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<div><ol><li><h2 class="ReadMsgSubject" style="line-height: 24px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font size="3">Honduras: Standard Fruit Uses the Army & Police to Attack Campesinos </font></h2></li><li><font size="3"><b><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/16055?akid=8277.16102.XVqYBv&t=12" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 20px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); cursor: pointer; ">4 Signs the American Spring May Be Coming to Chicago</a> </b></font> <span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span></li></ol></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><h2 class="ecxdate-header" style="line-height: 23px; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://quotha.net/node/2132" target="_blank" style="line-height: 27px; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; "><font style="line-height: normal; ">http://quotha.net/node/2132</font></a></h2><p class="ecxdate-header" style="line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </p><h2 class="ecxdate-header" style="line-height: 23px; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font style="line-height: normal; ">Friday, February 17, 2012</font></h2><div class="ecxpost ecxhentry" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a name="3201987299900624535" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; "></a><h3 class="ecxpost-title ecxentry-title" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; "><a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2012/02/delegation-report-standard-fruit-uses.html" target="_blank" style="line-height: 20px; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; "><font style="line-height: normal; ">Delegation Report: Standard Fruit Uses the Army & Police to Attack Campesinos</font></a><font style="line-height: normal; "></font></h3><div class="ecxpost-header-line-1"><font style="line-height: normal; "></font></div><div class="ecxpost-body ecxentry-content"><div style="text-align: center; "><font style="line-height: normal; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "></font></div><div style="text-align: center; "><br><font style="line-height: normal; "></font></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QXd0NH73yg0/Tz57iH-uAOI/AAAAAAAAAPo/AhlvnISvYCs/s1600/lis_lis_house_2.jpg" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><font style="line-height: normal; "><img id="ecxBLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710137203740246242" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QXd0NH73yg0/Tz57iH-uAOI/AAAAAAAAAPo/AhlvnISvYCs/s320/lis_lis_house_2.jpg" style="line-height: 17px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; height: 240px; "></font></a><font style="line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">A La Voz de los de Abajo delegation of 8 people is in Honduras</span><br style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">(February 14-22) to accompany the campesino movement and to support</span><br style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">the Internacional Encuentro por los Derecho Humanos en Aguan February</span><br style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">17-19. We are traveling with compañeros and compañeras from the</span><br style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">National Center for Rural Workers (CNTC) and will be sharing our</span><span style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">experiences and the stories of the campesinos.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Location: Salado Lislis community, Atlantida province</span></font><div><div style="text-align: center; "><font style="line-height: normal; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "></font></div><font style="line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Date: February 16</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Standard Fruit Uses the Army and Police to Attack Campesino Families</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">It is beautiful; green fields of beans, peas, tomatoes, corn, papaya</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">trees, coconut palms and African palm with wooden and palm houses</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">scattered throughout the scene it could be an advertisement for the</span><span style="line-height: 17px; ">model small farming community in Central America –but bulldozer tracks</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">run across many of the fields of vegetable and almost all the houses</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">are smashed flat, or reduced to piles of sticks with household items,</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">shoes, even toys scattered in the debris. We walk with the campesinos</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">and campesinas around the settlement, stopping at the piles of rubble</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">that were their houses and they tell us what happened.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">On February 8th at 6 am more than 200 armed troops (in National Police</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">and the Army's 15th Battalion uniforms, with bulldozers from a</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">private company arrived at the community. Many of the troops were</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">wearing shirts that said “DOLE” under bullet proof vests with markings</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">of the National Police or military. The judge who accompanied the</span><span style="line-height: 17px; ">security forces (juez ejecutor) to execute the eviction order was</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">wearing a Standard Fruit (more well known as Dole ) vest. It is not</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">unusual for a big land owner to pay for an eviction but the</span><span style="line-height: 17px; ">campesinos told us it is unusual and probably illegal for judges and</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">“official troops” to wear uniforms of the big agribusiness landowners.