Serious denounce of death threats and hate campaign

Serious denounce of death threats and hate campaign against the President of the Medical Association of Honduras and leaders of the health and education sector by the Honduran Government and the National Party

Tegucigalpa, May 4, 2019. The head of the Medical Association of Honduras, Suyapa Figueroa, denounced this afternoon a wave of threats to her physical integrity by individuals aligned with the current Honduran government headed by Juan Orlando Hernández.

Figueroa stated that the regime is seriously endangering her life and that of the members of the Board of Directors she leads, as well as that of their families. She reported that this today she received two hundred messages with violent threats to his person.

Suyapa Figueroa is part of the leadership of the Platform for the Defense of Health and Education which during past weeks filled the streets of the whole country with massive protests against the privatization of the health and education systems, as well as in rejection of mass dismissals of workers of these sectors.

The Honduran government, already categorized by the population as illegitimate, has been acting like threatened, cornered, and nervous, undertaking an intense campaign of discrediting against Figueroa and other leaders of the movement. The government is accused of using National Party activists and state employees for shock demonstrations. It has been documented as political activists reward those attending the demonstrations against the platform by giving them money, lunches and baskets of basic products.

Figueroa also denounced that their pacific demonstrations this week were infiltrated by people belonging to organized crime, some of them armed and identified with logos of State institutions. According to the complaint, these infiltrators are responsible for the looting of different businesses and damage to private property, hence the Honduran government is held responsible for these actions.

The government’s behaviour also influenced some journalists, who have irresponsibly called on the National Party to visit the home of Suyapa Figueroa, inciting hatred and violence, and putting her life at that of her family at great risk.

For these reasons, several sectors have demanded that the Honduran State guarantees the personal security of the members of the Board of Directors of the Medical Association of Honduras and of the teachers’ leaders. Other sectors declare themselves vigilant and blame Juan Orlando Hernández for any action against the physical integrity of the leaders.

In addition, the Platform for the Defense of Health and Education demands that the investigative processes and the impartial deduction of responsibilities be initiated against the perpetrators of human rights violations, death threats, harassment and the killing of demonstrators that occurred during the past week.

In the last hours, the Platform leaders announced that looking for a solution to the crisis, they will attend dialogue convened by the government, but they clarified that they do it in context of serious death threats.

Honduras continues to struggle in a serious crisis of institutionality and governance after the unconstitutional reelection of Juan Orlando Hernández, who is accused of having established a dictatorship associated with high corruption, ties to drug trafficking and serious violations of human rights of opponents. 0000000000