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by Pierre d'Achoppement » Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:41 am
The Supreme Court of Honduras has constitutional and statutory authority to hear cases against the President of the Republic and many other high officers of the State, to adjudicate and enforce judgments, and to request the assistance of the public forces to enforce its rulings.
by John Schröder » Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:19 pm
Pierre d'Achoppement wrote:The Supreme Court of Honduras has constitutional and statutory authority to hear cases against the President of the Republic and many other high officers of the State, to adjudicate and enforce judgments, and to request the assistance of the public forces to enforce its rulings.
Rosemary Joyce wrote:That is not the legal issue. The issue is, did they have the power to ask the Armed Forces (military) to carry out such a raid? The original 1982 Honduran Constitution included all security personnel under the Armed Forces, and made no distinctions between the military and the police, at that time a branch of the Armed Forces called the Fuerza de Seguridad Pública (FUSEP). Article 306 of the current Constitution authorizes the judiciary to call on the Fuerza Pública (capitalized, not lower case) to enforce legal decisions, and failing that, the citizenry. What it does not do is authorize the Armed Forces, from which the police were separated in order to demilitarize civilian policing, under special legislation ratified in 1996. Article 293 of the current Constitution defines as proper duties of the civilian National Police the
ejecutar las resoluciones, disposiciones, mandatos y decisiones legales de las autoridades y funcionarios públicos, todo con estricto respeto a los derechos humanos.
The two instances of the term "fuerza pública" in the present constitution, including that cited by Ms. Gutierrez, were retained from the original 1982 Constitution. The multiple revisions of the Constitution have left many such dangling phrases. But the revision of the Constitution that introduced the present Article 293 makes it clear what public forces are supposed to enforce judicial rulings. Re-militarizing a demilitarized branch of public security forces is one of the main acts by the de facto regime that Honduran analysts point to as evidence that this was, indeed, a military coup.
to execute the resolutions, dispositions, mandates and legal decisions of the public officials and authorities, all with strict respect to human rights
Rosemary Joyce wrote:The other thing to add here: the fact that the Supreme Court started the process of hearing evidence does not mean it had reached a verdict. Many people mistakenly say the Supreme Court had ruled President Zelaya committed treason. They had not; Honduran law is based on the presumption of innocence; President Zelaya would have mounted a defense, and evidence would have been required to be produced and could have been challenged. All that was truncated by the illegal expatriation of the President on June 28.
Greg Weeks wrote:For anyone who supported the ouster of Mel Zelaya, there are a variety of legal problems, but one is insurmountable. His forced exile was unconstitutional.
ARTICULO 102.- Ningún hondureño podrá ser expatriado ni entregado por las autoridades a un Estado extranjero
No Honduran can be expatriated or handed over by authorities to a foreign state.
by John Schröder » Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:02 pm
Meet Our Men In Tegucigalpa!
With a "repulsive Iran-Contra figure" here and a "close confidant of Hillary Clinton" there, sometimes it seems like half of Washington is working for the illegal Honduran coup regime! Is your plumber on the payroll? Your hairdresser? It can be hard to keep up, but fortunately the New York Times has published a handy rundown of Washington's top coup enablers. It is thoroughly, one zillion percent, unsurprising:
Roger Noriega: This former Bush "diplomat", eventually drummed out of the State Department for being too much of a hardline prick (even by Bush Administration standards) is now a lobbyist for the "Honduran business group" that organized the coup.
If you see any of these people on the streets of D.C., please kick them in the knees, is the point.
John Timmons: A former John McCain advisor whose firm, The Cormack Group, holds the dictatorship's lucrative P.R. account.
Daniel Fisk: Until two weeks ago, Fisk was the Congressional staffer organizing Hill support for the coup government, now he is the "Coordinator for Governance" for the International Republican Institute (!!)
Lanny Davis: Famous for organizing the race-baiting portion of Hillary Clinton's doomed presidential bid, devil-rodent Lanny Davis is now a lobbyist for the coup-hugging Latin American Business Council of Honduras.
Otto Reich: A Reagan-era slimeball and general coup hobbyist, Reich supports the military dictatorship for ideological, not financial, reasons.
Thanks For Restoring Our Precious Freedoms. Can We Have Our Shit Back Now Pls?
Benevolent Honduran anal yeast Roberto Michelleti offered to restore the country's press freedoms yesterday, hooray! Yet somehow those ingrate reporters are still angry at him.
Apparently the coup leaders have yet to return the broadcast equipment they confiscated from Radio Globo after Micheletti made his press decree. Oh and "As for Canal 36, its broadcast equipment was completely destroyed when soldiers raided its studios on 28 September."