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">The community also was sure that the “Dole” shirted troops were really</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">private security from Standard Fruit Honduras who had been given</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">government security uniforms for the eviction, something which the</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">campesinos and their representative from the CNTC say is illegal.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">The entire community was given only 30 minutes to gather their family</span><span style="line-height: 17px; ">members and belongings and leave their land and homes. The men, women</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">and children had to run and evacuate their lands finally heading</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">towards the border with the adjacent department of Colon where the</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">eviction order would not have power. It began to pour rain and the</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">community was gathered on the Colon side of the border with no water,</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">food, or shelter until they were able to move again to safer places.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "></font><div style="text-align: center; "><br></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center; "><font style="line-height: normal; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "></font></div><font style="line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Meanwhile the armed troops used bulldozers to destroy more than 80 of</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">the homes and to destroy fields, cut down plants and trees, and pulled</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">up yucca. But the campesinos are determined to continue on the land</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "></font><div style="text-align: center; "><br></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center; "><font style="line-height: normal; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "></font></div><font style="line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">and to win title to it. On February 13 a group of the families from</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">the campesino movement moved back onto their land, knowing that their</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">claim to the land should be recognized under the agrarian laws. Their</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">situation is precarious. They are living in makeshift shelters and</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">some abandoned buildings. Their school for more than 60 children from</span><span style="line-height: 17px; ">the community is closed. Their teachers were from an NGO project and</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">the community doesn't know if they will come back. Yet the situation</span><span style="line-height: 17px; ">is even more precarious because they know that there is a high risk of</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">another eviction at any time.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">The campesinos asked us to let the world know about their struggle and</span> <span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">look for ways to help them pressure for a peaceful resolution of the </span><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">land ownership for</span></font></div><div><font style="line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">them. They also have emergent need for food, water </span><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">and for accompaniment.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; "></font><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; "><br><font style="line-height: normal; ">One way we can help in the U.S. is to pressure Standard Fruit (Dole)</font></span><font style="line-height: normal; "> <span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">Corporation to give up their illegal claim to the land and to </span><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">immediately stop all threats of</span></font></div><div><font style="line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">violence and violent actions against </span><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">the community. The Honduran government and security forces also need </span><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">to be held accountable for their collaboration with the </span><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">agri-corporation and for the ongoing threats and violence in the</span> <span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">countryside.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><img id="ecxBLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710137628255673362" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hg-LkaxA3K0/Tz5761bFXBI/AAAAAAAAAP0/XV3fJ3ye-Ao/s400/lis_lis_house_4.jpg" style="line-height: 17px; text-align: center; height: 371px; cursor: pointer; "><img id="ecxBLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710137632521343890" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dBG3Xle9f_w/Tz577FUGU5I/AAAAAAAAAQA/-dkhWKvPYE4/s400/lislis_house_1.jpg" style="line-height: 17px; text-align: center; height: 300px; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-style: italic; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; ">Background and History- Standard Fruit and Salado Lislis</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">In June 2010, 100 families recuperated land in Salado Lislis that is</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">eligible for agrarian reform expropriation. The land was claimed by</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Standard Fruit Honduras (part of the Dole brand in the US). Standard</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Fruit Company is a U.S. Corporation, which along with United Fruit</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Company, notoriously