Continuing the Struggle

Crisna Peña, a social work student in Tegucigalpa, joined the resistance movement in the days following the coup.  She was one of thousands of Hondurans that attempted to reach the Honduras-Nicaragua border in July to welcome constitutional president Manuel Zelaya.  Crisna walked through numerous military roadblocks on her way to the border, enduring the harassment of police and military personnel (“Whore. You’re only in the streets because you don’t have a husband that has sex with you”).

Upon arriving in southern Honduras, Crisna and other peaceful protestors were attacked by the police and military with tear gas, nightsticks and metal rods.  When an illegal 24-hour curfew was instituted, she attempted to avoid arrest by hiding in different homes.  However, Crisna was discovered, arrested and held captive in a soccer stadium for days without food. 

Upon her release she learned that the body of a close friend and fellow protestor, Pedro Magdiel Muñoz - last seen in police custody – had been discovered in a field showing signs of torture.  Crisna knows that the assassination of her friend and her own arrest and torture are actions intended to put an end to the resistance movement.  She vows to continue the struggle for the restoration of Constitutional order in Honduras. 

Taken from testimony given to Witness for Peace Rapid Response Delegation to Honduras, September 6, 2009.