Two votes on Sunday

Vote one is the run-off for the presidency of Uruguay, part of a normal democratic process.

Vote two is the sham in Honduras. Rather than spill here, I suggest you go over the Honduras Coup 2009 post here that hits on the four main issues about tomorrow's smoke'n'mirrors espectaculaire in Honduras. Apart from making the mistake of giving any credence to an apologist called Boz it's an excellent round-up of things and looks carefully at all sides of the issue. Here's how the article ends

Far from "starting from zero", as President Obama suggested, the situation in Honduras on Monday will stay precisely where it is-- with added sources of conflict provided by what will without a doubt be disputes about the Sunday vote.

UPDATE: Holy crap! Even Foreign Perfidy sees the light (h/t delacour at LANR)

Honduras: The Sisters of Mercy speak out

If Jesus Christ is too communist for you please ignore the following. If you are a normal, adjusted person, please take action. TY reader DB for the headsup.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September28,2009

U.S. RELIGIOUS DELEGATION TO HONDURAS CALLS ON U.S. GOVERNMENT TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Stephanie Heiland

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

314.909.4633

As the crisis in Honduras explodes with last week's unexpected return of President Zelaya and now with the suspension of Hondurans' constitutional rights, the Sisters of Mercy Institute Justice Team is meeting with U.S. policy makers, including Administration and Congressional offices, urging them to speak out strongly and publicly in denouncing the excessive force and brutal human rights violations committed by the de facto Honduran government.

This call for immediate action to address the emergency situation in Honduras is included in a report issued by a U.S. religious delegation to Honduras which visited Honduras August 18-25, 2009. The delegation's report documents key findings following meetings with legal, government, church and humanitarian officials and agencies in Honduras, as well as on-site testimonials from dozens of Hondurans who reported horrific human rights violations.

Organized by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Institute Justice Team with the support of Quixote Center/Quest for Peace, this U.S. religious delegation was in response to requests from religious partners and community organizations in Honduras for international accompaniment following the June 28, 2009 coup in Honduras.

Delegation members included Jean Stokan, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Director of the Institute Justice Team; Diane Guerin, RSM, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Mid-Atlantic Community Justice Coordinator; Edia Lopez, RSM, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Caribbean, Central America and South America Community; and Marie Dennis, Co-President of Pax Christi International.

"We urge the U.S. to be unequivocal in the signals it gives to the de facto Honduran government on the need to return to constitutional order," said Stokan. "The hope is that once constitutional order is restored, the challenges around addressing the deep polarization in society can be advanced. Too much is at stake not to proceed in this direction."

To access a summary report and full report from U.S. Religious Delegation to Honduras: Go to www.sistersofmercy.org

Well, considering there are 200,000 people at Honduras's airport....

....and the army decided to open fire on the crowd, only three dead so far is probably a lucky result all round. Meanwhile that cute Micheletti guy says "we don't want conflicts" while handing down orders to shoot his own citizens....ahhhh, I love the smell of democracy in the morning. Meanwhile, some reports are saying that the plane carrying Zelaya has landed in El Salvador. Something to do with the pilot not wanting to die.......sound a bit whussy to me.

Latin America, HG Wells' time machine writ large and transporting you to the decade of your choice (1950's, 60's, 70s or 80's...your call). I'll update this post later rather than add a load more new ones. Don't forget to vote in el sondeo importante above.

UPDATE: According to this, that buzz buzz buzzing sound they can hear on the ground is Zelaya's plane circling the airport. Somebody please tell the pilot that the runway the long thin looking thing. Damn, nobody does chaos better than Latinos.

UPDATE 2: HEY BOSS! IT'S DA PLANE, IT'S DA PLANE!

screenshot from Alvaro Vargas Lllosa's TV channel of choice, Telesur

The latest rumour is that the coupmongers have put a load of stuff on the runway,like nails and concrete and shit to make sure the Prez dies in a nasty fireball. Then they can all go home. The end.

