and their perpetrators are brought to justice." On the Road to the Convergence at the Border Arturo, Kat and Maria Luisa from the SOA Watch staff are on the road from Washington, DC to Nogales, Arizona/ Sonora, to prepare for the SOA Watch Encuentro at the Border, which will take place from October 7-10, 2016. They are currently in Nashville, Tennessee, where today June 28, they gathered with allies and partners at the headquarters of the Correctional Corporation of America (CCA) to protest the inhumane detention of asylum-seekers, to remember the coup, and honor those impacted by militarized violence in Central America. CCA is the largest for-profit private prison corporation in the U.S., making profits from both the mass incarceration of citizens and the detention refugees & migrants. Many of the people detained in CCA and other private and public detention centers across the country are people who have fled the violence created by the U.S.'s militarized foreign and immigration policies. The 2009 Honduran coup and the recent immigration raids against asylum-seekers are but two policies that place geopolitical interests and racist fears above the lives of Central Americans. Since 2009, Honduras has gone through an incredible amount of turmoil and violence as a direct result of the military coup, which was implicitly and explicitly supported by the U.S. government. The coup regime remains in power to this day through undemocratic elections and a blatant disregard for human rights and the rule of law. Hondurans are forced to flee their country, oftentimes braving a gauntlet in Mexico (where U.S. taxpayer money funds their persecution, detention, and deportation through Plan Frontera Sur) only to have their international rights as refugees and asylum-seekers violated once again when imprisoned in the U.S. CCA is one profiteer of militarization, even cynically attempting to obtain a "child care license" for their Dilley Texas Family Detention Center. U.S. support for military coups must end! The profiting from refugee imprisonment must end! One action we can take is to support the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, which would suspend security aid and training "until such time as human rights violations by Honduran security forces cease and their perpetrators are brought to justice". As we saw, yesterday's decision against the SOA-trained killer of Victor Jara, Pedro Barrientos, the constant struggle for accountability is long, but necessary to achieve justice.  Click here to ask your member of Congress to support H.R.5474 , the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act    SOA Watch   The movement to close the SOA is a community, and all ideas are welcome. SOA Watch, 733 Euclid Street NW, Washington, DC 20001 If you like the work of SOA Watch, you can donate here: http://SOAW.org/donate