Interim Honduran leader resists diplomats' pleas

[L. Coyote]

Source: Associated Press = By BEN FOX (AP) – 25 minutes ago

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — .... Wednesday's negotiations began behind closed doors with representatives of Zelaya and the interim government in the Honduran capital, but exploded into the open later in the day with a televised confrontation between Micheletti and the foreign envoys in the presidential palace.

Micheletti, his voice bristling with rage, scolded the diplomats for refusing to recognize what he insisted was the lawful removal of Zelaya under the Honduran constitution and for isolating his country and suspending aid to one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

"You don't know the truth or you don't want to know it," Micheletti said. "You don't want to know what happened before June 28."

...........

The diplomats sat stone-faced, a few rubbing their eyes in apparent fatigue during his outburst. Canada's minister of state for the Americas, Peter Kent, told Micheletti that the international community respects the Honduran constitution, but it oppose the military's ouster of Zelaya .......

..........

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9B70CQ00

---

Micheletti is getting very nervous. Must be a worrisome thing for the leader of a coup, to have to face the loss of power and then to have to face responsibility for the actions of the coup!

How many murders so far, Mr. Micheletti?

[L. Coyote]

1. Honduras President Zelaya meets with OAS General Secretary Jose Miguel Insulza

Slide Show: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9B70CQ00?index=3&ned=us
(AP Photos/Esteban Felix)

Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya, center, and Jose Miguel Insulza, left, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, OAS, attend a meeting with diplomats inside the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, Wednesday, Oct 7, 2009. Diplomats from throughout the hemisphere converged Wednesday on Honduras to resolve a standoff that has left the Central American country with two presidents, a capital scarred by protests and a divided population.

============
OAS Urges Both Sides in Honduras to Reach Accord
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2009/october/08/centralamerica-091008-03.htm

TEGUCIGALPA – Talks between representatives of ousted Honduran President Mel Zelaya and the de facto regime led by Roberto Micheletti began on Wednesday under a warning from the Organization of American States that time is running out for a solution to the crisis sparked by the June 28 military coup.

The consequences of failure would be “profoundly negative” for the Central American nation, OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said in his speech opening the dialogue.

Honduras, he said, must “return to the democratic institutionalism that reigned” prior to the putsch and thus, free itself of the sanctions reluctantly imposed on Tegucigalpa by the OAS and the international community.

Insulza is heading a delegation of diplomats and officials from the OAS, Spain and the United Nations who are hoping to accomplish what two previous mediation efforts by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias could not: persuade the Micheletti regime to accept Zelaya’s reinstatement. .............

[Peace Patriot]

8. "...a standoff that has left the Central American country with two presidents,...

a capital scarred by protests and a divided population." --Associated Pukes

Honduras does not have two presidents. Mel Zelaya is the ONLY elected president of Honduras.

Honduras' capital is not "scarred by protests." It is glorified by protests, in which the amazingly brave Honduran people have faced beatings, arrest, torture and even murder, as well as tear-gas attacks, the tires of their buses getting shot out, numerous road blocks and military checkpoints, and other abuse and deprivation of their rights, in order to keep protesting this coup and demanding reform of their country for nearly four months now. Those "scars" are badges of courage"!

A "divided population"? Yeah, there are always a lot of Vichy types around. We had lots of them in our own revolution. But, according to the most reputable poll imaginable (certified by the government)--reported by NarcoNews today--opposition to the coup is at 60%. And that's with a Junta shutdown of the opposition media--so people can't get information--and with some 15 deaths and other intimidating and bullying crimes by the Junta (--I think we can safely figure that a lot of people kept their lips zipped, when the pollster knocked on the door). And that is also a credit to the resistance movement and their protests which have "scarred" the capitol.

Beware of AP's "framing" of the 'news' ("two presidents," etc.)

[rabs]

18. Golpistas stoop to being peeking toms

The mierdaletti government has set up hydraulic platforms to spy on the people in the Brazilian Embassy.

Lula da Silva is gonna be pissed.









(Fotos from Agence France Presse)

[Judi Lynn]

37. We started hearing reports Saturday they have converted these platforms

to perches for snipers who are shooting into the embassy!

Hope the people inside anticipated this dual use for the platforms.