UPDATE 3: "BE VEWY VEWY QWIET...AM HUNTIN WABBIT".
The coupmongers prepare their "Welcome Home Zelaya" celebrations by hiding in the long grass with riot gear....bless 'em!

UPDATE 4: Zelaya has left the holding pattern...I repeat, Zelaya has left the holding pattern. So Mel's pilot has decided not to commit suicide by trying to land his plane on a boulder-strewn runway and The Cat In The Hat is off to spend the night in El Salvador...show's over...move long now folks..nothing to see here. Hasn't anyone in the Bolivarian Revolution ever heard of helicopters?

UPDATE 5: Zelaya's plane landed in Managua, Nicaragua and not El Salvador. Will somebody phone the dude and say the magic word, "helicopter"?

UPDATE 6: Oh cool! Now Honduran parliamentarians are saying that the destitution hearing that took place and threw Zelaya out was not atended by all members, it was not a unanimous vote as Micheletti has tried to make out, those that wanted to vote against his chuckingouteration (is that a word?) were barred from the hearing, those barred have been refused access to the press until now and the demission of Zelaya was done illegally (their word, not mine). This usurper is toast, toast toast..he didn't even follow his own precious rule of law, the megadumbass.

UPDATE 7: Reader Richard makes a smart observation in the comments section below;

Has anyone else noted that Zelaya is supposedly a fugitive from justice (ok, so he didn't quite flee of his own volition... details, details) and now -- the "government" is doing everything in its power to keep him from turning himself in?

Honduras: You can't fire me cos I quit

So the OAS goes over and presents a message from all other states that make up the group that tells the usurper Micheletti to desist or face having his country thrown out of the organization. Micheletti's reaction is to resign Honduras from the OAS. As the blog Honduras Resistencia correctly comments

"...the only thing this measure shows is the lack of capacity for dialogue from the coupmongers. The infantile attitude of the spoiled child of "better I leave before they throw me out" offers nothing to the climate of dialogue, concertation and peace that, hypocritically, is their motto.

"The repercussions of this action in the international community are incalculable and as always will affect the poor (first)..."

Put the Honduras Resistencia blog on your RSS, or on your own blogroll if you have a blog. The voice of the people from inside Honduras is the most powerful and it's clear that they are not taking this abuse lying down. Meanwhile, for those morons that still believe what happened in Honduras was legal, some basic facts. If you can give me cogent, democratic reasons for any of these then you have the right to move your madness forward.

• The forced explusion of Zelaya from Honduras was both against the law and against the constitution that the coupmongers say they were protecting.

• The resignation of Zelaya needed to be made to congress. The coupmongers did this by presenting a clearly falsified document to the parliament, one Zelaya says he did not sign and even the US State Dep't has said cannot be taken seriously.
  

• There was no attempt to impeach Zelaya and remove him by legal methods.

• Since seizing power, the de facto government has suspended several articles of their precious constitution, including articles that protect basic human rights including habeas corpus.

• Troops have been captured on video shooting out bus tires as they tried to transport people to the capital city in order to protest the de facto government.
  

• The Colon region of Honduras is now under an all-day military controlled curfew, the measure passed to stop residents from travelling to the protests scheduled in the capital today. The announcement came yesterday afternoon and caused panic amongst people had just two hours to buy in provisions before the extended curfew began.
  

• Media have been silenced with only pro-government news items allowed on TV, radio and newspapers. Pro-Zelaya Canal 36 has been closed down against the will of its director and is guarded by troops. Apparently CNN is "on the payroll of Hugo Chávez" which explains why it has been suppressed inside Honduras.
  

• The leader of the 3-16 death squad from the 1980's has been appointed as ministerial advisor.

• The mayor of San Pedro Sula has been deposed and arrested. In his place Micheletti has appointed his cousin (this one of many examples, unfortunately).

You think this is normal? Good for society? Legal? Decent? As reader 'GR' wrote in a mail this morning;

Here the media do not talk or write about the Coup d`Etat, or so little.

It was a different story for Iran. We have been inundated with reports about the evil country for weeks.

