Statement on 2021 General Elections
Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras
(COPINH) – 11/22/2021
COPINH adds its voice to the struggle for survival in these times of the most extreme plunder, fear and violence in the history of our country resulting from the installation of the authoritarian de facto government.
This November 28th there will be an election with certain reforms having come about because of citizen protest against the 2017 electoral fraud and the questioning of such a clearly corrupt election, however these will not guarantee transparency nor protect the election results.
The Honduran people will participate massively in these elections as an expression of social exasperation from the deepening of social inequality, the impoverishment that now impacts 73% of the population, the migration crisis, the systematic violation of human rights, the criminalization of social protest, the multiple expressions of violence in general and in particular against girls and women.
Honduras will not change at the ballot box but voting against the dictatorship that governs us will be one step. The majority of the Honduran people will vote to reject these accumulated ills.
We alert the population that the conditions for fraud are in place and that we have seen everywhere that the National Party is colluding and maneuvering to buy support, intimidate and prepare the state security forces to impose a result contradictory to the will of the majority.
We call on our fellow citizens to prepare to reject the electoral fraud through grassroots action to stop the National Party from sentencing the people to continued and unending subjugation at their
hands.
We reject the maneuvers to commit electoral fraud and are making a call to stop the corrupt mafia through citizen vigilance at voting centers and if necessary through sustained peaceful mobilization.
The people of Honduras need a government for the people that takes on the economic sectors that have unduly enriched themselves in these 12 years of the coup’s attacks against indigenous, black and peasant peoples and the majority of the population.
COPINH does not forget that our beloved sister Berta Cáceres was assassinated under the government of Juan Orlando Hernández and that the indigenous and peasant peoples of Honduras have lived through the worst face of extractive violence, which is why we urge a complete rejection of the candidate who represents the continuation of this plunder.
In such critical moments for Honduras, we carry the memory of our sister Berta, who was clear that deep and true change will only come through struggle and permanent participation by the people in ways that go far beyond the electoral arena.
COPINH urges as a necessary step after these elections the immediate convening of a Popular and Democratic Constitutional Assembly that sets in motion the reconstruction of our country in
ways that take up the historic demands of indigenous and black peoples, of peasants, women migrants, workers the LGBTI community, and grassroots faith groups, among others, to strike down all laws that expose our peoples to the handing over of their territories and the violation of their rights. We call on all peoples to activate their processes of organizing, coordination and debate to achieve the urgent dream of Berta Cáceres to Re-found Honduras.
Let’s remember that democracy is not just about participating in exclusive and manipulated elections; democracy is built through the dignified struggle of the people, in our daily work of organization, reflection and action.
We call on our base to participate actively and calmly in the elections without allowing provocations or violence and without becoming blinded by electoral fanaticism.
For a re-founded Honduras!
Issued in La Esperanza, Intibucá on the 22nd day of the month of November 2021.
With the ancestral strength of Berta, Lempira, Mota, Iselaca and Etempica -- we raise our voices full of life, liberty, dignity and peace!