@Ileana: Ths ppl wl nvr b stsfiid!!!!
by John Schröder » Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:28 pm
Incredibly, Micheletti turned down the deal by which Zelaya offered to let bygones be bygones in exchange for being returned to office by October 15th. Zelaya says that Micheletti is taking the country to disaster. AFP confirms that Micheletti has paid almost $300K to Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter and Associates for PR. And the campaign has worked. Ginger Thompson and Roy Nixon of The NY Times say:
The campaign has had the effect of forcing the administration to send mixed signals about its position to the de facto government, which reads them as signs of encouragement. It also has delayed two key State Department appointments in the region…
Economist Martin Barahona says that Honduras is headed for an economic catastrophe under Micheletti. Many sectors will be hit because projects are dependent on foreign aid. The greatest impact will be on health, education, and agriculture, where the poor are disproportionately harmed. New business formation will cease. And, without international oversight, corruption will mushroom.
[In addition to buying the services of Clinton and McCain associates] It has also drawn support from several former high-ranking officials who were responsible for setting United States policy in Central America in the 1980s and ’90s, when the region was struggling to break with the military dictatorships and guerrilla insurgencies that defined the cold war. Two decades later, those former officials — including Otto Reich, Roger Noriega and Daniel W. Fisk — view Honduras as the principal battleground in a proxy fight with Cuba and Venezuela, which they characterize as threats to stability in the region in language similar to that once used to describe the designs of the Soviet Union….
Chris Sabatini, editor of Americas Quarterly, a policy journal focusing on Latin America, said the lobbying had muddled Washington’s position on the coup. The administration has said publicly that it sees the coup in Honduras as a dangerous development in a region that not too long ago was plagued by them, he said.
But, he added, to placate its opponents in Congress, and have its nominations approved, the State Department has sometimes sent back-channel messages to legislators expressing its support for Mr. Zelaya in more equivocal terms.
“There’s been a leadership vacuum on Honduras in the administration, and these are the people who’ve filled it,” he said of the Micheletti government’s backers. “They haven’t gotten a lot of support, but enough to hold the administration’s policy hostage for now.”
by American Dream » Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:54 am
by John Schröder » Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:36 am
by John Schröder » Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:41 am
by John Schröder » Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:43 am
For Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchú, the Honduran crisis stretches beyond the country's jagged borders, green mountains and far-reaching farmlands.
The Nobel Peace Prize recipient, who became human rights icon after her advocacy work during the Guatemalan Civil War, said the issue can't be limited to Honduras.
“It's a profound crisis. It's an ideological crisis. It's a political crisis,” she said, speaking before reporters in San José on Tuesday. “But it is also a crisis that belongs to Central America.”
She said the situation must be studied, turned over and analyzed again so that it doesn't become a “concern for our children.”
We must prevent “a tomorrow in which any madman says, ‘I don't like this government,' overthrows it and is legitimized by an election,” she said.
Meeting with academics, a representative from the Honduran media and political analysts on Tuesday, Menchú denounced the de facto government, called for greater intervention on the behalf of the United States and praised the efforts of the Organization of American States (OAS) along with fellow Nobel Peace Prize recipient Oscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica.
She criticized the United States for not being “more congruent” or “clear” in its position, believing that the northern superpower should intervene “not to resolve the crisis, but to create a ‘free zone'” where persons and institutions that resist the de facto government could seek asylum.
With the return of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Sept. 21, the situation has grown tenser, boiling over into moments of violence as the feuding parties meet face to face.
Ismael Moreno, who joined Menchú on the panel on Tuesday, and works as the director of Radio Progreso in Honduras, said he's never before seen the level of repression he's experienced in the country over the past few months.
“I was a witness to many conflicts in the 80s, in Nicaragua, in Guatemala, in El Salvador,” he said. “And I want to tell you that I have never experienced an environment of as much repression and terror as I lived in Honduras in these three months.”
Recounting stories of repression in the case of a religious figure who was captured during one of the demonstrations and dragged by his hair and of a young mother who was raped by several soldiers, Moreno criticized the de facto government for covering up the reality of the situation.
by John Schröder » Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:51 am
Honduras, State Dept: Finally, Reporter Asks Question that Should Have Been Posed 100 Days Ago
Below is another insane, stream-of-conciousness press briefing given by State Dept. spokesman, Ian Kelly. The last question of the day is the one that could have been posed back in early July to the Obama (just got a Nobel Peace Prize) administration. After a collective review of Ian Kelly’s press briefings, I think he should get a prize of some kind for pretending to be an idiot in order to cover the most consistent lying about Honduras within this administration.
