Honduras: I tawt I taw a coup d'état

I thought Spector had mistakenly posted a tweet.

From the Democracy Now! interview above:

Zelaya wrote:

The Popular Consultation is a survey, just like the Gallup one does or other polling groups. It does not create rights. It has no power to impose. It is not obligatory, its an opinion poll. How could this be a motive for a coup d’etat?

Apparently the Supreme Court ruled that he couldn't do this. Apparently he defied the court. Apparently the military used this as a pretext for the coup. I wish Amy Goodman had asked Zelaya something like, "Given that this was just an opinion poll, was this defiance of the court order a massive miscalculation on your part? Why did you bother?"

Hugo Chavez was also overthrown by a U.S.-backed military coup. If memory serves, a massive popular uprising reinstated him before the weekend was out. Does Zelaya actually have any popular support - was that airport demonstration a flash in the pan, or is there more to come?

Sorry, I haven't read details about all this; perhaps the answers are there somewhere.

Unionist wrote:

From the Democracy Now! interview above:

Zelaya wrote:

The Popular Consultation is a survey, just like the Gallup one does or other polling groups. It does not create rights. It has no power to impose. It is not obligatory, its an opinion poll. How could this be a motive for a coup d’etat?

Apparently the Supreme Court ruled that he couldn't do this. Apparently he defied the court. Apparently the military used this as a pretext for the coup. I wish Amy Goodman had asked Zelaya something like, "Given that this was just an opinion poll, was this defiance of the court order a massive miscalculation on your part? Why did you bother?"

Hugo Chavez was also overthrown by a U.S.-backed military coup. If memory serves, a massive popular uprising reinstated him before the weekend was out. Does Zelaya actually have any popular support - was that airport demonstration a flash in the pan, or is there more to come?

Sorry, I haven't read details about all this; perhaps the answers are there somewhere.

Good questions.

If this was just a survey, no different than something Gallup would conduct, as he claims, why didn't he do the obvious and just commission a poll from Gallup or another polling firm, rather than breaking into a military base to steal the ballots to conduct his own?

There have been demonstrations both for and against the Zelaya since the large protest at the airport (where the young man was killed).

AFP - Protest as Honduras's rival camps dig in for talks (10/07/09)

VOA - Demonstrations, Counter Protests Expected in Honduras (07/07/09)

BBC - Honduras 'to stop Zelaya plane' (05/05/09)

Zelaya and Micheletti leave delegations to continue mediations

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2009/07/zelaya...

Micheletti Tried to Change the Constitution in 1985

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2009/07/michel...

Some babblers seems determined to carry the line of imperialism, one way or another, on these threads. It's important, then, to reiterate the following in case other babblers are mislead by such garbage ...

It's not about Zelaya

Quote:

U.S. journalists generally present world events as the actions of a few important individuals, a sort of Greek drama without the chorus. Latin American politics especially are viewed as a parade of good guys and bad guys -- Fidel Castro, August Pinochet, Hugo Chávez, Alvaro Uribe. Which is good and which is bad depends on your perspective.

So what's going on?

Quote:

"What Zelaya has done has just been little reforms," Rafael Alegría, the leader of the local branch of the international group Vía Campesina ("Campesino Way"), explained to the Mexican daily La Jornada on June 29. "He isn't a socialist or a revolutionary, but these reforms, which didn't harm the oligarchy at all, have been enough for them to attack him furiously."

The local elite and the U.S. media insist that the nonbinding referendum Zelaya wanted to hold on June 28 was a power grab. In reality Hondurans would simply have been asked whether they wanted to vote in the November general elections on a constituent assembly to rewrite the 1982 Constitution. If this actually came about, the new Constitution might well allow presidential reelection, but it's not easy to see how any constituent assembly could finish its work in time to keep Zelaya in office after his term expires on January 27, 2010.

A more likely motive for the coup lies in the Honduran oligarchy's fear of what would happen if the people got a chance to write their own Constitution.

What about all the popular and mass movements?

Quote:

Not many people in the United States are aware that over the past few decades Hondurans have created, under very adverse circumstances, a vibrant grassroots movement: campesino organizations like Vía Campesina; three labor confederations, often competing, sometimes cooperating; a strong indigenous movement; Afro-Honduran groups like the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH);human rights monitoring groups like the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees in Honduras (COFADEH); environmental groups; community radio stations; an anti-militarization movement; women's groups; student groups; and a nascent LGBT movement.

Early this year, Honduran teachers went on strike for back pay and held a sit-in at the education ministry. In February the Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) organized a 12-day mobilization to protest the destruction of forests. In April hundreds of indigenous Chortí blocked access to the Copán archeological park, probably Honduras' most important ancient Mayan site, to press demands for land.