[Braulio]

38. Sounds like BS to me

Shooting into the embassy? LOL.

[Judi Lynn]

39. We also learned this from a delegation of Americans. Nice flipping try. n/t

[EFerrari]

2. Good Let him throw as many trantrums as possible.

He's not as brave dealing with lawmakers as he is ordering the beatings of women protesters.

[L. Coyote]

3. Honduran Leader Sets Condition To Step Down, only if Coup can continue WTF!

Has Micheletti been reading Karl Rove's reference work on politics, "Up IS Down"? :rofl:
Where do they find these rabbit holes? And why do they keep falling down them?

The idea of having a coup leader step down is so the elected President and democracy can be restored! HELLO BOZO! No so he can be permanently deposed. MORANS?

==========
Honduran Leader Sets Condition To Step Down
10/08/09 05:31 am (EST) - http://www.forextv.com/Forex/News/ShowStory.jsp?seq=1088342&category=Political+News


(RTTNews) - Three months after grabbing power, Robert Micheletti, the de facto leader of Honduras, said he was willing to step down only if deposed President Manuel Zelaya who faces abuse of power and other charges agreed to give up his claim to the presidency.

"If I'm an obstacle, I will step aside, but if I do, I demand this man moves to one side," Micheletti said.

A spokesperson for the interim government said if this condition was agreeable, a place to start the dialogue could be found .........

[EFerrari]

4. LOl! "Este macho es mi mulo aun que tenga cachos!"

:rofl:
Edit: For people who don't read Spanish, that's an aphorism my grandmother used to say and I'm not sure it translates. It speaks to unreasonable stubbornness despite reality not agreeing with you.

[L. Coyote]

6. That male is such a mule even though he has horns.

Grandma's version may hint of the devil! :rofl:

"Some people just don't recognize their predicament" would be a very liberal transliteration.
"There's a bull who doesn't know he's not a mule" would suffice more literally. I like what this hints of :rofl: BS.

[EFerrari]

9. I guess the mula part and the cachos part evoked Mierdaletti for me.

:evilgrin:

[roody]

31. Are cachos horns?

[L. Coyote]

36. Yes, and "cachudo" can be a personal insult :-) El Cachudo is the devil.

[L. Coyote]

5. Honduras talks struggle with issue of Zelaya return

Honduras talks struggle with issue of Zelaya return
Thu Oct 8, 2009 12:48pm EDT - http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5974DV20091008


TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Envoys for Honduras' de facto leaders and ousted President Manuel Zelaya resumed talks on Thursday to end a post-coup crisis, but were far from agreement on the key issue of returning the leftist to power.

.....

The OAS mission and Zelaya's camp insist he must return to office in order to end sanctions against Honduras and legitimize presidential elections set for November 29.

De facto leader Roberto Micheletti says Zelaya should "stop insisting" he must retake the presidency and has criticized the diplomats who support his return.

"We are very pessimistic, we don't see any positive feeling in the position of the coup leaders," said Juan Barahona, one of three members of Zelaya's delegation at the talks.

"They are not considering the restitution of Zelaya," he told Reuters.

.......... The envoys are due to leave Honduras later on Thursday, leaving lower level officials to observe the negotiations.

[L. Coyote]

7. Obstructionist GOP Lawmakers Reach Out to Isolated Honduran Government

"We've seen these power-hungry leaders of South and Central America take command and never let go ..." Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (GOPista, FL)
Geeeezz, who does that sound like? :rofl:

=====================
By Mary Beth Sheridan - Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 8, 2009; 1:45 PM - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100802288.html


In the three months since soldiers expelled Honduras's leftist president, the Obama administration and the rest of the world have shunned the Central American country, cutting off aid and travel visas. But the isolated Honduran leadership has found one lifeline: Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Within days of President Manuel Zelaya's ouster June 28, powerful Hondurans launched a lobbying campaign in Washington, arguing that the leftist leader had been a menace to their country. The Honduran government and its allies have spent at least half a million dollars on public-relations experts and lobbyists from both parties -- including Lanny Davis, a lawyer who worked in President Bill Clinton's White House.

Although the Hondurans haven't succeeded in reversing U.S. policy, their arguments have found favor with some Republicans. GOP lawmakers have blocked two of Obama's key nominations for Latin America, weakening his diplomatic team. ....

