“It’s not about supporting Mel Zelaya specifically, it’s about defending democracy in Honduras,” Miriam Miranda of OFRANEH (Fraternal Black Organization of Honduras) said, speaking about the Resistance movement at the Honduras Justice Tour forum held at Scripps College last November. The tour brought together speakers from all sectors of Honduran civil society to speak to the U.S. public and government officials on the issues facing Hondurans. More recently, I had the opportunity to re-visit Honduras as part of a delegation for three weeks ending Jan. 31.

Honduras has been the site of a political battleground as repressive conditions have escalated since the Jun. 28 coup against the democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya. The last seven months of Resistance against the government of interim President Roberto Michelletti, Zelaya’s replacement, have become an era of severe human and civil rights violations against the Honduran people. The struggle following the coup in June culminated in formal national elections to replace Micheletti permanently. On Nov. 28, Perfirio “Pepe” Lobo of the National Party “won” the much-disputed election despite overwhelming opposition, with 65 to 70 percent national abstention. For the Resistance, who opposed the initial coup, the election of Lobo was a farse. They demanded that international organizations and countries not recognize the outcome as a legitimate democratic process.

The energy as we marched down the streets on Jan. 27, the day of Lobo’s inauguration and the ousted Zelaya’s departure from Honduras to exile in the Dominican Republic, was infectious. One banner bore a list of “crimes” committed by Zelaya, such as increasing the minimum wage and lowering enrollment fees. Another proclaimed, “For an independent and free country we fight for a new constitution.” On my mental replay were the chants of demonstrators, demanding equal access to education and the formation of a National Constitutional Assembly. Others directed heated words such as “assassins” towards Lobo, Micheletti, General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez and the military troops that occupied the airstrip as the plane with Zelaya and his family departed. “Voices of the Resistance,” such as Karla Lara who sang the Resistance anthem and band Café Guancasco, echoed similar messages through their performances.

In Tegucigalpa, the capitol of Honduras, a march began at the Pedagogical University and ended at a plaza near the international airport where, on Jul. 5, the Resistance experienced one of its first losses. Isis Obed Murillo was shot as Zelaya attempted his first return to Honduras after being illegally exiled immediately following the coup. El Libertador’s January edition showcased the casualties throughout the Resistance, with political assassinations ranging from gunshot wounds, strangulation within resistors’ homes and health issues following marches during which police used noxious gas against peaceful protestors. In many of these cases, families have been denied their right to an autopsy. Last week, Vanessa Yamileth Zepeda, a 29-year-old union leader, was murdered after leaving a union meeting in Tegucigalpa. Her body was “dumped” and found Feb. 4 in a community known for its support of the Resistance. However, despite persecution, threats, censorship, curfews, and other mechanisms of state terror, the struggle against the perpetrators of the illegal coup and the illegitimately elected government of Lobo continues with 57 currently known local and national organizations in resistance.

Throughout Honduras, militarization and threats to people’s freedoms and political expression have reached critical levels as military and police regularly congregate on street corners and parks and maneuver through the city en masse with rifles and other intimidating weapons. However, public demonstrations such as this march overwhelmingly show the will of the Honduran people to demand their rights to life with dignity. At the march, people of all ages, classes, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities marched to make the point that the government’s betrayal of the people will not be forgotten or forgiven. Organizations representing communities such as the Afro-Indigenous Garfuna’s OFRANEH, the political youth organization Los Necios, and the Honduran Women Writers’ Association serve as key examples. The media has been one of the most important tools for the Resistance despite the removal of several television stations such as Canal 36 and Telesur, and constant harassment of radio stations such as Radio Progreso and Radio Faluma Bimetu (Coco Dulce in Spanish). These radio stations have been amazing tools for daily news, political commentary and listener participation.

What’s important to keep in mind is that prior to the Jun. 28 coup there was a strong popular movement for change in Honduras, which continues on. In their 46th statement, the Resistance declared, “The Frente National de Resistencia Popular [The National Front of Popular Resistance] rose from the collective social and political movement following the military coup on June 28, 2009. Initially an organic movement, the FNRP now has a nationwide structure with representation in all the departments, cities and towns of Honduras.” The coup was the catalyst for the formation of the FNRP.

The Resistance is quick to remind us that they are not Zelayistas (Zelaya supporters) and while there are those who may identify with the president, we must be cautious in how we represent and attach language to this movement, particularly here in the United States. We should refrain from using political terminology that centers on an individual or political party—these concepts do not necessarily apply to what this movement represents for the Honduran people or in a larger Latin American context. We need to expand the vision of what the Resistance movement is and not just emphasize the liberal storyline around Zelaya, for the Resistance movement would not continue without the popular movement driving it.

What is our role here in the United States in all this? The Resistance urges us to pressure our representatives to exercise their power and refuse to recognize the new civil-military coup in Honduras, currently embodied by President Lobo. However, I would also extend our actions in support of the Honduran people to include a larger call for economic autonomy and political self-determination in Latin America, which does not involve U.S. military bases and economic interventionist policies that leave these nations in devastating debt. The Honduran Resistance movement shows us that another world is possible if we are willing to fight for it.