A "GOOD INVESTMENT" OPPORTUNITY:
Canadian Government & Mining & Sweatshop Business Executives Meet With Honduran Regime, As Repression & Death Squad Killings Continue
By Grahame Russell, April 2010 (info@rightsaction.org)
If it was not clear before why Canada and the United States are the strongest backers of the Honduran military coup, that ousted democratically elected President Zelaya June 28, 2009, and the regime now in place after the fraudulent elections of November 28, 2009, it is now.
To understand the US role, watch this 11 minute news piece “U.S. covering up reality in Honduras” from The Real News: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4977.
CANADA TO EXPAND MINING & SWEATSHOP INVESTMENTS IN HONDURAS
To understand Canada’s interests:
“President Porfirio Lobo met Tuesday with Canada's ambassador to Honduras, Neil Reeder, and a group of Canadian businessmen, including the president of Aura Minerals, Inc., Patrick Downey, and investor David Petroff.
“Ambassador Reeder expressed his interest in expanding Canada's investments in the Honduran mining and maquila sectors.  He specifically mentioned the need to establish new mining regulations that would both protect the interests of foreign mining companies in Honduras and create transparency in mining operations.
“Mr. Reeder estimated potential investments in Honduras of up to US$700 million and pointed out the benefits to the country in terms of jobs creation and additional tax revenues.
“Mining in Honduras by foreign multinationals has traditional been a source of contention, with one side arguing in favor of business interests and another pointing out the environmental damages caused by open pit mining and the use of chemicals such as cyanide.  Aura Minerals is the current owner of the San Andrés gold mine the department of Copán.” (April 7, 2010 Honduras Weekly: http://hondurasweekly.com/money/2520-canada-seeks-to-expand-mining-and-maquila-investments-in-honduras)
As the United States and Canada pursue exploitative economic and geo-political interests in Honduras, both governments are lying about or ignoring systemic State repression, including death squad killings.
Since the June 28, 2009 military coup, Rights Action – like many organizations – has sent an endless stream of information to Canadian and US government officials and politicians about Honduras’ systemic State repression.
To no avail.
The military over-through of democracy and the ensuring State repression and death squad assassinations are not of concern to our governments.

As I write this, we have just received confirmation of the April 7, 2010, assassination of Jose Leonel Álvarez Guerra, another campesino involved in the land struggle.  He was gunned down by two men, in masks, who rode up on a motorbike and killed him in front of his small rural home.
In The Real News piece “U.S. covering up reality in Honduras”, learn of a list of recent political assassinations:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4977
Like other groups working on these issues, we – at Rights Action – simply do not have the capacity to report on all the repression and death squad killings that are now the norm in Honduras.
The Honduran people are again living under the boots and fear of State-sponsored repression, similar to the worst years of the 1980s and early 1990s.
All of this information is widely reported and readily available.
The governments of the United States and Canada are enabling this and are partially responsible for the repression and impunity of the Honduran regime.
Over the past 10 years, Rights Action – and other groups – have documented environmental and health harms and human rights violations committed in the mining and sweatshop/ maquiladora industries; this includes a long list of environmental and health harms caused by Goldcorp Inc’s cyanide-leaching, open-pit gold mine, that have never been addressed.
As Canadian government and business discuss with the Honduran regime further investments in mining and low-paid sweat shop industry, there no reasons to believe the repression and death squad killings will stop; logically, they will increase and some of it will be directly linked to the unjust mining and sweatshop sectors.
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Grahame Russell is co-director of Rights Action, a US and Canada based not-for-profit organization that supports community development and environmental and human rights defense work in Honduras (as well as Guatemala, and elsewhere).