But why this difference? First explanation that comes to my mind; there is no oil involved. Secondly this could be a "good dictatorship" (pro-Washington) as opposed to a "bad dictatorship" (anti-Washington).

Meanwhile, the whole of the international community...all of them, every single last one of them, have condemned the coup. Micheletti's lies about having places like Taiwan as allies have also been exposed at the highest level.

If you don't like Zelaya, that's fine by me. But why on earth do we have to be pulled back to the 1970's because it suits the self-interests of people who couldn't find Honduras on a map one week ago? You have the whole of the international community on one side, and a military government with a bunch of wingnuts on the other. Gimme a break here........

PS: Greg Weeks at his blog has been covering Honduras in a more scholarly, intellectual way (i.e. better than here), so go see for yourself.

I fought the law and the law lost

An excuse to peg up one of the
better rock photos of all time

More strong work on Honduras from The Miami Herald (really, the most pleasant surprise of the whole sorry episode...TMH is reporting balanced and objective stuff and should be congratulated). Check out how the report starts here and then click through for the rest . Also, those Spanish speakers among you should check out the full transcript of the interview at ElFaro....pretty amazing stuff.

TEGUCIGALPA -- The military officers who rushed deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya out of the country Sunday committed a crime but will be exonerated for saving the country from mob violence, the army's top lawyer said.

In an interview with The Miami Herald and El Salvador's elfaro.net, army attorney Col. Herberth Bayardo Inestroza acknowledged that top military brass made the call to forcibly remove Zelaya -- and they circumvented laws when they did it.

It was the first time any participant in Sunday's overthrow admitted committing an offense and the first time a Honduran authority revealed who made the decision that has been denounced worldwide.

''We know there was a crime there,'' said Inestroza, the top legal advisor for the Honduran armed forces. ``In the moment that we took him out of the country, in the way that he was taken out, there is a crime. Because of the circumstances of the moment this crime occurred, there is going to be a justification and cause for acquittal that will protect us.''

Zelaya was ousted in a predawn raid at his house Sunday after CONTINUES HERE

Honduras: Congress suspends constitutional rights

This is Honduras (photo taken today)

The new blog out of Honduras is called "Honduras Frente Al Golpe De Estado" (Honduras Confronts the Coup D'Etat...more or less). Make it part of your RSS feed as there are already 13 posts and a lot of information and photos available at the site For example this post entitled "Individual Guarantees (rights) Suspended".

The following is spine-chilling for anyone who knows their LatAm history. I wrote when all this started on Sunday "welcome to the 1980's"...well forget that, we're now in the 1970's of dictatorship, Dirty War Argentina. Remember that this usurper Micheletti has illegally seized power by claiming some sort of technical infringement of the constitution on the part of Zelaya. But as soon as he has control he simply suspends six fundamental articles of the very same constitution that pertain to public freedom. This is nothing short of outrageous. This is the direct road to secret police, disappeared people and every other Latin American nightmare of the last century. Do you support what you're about to read "in the name of freedom and democracy?" Shame on anyone with a word to defend this scum. Shame on you.

The following constitutional rights have been suspended by the Honduran congress under the de facto command of Roberto Micheletti between the hours of 9pm and 5am Also, congress has given the right to hold a person without arrest or allowing contact with the outside world for 24 hours (renewable, of course, which means they can be held indefinitely without trial or disclosure). My translation.

SUSPENDED, Article 71: No person can be detained for more than 24 hours without being presented to the orders of the competent authority for judgment. Judicial inquiry detention cannot exceed six days from the moment of detention.

SUSPENDED, Article 78: Freedom of association and reunion is guaranteed as long as it does not contravene public order and good custom.

SUSPENDED, Article 81: All persons have the right of free passage, to leave enter and stay in national territory. No person can be forced to move from their domicile or residence, except in special circumstances and when the requisits of law allow.