dominated the Honduran economy and politics for</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">years. Standard Fruit (Dole) had a 100 year concession for land along</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">the coast in this area of Atlantida. When the concession expired, the</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">land was returned to the Honduran government which then immediately</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">sold the land to a questionable, newly-formed company called Standard</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Fruit Honduras. The new “Honduran-owned” company was formed to side</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">step a Honduran law which prohibits foreigners from owning land within</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">a certain distance from the coast line. The Honduran name used to</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">register Standard Fruit Honduras is actually that of the Chief of</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Security for Standard Fruit (Dole) operations in Honduras, thus being,</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">what Hondurans call a “presta-nombre”, someone who sells the use of</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">their name for property transaction that require a Honduran citizen.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Despite two years of legal processing and negotiations with the</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">National Agrarian Institute (INA), the obvious irregularities with</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Standard Fruit's claim, and the eligibility of the land for</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">expropriation, the land title has not been resolved. Decree 18-2008</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">issued by former President Zelaya, ousted by the coup d'e'tat of 2009,</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">would have resolved the conflict in favor of the campesinos. The</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">decree was yet to be enforced when the coup d'e'tat took place and</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">then never enforced prior to being annulled in early 2011 by the coup</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">government of Pepe Lobo. Adding to the insecure situation for the</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">campesino families in Salado Lislis is the fact that their land also</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">borders palm plantations owned by the infamous large land owner Rene</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">Morales, a major palm grower and processor, who is involved in much of</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">the extreme violence against campesinos in the nearby Aguan Valley,</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">where more 46 campesinos have been assasinated in the last year and a</span><br style="line-height: 17px; "><span style="line-height: 17px; ">half.</span></font></div><div></div></div></div><h2 style="line-height: 23px; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font style="line-height: normal; ">"Alone we feel alot of fear, but together we are brave"</font></h2><div class="ecxclear-block" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div id="ecxnode-2139" class="ecxnode"><span class="ecxsubmitted">Sun, 02/19/2012 - 11:52 — AP</span><div class="ecxcontent ecxclear-block"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Click title for original with photos:<br><a href="http://escribanas.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/alone-we-feel-alot-of-fear-but-together-we-are-brave-womens-workshop-in-bajo-aguan-honduras/#more-1208" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">"Alone we feel alot of fear, but together we are brave": Women’s workshop in La Confianza of Aguan, Honduras</a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; "><br>February 17, 2012<br>By Margie Thompson of ESCRIBANA</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">The connection to land is a critical link to life for women and their families in the Aguan region of northern Honduras, but this right and many others are under violent siege by wealthy landowners, supported by heavily armed soldiers, police, and private security forces who are determined to confiscate the land. Women, who bear the brunt of caring for families under constant threats and attacks, are also active participants in the popular land movement by campesinos (small farmers) determined to resist and defend their rights.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">About 50 women met on February 16, 2012 in the community of La Confianza to share testimonies of being robbed of their land, robbed of their husbands and children who were kidnapped, tortured, and killed, or their own experiences of the same. But the women also shared strategies of resistance to these assaults and their dreams of a better future, free of violence and with the return of their lands. The workshop entitled, “Women’s bodies, struggles and hopes” was organized by the Women’s Forum for Life, a Honduran women’s activist group formed in 2009 which since uses creative expression to explore the politics of women’s bodies in the repressive aftermath of the military coup d’état, explained Melissa Condesa.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Women and their families “have been robbed of their resources, their water, their land, their forest, and their sources of work,” Gilda Rivera of the Center for Women’s Rights (CDM) of Honduras told ESCRIBANA in an interview.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">At the workshop, one woman announced suddenly that she needed to leave because she had just learned that her husband had been shot. Another woman named Flora showed ESCRIBANA the scars on her arms and body from being kidnapped and tortured by police who demanded information about the organizing efforts by her agricultural cooperative to recuperate their lands. They forced their way into her car, drove her around while beating her, and kept pointing to a large package they had saying “this is your son.”