None of these were one-time protests -- they continued long-term struggles, some going back for years. And these same groups, which frequently support each other and coordinate their actions, are the ones that have confronted the coup and the subsequent repression with massive and spirited protests throughout the country.

And that's why organizations like the CLC expressed their solidarity the way they did. It's a question of where your social partisanships lie - with the super-rich, the military officers, and so on, or the ordinary people. Should the people be allowed to have a say? That is the question. Never mind the pro-fascist bullshit.

Fidel Castro Ruz: the Coup Dies or Constitutions Die

Fidel Castro wrote:

Today Honduras is not just a country occupied by a coup, but it is also a country occupied by the armed forces of the United States.

The military base at Soto Cano, also known by its name of Palmerola - located less than 100 kilometres from Tegucigalpa and reactivated in 1981 under the Ronald Reagan administration - was used by Colonel Oliver North when he was running the dirty war against Nicaragua, and from there the US government directed the attacks against the Salvadoran and Guatemalan revolutionaries that cost tens of thousands of lives.

The old man always has something interesting to say and he also finds time to look to history to learn ...

Fidel Castro wrote:

If President Zelaya is not returned to his position, a wave of coups threatens to sweep away many Latin American governments, or these will be at the mercy of the ultra right-wing military, educated in the security doctrine of the School of the Americas, experts in torture, psychological warfare and terror. The authority of many civilian governments in Central and South America will become weakened. Those dark days are not very far back in time. The military perpetrators of the coup would not even pay any attention to the civilian administration of the United States. It can be very negative for a president who wants to improve that country's image, like Barack Obama does. The Pentagon formally obeys the civilian power. The legions have not yet taken over control of the empire as they did in Rome.

It may be noteworthy that the Tudeh Party of Iran is not too busy to express solidarity with the Honduran people and working class.

(.pdf file)

[url=http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14320]Honduras: US-backed mediation legitimizes military coup[/url]

Quote:

As the US-orchestrated “mediation” got under way in San José, Honduran workers and youth continued to resist the coup. Thousands of people demonstrated Thursday and Friday in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and many other cities. In a number of areas, protesters occupied highways and bridges, halting traffic. On Thursday, demonstrators blocked traffic for six hours on the main route connecting Tegucigalpa to the Pan American highway and Nicaragua and El Salvador to the south, leaving long lines of tractor trailers backed up into the capital. On Friday, thousands marched to northern Tegucigalpa to shut down the highway leading to San Pedro Sula, the country’s second largest city. The coup regime’s repression is also continuing. On Thursday, security forces detained the father of Isis Obed Murillo, the 19-year-old youth who was shot to death on July 5, when soldiers opened fire on demonstrators who had gathered at the Tegucigalpa airport as Zelaya made his abortive attempt to return to the country. The father, David Murillo, has spoken out since the killing, demanding justice for his son. He was grabbed by the national police after speaking at the headquarters of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras and taken directly to a prison controlled by the military.

Am I the only one who is starting to feel that the shine is coming off the Obabma administration? Still in Iraq, more trops in Afghanistan and now this. I guess more things change the more they stay the same.

what act is that? never heard of it.

[url=http://www.soaw.org/presente/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2... Emergency Response Delegation Report[/url]

Quote:

My plane has just lifted off from the Toncontin airport in Tegucigalpa and I look down on the runway that five days ago was blocked by army tanks and soldiers, prohibiting the return of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, ousted 12 days ago in a coup. Hundreds of thousands of people had swollen the roads leading to the airport to receive "Mel", as the president is affectionately known. One 19-year old who came from the interior of the country, Isis Obed Murillo, was shot in the head by soldiers trying to disperse the crowd, his brains literally blown apart.

I dont think US or KKK'nadian newz media were as conciliatory about prior CIA and British efforts to destabilize the Balkans a dozen years ago, Chechnya etc.

1) this is awful, from #16 above:

"On Thursday, security forces detained the father of Isis Obed Murillo, the 19-year-old youth who was shot to death on July 5, when soldiers opened fire on demonstrators who had gathered at the Tegucigalpa airport as Zelaya made his abortive attempt to return to the country. The father, David Murillo, has spoken out since the killing, demanding justice for his son. He was grabbed by the national police after speaking at the headquarters of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras and taken directly to a prison controlled by the military."

where is the father now? does Obama or anyone else in Congress, or our Parliament, give a damn?

2) on the comments at #6 etc. about the constituent 'poll', my understanding from the interview is that it was a short-form way of describing the initial referendum which, most importantly, would have decided upon a more extended process to set up a structure of resident participation in decision-making which, as noted at the earlier Honduras thread, may have involved a couple of years.

a good point from the Democracy Now interview linked at #1 that needs repeating:

"JUAN GONZALEZ: Mr. President, your opponents who engineered the coup claim that you were trying to subvert the constitution of 1982. What were you trying to do with the referendum that you were holding and is it true that as they say, your were trying to illegally extend your term?