SUSPENDED, Article 84: No person can be arrest or detained without the virtue of a written mandate of the competent authority, expidited with legal formalities and for a motive previously established by law. However, in-fragranti criminals may be apprehended by any person in order to deliver them to authorities. The arrested or detained must be informed in the act and with total clarity of their rights and the reasons for the arrest; also, the authority must communicate theri detention to a family member of choice.

SUSPENDED, Article 88: No class of violence or coercion may be exercised on persons to force or make them declare. In a penal, disciplinary or police issue, nobody can be made to declare against themself, against a spouse or living companion, or against family members inside fourth grade of bloodline or second of affinity. Only in front of a competent judge make statements be taken. Any decalration obtained by infringement of these dispositions is null and void.

SUSPENDED, Article 99: The domicile cannot be violated. No entry or register can take place without the consent of the person who resides in the domicile or without a resolution from acompentent authority. However, the domicile may be searched in the case of emergency to impede the commission or the impunity of a crime or to avoid serious harm to person or property.

Thank you Gran Combo Club for reminding me: The magnificent mural "Gloriosa Victoria" by Diego Rivera, 1954. A celebration of the Guatemala coup backed by the United Fruit Company

Honduras: More from Dario in San Pedro Sula, Honduras

I received another mail from Dario this afternoon, our Honduran eyewitness friend in San Pedro Sula that authored this previous missive. Again, here comes the direct translation of his words followed by his original mail in Spanish.

It seems to me important to get the word about what's really going on in the heart of the country from a Honduran who is clearly worried about his country's future. Maybe you'd like to leave support comments for him under the post (or mail me and I'll pass any message on).

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Hi Otto,

Look, I can tell you that the situation is still along the same lines as yesterday, with a strong media blackout and violent repressions that are still happening, especially against fellow citizens that have wanted to mobilize from their communities to try and get to the capital. They've been forced to leave the main highways and take old roadways in bad condition, but they all have the conviction to defend what they and us consider to be just and correct.

The order from Micheletti is to block international news channels such as Telechile, Caracol, Alyazera (or something like that (ottonote: I think he means Al Jazeera)) Guatevision and Telesur. This is contrasted with the minimal and conditioned opening of certain local channels, without any permission to communicate anything against the de facto government.

It's hoped that as the day progresses the capital will be totally stopped with the arrival of all the committed protestors. Even though they were threatened with bullets (that miraculously only hit the bus tires) and beatings and were forced to retreat, with blisters on their feet after walking a long way some groups have arrived in Tegucigalpa.

This is the context of uncertainty and tension we Hondurans are living, totally subjugated by this powerful, seditious group of politicians who not only pressurize the media so as not to allow free speech but also restrict the limited possibility of mobilization that the military allow us under the curfew.

This self-proclaimed President, in nationwide radio and TV broadcasts yesterday and today, told us about the sums of L. 50million plus U$3m that are being moved to other social programs. This is seen by everyone as nothing more than an insulting attempt to make the population believe that its de facto goernment is working, when the people know that all state workers are on indefinite and irrevocable strike. The state is not working, the only people working are the coupmongers.

At this point we hope that we don't need the intervention of the UN 'Blue Helmets' peacekeeping force, but as our favourite dinosaur has threatened he won't mind using children as a human shield to protect himself against any attack that tries to put a end to his coupmonger government.

Up to now this is the news I've managed to uncover. If destiny permits and they don't cut off the internet of electricity supply I'll keep informing about what's happening in San Pedro Sula.

From Honduras, Yours Dario.

hola otto, mira te informo que la situacion siugue en la misma linea que ayer con el bloqueo mediatico es fuerte, las represiones violentas se siguen presentando especialmente con los hermanos pobladores que han querido movilizarse desde sus comunidades intentando llegar a la capital, se han visto forzados ha rodear las vias principales y tirarse por antiguos caminos de herradura, pero siempre con la conviccion de defender lo que ellos y nosotros consideramos justo y verdadero.

