Tegucigalpa, July 5 (RHC)-- In Honduras, teachers and students are renewing protests across the Central American country in favor of public healthcare and education services.  The protests continued on Friday amid police violence and repression, reported local media.

The Platform for the Defense of Health and Education, which convoked the demonstrations, said the government had intensified the repression and harassment against the teachers who went back to work, especially the ones involved in the struggle for better education.

Students and teachers organized a sit-in at the Technical Institute of El Carrizal de Comayagüela and at the Central Institute Vicente Cacerey.  Honduran police cracked down on the sit-in with teargas, according to reports from teleSUR.

On Tuesday, the Interamerican Commission of Human Rights urged the government to guarantee the right to protest and peaceful gatherings, expressing concern over the police violence deployed in recent weeks, especially on June 17 and 20, when three people were killed and 18 were injured in clashes with the police.

The following week, the National Autonomous University of Honduras was invaded by military police amid massive protests against right-wing President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH).

This endless wave of protests began to unfold on April 26 when the National Congress passed the "Law for Restructuring and Transforming the Health and Education Sectors," a reform backed by the right-wing president which seeks the privatization of health and education facilities.