Where is Honduras Headed? by Shaun Joseph

[Downwinder]

http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/where-is-honduras-headed-by-shaun-joseph/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Interesting observation, which we all saw for ourselves:

From the article:

~snip~
In a Washington Post column published September 22, Micheletti maintained that no coup had taken place in Honduras. Although the Honduran military kidnapped and expelled Zelaya June 28, with the connivance of U.S. military personnel based in that country, Micheletti maintained that Honduran democracy remains intact.

“Coups do not allow freedom of assembly,” he wrote. “They do not guarantee freedom of the press, much less a respect for human rights. In Honduras, these freedoms remain intact and vibrant.”

On the very morning these words appeared, the Honduran military was engaged in brutal violence against supporters of the legitimate president, as they gathered peacefully around the Brazilian embassy where Zelaya has taken refuge since secretly returning to the country last month. As the Honduran writer Jorge Handal said in an interview, “he military and the police came with their water tanks to clear us from the streets, beating everyone up: women, children, men, anyone in the streets.”

On the same day, the anti-coup Radio Globo was forced underground, and the human rights organization COFADEH was attacked with tear gas. In addition, a blanket curfew was imposed, forcing people to stay in their homes for two days.

Five days after Micheletti’s declared his regard for civil liberties in the Post, he announced that he would put the country under a “state of siege” for 45 days. The declaration effectively nullified all constitutional protections.

In addition to making a mockery of the coup-makers’ “legal” arguments, the state of siege also cut into the campaign period for the November 29 elections.

So damned dirty.

Thanks, Downwinder, thanks also to magbana for unbelievably hard work.