"We've seen these power-hungry leaders of South and Central America take command and never let go. It's a worrisome trend," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.). She is a longtime critic of Chavez, but other Republicans who have attacked the U.S. policy have little or no experience in the region. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), for example, is an outspoken Obama foe who had never been to Latin America before leading a delegation to Honduras on Oct. 2.

.... "It's about the Republicans using what they can to attack the administration," said Julia Sweig, a Latin American expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. ...........

[Peace Patriot]

10. "...the international community respects the Honduran Constitution." --Peter Kent

Yeah, but the Junta SUSPENDED it! And they have NOT restored it!

All civil and human rights have been nixed, in Honduras, at the stroke of a golpista pen!

WTF is this rightwing Canadian talking about? "...respect for the Constitution," blah, blah, blah.

How many people has Zelaya murdered? How many people has Zelaya tortured? How many people has Zelaya thrown in prison for exercising their rights of free speech and assembly? How many political prisoners has he held without trial? How many people has he beaten and raped? How many homes has he invaded? How many Hondurans has he exiled, in express violation of the Honduran Constitution?

WHO doesn't respect the Honduran Constitution?! THE JUNTA! So, why is Peter Kent pretending that they do?

All Zelaya wanted was a VOTE, for godssakes! And an advisory vote at that--on badly needed, fundamental reform in Honduras (an elected constitutional convention). WHO doesn't respect the current Constitution (which certainly does allow such a vote)? Who doesn't respect the rule of law, and, what is more, the will of the people?

Any Constitution that doesn't allow discussion and revision of the Constitution is ridiculous. A Constitution is the law to which the people assent, and if they don't assent, time for a re-write! That's so basic, as to seem kind of silly to have to say it. And in fact the current Honduran Constitution does permit amendment--as it should. The Constitutional revision proposal didn't just come from Zelaya (as if that would be bad), it came from the teachers' union and other labor unions, human rights groups and many grass roots groups. Zelaya was listening to them--listening to the people--in agreeing to champion it. And his reward? Exile! (--which the current Constitution forbids!)

And any Constitution that limits the president to ONE term (4 years) is asking for an unelected oligarchy to rule the country. In truth, that is very likely the reason that Reagan's henchmen put this provision in the Honduran Constitution--to prevent a popular president (an FDR type) from ever achieving sufficient power to challenge the oligarchy or the powerful military (trained at the "School of the Americas" and by the US military in Honduras). Zelaya did NOT propose lifting his term limit! And he could not have benefited from what he DID propose (a Constitutional convention). But if he had proposed lifting the term limit, so what? The Honduran Constitution's ban on even DISCUSSING lifting the term limit inherently contradicts the Constitution's guarantee of free speech. It is a fascist provision. It should be removed.

[L. Coyote]

11. No doubt Peter Kent wanted to say all you just said, but he is a diplomat.

By saying they respect the Honduras Constitution he is slapping Micheletti in the face in a subtle way.
He is saying that all the nations on the planet oppose suspending the Honduras Constitution and want Zelay back in place.

Excellent diatribe. I'm sure our readers in Honduras are enjoying it. And Peter Kent too.

[boppers]

22. Wait, what?

"And any Constitution that limits the president to ONE term (4 years) is asking for an unelected oligarchy to rule the country...Zelaya did NOT propose lifting his term limit!"

So, Zeleya was asking for an unelected oligarchy?

[L. Coyote]

12. AP = Diplomats leave; talks go on in Honduras crisis

Diplomats leave; talks go on in Honduras crisis
By BEN FOX (AP) – 1 hour ago - http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9B78I580

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Diplomats pushed the two sides of the Honduran political conflict into direct talks for the first time in nearly three months, but left the country Thursday with no commitment from the coup-installed government to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Members of the delegation sponsored by the Organization of American States characterized the result of their one-day visit — the establishment of a "table of dialogue" and an agenda for the talks — as a positive step even though the rivals appeared as far apart as ever.

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno said representatives of Zelaya and the government of interim President Roberto Micheletti agreed to discuss the main international proposal for resolving the crisis and will have "logistical" support from OAS staff left behind.

..............

