Honduran Teachers Defy Coup Government, Maintain Strike

The Teachers Union Won't Return to Classes Until Zelaya is Back in Office; Street Protests Continue

With the death of 19-year-old Obed Murillo allegedly at the hands of Honduran security forces at Tegucigalpa airport yesterday while President Manuel Zelaya was attempting to land there, the coup government demonstrated its willingness to resort to lethal force to maintain its power. 

Likewise, the Honduran people have demonstrated their resolve to oppose the coup government, no matter the cost.  On Monday, just one day after Honduran security forces opened fire on an unarmed crowd of Zelaya supporters at the airport, resulting in one death and a still-unknown number of injuries, thousands of Zelaya supporters took to the streets for the ninth straight day, with protests reported in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and El Progreso. 

Meanwhile, Radio America reports that schools across the country remain shuttered on Monday as part of a national strike called by the Federation of Teachers Organizations of Honduras (FOMH, the Honduran teachers union).  The strike continues despite pressures from the coup government to resume classes.  The Micheletti regime's Ministry of Education spent the weekend ordering teachers back to classes.  Teachers and their families called into Radio Progreso over the weekend decrying strong pressures from the Micheletti government to return to classes.

The Micheletti regime triumphantly declared that classes would begin on Monday at all levels, from primary schools to universities.  Micheletti's Secretary of Education, Santos Eleo Sosa, attempted to convince the press that "the majority of inland educational institutions" resumed classes on Monday.  Notwithstanding, Radio America and Radio Progreso both reported that schools remained shuttered due to the strike. 

Teachers across Honduras have been on strike since last Monday, one day after the military forcibly removed President Zelaya from Honduras.  They have steadfastly declared that they will not return to classes until Zelaya returns.  The union leadership's message to members, in addition to declaring an indefinite strike, requested that teachers "begin civil disobedience and defy any regulation or order that comes from the de facto government, because we do not recognize any authority other than that which was legitimately elected by the Honduran people." 

In the one school where some (not all) classes were scheduled to begin on Monday, the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), students occupied the school to maintain the strike despite the university rector's attempts to re-open the school.  A student who is participating in the occupation told Radio Progreso that the students will continue to occupy the university until Zelaya returns. 

Other sectors of Honduran society continue to mobilize for the return of President Zelaya.  El Heraldo reports that movement leaders have announced that highways and bridges all over the country will be blocked until Zelaya returns to Honduras as its president.  While highway blockades have occurred throughout the coup, an increased focus on blockades could represent a more sustainable strategy for nation-wide mobilization.  Up until now, Zelaya supporters' tactics have focused on mass mobilizations and mega-marches in Tegucigalpa.  Highway and bridge blockades, particularly on the northern coast, could strike a significant blow to Honduras' economy while allowing Zelaya supporters to mobilize in support of the president from their towns and communities, rather than leaving their jobs and homes to travel to Tegucigalpa to participate in actions there.