Several were wounded and more than 250 arrested July 30 in clashes between protesters and security forces at several locations around Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital. Police and army troops used both rubber bullets and live rounds, and fired tear gas from helicopter. The worst violence occurred at El Durazno, on the northern outskirts, where protesters took over the highway and one was shot in the head. Demonstration leaders accused police of firing on peaceful protesters. TV footage showed some protesters armed with sticks and pick-axes. (NYT [2], Comun-Noticias [3], Honduras Resists [4], July 30)
Also that day, the US ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, arrived in Managua to meet with ousted President Manuel Zelaya Rosales. Meanwhile, in another sign of his growing isolation, coup-installed President Roberto Micheletti appealed to international mediators for a dialogue table "with all the forces" of Honduras. (Honduras Resists [4], July 30)
In a joint communiqué, the popular organizations OFRANEH, COPINH, COFADEH, Juventud Popular Morazanista and Acción Universitaria announced the establishment of a "Honduran Resistance Camp" at a location "somewhere on the frontier between Honduras and Nicaragua." The camp is named "Pedro Magdiel Muñoz" after the young protester evidently killed by security forces [5] on the border. The statement said a "Peace Column" made up of representatives of the popular organizations crossed the mountains along the border to join the camp, evading the army. (COPINH [6], July 28)
The Managua-based Nicaraguan Social Movement "Otro Mundo es Posible" is organizing humanitarian aid for the public encampment Zelaya has established at Ocotal. A growing number of Honduran exiles are erecting shelters with tarps at the camp. Nicaraguan officials did not respond to queries from the Managua daily Nuevo Diario as to how many Hondurans have entered the country since last weekend's confrontation at the border. (Nuevo Diario [7], July 30)
Managua's La Prensa reports that Zelaya is establishing "popular resistance militias" at Ocotal, and that Carlos Eduardo Reina, the son of ex-president Carlos Roberto Reina, has been named as commander. But the account also referred to Zelaya's movement as a "civil struggle." (La Prensa [8], July 28)
Nicaragua's opposition Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC) and "Vamos con Eduardo" Movement protested that Zelaya is violating international norms and Nicaraguan sovereignty by organizing an insurrection from the national territory. (Nuevo Diario [9], July 27) The opposition Nicaraguan Democratic Bloque (BND) in the National Assembly introduced a measure demanding that authorities define Zelaya's immigration status. (La Prensa [8], July 28)
See our last posts on Honduras [10] and Nicaragua [11].
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