Bernard Martínez Valerio (born 19 January 1962) is

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

and

Garifuna The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian ...

leader who was a candidate for the

Innovation and Unity Party The Innovation and Unity Party—Social Democracy ( es, Partido Innovación y Unidad Social Demócrata, PINU-SD) is a social democratic political party in Honduras, established in 1970. PINU was created by Miguel Andonie Fernández as a democr ...

(PINU) in the Honduran 2009 presidential election. He was formerly a member of the Honduran Patriotic Front (FPH).

Candidature in 2009 presidential election

Bernard Martínez stood as a candidate for PINU in the 2009 presidential election in Honduras, which was held on 29 November 2009. Bernard Martínez sees the

(PINU) as being labelled "social-democratic" in relation to the concepts of

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...

and solidarity, that he attributes to

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

. In relation to the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, Martínez stated that

Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya/ref> is a Honduran politician who was President of Honduras from 27 January 2006 until 28 June 2009, and who since January 2022 serves as the first Fir ...

had carried out his project for constitutional reform with "disorder and indiscipline", that led to his failure and removal. He stated that reforms to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

were necessary within the mechanisms established by that same constitution. He supported the interim government of Roberto Micheletti. Martínez said that the "bipartisan" dominance of Honduras by the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and the National Party had done more ill than good and that by their poor policies and support for corruption, they are responsible for poverty. PINU stated that Martínez was the "first black presidential candidate" in Honduras. Martínez said that the term "Honduran

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

" used by some media to describe him was an innovation by journalists and not his own point of view.

References

1962 births Garifuna people Living people Innovation and Unity Party politicians Candidates for President of Honduras {{Honduras-politician-stub