MANUAL ZELAYA:[translated] That is completely false. In Honduras we do not have reelections and I never intended to be reelected. That will be a matter for another government, another constitution and another Constituent Assembly."

 

 

Thank you, thanks. I didnt realize Zelaya's intentions with the referendum until you posted that

[url=http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14369]Canada Supports the Military Coup in Honduras[/url] by Ashley Holley

Quote:

Capitalizing on hurricane devastation

The answer begins with Canada's reaction to the last crisis in Honduras

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept through much of Central America and especially ravaged Honduras, where thousands of people were killed and millions were displaced. Already the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Honduras was now struck with over $3 billion in damages, a loss of social services such as schools, hospitals and road systems. Seventy per cent of its agricultural crops were destroyed. Nothing so devastating had ever hit Honduras.

Canada was quick to respond to the cries for help following Hurricane Mitch, with a 'long-term development plan'. Canada offered $100 million over four years for reconstruction projects. These grandiose aid packages made Canada look like a savior. However, attached to this assistance was the introduction of over 40 Canadian companies to Honduras to assess opportunities for investment. This hurricane offered a strategic economic opportunity for Canadian investment in Honduras.

The Canadian government, as it officially stated this year, considers mineral extraction by Canadian mining companies one of the best ways to "create new economic opportunities in the developing world". Shortly after Hurricane Mitch weakened the Honduran state, Canada and the United States joined to establish the National Association of Metal Mining of Honduras (ANAMINH), through which they were able to rewrite the General Mining Law. This law provides foreign mining companies with lifelong concessions, tax breaks and subsurface land rights for "rational resource exploitation".

Life-long guarantees to Canadian mining companies in a time of desperate need for Hondurans. It works for them. It reminds us of 99 year leases granted to lumber companies operating in Canada and rock-bottom stumpage fees and to mostly to American ones. Northern Canada is strewn with ghost towns after mineral barons stripped the land bare of natural wealth and left the country with profits in hand. It's an old story here and a new one for Hondurans. The so-called free market has operated by a very visible hand of bought and paid-for stooges in government and always has. Talk about taking advantage of the misery of others. Shock doctrine again?

"When money arrives, all is green, bustle, and abundance. And when it leaves, all is trampled down, barren and bare" - old Chinese proverb

Nothing to add here, but I guess I should report that Layton's office did get back and informed me that, yes, they too condemn the illegal coup and call for Zelaya's return, as well as criticise the Canadian government's rather ambiguous response.  I'll post it here in full if its seen as appropriate by others.  Officialese but clear enough.   Now, if only they have enough gumption to publicise their views more widely.  

The NDP could improve that by making reference to the financial support that Canada is continuing to provide the military regime in Honduras. This stuff is sometimes disguised in "police exchange programs", "assistance in drafting laws that reflect Canada's view of 'freedom'" (i.e., rewriting mining laws to better allow Canadian corporations to loot the country), and so on. Canada sometimes plays the role of strong arming other countries into voting along with the USA in international bodies that decide matters of credit, loans and so on that can sometimes be critical to the success, and survival, of a government.

MP Kent was a juicy target, and could hardly be missed, but it 's good to see that the NDP leader actually identifies the events as a coup, and calls for the return of the elected President. The military regime is now trying to impose conditions on such a return ... whereby the President would be effectively hog tied from doing very much of anything.

M. Spector wrote:

So just as the "shock doctrine" can be used by reactionary forces in a crisis, so too can situations of crisis and disorder quickly lead to a steep rise in political consciousness. That's why it is so important for left political parties to be prepared to play a leadership role when unanticipated social upheaval occurs.

For example, those who would have the NDP follow, rather than lead, the Canadian working class, would see their party quickly overtaken and left behind by mass consciousness in the event of a major social/political crisis.

I think we need to keep in mind that Canada is right next door to that last bastion of rightwing conservatism in the world with ~36% of US voters pledging allegiance to the Republican Party. We have Washington style lobbying in Ottawa since Mulroney. The "soft power" influence that country has on Canadian government and public psyche is probably greater here than most other countries. The NDP would be treading where angels fear to go. And I wish the NDP would lead and be a stronger nationalist voice for workers.