La orden de parte de Micheletti de mantener bloqueados canales de noticias internacionales como Telechile, caracol, alyazera(o algo asi), guatevision y telesur se mantiene contrastada con la apertura minimalista condicionada de ciertos canales locales, sin permitirseles comunicar nada que sea en cotra del gobierno factico.

se espera que en el transcurso del dia la capital quede totalmente detenida con la llegada de todos los manifestantes comprometidos que aunque los amedrentaron con balas ( que milagrosamente dieron solo en los neumáticos ) y golpes fueron oblogados a replegarse, con llagas en sus pies tras tanto caminar han llegado algunos grupos a Tegucigalpa.

En este contexto de intranquilidad y de tension estamos viviendo los y las hondureños sometidos totalmente por este grupo de sedientos de poder politicos que no solo presionan los medios al no dejar la libre expresion ser ejercida, adjunta a la limitada posibilidad de movilización que nos da la milicia con el toque de queda.

este sr. auto proclamado presidente en la cadena radiotelevisiva de ayer y hoy nos adelanta el movimiento de L. 50 millones mas $3millones qeu aseguran son movidos de otros rubros, esto a ojo de todos no es mas que un intento insultante de hacer creer a la población que su gobierno de facto esta trabajando, cuando es conocido por la población que el grupo total de trabajadores estatales se encuentran en un paro indefinido e irrevocable, el estado no esta trabajando los unicos que lo hacen los mismos golpistas.

a este punto esperamos no tener que necesitar la intervención de los cascos azules de la ONU, pero como lo amenazo nuestro dinosaurio favorito, no le improta utilizar a niños y niñas como pared para protegerlo ante cualquier ataque que busque darle fin a su gobierno golpista.

hasta este momento son las nuevas que he logrado recavar, si el destino me lo permite y no me cortan el internet o la electricidad seguire informando lo que acontese principalmente en SPS.

desde Honduras Saludos Dario.

Honduras: Lula and PE are right, the WSJ is way wrong

"Micheletti, You Aren't My President" (signed, The People)
(On the streets of Honduras today)

Here follows a very smart comment left by reader PE in the comments section of this previous post. Read carefully and send it to that WSJ dumbass O'Grady, because either she's ignorant about the real background and spouting crap or she knows about it and prefers not to address it. Either way she and all the other coup apologists are 100% wrong. This is not about whether Zelaya is or isn't a good President; it's about what Lula da Silva said today;

"We can no longer accept in Latin America that some want to solve their problems of power through a Coup because we cannot accept that some see solutions for their country without democracy or free and direct elections."

Exactly, Lula. Exactly. Here's PE's comment:

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Otto,

I think there's alot of confusion about the vote Zelaya proposed. I'd like to direct your attention to a transcript released yesterday by the American State Department:
Specifically, the section where a reporter wonders whether the coup was justified constitutionally. The State Department official provides the best english-language response & summary of events I've seen yet:

QUESTION:
"Yeah, but now you're invoking the -- I'm sorry, but now you're invoking the constitution to return him. So did you think that what he was doing was in line with the constitution?"

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:
"No, but there's a big distinction here because, on the one instance, we're (talking) about conducting a survey, a nonbinding survey; in the other instance, we're talking about the forcible removal of a president from a country. So I think we can distinguish between those terms -- those two in terms of what's constitutional and what might be left to institutions.

But I think what's important to remember about the survey is that it was just that. It wasn't even a formal vote. It was a NONBINDING SURVEY.

And the issue of whether it was legitimate or illegal did not revolve around the survey itself. It revolved around who conducted it and whether or not this could be conducted by the government and which institution in the government could conduct it, and whether or not as it's being conducted state security forces could be used to both manage and secure the equipment that was being used for the survey and provide security.

And that's where the divide occurred within Honduras. It was about who conducted this survey, with several institutions in Honduras insisting that the Honduran Government could not conduct it, at least not in the way that President Zelaya had suggested."

Honduras: Is the OAS about to grow a pair?

The Organization of American States (OAS) has often been criticized as being an all-show-no-go type of body, talking a good talk but not having the teeth to get anything done.