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MAKE TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS TO SUPPORT community development and environmental and human rights defense organizations in Honduras.  Make checks payable to “Rights Action” and mail to:
UNITED STATES:  Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
CANADA:  552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm
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WRITE YOUR POLITICIANS & MEDIA TO DENOUNCE CANADIAN & AMERICAN COMPLICITY WITH HONDURAN STATE REPRESSION:
US GOV'T OFFICES AND POLITICIANS
State Department Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs: (202) 647-0834, WHAAsstSecty@State.Gov
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/ or 202-456-1111
US Congress / House of Representatives: go to http://www.house.gov/ to get contact info for your congress members.  202-224-3121
US Senate: go to http://www.senate.gov/ to get contact info for your Senator. 202-224-3121
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean
Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1A-0A1
info@gg.ca, (613) 993-8200, 800 465-6890
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
harpes@parl.gc.ca
Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda
509-S Centre Block, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6
Oda.B@parl.gc.ca
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon
509-S Centre Block, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6
cannol@parl.gc.ca
Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) Peter Kent
125 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G2, (613) 992-0253
kent.p@parl.gc.ca
Gilles Duceppe, leader, Bloc Quebecois
1200 Papineau Av, #350, Montreal, QC, H2K 4R5
ducepg@parl.gc.ca
Jack Layton, leader, New Democratic Party
221 Broadview Ave, Suite 100, Toronto, ON, MM 2G3
laytoj@parl.gc.ca
Elizabeth May, leader, Green Party
Saanich Gulf Islands EDA, PO Box 20076, Sidney, BC, V8L 5C9
emaytowin@greenparty.ca
Michael Ignatieff, leader, Liberal Party
656 The Queensway, Etobicoke, ON, M8Y 1K7
ignatm@parl.gc.ca
Bob Rae, liberal, Foreign Affairs Critic
(613) 992-5234, RaeB@parl.gc.ca
Francine Lalonde, Bloc Quebecois, Foreign Affairs Critic
(613) 995-6327, LalonF@parl.gc.ca
Paul Dewar, NDP, Foreign Affairs Critic
(613) 996-5322, DewarP@parl.gc.ca
Larry Bagnell, liberal, bagnell.l@parl.gc.ca
Stockwell Day, conservative, days@parl.gc.ca
Peter Julian, NDP, julian.p@parl.gc.ca
John McKay, liberal, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, (613) 992-1447, MckayJ@parl.gc.ca
Kevin Sorenson, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, (613) 947-4608, SorenK@parl.gc.ca
Alexandre Leveque, DFAIT, Caribbean, Central America & Regional Policy,
125 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G2, 613-992-2971
Barbara Curran, CIDA Director, 200 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau, K1A 0G4, 819-994-4092, barbara.curran@acdi-cida.gc.ca
CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC
CANADIAN Embassy in Guatemala
Ambassador Leeann McKechnie
leeann.mckechnie@international.gc.ca
Karin Reinecke, Assistant to the Ambassador
karin.reinecke@international.gc.ca
13 Calle 8-44 Zone 10, Edificio Edyma Plaza, Ciudad de Guatemala
(502) 2363-4348, gtmla@international.gc.ca
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EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES & MATERIALS
NEW BOOK: “CODE Z59.5: There Is Only One People Here”, by Grahame Russell.  Code Z59.5 is a series of diary excerpts (comments, facts, quotes, etc.) from the 1990s and 2000s, related to the author’s work in Central America, Mexico and North America, in defense of human rights.  COST: US$10/ Cdn$11, plus shipping.  TO ORDER or for more information: Grahame Russell, info@rightsaction.org, 860-352-2448
DELEGATION TO GUATEMALA, APRIL 17-25:  Mining companies *versus* Community development, environmental justice & human rights (For information: info@rightsaction.org)
SPEAKING TOURS, ONTARIO (CANADA) & EASTERN USA:  “Re-founding the Honduran society & State” & “Community resistance to harmful mining in Guatemala & Honduras” (To host an event: info@rightsaction.org)
DELEGATION TO HONDURAS, JUNE 26-JULY 4:  First anniversary of June 28, 2009 oligarchic-military coup against the elected government (For information: info@rightsaction.org)