by Aminta Zea
As we stand in solidarity with the protestors in Portland who have been subject to fascist, white supremacist terror imposed by the U.S. government, we also remain cognizant that militaristic kidnappings are nothing new. For decades, the undocumented have been violently kidnapped and removed from their communities by ICE (Immigration service) agents and Border Patrol.
New Orleans has the largest Honduran community in the United States and has been besieged by ICE terror. Yet the Honduran consulate, representing the government put in by an illegal U.S. coup in 2009 (by Obama and Clinton) is now in an ICE Field Office at 1250 Poydras St. We demand it be relocated.
We recognize the parallels between the functions of the police and ICE, and we actively work towards abolishing these systems of racist oppression that continuously harm Black people, both migrants and U.S. citizens. We recognize that if we wish to abolish the police, we must also abolish ICE. ICE has only been around since 2003; there was a world before it and there can be a new world without it and without the police. From Portland, to New Orleans, to Tegucigalpa we remain firm in our rebellion against the capitalist class that is relentless in its genocide of Black and Brown people. Los pueblos de Honduras y los pueblos de Louisiana se mantengan firmes en su autonomía y su libertad.
Honduras, like many countries in Latin America subject to U.S. imperialism, has undergone massive state repression after the 2009 US backed coup against democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya’s policies included raising the minimum wage by 60 percent, free education for all children (including free lunch to the poorest children), reducing poverty by 10 percent during his first two years in office, and working towards an expansion of the reproductive rights of women. Because he put the Honduran people’s welfare above the interests of transnational corporations, he was removed from power by U.S. backed military forces. If we want to understand why so many from the northern triangle of Central America choose to flee to the United States, then we must realize that it is U.S. imperialism that pushes these people out of their homes.
The ruling elite continue to impose themselves on Latin American countries that say NO to capitalism and NO to a life where basic needs remain unmet. The current conditions of Honduras mirror the same state repression and violence we see here in the U.S. As millions of Americans march for Black Lives Matter, let’s remember that this fight does not stop at the borders of the United States. In the month of July alone, six Garifuna — Black Indigenous people — were murdered in Honduras under the dictatorship of Juan Orlando Hernandez. Garifuna people are fighting against their fascist regime in order to protect their ancestral lands and the rights of Afro-Indigenous and Indigenous people amid encroachment by the capitalist class.
The only way to combat racist exploitation, transmisogyny, and patriarchy is to overthrow capitalism. Imperialism — when the United States imposes violence and corruption on another country for profit — is the highest form of capitalism. Workers in the United States can play a crucial role in active solidarity with workers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, who continuously fight U.S. imperialism and exploitation. We, too, are now seeing acts of war imposed by imperialism here at home.
Workers of all countries should stand up firmly to oppose to the illegitimate government of Juan Orlando Hernandez. We oppose the Honduran consulate being held at an ICE Field Office. The racist, discriminatory policies that occur at that office at 1250 Poydras St. prevent Hondurans from accessing services from the consulate for fear of arrest.
We oppose and aim to abolish ICE, to abolish the police and all forms of colonial subjugation and oppression. No more to the capitalist bosses who continue to steal our wealth. No more to the U.S. politicians that let them carry out this theft.
It’s time we workers say enough is enough. We will not stop fighting until all of us are free.