That might just change tomorrow. Following on from the strongly-worded statement from the OAS yesteday (the fact the declaration included the words "coup d'etat" in the first line is very significant), tomorrow Tuesday sees an emergency meeting of all 34 members of the OAS. If, as many now expect (perhaps 'hope' is wiser) the OAS hands down a "reinstall Zelaya or Honduras gets kicked out" message to the usurpers currently pretending to run the shop it may mark the moment when the organization gets itself some cojones at long last. From there, it will be fun to watch just how much leverage the OAS gets with bigger players such as the UN. Honduras loses its seat there and it's all over for the milicos.

Whatever happens, tomorrow will a key day in all this Honduras coup d'etat malarkey. Watch this space.

Honduras Coup: The obvious missing from English language coverage

It's difficult to believe how much crap I've waded through this morning, written in English about Honduras and actually debating whether what's been going on is a coup or not. Let's be clear:

• When a country's president is woken up at 1am by soldiers firing shots into his house, it's a coup.

• When that president is bundled into a waiting aircraft and flown out of the country against his will, it's a coup.

• When the army closes down TV and radio stations, shuts off power supply and orders an immediate 48 hour curfew across the nation, it's a coup.

• When a fake letter of resignation is used in parliament to justify the transfer of power, it's a coup.

• When the first thing said by the abused president to the press is "I've have not resigned and this is a coup", it's a coup.

So having established the obvious, let's also note that despite what you might have read in your morning newspaper or seen on your morning TV screen, sticking a gun into the face of a president is not democratic. It's a freakin' coup, ok? It's a subtraction from freedom, not an advance, you stupid idiot O'Grady. Also, let's note in passing that it's not just "Clinton and Fidel" that are calling this a coup d'etat, it's every single country of The Americas, from Canada to Chile and all points in between. All of them, no exceptions. And while we're at it, that list includes places like Spain, France and even (perhaps bizarrely) China. They have all condemned this military coup d'etat, have called for President Zelaya to be reinstalled as the country's rightful and democratically elected head of state and have called what happened over the weekend by its rightful name: A COUP.

Anyone who still debates this is an official dumbass. The end.

Honduras Coup: the OAS Statement

A good, strongly worded statement from the Organization of American States this evening, roundly condemning the coup d'etat in Honduras. Here's the link and here's the text;

OAS PERMANENT COUNCIL CONDEMNS COUP D’ETAT IN HONDURAS, CALLS MEETING OF MINISTERS AND ENTRUSTS SECRETARY GENERAL WITH CARRYING OUT CONSULTATIONS
June 28, 2009

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted Sunday a resolution strongly condemning the coup d’Etat in Honduras and demanded the immediate and unconditional return of President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales to his constitutional duties.

The Permanent Council of the institution held a Special Meeting at the request of OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, who took part in the debate at the Council. Mr. Insulza is currently traveling to Nicaragua to take part in the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Central American Integration System (SICA), which starts Sunday, with the goal of carrying out all necessary consultations.

The Permanent Council also called a Special Session of the OAS General Assembly, to be held at the OAS Headquarters in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

The resolution adopted by the Permanent Council reads as follows:

THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES,

CONSIDERING the grave situation taking place in the Republic of Honduras as a result of the coup d’etat against the government of President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, which has produced an unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order, which the Permanent Council rejects and repudiates;

CONCERNED with the break-down of the constitutional order in the Republic of Honduras;

REAFIRMING the importance of strict adherence and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other States;

REITERATING the principles established in the Charter of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Democratic Charter on the strengthening and preservation of the democratic institutional system in member states, and

RECALLING CP/RES. 952 (1699/09) of June 26, 2009, relative to the situation in Honduras,

RESOLVES:

1. To condemn vehemently the coup d’état staged this morning against the constitutionally-established Government of Honduras, and the arbitrary detention and expulsion from the country of the constitutional president José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, which has produced an unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order.

2. To demand the immediate, safe and unconditional return of President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales to his constitutional functions.

