Progressive Caucus Leaders Condemn Post-Election Repression in Honduras, Urge Full Recount and Suspension of U.S. Military Aid

Washington, D.C.- Today, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), and CPC Vice Chairs Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), reacted to the political crisis in Honduras resulting from Sunday’s disputed presidential election results:

“As tens of thousands of Hondurans continue to take to the streets to express disapproval over their government’s deeply flawed electoral process, we wish to extend our solidarity and sympathies to the families of slain Hondurans like 19-year-old Kimberly Fonseca, who was shot in the head by Honduran military police when they opened fire on nonviolent demonstrators. We add our voices to Honduran civil society groups demanding that Honduran government end its use of state-sponsored violence, martial law, and restrictions on media freedoms.

“The United States should not tolerate President Juan Orlando Hernández’s moves to increase his grip on power in response to public outrage over what is widely seen as a stolen election. We are more committed now than ever to see Congress pass the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act to immediately suspend U.S. arming and training of the Honduran military and police until human rights defenders are protected and security forces are prosecuted for flagrant human rights violations.

“Given the Honduran electoral authorities’ lack of transparency as well as credible and widespread accusations of irregularities, which led the Organization of American States to express doubts over the results, the United States should not recognize the outcome of the election until a full recount is carried out at every polling place with international supervision and with the participation of all political parties. The chaos and violence that resulted from Honduras’s 2009 coup d’état should serve as a lesson: this time, the U.S. government must unequivocally stand with Hondurans’ right to democracy and free expression. America must not tolerate autocratic and anti-democratic behavior by our allies.”