I was there, first hand, nobody told me about it.
[Editor's Note: Thanks to Pancho Ramos-Stierle for this translation]
It was 8:00AM and we started to gather in front of the Morazán Pedagogic University (UPM), where citizens from different regions of Tegucigalpa and other parts of the country joined the peaceful well-organized march. At 10:00AM we started walking through the FFAA boulevard that goes towards the Toncontin Airport. Along the way, people joined the rally among songs and slogans that were asking for the restitution of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, but more than that, people were showing support to rescue the weak democracy that was so hard to achieve, and that now, has been stolen through a violent and brutal act by the most conservative and recalcitrant group on the country.
When we arrived we were close to 350,000 people. We were near centro america Perisur when we were stopped by a check point of the national police. They stopped us for a few minutes while the leaders of the peaceful march bargain with the police of commissioners. One of the [police] commissioners said that he was not to shoot against his people (nobody told me! I saw it and heard it, I was there!), so he ordered the police to retreat little by little while the march progressed until the entrance of the airport where the runways starts. He said that everything was ok as long as the protesters remain outside of the airport and didn’t try to get to the runway. In order, the peaceful march reached the planned spot to wait for the welcome President Manuel Zelaya Rosales whose arrival was announced to be around 4:00PM.
After we walked from the National University Francisco Morazán to the airport’s neighborhood, many of us sat facing the runway, while we were hearing from the speakers the latest news of what was happening. Then, we hear the announcement that in 20 minutes President Manuel Zelaya Rosales was about to be flying above the city and, most likely, landing on the airport. The people, full of joy and happiness, started clapping and yelling as a soccer team had scored a goal.
It was at that moment when we started to hear the shootings and we started to feel the effects of the tear gas bombs fired by the soldiers from the other side of the runway. Many of us, astonished by the reality, thought that they were just fireworks or fake bullets to disperse the rally. But then, just 4 meters from where we were (we naive protesters who thought that military had overcome the stage to shoot an unarmed people), one of our colleagues, just a 19 year old [Isis Obed Murillo], who was only protesting peacefully, fell to the ground with his skull wide open, leaving part of his brains on the asphalt. He died possibly due to a sniper who deliberately chose his victim being aware of the criminal act he was committing (who gave the order???). Then, close from where we were, another colleague was victim of the shooting coming from the military while he desperately tried to bring back to life an 18 year old who was intoxicated by the tear gas bombs or some other unknown chemicals used by the soldiers.
It was in this moment that the protesters react to this brutal aggression by throwing back the tear gas bombs, risking their lives and throwing everything that was on their way; rocks and sticks that are the only weapons the people can use to defend themselves.
A father carrying in his arms his 7 year old son, was running looking for an ambulance to safe his life.
These were the facts. Nobody told me. It doesn’t matter that the media, allies with this military coup. We, the citizens, will never agree to silence and to hide that thousands and thousands of people reject this savage and brutal act, like this one, perpetrated by the oligarchy against this country because: “THE TRUTH WILL ALWAYS SET US FREE.”
–ALEX PALENCIA
Tags: citizen, citizenjournalism, honduras, journalism, militar, periodismo
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July 6th, 2009 at 7:03 PM
Hi. I read your dreadful tail of what happened at your riots. I was wondering if you could explain what led up to it. As we in the states have no real picture of what is going on. Are you celebrating the new president? Or disappointed in the new elect? Please clear this up for me. I really want to get the word our here in the states. And as selfish as it sounds I am glad that at least you are safe.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:57 PM
@Amanda:
Hi,
Alex is against the new government, he was at the airport to show his support to the deposed president and welcome him back as he tried to land in the international airport.
Everyone in the country is grieving the young man’s death, and investigations are underway as to how his death came about, as Human Rights reports state that the military was armed with rubber projectiles and not real ammunition.
There has been a lot of conflict between Zelaya supporters and the police as well as the military. My personal belief is that this is because the group’s reaction to what happened was vandalism and violence; I’ve been witness to it as much as Alex was a witness to Murillo’s death. A lot of businesses downtown, not to mention landmarks, have suffered physical damage because of the havoc on the streets.
But I don’t want to give you a biased idea of the situation. It’s just that it’s hard to sort out the cold facts.
There have been reports that among the people protesting in favor of Zelaya, there are “professional agitators”, foreigners (police have arrested Nicaraguans in these protests) who have been brought into the country to rile everybody up. There are also rumors that the people who have been present in the peaceful marches supporting the new government have done it because they work for companies that blackmail them into doing it.
To sum it up, it’s hard to know what to believe and what not to believe. And in my personal opinion, all these rumors and the clashes are just wasting everybody’s time, when we should be sitting down to talk about where this country is going.