The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) expresses its solidarity with the former President of the Republic of Honduras, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, who is subjected to a highly sophisticated disinformation and discrediting campaign that seeks to tarnish the honor of his successful leadership, which for over a decade was able to lead the popular resistance against the dictatorship and the social struggles that led to the recovery of Honduran democracy.
During his more than 40 years of political life, Zelaya has continued with a record of selfless public service in favor of the brave people of his country, which in 2006 resulted in his electoral presidential victory, from where he played an outstanding role in Honduran history.
Since then, President Zelaya has been persecuted for his audacity in promoting the Law of Citizen Participation, which allowed the Honduran people to participate in matters that for decades were only decided by the political class of that country, as well as for his courage in promoting the incorporation of Honduras into the Bolivarian Alliance, thus opening a relevant era for his country in the international realm, whose leadership contributed decisively to the lifting of the OAS’s aggravating veto against Cuba for almost 50 years.
The current attacks on the rights, honor and good reputation of Zelaya, and those around him, and of the government that President Xiomara Castro worthily leads, are merely the sanction for having disobeyed the orders of the United States, both then and now. It is a punishment through extortive practices, frequently used by U.S. agencies, which consist of preserving for years evidence of alleged crimes whose commission has been induced by the agencies themselves, aiming to make them public at the most convenient moment to harm those involved.
With the upcoming presidential elections that Honduras plans to hold in November 2025 just over a year away, ALBA-TCP raises its voice in defense of the Honduran people’s right to self-determination, non-interference in their internal affairs and the continuity of their democratic system, restored after twelve years of the last coup d’état and the arrival of a drug-trafficking regime, which the brave Honduran people, with José Manuel Zelaya always at the forefront, resisted.
The honor of comrade Mel Zelaya, of his party and of the brave social and popular movement that supports him, will not be called into question by means of hoaxes whose true intention is to pressure this worthy country to surrender its sovereignty. The dignity of Latin America and the Caribbean will always prevail.
Caracas, September 4, 2024