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Honduras coup representative forced to quit fisheries seminar
28 August 2009
A representative of the Honduran military regime was forced to leave a fisheries seminar in Brazil this week amid fierce protests from the trade union movement.
The presence of Honduran government representative, Marco Antonio Calderón, and Marco Polo Micheletti - brother of Roberto Micheletti - at the International Labour Organization (ILO) work in fisheries convention on 25 August, prompted outrage among trade union delegates. Last June, Roberto Micheletti ousted the democratically elected Honduran government led by Manuel Zelaya.
During the convention, Omar Suarez, representing workers in the fisheries sector and general secretary of Argentine ITF-affiliated union Sindicato de Obreros Maritimos Unidos expressed anger that Calderón and Marco Polo Micheletti had been allowed to attend the event. This especially as Honduras had been suspended from the Organization of American States following the military coup. Suarez reminded delegates of the suffering of the workers and civil society during military coups, including the murder of trade unionists for defending human and union rights. He argued that a notable example was during the military regime in his own country, Argentina.
In response, Micheletti, who was representing employers at the seminar, stated that these were lies and that they did not reflect the reality in Honduras.
Gerardo Corres, an Argentine government representative backed Suarez’s stance expressing dissatisfaction over the presence of Calderón.
Calderón left the room. Meanwhile, Micheletti was forced to withdraw his comments.
Antonio Fritz, ITF Americas regional secretary read a strongly-worded statement supported by the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, expressing solidarity with the workers and the whole of civil society in Honduras who were fighting to remove the dictator and reinstate democracy.
He said: “Roberto Micheletti is trying to create ‘yellow’ unions to present the image that he represents workers too. Meanwhile, Honduran people and workers are continuously being repressed in the streets for demanding the return of democracy and for ignoring the illegal elections that Micheletti intends to hold”.
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