Alliance for Global Justice, December 27th 2018
Edwin Espinal, Raúl Álvarez, Gustavo Cáceres and Edy Valle were detained by US-trained Honduran security forces between December 2017 and February 2018. The four Honduran political prisoners are being held in pre-trial prison as a result of the repression that followed the fraudulent election in which Juan Orlando Hernández was re-elected president, supported by the US government, in violation of the Honduran constitution.
The detention of the four political prisoners is not only consequence of Juan Orlando's corrupt regime. El Pozo and la Tolva, two facilities where political prisoners are being held, are part of an US international prison management program that seeks to expand this model to Latin American penitentiary systems.
Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ) has called this model Prison Imperialism. Our research shows that today 33 countries around the world have embraced the US model of mass incarceration. What we call Prison Imperialism is the exportation of the US model to countries where the US has economic, political or military interests. The Prison Imperialism model contributes to the increase in incarceration rates and inhumane conditions for prisoners, their families and the communities where the model is imposed. In almost two decades of US international prison management programs, at least $22 million have been addressed to a program focused mainly on Central American prisons. El Pozo is one of three maximum-security facilities, created after the 2009 US-backed coup in Honduras, in which the US controlled the design and construction, and loaned the funds to build it. Please, help us to stop US Prison Imperialism model that contributes to human rights abuses in Latin America.
In AFGJ we are conscious that the struggle against Prison Imperialism will not only impact the lives of its victims in Latin America, but will also contribute to the struggle against the prison-industrial complex in the United States. To challenge Prison Imperialism, AFGJ has actively contributed to the liberation of Colombian political prisoners like Liliany Obando, David Ravelo or Hubert Ballesteros, and has led the fight against La Tramacúa, the first facility built under the Prison Imperialism model. In Honduras, our commitment of solidarity has moved AFGJ and the Honduras Solidarity Network to lead the struggle in the US and Canada for the freedom of the four Honduran political prisoners. In Mexico, AFGJ has organized email campaigns to demand the liberty of political prisoners, victims of State violence and political repression. We have also created a list of resources for people to have a better understanding of Prison Imperialism and its consequences locally and internationally. Our commitment of solidarity has also led us to create a list of Prisoners of US Empire and Political Prisoners in the US.
Today, our resistance to Prison Imperialism and US interventionist policies is more important than ever. Please support AFGJ's work against Prison Imperialism with a tax-deductible, year-end contribution. Join our solidarity movement. Each donation will impact the lives of the people and communities with whom we stand in solidarity. We are a grassroots movement that count on you to keep going.