3. To declare that no government arising from this unconstitutional interruption will be recognized.

4. To instruct the Secretary General of the OAS to urgently attend the meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA), that will take place in Managua, Nicaragua, and in accordance with Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, to carry out all necessary consultations with the member states of the Organization.

5. To vehemently condemn all acts of violence and especially the reported arbitrary detention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Patricia Rodas, other Ministers of Government, as well as the Mayor of San Pedro Sula, and associated individuals, and to demand that their physical safety and security be respected and that they be released immediately.

6. To immediately convene a special session of the OAS General Assembly to take place at the headquarters of the Organization, on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, to take whatever decisions it considers appropriate, in accordance with the Charter of the Organization of American States, international law, and the provisions of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

7. To instruct the Secretary General to transmit the resolution to the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Honduras Coup: Check out the false resignation letter

And how do we know it's a set-up? Check the date, Thursday 25th June! There's more chance that Michael Jackson signed this piece of BS than Manuel Zelaya.

(click for sharper image)

Proof this coup will fail...the people leading it are teh stoopid.

The Honduras Coup: Obama and Clinton say the right things

Thanks to reader PE (in the comments section of the previous post....thanks dude), your humble correspondent gets to hear about this page at HuffPo that has been liveblogging the emergency OAS meeting. Here's what The Hawaiian and Hillary (esp good) had to say for themselves:

President Obama:
"I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya. As the Organization of American States did on Friday, I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference."

Sec. of State Clinton:
The action taken against Honduran President Mel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and thus should be condemned by all. We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation, and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue. Honduras must embrace the very principles of democracy we reaffirmed at the OAS meeting it hosted less than one month ago.

The Honduras Coup D'Etat: Unconfirmed Reports

UPDATE: Check this post at Plan Colombia and Beyond for political fallout and good links.

1. The state TV channel was raided and taken off the air by troops at the same time as Zelaya was arrested.

2. The military wasn't taking any chances with the presidential arrest, apparently. No less than 200 troops turned up at the doors of the Presidential palace to take Zelaya away.

3. Unconfirmed reports state that Zelaya is now en route for (or even arrived in) Costa Rica. (Update; now confirmed...Zelaya said on arrival in Costa Rica that he was kidnapped and guns were pointed at his head and chest as he was led away).

4. The wife of the President has said (and this one is confirmed as it went out on the Telesur TV channel), "They have delivered a coup and have ignored Honduran democracy.....We will stay here fighting and sending a message of peace but also of strength.....they have divided my family in the same way as they want to divide our country."

5. Reports now place a growing crowd of Zelaya supporters gathering at the gates of the Presidential palace.

UPDATE:

I've noticed a sudden surge in people arriving at the blog from IP addresses inside Honduras. I'd be happy to receive and re-print any comments or observations you might have from inside the country without any sort of editing. If you prefer to write in Spanish I can translate.

Me di cuenta que hay bastante gente ahora llegando al blog desde Honduras mismo. Si vds quieren mandar observaciones desde tu punto de vista les publicaré en el blog. Tambien puedo traducir si prefieren escribir en castellano.

email: otto.rock1 (AT) gmail (DOT) com

Honduras Coup D'Etat: Chavez speaks

My translation of the direct quotes given by Hugo Chávez, ally of President Zelaya of Honduras, in this report. I've kept the translation as literal as possible so there may be some phrases that don't sit perfectly in English, but they should be comprehensible enough.

This situation may become serious quickly.

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"To the coupmongers we say, "we are ready for action". These are no empty words. We have already started to mobilize. This coup will be defeated by the people of Honduras and by those of us that are outside of Honduras but equally feel ourselves to be Honduran.

"The Yankee empire has a lot to do with this. I will call the US President so that he speaks on this issue in the same way as we do from the depths of our soul. They look at us as if we were an operations base of the Empire; we are not.

"You know they call us coupmongers for the military action of February 4th, which was a patriotic military action against the bourgeois. This is the reverse.

