Amid ongoing violence in Honduras, police are reportedly torturing people at a national stadium. Many see in this situation memories of Augusto Pinochet’s regime, says Adrienne Pine of American University in Cairo.
Police in Honduras have clashed with supporters of ousted president Manuel Zelaya, who has returned to his country's capital. Riot police had to use used tear gas to break up the rally.
At the moment, Zelaya is staying at the Brazilian embassy after that country promised to provide him with safe accommodations. His supporters staged demonstrations outside the embassy, ignoring a curfew imposed by the government.
Leaders at the UN have universally condemned the military coup and the ongoing violence, which some experts believe may escalate.
“There is more violence and it’s all going in one direction – it’s from the state against the people of Honduras. And the symbolism is terrifying, in fact what they are doing right now is rounding people up and bringing them to the national baseball stadium where there have been reports of torturing those people being detained. And this is a direct reference to Pinochet’s Chile and everybody in Latin America is quite aware of what’s going on,” says Adrienne Pine, an assistant professor at American University in Cairo.