"The truth is they don't want a solution," 50-year-old protester Maritza Burgos said of the interim government. "They want to be in power, stay in power and keep President Manuel Zelaya, the only Honduran president, from getting back in office."

.........

[L. Coyote]

13. NATION: Honduran Coup Regime in Crisis

Honduran Coup Regime in Crisis
By Greg Grandin - October 8, 2009 - http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091026/grandin


How long can the Honduran crisis drag on, with President Manuel Zelaya, ousted in a military coup more than three months ago, trapped in Tegucigalpa's Brazilian Embassy? Well, in early 1949 in Peru, Víctor Haya de la Torre--one of last century's most important Latin American politicians--sought asylum in the Colombian Embassy in Lima, also following a military coup. There he remained for nearly six years, playing chess, baking cakes for the embassy staff's children and writing books. Soldiers surrounded the building for the duration, with Peru's authoritarian regime ignoring calls from the international community to end the siege, which was condemned by the Washington Post as a "canker in hemisphere relations."

So far Roberto Micheletti, installed by the coup as president, is showing the same obstinacy. ....

..........

The government has suspended civil liberties and shut down independent sources of news, including the TV station Cholusat Sur and Radio Globo. In response to rolling protests throughout Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, security forces continue to round up demonstrators, holding some of the detained in soccer stadiums--evoking Chile in 1973, after Augusto Pinochet's junta overthrew Salvador Allende, when security forces turned Santiago's National Stadium into a torture chamber. The Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH) says Hondurans are indeed being tortured, burned with cigarettes and sodomized by batons, and that some of the torturers are veterans of Battalion 316, an infamous Honduran death squad from the 1980s. Police and soldiers raided the offices of the National Agrarian Institute, capturing dozens of peasant activists who had been occupying the building. Police also fired tear gas into COFADEH's office, which at the time was filled with about a hundred people, many of them women and children, denouncing the repression that had earlier taken place in front of the embassy. "Honduras risks spiraling into a state of lawlessness, where police and military act with no regard for human rights or the rule of law," said Susan Lee, Americas director at Amnesty International.

Back at the embassy, Honduran troops have tormented Zelaya and his accompaniers, including the Catholic priest Father Andres Tamayo, with tear gas, other chemical weapons and sonic devices that emit high-pitched and extreme-pain-inducing sounds. This high-tech assault has largely been ignored by the international media, though George W. Bush's former ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, told Fox News that Zelaya's description of this harassment indicated "delusional behavior."

Fourteen people--all opposed to the coup--have been murdered ................

[Judi Lynn]

17. Just saw your post. Greg Grandin is exceptional.

Plan to read his article later tonight.

Thank you for the material in this thread.

[L. Coyote]

14. U.N. Experts Concerned Colombia Fighters In Honduras

U.N. Experts Concerned Colombia Fighters In Honduras
REUTERS - October 9, 2009 - http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/09/world/international-us-honduras-mercenaries.html


GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights experts voiced concern Friday at reports that former paramilitaries from Colombia had been recruited to protect wealthy people and property in Honduras after that country's military coup.

The U.N. working group on the use of mercenaries said "information available to date" suggested that land-owners hired 40 former members of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia as guards after violence erupted between supporters of the de facto government and backers of deposed President Manuel Zelaya.

They also cited reports that 120 paramilitaries from several neighboring countries had been brought in to support the late-June coup that has triggered Central America's worst crisis in years.

"We urge the Honduran authorities to take all practical measures to prevent the use of mercenaries within its territory and to fully investigate allegations concerning their presence and activities," the five independent experts said in a joint statement issued in Geneva.

Honduras has signed an international convention barring the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenary fighters ........

..........

[L. Coyote]

15. VIDEO: Honduran media used for pro-coup propaganda

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x385640

[L. Coyote]

16. Honduras police break up protests at site of talks

Honduras police break up protests at site of talks
By BEN FOX (AP) – 1 hour ago - http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9B7QJ580


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Police fired tear gas and a water cannon Friday at protesters outside a hotel where talks on behalf of rival claimants to the Honduran presidency showed little sign of progress.

.... Pro-Zelaya protest leader Juan Barahona, one of the six negotiators, told The Associated Press on Friday that no progress had been made on the central issue — the return of Zelaya to office to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in January.

