Hillary Clinton's Emails and the Honduras Coup

[Baobab]

http://cepr.net/blogs/the-americas-blog/the-hillary-clinton-emails-and-honduras


Hillary Clinton's Emails and the Honduras Coup

Written by Alexander Main
Published: 23 September 2015


Three batches of Hillary Clinton’s emails have now been released and, though many emails are heavily redacted, we’re starting to get a clearer picture of how Clinton handled major international developments during her tenure at the State Department. One of the first big issues to hit Clinton’s desk was the June 2009 coup d’etat in Honduras that forced democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya into exile. Officially the U.S. joined the rest of the hemisphere in opposing the coup, but Zelaya—who had grown close to radical social movements at home and signed cooperation agreements with Venezuela—wasn’t in the administration’s good books.

The released emails provide a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of how Clinton pursued a contradictory policy of appearing to back the restoration of democracy in Honduras while actually undermining efforts to get Zelaya back into power. The Intercept and other outlets have provided useful analyses of these emails, but there are a number of revealing passages, some in the most recent batch of emails, that haven’t yet received the attention they deserve.

A number of Clinton emails show how, starting shortly after the coup, HRC and her team shifted the deliberations on Honduras from the Organization of American States (OAS)—where Zelaya could benefit from the strong support of left-wing allies throughout the region—to the San José negotiation process in Costa Rica. There, representatives of the coup regime were placed on an equal footing with representatives of Zelaya’s constitutional government, and Costa Rican president Oscar Arias (a close U.S. ally) as mediator. Unsurprisingly, the negotiation process only succeeded in one thing: keeping Zelaya out of office for the rest of his constitutional mandate. .....

Truncated- see original URL

[Jarqui]

1. The Coup in Honduras and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections

Anarticle with some links and concise but decent video below that focuses on distinguishing Cliton and Sanders positions on Honduras
http://cepr.net/blogs/the-americas-blog/how-hillary-clinton-helped-create-a-bloodbath-in-honduras

[flamingdem]

2. Not just violence but violence against teachers, journalists, union leaders,

and anyone belonging to the civil society of Honduras that's now in ruins.

Her justification was Zelaya's relationship with Chavez for the most part.

Yet she wants credit for the opening to Cuba, I wonder what her requirements were for that to happen.

[notadmblnd]

3. And if you like that, you might like this: Hillary’s Bones – A Coup Tutorial

By Frank Wisner, web.archive.org
View Original http://web.archive.org/web/20130313211841/http://www.feralscholar.org/blog/index.php/2010/09/30/hillarys-bones-a-coup-tutorial/
September 30th, 2010

Introduction to a Different Story

This is a story, based on some facts… different than the stories we hear from the media. Facts can be arranged to make a story. The media had one story. This is another.

On June 28th, 2009, President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was dragged out of bed in his pajamas by Honduran soldiers, bound and beaten , flown out of Honduras using the US military’s Soto Cano airfield, and sent into exile. There was immediate and universal condemnation of the coup, including from the United States. President Barack Obama condemned the coup. So did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The story faded from the news. The Hondurans had some kind of election. Everything is okay now.

[Nitram]

4. Clinton's emails may appear contradictory because the coup had contrdictory elements.

The U.S. is prohibited by law from assisting a government installed by coup. At the same time, the deposed leader attempted to become eligible for a second term by doing away with a constitutional prohibition of even proposing a second term. I'd say she did a good job treading a very fine line. As any diplomat must.