"I call upon the soldiers of Honduras. We see them running, they are running without spirit. Please Lord don't let them use their weapons against their own people. The are men of the people, ordered by officials that also come from the people but have lost the notion of citizenry. They (the soldiers) are nearly children with guns in their hands, without conscience.

"There are some old troglodytes behind the troops, using them. You don't see a single general in the streets. They're in the barracks, well-protected.

"Now those soldiers are going to find out what a people is...the people have started coming out on to the streets. They (the coup leaders) made their move in the early hours of the morning, in a cowardly manner.

Chavez said he had called the chancellor of Honduras, Patricia Rodas who "was surrounded; they took away her bodyguards and she is now under detention. She is trying to make contact with the social movements, she is very brave and dignified. We understand that the social movements have begun to mobilize but they have no weapons. The troops commanded by the coupmongers have the weapons."

UPDATE: Full Honduras coverage on this link

Honduras coup d'etat: President Zelaya arrested by military

The election vote started on time this morning, but immediately afterwards President Zelaya was arrested by Honduran military and taken to a nearby airbase from where it's thought he's now being transported out of the country.

Here's a link to the English language Google news page keyword "Honduras" so you can keep up with happenings as they happen. Here's a typical offering right now from UPI:

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, June 28 (UPI) -- Military troops arrested Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Sunday before a scheduled referendum on presidential term limits.

Soldiers surrounded the president's house and then took Zelaya to an airbase, the newspaper El Heraldo reported on its Web site.

Zelaya wanted to seek a second term next year. By law, the Honduran leader, elected in 2006, is limited to one term in office.

Zelaya told a Spanish newspaper last week he suspected a military coup was in the making. The president's prediction came amid controversy over his firing of the head of the Honduran armed forces.

It's called a military coup, people. Welcome to the 1980's. And if you're wondering along the 'cui bono?' line of thought it should take you about a nanosecond to work out the right answer. Jeesh, wouldn't it be great if you Northies just left us alone for once?

UPDATE: Boz knows more about Honduras than I and over at his blog is following developments closely. Here's his latest post and he's also updating via twitter (link on his page).

Honduras News

1. Prez Zelaya has thanked the OAS (head honcho Insulza), Mercosur (head honcho Lula I suppose, but don't tell the Argentines) and ALBA (head honcho Hugo, I suppose) for the support offered. The OAS has also resolved to send an overseeing mission to the country immediately. Right now the calls are for tomorrow's vote to be suspended, but there's still no clear resolution.

2. Boz has a couple of good posts that sum up the situation nicely-concisely. Read part one here and part two here. And methinks we'll get a further update later today so maybe just going to Boz's main page is the best idea.

3. The Mex Files also puts in a very informative post (RG wrote it...normal high standard), giving background to Zelaya and the people that oppose him.

Possible coup d'etat going down in Honduras

Things are a bit confused in Honduras right now, but the basic story is that:

• President Manuel Zelaya is trying to push through a change to the constitution to allow the president (i.e. him) to be re-elected.

• A few days ago army general and armed forces head Romeo Vasquez refused to support the move for a referendum on the issue (claiming it was illegal) and was dismissed by his President last night.

• His defence minister resigned, apparently in protest at the presidential decision.
  

• This afternoon, the country's supreme court has annuled the presidential decree that sacked Vasquez.

• Right now troops are moving through the capital Tegucigalpa and quelling disturbances, supposedly instigated by Zeyala supporters.

• The President has asked the Organization of American States (OAS) for support.
  

Like I say, things are not clear as yet but there does seem to be a military move to block the President's greater ambitions. Whether this is a fully fledged coup right now, or the beginnings of one, or merely a show of strength to chastize Zelaya remains to be seen. It's worth mentioning that Zelaya has been polling very low in approval ratings in 2009, normally in the low 20s.

"Mel" Zelaya has a moustache

UPDATE: The region is calling out against "an attempted coup d'etat" at the moment.

UPDATE 2 SUNDAY MORNING: Latest news here