TEGUCIGALPA, June 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of Hondurans will take to the streets Friday in the latest mass demonstration against President Juan Orlando Hernandez, under whose watch gang violence and corruption have made the country the epicenter of Central American migration to the United States.
Officially being held to mark the 10th anniversary of the coup d’etat which overthrew leftist president Manuel Zelaya, the now-opposition leader has called on his supporters to use the occasion to pile pressure on Hernandez.
Honduras has been rocked by more than a month of protests, initially by striking doctors and teachers unions to protest controversial health and education decrees.
When some units of the police joined truckers on strike last week, the government called the army onto the streets.
Zelaya said that 10 years after the June 28, 2009 coup that deposed him, protesters “are on the streets today against privatization” of the health and education sector and to call on Hernandez to resign.
Zelaya’s Liberty and Refoundation Party announced that Friday’s commemoration would pay tribute to those killed by police repression of the protests amid rising tensions.
The 66-year-old opposition leader said the country was facing its biggest crisis since the coup that deposed him.
Anti-government protests intensified last week when three protesters were killed in clashes with security forces.
On Monday, military police opened fire on students at the National Autonomous University in Tegucigalpa who were calling for Hernandez’s resignation, wounding at least five.
Meanwhile President Hernandez – who is due to step down at the end of his second four-year term in January 2022 – went on television late Tuesday to reject calls for his resignation and insist he would complete his mandate.
“I’m going to do the work until the last day of this mandate,” he said.
Hernandez was elected to a second term in 2017 amid widespread allegations of fraud, which sparked protests in which 22 people died, according to the United Nations. — NNN-AGENCIES