................ Outside the Clarion Hotel, approximately 200 protesters demanding the Zelaya's reinstatement fled and then regrouped several times as police fired volleys of tear gas canisters from a line of dozens of officers in riot gear blocking the entrance of the hotel. Police finally chased off the demonstrators with a water cannon mounted on an armored vehicle.

..... Natalie Roque came equipped with a mask to cover her nose and mouth.

"The gases hurt but we've grown used to it after 104 days of violent repression," said the 26-year-old.........

[L. Coyote]

19. AP Breaking Update: = Major gains reported in Honduran crisis talks

Major gains reported in Honduran crisis talks
(AP) – 56 minutes ago - http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9B7T01O0


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Both sides in the Honduran political crisis are reporting progress as negotiatiors take a break for the weekend in their effort to resolve the standoff over the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.

A negotiator for the government of interim President Roberto Micheletti says the two sides have agreed on "many points" and "important points." Vilma Morales declines to discuss any details, noting to reporters Friday that the parties have agreed not to reveal specifics about the talks.

Zelaya negotiator Mayra Mejia also says there has been "substantial" progress, but fellow Zelaya negotiator Juan Barahona stresses there has been no agreement on whether the ousted president can resume his office.

The talks are scheduled to resume Tuesday. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

...............

[rabs]

20. Well, the AP has gone to the expense of sending a reporter

to Tegucigalpa and he has to send SOMETHING.

But as long as Zelaya is not restored to the presidency, everything else no significa nada.

--------------------------------
... fellow Zelaya negotiator Juan Barahona stresses there has been no agreement on whether the ousted president can resume his office

[L. Coyote]

21. It has been interesting to follow Ben Fox's reports This one lacked his byline.

You make a very important point. Where will this really go when they got all the guns?
How will there ever be Justice for those killed when you have to dialogue with the killers?
Listening to their demands for amnesty instead of just arresting them is not Justice.

[excess_3]

23. Obama's plan? to run out the clock?, ..election, Nov. 29

seems promising.

[L. Coyote]

24. You realize the US position is to not recognize the election if democracy is not restored.

Not to mention every other country except maybe one share this position, along with the OAS, the UN, and everyone else on the planet except the people Sen. Jim DeMint talks to.

It is impossible to give credibility to the election at this point because the junta suspended the Constitution and dismantled liberal media. The junta made the situation far worse in terms of what must now be accomplished to repair the electoral situation. The clock just got moved forward as opposed to running out longer!

[excess_3]

28. cite ? .nt

[L. Coyote]

29. It has been in the news constantly

http://www.google.com/search?q=obama+zelaya

http://news.google.com/news?q=obama+honduras+election&oi=news_group

Defying Obama, Republican Senator Making Honduras Trip
CBS News - Sergey Kadinsky - ‎Oct 2, 2009‎

Under current Honduran law, neither Micheletti nor Zelaya are eligible to run. The State Department said that it will not recognize the election......

[EFerrari]

32. Here's one:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a2eFCeRCVn.Y

[Braulio]

33. If they have election, then democracy has been restored

It's fairly easy to see that, if they hold elections, then democracy will have been restored.

Many nations are already prepared to recognize the newly elected President and Congress as soon as they take over. Zelaya's return will be moot at that point, because the Honduran Constitution makes it impossible for him to rule again.

So the question from now on is how to make sure the elections are credible. Since all the top candidates are running in an anti Zelaya/Rodas platform, then it's fairly easy to see what will happen - Zelaya will be given a kindly boot to Brazil, and things will return to normal.

[L. Coyote]

25. Another Day for Honduran Coupsters: Break-Ins and Embassy Sniper Fire

Another Day for Honduran Coupsters: Break-Ins and Embassy Sniper Fire
Press Release - http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/4857-antoher-day-for-honduran-coupsters-break-ins-and-embassy-sniper-fire-.html
Friday, 09 October 2009 15:23

HONDURAS UPDATE DAY #104 OF THE COUP
by IFCO / Pastors for Peace


THE PEOPLE OF HONDURAS URGENTLY NEED OUR SUPPORT!!! They continue to be in resistance to the brutal and illegal coup regime in Honduras. Thousands of courageous Hondurans are in the streets every day demonstrating for the restoration of democracy, even in the face of massive repression by the coup regime.

