TORONTO - About 100 placard-waving protesters marched and chanted outside the U.S. consulate Saturday to demand the U.S. government stop lending legitimacy to the coup in Honduras.
The Latin American Solidarity Network said the U.S. should cut all aid to the "illegal government" in Honduras and work towards the immediate restoration of democratically elected Manuel Zelaya to the Honduran presidency.
"We're protesting U.S. complicity in the coup," said rally co-ordinator Luis Granados Ceja. "No real action has been taken by the U.S. state department."
Ceja said the U.S. policy of facilitating negotiations between the coup regime and Zelaya only serves to legitimize the coup leaders.
Zelaya was overthrown in a military coup in June and was threatened with arrest by the new government if he set foot in the country again.
Rival sides in the Honduran political crisis are holding talks in Costa Rica, where Zelaya is currently in exile.
Honduran native Jose Martinez was present during the coup and shared his experiences with those gathered at Saturday's rally.
"It was a bad experience because we were repressed with tear gas and bombs," Martinez said. "I was picking up people wounded in the streets."
Martinez, who is a Canadian citizen, travelled to Honduras as an international observer during the country's elections.
"We're protesting against the U.S. government because they are behind this coup taking place in Honduras," he said. "That's why they haven't condemned the coup."
Earlier in the week, a similar group of protesters rallied outside the offices of Conservative MP Peter Kent, who is minister of state for foreign affairs in the Americas.
"The most important thing is to get public awareness about the issue," said Ceja.
The group will continue to organize similar rallies as long as the illegal government is in place, he added.
The Toronto rally was one of several simultaneous protests that took place Saturday in cities across the country.
