MIlitary leaders of Honduras coup trained in U.S.

[Just Visiting]

Key leaders of Honduras military coup trained in U.S.

At least two leaders of the coup launched in Honduras today were apparently trained at a controversial Department of Defense school based at Fort Benning, Georgia infamous for producing graduates linked to torture, death squads and other human rights abuses.

Leftist President Manuel Zelaya was kidnapped and transported to Costa Rica this morning after a growing controversy over a vote concerning term limits. Over the last week, Zelaya clashed with and eventually dismissed General Romeo Vasquez -- who is now reportedly in charge of the armed forces that abducted the Honduran president.

According to the watchdog group School of Americas Watch, Gen. Vasquez trained at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation at least twice -- in 1976 and 1984 -- when it was still called School of Americas.

<snip>

According to SOA Watch, the U.S. Army school has a particularly checkered record in Honduras, with over 50 graduates who have been intimately involved in human rights abuses. In 1975, SOA Graduate General Juan Melgar Castro became the military dictator of Honduras. From 1980-1982 the dictatorial Honduran regime was headed by yet another SOA graduate, Policarpo Paz Garcia, who intensified repression and murder by Battalion 3-16, one of the most feared death squads in all of Latin America (founded by Honduran SOA graduates with the help of Argentine SOA graduates).

<snip>

The head of the Air Force, Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo, studied in the School of the Americas in 1996. The Air Force has been a central protagonist in the Honduran crisis. When the military refused to distribute the ballot boxes for the opinion poll, the ballot boxes were stored on an Air Force base until citizens accompanied by Zelaya rescued them. Zelaya reports that after soldiers kidnapped him, they took him to an Air Force base, where he was put on a plane and sent to Costa Rica.


http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/06/key-leaders-of-honduras-military-coup-trained-in-us.html


Of course Obama knows, and of course will "strongly" condemn it, but do nothing. It is not in the best interests of U.S. imperialism to do anything, and since Obama is really Clinton redux you can count on the fact that U.S. "interests" will be protected.

What is the over/under on when we'll find out how much involvement the U.S. had???

[DutchLiberal]

1. But... but... I thought the US was all about 'spreading democracy'?

You know, because it is the 'greatest democracy in the world', they really want to share it with the rest? :eyes:

How many Americans actually believe this myth and have no idea of what's really going on? And if they knew, would they care?

[Just Visiting]

3. Far too many

Sadly, many post here under the guise of "Liberals" or "progressives", which would be funny if not for it being so sad.

They don't care because it is too abstract for them to think about, and they either refuse to accept or outright do not believe that U.S. imperialism trumps any and all (supposed) party differences. C'mon, you think Obama is going to come out with a searing rebuke against the "troops" - you know, those brave souls who operate the torture schools?

Yea, right.

More Honduras info here:

http://mywordismyweapon.blogspot.com/2009/06/coup-in-honduras.html

[timeforpeace]

2. What should he do? They will just say we are interferring with internal issues, like with Iran.

[Just Visiting]

4. Admitting the fact that the U.S. is playing a major role in it might be nice n/t

[MADem]

5. A lot of people trained in the USA 13 years ago.

Many trained here twenty years ago, thirty years ago, or even longer in the past.

There are even two or three senior leaders in the Iranian Army that trained in the USA and survived the purges.

Education and training are part and parcel of many Foreign Military Sales packages that US executes with allies. We train Turks, Egyptians, Italians, Greeks, you name it. There are foreign students in every military academy class, every military graduate school, every war and defense college, the Marshall Center in Garmisch, etc. It's how "mil-to-mil" communications are facilitated.

That said, I'm not "endorsing" the school at Benning, but I'm also not going to jump to read in to this more than it is. A junior or midgrade officer trained in the US. His training, above and beyond that of his peers, made him more competitive for promotion. Now he's a senior officer. It happens.

[cali]

6. Obama is already doing something: The U.S. is refusing to recognize the interim

President installed by the military, and has issued a statement saying that Zelaya is the only legitimate head of state. Beyond that, I'm not sure what you think he could do. He can urge the Congress to cut any military aid to Honduras, but as we all know, Congress controls the purse strings.

[Just Visiting]

8. Some folks don't think so

"Foreign Minister Rodas has stated that she has repeatedly tried to make contact with the U.S. Ambassador in Honduras, Hugo Llorens, who has not responded to any of her calls thus far. The modus operandi of the coup makes clear that Washington is involved. Neither the Honduran military, which is majority trained by U.S. forces, nor the political and economic elite, would act to oust a democratically elected president without the backing and support of the U.S. government. President Zelaya has increasingly come under attack by the conservative forces in Honduras for his growing relationship with the ALBA countries, and particularly Venezuela and President Chávez. Many believe the coup has been executed as a method of ensuring Honduras does not continue to unify with the more leftist and socialist countries in Latin America."




complete piece (by Eva Golinger) here:

http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=7962&lg=en

[cali]

11. whether they think so or not, this is on the record

U.S. says Zelaya is the only president of Honduras
Sun Jun 28, 2009 5:32pm EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page<-> Text <+>
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration recognizes ousted President Manuel Zelaya as the only constitutional president of Honduras, a senior administration official said on Sunday.

"We recognize Zelaya as the duly elected and constitutional president of Honduras. We see no other," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters in a conference call organized by the U.S. State Department.

A second official on the same conference call stressed that the United States strongly backed efforts by the Organization of American States to forge a resolution condemning a coup d'etat ousting Zelaya on Sunday and calling for him to be reinstated.

"This is not a process that should be interfered with bilaterally by any country in the Americas," said the second official.

"Ultimately the answer is going to arise from a resolution of the political tensions that led us to this moment."

The two officials also reiterated earlier U.S. statements that condemned the Honduran military's takeover and called for a return to the democratic rule of law and a peaceful resolution of the crisis through dialogue.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE55R2AY20090628

[starroute]

13. Llorens is a career diplomat -- not an Obama appointee

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/111033.htm

Hugo Llorens presented his credentials as Ambassador of the United States of America to Honduras to President Manuel Zelaya Rosales on September 19, 2008. Mr. Llorens was confirmed as Ambassador-designate to Honduras in April 2008. Prior to his position as Ambassador, Mr. Llorens served as the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the American Embassy in Madrid, where he took up his duties on September 1, 2006. He is a career Foreign Service Officer who joined the Department of State in 1981. His most recent assignment was as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he served for 3 years from August 2003 until July 2006.

From 2002-2003, Mr. Llorens served in Washington, DC, as the Director of Andean Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). At the NSC he was the principal advisor to the President and National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Prior to the NSC, Mr. Llorens served for 3 years as Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver, Canada. In Canada, he managed some of the most contentious trade issues, including softwood lumber. In Vancouver, he created a novel multi-agency “Law Enforcement Hub” that included the opening of FBI, ATF, U.S. Customs, Secret Service, and State Department Regional Security offices at the consulate to work with Canadian counterparts on counterterrorism and international crime investigations.

[malaise]

7. So how come the Mayor of New York can change term limits

and not be attacked for violating democracy?

[xchrom]

9. ...

:grr:

[AntiFascist]

10. Just wait...

some right-wing pundit will try to paint this as a leftist coup.

The sad fact is that right-wing extremists in the US don't want there to be any left-leaning leaders and would like to overthrow them, regardless of democracy. Their version of democracy involves right-wing controlled voting machines.

[msongs]

12. same goes for the right wingers here in the US ...oddly enough nt