President Zelaya, along with 313 of his supporters, is still holed up in the Brazilian Embassy. But the US government still has not taken a strong stand against the coup.

While other nations around the world have condemned the coup in Honduras, President Obama talks about mutual respect among nations, but does nothing to condemn the gross miscarriage of justice and constitutional law in Honduras.

1) GUNFIRE INTO THE BRAZILIAN EMBASSY: Radio Globo from Honduras is just now reporting that snipers have been shooting into the Brazilian Embassy where President Zelaya and 313 others have taken refuge. We do not yet have word about injuries.

2) BREAK-IN AT THE GARIFUNA HOSPITAL: The Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH) reports that 15 soldiers and "preventive police" of the coup regime broke into the Garifuna Hospital of Ciriboya at 5:00am on October 6. The military entered the hospital through a window, using the pretext that they were engaging in a anti-narcotics operation.

The Garifuna Hospital of Ciriboya is the center of the Luagu Hatuadi Waduhenu project, the first-ever hospital and health network in Honduras' Atlantic Coast region, founded by Dr Luther Castillo. The coup government recently downgraded the status of the Garifuna Hospital from hospital to simple health center, to the detriment of the local Garifuna and indigenous population.

The break-in is seen as a message to the Garifuna community because of their active participation in the resistance against the coup, as well as an example of the racism of the coup regime. OFRANEH contends that, while narcotrafficking has been a problem in the Atlantic Coast region, the problem can be traced to certain wealthy elites who operate with impunity from their African palm plantations - NOT TO THE HOSPITAL. "The only thing this hospital can be accused of is that we've provided health care to 300,000 people," said Dr Castillo.

"It is unheard of that one of the paradigms of community health across our continent should suffer the aggression of a government made up of a crew of mercenaries at the service of the US Southern Command and the banana, telephone, and oil corporations who want to preserve the status quo in Honduras," declared OFRANEH.

3) The 10/8/09 New York Times reports that lobbyists for the Honduran coup have already spent more than $400,000 in Washington. Some of the lobbying firms have close ties to Secretary of State Clinton and to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Key Republicans are urging the Obama administration to lift all sanctions against the coup government. "Several former high-ranking officials who were responsible for overseeing US policy in Central America in the 1980s and '90s... - including Otto Reich, Roger Noriega, and Daniel W. Fisk - view Honduras as the principal battleground in a proxy fight with Cuba and Venezuela..."

We want to be clear that this is not just an ideological 'proxy fight,' but rather a brutal violation of the rights and sovereignty of the Honduran people. Our neighbor nation is at a standstill; many lives have been lost, and many more are at risk. Reich, Noriega, Negroponte and others who had a hand in initiating this coup are trying to punish President Zelaya for being too friendly with progressive governments in the region. While President Obama talks about a US foreign policy based in "mutual respect," these former functionaries of the Reagan/Bush administrations are operating as rogue agents, trying to impose the agenda of the US right wing (as was done in Haiti, in Guatemala, in Chile), and showing a total lack of respect for Honduras' democratic process.

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:
ASK YOUR REP TO SIGN ON TO REP GRIJALVA'S LETTER ABOUT HONDURAS! Rep Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, has taken leadership on this issue by writing several strong letters to President Obama. His current letter urges the Obama administration to "clearly and unequivocally reject and denounce the repression by this illegitimate regime," to state that the elections planned for November "cannot and will not be considered free and fair by our government," and to "step up its efforts to bring about a prompt restoration of democracy in Honduras."

Ask your representative in the House to sign on to Rep Grijalva's letter - and let him/her know that we OPPOSE the coup in Honduras, and that the US must be on the side of democracy and constitutional process in Honduras - not on the side of the thugs and murderers perpetrating this illegal coup.

CALL CONGRESS! CALL THE WHITE HOUSE! CALL THE STATE DEPARTMENT! Demand that they stop the violence and bring about an end to the coup!

Congressional switchboard: 202/225-3121
President Barack Obama 202/456-1111 www.whitehouse.gov
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: 202/647-9572 [e-mail]

[L. Coyote]

26. Obama’s test: Democracy or chaos in Latin America By Ramzy Baroud

Obama’s test: Democracy or chaos in Latin America
By Ramzy Baroud - http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=205194


Latin America stands at the threshold of a new era: one that promises a return to political uncertainty, violence and chaos or one of political stability and economic prosperity. Honduras is a crucial indicator.