I think that with all the natural wealth in this country at the disposal of the neoliberal ideologues and the corporations, and with big banks hitching along for the ride with debt-driven capitalism - Canada has a long way to go before that ideology totally wrecks the economy and carts away the last of the oil and gas and massive amounts of hydroelectric power potential. Canada will be a naturally rich country for a long time coming no matter how much they rob us blind in the mean time. It's not like Sweden after the lumber barons stripped that country bare of timber and other resources before social democrats appealed to the masses there. And things are not nearly as bad here as they were for Cubans leading up to the late 1950's. Not even close.

here's more of the same:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/hond-j15.shtml

Ex Clinton Aides Advising Honduras Coup Regime

"Ever since the military abducted President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint on June 28 and expelled him from the country, the Obama administration has cast itself as a steadfast defender of "democracy" in Honduras. The real nature of that defense has become somewhat clearer with the news that key former aides to Secretary of State Hillary CLinton and her husband, former President Bill CLinton, have surfaced as top advisers to the illegal regime led by Robert Micheletti, which was installed by the coup..."

Who's Behind Lanny Davis' Putsch Paycheck?

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2009/07/whos-behin...

"Enter Lanny Davis - a longtime friend and Yale Law School chum of Hillary Clinton and former White House Counsel to Bill Clinton. Davis is now scampering about the Hill setting up meetings with Congressional insiders and throwing money around on advertising and other frills to build a case for supporting the new militarily elected Honduran regime.."

Both political and economic factors come into play I think. The US regime is feverish and blinded by rage in its opposition to ANY alternative to "the Washington Consensus" (now rotting in the sewer) or the prescriptions of neo-liberalism for Latin America in general. The current Cuban, Venezuelan and Bolivian governments fills the strategists of Yanqui imperialism with apoplectic paroxyms. So, any other example, even a tiny one, turns them white with rage. Think of the Guiliani approach to crime in New York City; "no broken windows", etc., is really an extreme reaction to the tiniest misdemeanor. In El Salvador under the US-sponsored death squad regime in the 1980's, the penalty for drunk driving was death. Death. The possibility of a further poltical beachead just cannot be tolerated, especially given that the Honduran President was by no means on the left, or the "far left", and was simply opening the door to wider participation of the citizenry.

That's the political side of things. But, of course, powerful economic interests in Honduras are linked with the military's kidnapping and forcible deportation of the elected President, Aristide-style, to Costa Rica. Outside economic interests, including, no doubt, Canadian ones, come to bear. And that is just as important a factor as the political ones.

It's not by accident that we on the left use the term "political economy" in descriptions of social life; it's an antidote and remedy to bird-brained and tendentious attempts to compartmentalize knowledge in order to deny the obvious. Like a coup d'etat. My two bits.

Well, it's objectively speaking, an anti-imperialist thrust. And that's far too radical for SOME in the NDP, never mind the Liberals or Conservatives. But it's always worth pushing these things, testing the boundaries of bourgeois politics, seeing how far/ how enlightened the parliamentary parties will be. In another discussion you might find me claiming that the easiest way to expose the failure of our Parliamentary parties is to delve into foreign/military policy; that's just the way it is for any so-called imperialist country like our own. But both of these can be true at the same time.

From my perspective as an unrepentant socialist, if the NDP doesn't move in this direction then it's just as useful to point out their (expected) failure in that regard. It provides prima facie evidence why Canada needs a successful party on the NDPs left; someone has to put forward a policy motivated by solidarity instead of profits and that is, after all, the duty of the left, no matter how small the numbers.

Here we go again.

I wish the guy well, but I'm not optimistic.

If he couldn't even arrange to land his plane last week, what chance does he realistically have for success.

Aide: Ousted President en Route to Honduras

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/07/16/world/AP-LT-Honduras-Coup.htm...

http://soaw.org

Quote:

The situation in Honduras is getting worse each day since the SOA graduate-led military coup against the government of President Manuel Zelaya.

The Committee of Family Members of Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) published a report yesterday, detailing hundreds of cases of human rights abuses committed by the coup regime, including four political assassinations. You can take a stand against this injustice right now: http://www.soaw.org/contactcongress

The colder war on democracy continues

Chiquita in Latin America

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23088.htm

"When the Honduran military overthrew the democratically elected government of Manuel Zelaya two weeks ago there might have been a sigh of relief in the corporate board rooms of Chiquita bananas. Earlier this year the Cincinatti based fruit company joined Dole in criticizing  the government in Tegucigalpa which had raised the minimum wage by 60%..."

Zelaya Accepts Unity Government Proposal

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Honduras+Zelaya+accepts+unity+governme...

"Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya agreed on Saturday to a power sharing government as a way out of his country's political crisis, but his enemies rejected any deal that puts him back in the presidency.."

Honduras: The Nonviolent Battle for the Zelaya Home in Catacamas

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/honduras-nonviolent-battle-zel...

"While the negotiation circus continues up above - there is a more outcome determinative struggle going on from below. We have received many reports from other regions of Honduras that indicate the same level of unity, planning and discipline at play from the public and the same panicked overreaction from the coup regime.."