“The resistance does not end with these elections…The future of Honduras is now in the resistance.  The future of Honduras is now in the people.”

This is what we heard the day after elections, in a meeting hall filled with people from all walks of society.  This assembly was followed by a caravan of hundreds of cars that travelled through the various neighborhoods of the capital.  During this show of opposition to both the coup d’état and the illegal elections, thousands of people took to the streets to show their unmarked fingers – a sign that they did not vote.  This gesture of raising a baby finger in the air has quickly become a sign of solidarity and defiance for the people of Honduras.  It has become a sign that the political crisis has not been solved and that the last five months of repression and tyranny have not been forgotten.  

With the passing of these elections in Honduras there is much speculation as to what will happen next.  What is quite clear, especially after the failure of congress to reinstate the constitutional president on the 2nd of December, is that an undemocratic state of inequality and exclusion controlled by the rich elite will continue for some time in this nation.

Looking at the international position regarding the situation in Honduras we can see a majority of nations in renunciation of both the coup d’état and the recent elections.  This support for the people’s movement in Honduras must not be understated.  However, the lack of international recognition of the illegal government remains irrelevant as long as nations like the U.S. and Canada continue to give their support.  So long as the powers that be in Honduras continue to receive U.S. “development” aid, they have free reign to do what they like.  Although the international community must remain steadfast in its support for the people of Honduras, the only solution to the crisis must come from within, from the people.  If these latest elections proved anything, it is that there are vast sectors of Honduran society that are united in opposition to the current state.  How might this solidarity then be manifested in the future?  One option might be an armed struggle provoked by desperation.  Such an option however, would only lead to more death and destruction and would only provide an impetus for more repression.  What really must happen now, I believe, is the formal politicization of the FNRP (the National Front of the Popular Resistance).  Only by infiltrating the current power structure will the people have the chance of changing it through a national constitutional assembly.  Perhaps at one point an independent grassroots party would stand no chance against the powerful brokerage parties here in Honduras, but the June 28th Coup D’état changed everything.  The elite business and landowners in this country thought that they were protecting their position by taking out Zelaya, but their actions will now become their downfall.  Their economic interests might be secure for the short term, but they have awoken a sleeping giant called “el pueblo”.  

What an FNRP political party might look like is hard to define, especially at the moment while it is still in a formative stage.  The structural and ideological constraints of a formal political party will not make it easy for a grassroots movement to flourish as such, and its creation must be sure to not marginalize the different voices that make it as powerful as it is today.  We can find a rough outline of the overall principles that a peoples political party might espouse in a publication called the “Popular Voice: The New Democracy Movement”.  In the latest edition a minimal political program for a national direction was outlined as follows: 

"We believe that this minimal program must be considered a historical stage, and that the struggle for power must be an instrument to unify, organize, and mobilize the different sectors of the people.
A new type of state must be an expression of all forces involved in the transformation of the nation, it must propel the development and welfare of the majority, and it must guarantee national independence and sovereignty.  It must be a modern state with the ability to put into practice its objectives.

A new type of society refers to a democratic and developed society, more egalitarian, compassionate, fair, and transparent.

The contents would include:
-A rupture with the neoliberal model and the establishment of a new type of development
-The exercise of sovereignty of the state over resources and strategic sectors of the economy
-The deepening of democratic development by way of direct citizen participation in the decisions that affect the interests of the nation and the majorities
-The improvement of the material conditions of life for the people by way of access to the means of production, goods, and services
-Each of these contents comprises a set of specific actions
-Later, the platform of demands of each social sector must be updated

This minimal program gives us insight into what a FNRP political platform may look like, and it can be seen as a valuable contribution to the continuing formalization of the peoples struggle here in Honduras. 
The people’s movement in Honduras has reached a crossroad, and the direction it chooses is vital for its eventual realization.  The last five months have proved that the oligarchy will take violent measures to maintain power and to stifle the voices of the people, and for this reason the road ahead will be a long and arduous one.  But it is clear that it must continue in order to bring about the profound change of society that the masses clearly desire – a desire that has really been made clear to me through my experiences here over the last couple of weeks.  As much as this is an independent struggle of the people of Honduras, it is just as much a struggle for the people of the world.  The struggle for equality, democracy, and human rights in Honduras represents a global struggle, and only in solidarity will we be victorious.