.... as Clinton promised a return to Asia, the Obama administration attempted a return to Latin America as well, a region that is significantly different from yesteryear, as a new form of popular socialism was taking hold (in Venezuela, Bolivia, and elsewhere) without wholly disturbing the economic patterns that long governed these countries. While many didn’t welcome President Hugo Chavez’s outspokenness, few in Latin America, except for a few remaining U.S. allies, considered him a threat. To the contrary, the new age has promised greater cooperation among all economic sectors between Latin American countries than any other period in the past. A new Latin America was making its debut, more equitable than before, politically stable, and economically promising, if not, in some cases, prosperous.

Indeed, the U.S. returned to a different reality, a return that, at first was welcomed, even by Chavez himself. Obama spoke a language that soothed much fears and fostered a sense of promise.

“At times we sought to dictate our terms. But I pledge to you that we seek an equal partnership. There is no senior partner and junior partner in our relations; there is simply engagement based on mutual respect and common interests and shared values,” declared Obama on April 19, at the Summit of the Americas, to the pleasure and relief of his audience.

Did that mean no more coups, military interventions, economic sanctions, political intimidation and all forms of coercion that defined much of the two hemispheres’ relationship of many years? Certainly, Latin American leaders, or most of them, hoped so.

But then, the democratically elected President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya was overthrown on June 28. It was a classic Latin American junta move. The popular leader was escorted in his pajamas and deported to another country. The coup leader, Roberto Micheletti lead a series of draconian measures, .................

[Braulio]

34. I think that means Obama doesn't think he's World Emperor

Which is fine with me. I'm tired of dumb Americans strutting around telling everybody else how to do things. Let the Americans stay home, keep their noses out of other nation's business. Incuding Honduras.

[L. Coyote]

27. Get tough on Honduras coup perpetrators = by New Democratic Party of Canada

Get tough on Honduras coup perpetrators
Oct 7th, 2009 - http://www.canadaviews.ca/2009/10/07/get-tough-on-honduras-coup-perpetrators/
article by New Democratic Party of Canada


OTTAWA – The Canadian government has failed to exert any concrete diplomatic pressure on the de facto government of Honduras in order to end the political crisis. New Democrats call on the government to announce targeted economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Honduran coup perpetrators.

“The situation in Honduras is worsening and the authorities have yet to sign onto the San José plan to resolve the stand-off,” said New Democrat Foreign Affairs Critic Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre). “Canada is lacking the diplomatic will to defend the rights and freedoms of the Honduran people”.

Dewar expressed disappointment that today’s statement from the government did not include any new diplomatic initiatives to pressure the Honduran authorities. In his response, Dewar called on the government to suspend all military cooperation with Honduras and put in place targeted economic and diplomatic sanctions against the coup perpetrators. The United States has already taken similar steps to increase the pressure on the de facto government of Honduras.

Dewar also warned that the coup’s success will set a dangerous precedent against democratic development in the region.

........

[Braulio]

35. Canada to cut off maple syrup exports to Honduras

As a sign of their newly found toughness, the Canadian government will soon announce the suspension of maple syrup exports to Honduras, as well as the cancellation of visas for any Hondurans associated with the coup.

When told about this measure, interim President Michelletti sniffed: "They can keep their maple syrup, we can get Aunt Jemima via Israel". He added: "I blame Canada for this mess, it's all a canuck conspiracy".

[L. Coyote]

30. LATEST Compilation Continues HERE:

Honduras de facto leader further restricts media
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4098508

[Judi Lynn]

40. (... Economic Hitman) John Perkins - Honduras: Military Coup Engineered By Two US Companies?

Honduras: Military Coup Engineered By Two US Companies?

By John Perkins

August 07, 2009
"Information Clearing House"

-- I recently visited Central America. Everyone I talked with there was convinced that the military coup that had overthrown the democratically-elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, had been engineered by two US companies, with CIA support. And that the US and its new president were not standing up for democracy.