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">After her husband was assassinated, a woman named Gladis lost her house and land when she was forced to flee with her five children with nowhere to go. She has since joined the land movement to work toward recuperation of lands including her own.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">“We are resisting…struggling for a better life. Alone each woman has a lot of fear, but together we are brave, we struggle together,” said Flora. She told ESCRIBANA that the women are working hard and have hopes for change, but “we are suffering and life is not easy.”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">WOMEN CONFRONT CHALLENGES OF DAILY LIFE</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">For many women, traveling to a women’s workshop or even meeting together as women was a new experience, said Carmen (who gave only her first name), one of the organizers who spoke to ESCRIBANA. Some women “couldn’t come because they couldn’t get the money to travel or the men wouldn’t give them money, because to participate was like a threat to the men because the women would be talking about things in their communities,” explained Carmen. “It’s a machista society” and “many women were afraid to confront this type of aggression.”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Carmen explained that these limitations reflect challenges for many women in communities where although they are working extremely hard and for long hours in their homes caring for several children and also elderly relatives, the men refuse to allow them the same rights to participate in organizing activities of the communities. They contend that because women are not doing the “heavy work” of cutting African palms in the plantations or cultivating the land, they do not deserve the same rights. Women also tend to have large numbers of children because they “don’t have control of their own bodies” so can’t practice family planning, noted Carmen.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">At the workshop, women worked in small groups to share stories and dreams through drawings which they later presented to the larger group. One group had a drawing that showed a woman reading under the trees, because some “women can’t read, but want to learn to read…we dream of a life of dignity, with water, electricity, food and resources….we also dream of being happy and joyful…of [being empowered] through connection with the Mother Earth.” The group also described their dreams as women to have autonomy and the right to bodily integrity, to live free of violence and the right to decide how many children they want to have.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">HISTORY OF STRUGGLE</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Conflict over land has plagued the area for decades, but the conflict has escalated since the coup in 2009 which ousted the democratically elected President Mel Zelaya. He had negotiated and signed an agreement with wealthy landowners in the area including Miguel Facussé and René Morales, to return the land to the campesino (peasant) cooperatives of the MUCA (Unified Peasant Movement of Aguan) movement, but which fell apart following the military coup. When the campesinos went ahead to recuperate their land, they were met with violent persecution and evictions by thousands of heavily armed military, police and private security forces on behalf of wealth landowners. The entire Aguan Valley region has been heavily militarized with a brutal campaign to confiscate the land of families in the area.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Another workshop participant, Consuela, talked to ESCRIBANA about the constant abuse by soldiers and police who confront people as they walk in the streets or stop their cars and demand their identification papers, accuse them of carrying guns, and charge that the campesino organizations are the ones who causing all the conflict. Consuela described how women are reluctant to even walk to the markets to buy food for their families because of the “sexual harassment and threats of violence and death…it is very intimidating and there is a lot of fear.”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">But through solidarity with each other and national and international allies the women at the workshop gain strength and hope to confront the realities of their struggles for the land and lives.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">An International Human Rights Conference of Aguan is being held February 17-20, 2012 with an expected 400 national and international solidarity activists to collaborate with the women and men in the campesino land movement in constructing solutions to create change.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">END</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">To follow the coverage of these events and join in the discussion go to the ESCRIBANA blog at:<a title="http://escribanas.wordpress.com" href="http://escribanas.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">http://escribanas.wordpress.com</a> and <a title="http://escribanas.facebook.com" href="http://escribanas.facebook.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">http://escribanas.facebook.com</a>. For more information write to Margie Thompson at: <a href="mailto:mthompso@du.edu" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">mthompso@du.edu</a> or María Suárez Toro at <a href="mailto:maria.escribana@gmail.com" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">maria.escribana@gmail.com</a>.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">For more information about the Women’s Forum for Life go to: <a title="http://www.mioaguan.blogspot.com/" href="http://www.mioaguan.