Earlier in the year Chiquita Brands International Inc. (formerly United Fruit) and Dole Food Co had severely criticized Zelaya for advocating an increase of 60% in Honduras’s minimum wage, claiming that the policy would cut into corporate profits. They were joined by a coalition of textile manufacturers and exporters, companies that rely on cheap labor to work in their sweatshops.

Memories are short in the US, but not in Central America. I kept hearing people who claimed that it was a matter of record that Chiquita (United Fruit) and the CIA had toppled Guatemala’s democratically-elected president Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 and that International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT), Henry Kissinger, and the CIA had brought down Chile’s Salvador Allende in 1973. These people were certain that Haiti’s president Jean-Bertrand Aristide had been ousted by the CIA in 2004 because he proposed a minimum wage increase, like Zelaya’s.

I was told by a Panamanian bank vice president, “Every multinational knows that if Honduras raises its hourly rate, the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean will have to follow. Haiti and Honduras have always set the bottom line for minimum wages. The big companies are determined to stop what they call a ‘leftist revolt’ in this hemisphere. In throwing out Zelaya they are sending frightening messages to all the other presidents who are trying to raise the living standards of their people.”
It did not take much imagination to envision the turmoil sweeping through every Latin American capital. There had been a collective sign of relief at Barack Obama’s election in the U.S., a sense of hope that the empire in the North would finally exhibit compassion toward its southern neighbors, that the unfair trade agreements, privatizations, draconian IMF Structural Adjustment Programs, and threats of military intervention would slow down and perhaps even fade away. Now, that optimism was turning sour.

The cozy relationship between Honduras’s military coup leaders and the corporatocracy were confirmed a couple of days after my arrival in Panama. England’s The Guardian ran an article announcing that “two of the Honduran coup government's top advisers have close ties to the US secretary of state. One is Lanny Davis, an influential lobbyist who was a personal lawyer for President Bill Clinton and also campaigned for Hillary. . . The other hired gun for the coup government that has deep Clinton ties is (lobbyist) Bennett Ratcliff.” (1)

DemocracyNow! broke the news that Chiquita was represented by a powerful Washington law firm, Covington & Burling LLP, and its consultant, McLarty Associates (2). President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder had been a Covington partner and a defender of Chiquita when the company was accused of hiring “assassination squads” in Colombia (Chiquita was found guilty, admitting that it had paid organizations listed by the US government as terrorist groups “for protection” and agreeing in 2004 to a $25 million fine). (3) George W. Bush’s UN Ambassador, John Bolton, a former Covington lawyer, had fiercely opposed Latin American leaders who fought for their peoples’ rights to larger shares of the profits derived from their resources; after leaving the government in 2006, Bolton became involved with the Project for the New American Century, the Council for National Policy, and a number of other programs that promote corporate hegemony in Honduras and elsewhere.

More:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23211.htm

[Judi Lynn]

41. World boycott campaign to Chiquita for its support of the Coup d’ Etat in Honduras

World boycott campaign to Chiquita for its support of the Coup d’ Etat in Honduras

In response to the call made by the National Front against the Coup d' Etat in Honduras we are promoting a world campaign to boycott Chiquita which supports the Coup d'Etat in Honduras. Visit the web page of Chiquita's Headquarter in Cincinnati, OH (USA) and send them the following message: I DON'T BUY CHIQUITA BECAUSE IT SUPPORTS THE COUP D' ETAT IN HONDURAS
FACTS: On June 28, 2009, military commandos involved in the coup d'etat arrested the legitimate president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. They attacked his residence with machineguns, kidnapped him and took him to the US military base at Palmerola. The plane carrying the "president-prisoner" flew to Costa Rica, where he was abandoned in pajamas on one of the runways. It is a military-business coup d'etat, planned by the United States IV Fleet, which buries Honduras once again in its dark past of military dictatorships.

All of the international organizations of the American continent, the United Nations, the European Union, etc. condemned the Coup d'Etat and demanded Zelaya's return to the Presidency of the Republic, out of respect for the will of the Honduran voters. We have therefore launched the World Campaign to Boycott Chiquita, one of the corporations that most stridently oppose Zelaya's government and support the coup. It is urgent to strike back at the transnationals that, behind the scenes, finance and support the coup-installed government!

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/10/394743.shtml