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">http://www.mioaguan.blogspot.com/</a></p></div><br clear="all"><br></div></div><div id="ecxnode-2139" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a title="Honduras: Our Continuing Catastrophe" href="http://quotha.net/node/2138" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">Honduras: Our Continuing Catastrophe</a></div><div id="ecxnode-2138" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="ecxsubmitted">Sun, 02/19/2012 - 00:46 — AP</span><div class="ecxcontent ecxclear-block"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Click title for original with photo in TruthOut:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; "><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/honduras-our-continuing-catastrophe/1329578808" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">Honduras: Our Continuing Catastrophe</a><br>Saturday 18 February 2012<br>by: Mark Engler, Dissent Magazine | News Analysis</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Honduras has become a human rights disaster. The country now has the world’s highest murder rate. And impunity for political violence is the norm.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">For all this, the United States deserves a good deal of the blame.</p></div><div class="ecxclear-block"><div class="meta"></div><div class="ecxlinks"><ul class="ecxlinks ecxinline" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1em; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 1em; "><li class="ecxblog_usernames_blog ecxfirst" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read AP's latest blog entries." href="http://quotha.net/blog/1" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">AP's blog</a></li><li class="ecxcomment_forbidden" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "></li><li class="ecxnode_read_more ecxlast" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read the rest of Honduras: Our Continuing Catastrophe." href="http://quotha.net/node/2138" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">Read more</a></li></ul></div></div></div><div id="ecxnode-2137" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><h2 style="line-height: 23px; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; "><a title="Another shot" href="http://quotha.net/node/2137" target="_blank" style="line-height: 27px; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">Another shot</a></h2><span class="ecxsubmitted">Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:43 — AP</span><div class="ecxcontent ecxclear-block"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; "><img src="http://quotha.net/images/honduras/2.18.12.market_fire2.jpg"></p></div><div class="ecxclear-block"><div class="meta"></div><div class="ecxlinks"><ul class="ecxlinks ecxinline" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1em; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 1em; "><li class="ecxblog_usernames_blog ecxfirst" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read AP's latest blog entries." href="http://quotha.net/blog/1" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">AP's blog</a></li><li class="ecxcomment_forbidden ecxlast" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "></li></ul></div></div></div><div id="ecxnode-2136" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><h2 style="line-height: 23px; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; "><a title="Major fires set in San Isidro y Colón markets in Comayagüela" href="http://quotha.net/node/2136" target="_blank" style="line-height: 27px; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">Major fires set in San Isidro y Colón markets in Comayagüela</a></h2><span class="ecxsubmitted">Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:38 — AP</span><div class="ecxcontent ecxclear-block"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Photograph from minutes ago:<br><img src="http://quotha.net/images/honduras/2.18.12.market_fire.jpg"></p></div><div class="ecxclear-block"><div class="meta"></div><div class="ecxlinks"><ul class="ecxlinks ecxinline" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1em; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 1em; "><li class="ecxblog_usernames_blog ecxfirst" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read AP's latest blog entries." href="http://quotha.net/blog/1" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">AP's blog</a></li><li class="ecxcomment_forbidden ecxlast" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "></li></ul></div></div></div><div id="ecxnode-2135" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><h2 style="line-height: 23px; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; "><a title="Prison fire puts spotlight on Honduras meltdown" href="http://quotha.net/node/2135" target="_blank" style="line-height: 27px; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">Prison fire puts spotlight on Honduras meltdown</a></h2><span class="ecxsubmitted">Sat, 02/18/2012 - 13:16 — AP</span><div class="ecxcontent ecxclear-block"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Click title for original in Reuters. Overall, again, a good piece, but lacking a few important details. Like the fact that gang members were killed off en masse in the 2000's as part of a Pepe Lobo-orchestrated State policy (some in the other two prison massacres) and that is why they no longer sport tattoos and instead blend in; it's not as simple as</p><blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">Maras used to adorn their faces with tattoos, but the new generation abandoned the practice, focusing on making money.</p></blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">The same policy, of course, is responsible for the overcrowding of prisons with unconvicted inmates, as yesterday's Bloomberg article pointed out, and thus responsible in part for the slaughter.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; "><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/us-honduras-violence-idUSTRE81G1MI20120217" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">Prison fire puts spotlight on Honduras meltdown</a><br>By Ioan Grillo<br>TEGUCIGALPA | Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:21pm EST</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">(Reuters) - It took just seconds to ignite the fire that killed more than 350 inmates in a Honduran prison on Valentine's Day, but the country's messy spiral into lawlessness has been years in the making.</p></div><div class="ecxclear-block"><div class="meta"></div><div class="ecxlinks"><ul class="ecxlinks ecxinline" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1em; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 1em; "><li class="ecxblog_usernames_blog ecxfirst" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read AP's latest blog entries." href="http://quotha.net/blog/1" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">AP's blog</a></li><li class="ecxcomment_forbidden" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "></li><li class="ecxnode_read_more ecxlast" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read the rest of Prison fire puts spotlight on Honduras meltdown." href="http://quotha.net/node/2135" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">Read more</a></li></ul></div></div></div><div id="ecxnode-2134" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><h2 style="line-height: 23px; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; "><a title="Annie Bird: The U.S.'s Drug War Should Not Hit Central America" href="http://quotha.net/node/2134" target="_blank" style="line-height: 27px; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">Annie Bird: The U.S.'s Drug War Should Not Hit Central America</a></h2><span class="ecxsubmitted">Sat, 02/18/2012 - 12:38 — AP</span><div class="ecxcontent ecxclear-block"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">THE US'S DRUG WAR SHOULD NOT HIT CENTRAL AMERICA<br>By Annie Bird, February 18, 2012 (<a href="mailto:annie@rightsaction.org" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">annie@rightsaction.org</a>)</p></div><div class="ecxclear-block"><div class="meta"></div><div class="ecxlinks"><ul class="ecxlinks ecxinline" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1em; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 1em; "><li class="ecxblog_usernames_blog ecxfirst" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read AP's latest blog entries." href="http://quotha.net/blog/1" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">AP's blog</a></li><li class="ecxcomment_forbidden" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "></li><li class="ecxnode_read_more ecxlast" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read the rest of Annie Bird: The U.S.'s Drug War Should Not Hit Central America." href="http://quotha.net/node/2134" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">Read more</a></li></ul></div></div></div><div id="ecxnode-2133" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><h2 style="line-height: 23px; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 110, 18) !important; "><a title="The many faces of human rights terrorism, by Belén Fernández" href="http://quotha.net/node/2133" target="_blank" style="line-height: 27px; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">The many faces of human rights terrorism, by Belén Fernández</a></h2><span class="ecxsubmitted">Sat, 02/18/2012 - 11:24 — AP</span><div class="ecxcontent ecxclear-block"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; ">I don't have time to reformat the links and embeds needed to do this brilliant article justice (I hand code- html hasn't changed for me since I learned it in 1994), so do yourself a big favor and click here to read Belén Fernández's piece on Al Jazeera English: <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/20122137211331174.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">The many faces of human rights terrorism</a>. Available also in Spanish at Rebelión: <a href="http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=144884" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; ">Las muchas caras del terrorismo de los derechos humanos</a></p></div><div class="ecxclear-block"><div class="meta"></div><div class="ecxlinks"><ul class="ecxlinks ecxinline" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1em; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 1em; "><li class="ecxblog_usernames_blog ecxfirst" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a title="Read AP's latest blog entries." href="http://quotha.net/blog/1" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">AP's blog</a></li><li class="ecxcomment_forbidden ecxlast" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "></li></ul></div></div></div><div id="ecxnode-2132" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </div></div><div id="ecxnode-2132" class="ecxnode" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><table width="415px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><font style="line-height: normal; "></font></td><td valign="top"><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/16055?akid=8277.16102.XVqYBv&t=11" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; "><img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_chicagoskyline.jpg_95x68" alt="" width="112" height="81" border="0" align="left" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; "></a></td><td><font color="white" style="line-height: normal; ">-</font></td><td valign="top"><p class="ecxheadline3" style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; "><font style="line-height: normal; "><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/16055?akid=8277.16102.XVqYBv&t=12" target="_blank" style="line-height: 20px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); cursor: pointer; ">4 Signs the American Spring May Be Coming to Chicago</a></font></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); "><font style="line-height: normal; ">Could the Nato and G8 summits scheduled for May put Chicago at the crossroads of the next global uprising of the 99 percent? <a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/16055?akid=8277.16102.XVqYBv&t=13" class="ecxreadmore" target="_blank" style="line-height: 11px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(202, 133, 0); cursor: pointer; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 0.1em; "><b style="font-weight: bold; ">READ MORE</b></a></font></p><font style="line-height: normal; "></font></td></tr></tbody></table><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div> </div><br><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><font size="2">Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monitory gain to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the material for research and educational purposes. 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