QUESTION: Ian, this has been dragging on for so long. Why are we not to draw the conclusion that it’s dragging on because the U.S. won’t do anything – really do anything about this because there is significant support for the members of the coup, business connections with the United States, conservative organizations that support the coup that do not like Zelaya. So why are we not supposed to, you know, draw some conclusion that it’s simply foot-dragging on the part of this Administration?
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2009/oct/130407.htm
From early on it was obvious that this is how the golpistas want to play the game. Now that they are within sight of this scenario, they send Lanny out to share it with us as “a new solution for Honduras.” It’s not “new” and the National Resistance will let the golpistas know it’s not a “solution.”A New Solution For Honduras
By LANNY J. DAVIS
This past July, the United States, the Organization of American States, and the European Union came together to persuade the divided forces of Honduras to reach a solution on the controversy over the removal of former President Manuel Zelaya. The mediation process was led by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and was encouraged by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
But that process, dubbed the “San Jose Accord” by Mr. Arias, did not result in any accord at all. One view, supported by the U.S., the OAS, and the EU—as well as Mr. Zelaya and his supporters—is that Mr. Zelaya was illegally ousted without a fair trial. According to this camp, the only solution is to restore him to the presidency.
The opposing view—held by most leaders of Honduras’s civil society, the four major presidential candidates, the Catholic Church, and virtually all institutions of the civil government—is that Mr. Zelaya had acted illegally when he attempted to extend his term by referendum. Thus his removal from office as a result of a unanimous Supreme Court decision and an overwhelming vote by Congress was entirely justified.
What’s made the situation even more intractable is that the U.S., the OAS and the EU have strongly suggested that they will not recognize the results of the upcoming Nov. 29 presidential elections. They took this position without taking into account that the electoral process is supervised, pursuant to the Honduran constitution, by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The tribunal is thoroughly independent of the executive branch led by Roberto Micheletti.
These policy decisions have produced an ironic and embarrassing scenario: The U.S. is apparently unwilling to recognize free and fair elections in Honduras with international observers; this at the same time it is about to recognize the president of Afghanistan, who was elected in what is now seen as a fraudulent electoral process.
So, what to do?
In the last several days, a Plan B has emerged. Credible supporters of Mr. Zelaya have been meeting with the four major Honduran presidential candidates, representatives of the Micheletti interim government, and other members of civil society.
The talks have been described by those in the room as the “Guaymuras Dialogue,” in reference to the pre-Columbus indigenous name for the country. Under discussion are certain provisions of the San Jose Accord, such as the need for a moratorium on all prosecutions of political crimes, which was interpreted to apply both to accusations against Mr. Zelaya and those responsible for deporting him.
A successful resolution to the Guaymuras Dialogue should ensure: the resignation, after the election, of Mr. Micheletti and renunciation by Mr. Zelaya of his intention to be restored as president; the succession, as provided by the constitution, of a caretaker president between election day and inauguration day; a conciliation government representing all segments of civil society; and most importantly, binding commitments to a series of constitutional and economic reforms aimed at more equitable distribution of wealth.
For Mr. Zelaya, agreeing to renounce his claim to be restored as president under these circumstances should not be a great sacrifice since the constitution bars him from seeking a second term. Even if he is restored to power, after Nov. 29 he would be a lame duck president for less than two months until the inauguration of the new president on Jan. 26, 2010. If they get their way in current discussion, his supporters will have won important legal, social and economic reforms.
Mr. Zelaya could also claim he never ceased being president, so he is “resigning.” The constitutional authorities in Honduras will call it a renunciation, as he is no longer president in their view. And they can be relieved that he is finally gone and cannot undermine the legitimacy of the coming presidential elections. That’s a good diplomatic compromise for both sides.
But given reports from yesterday’s discussions of continued intransigence by both parties, this seems overly optimistic. If Mr. Zelaya refuses to “resign” or renounce his intention to be restored, which is a distinct possibility, one would hope that the U.S. and other nations of the OAS and EU would no longer feel compelled to insist on his reinstatement. They should then recognize the election of the new president, and the crisis would truly be over. Honduras would be restored to its rightful role as a stable constitutional republic and loyal ally of the U.S.
—Mr. Davis, a Washington attorney, represents the Honduran branch of the Latin American Business Council. He served as special counsel to President Bill Clinton from 1996-98, and served on President George Bush’s Privacy and Civil Liberties Board from 2005-06.”
Army Raids Garifuna Hospital in Honduras – The Repression Continues
Interview with Dr. Luther Castillo and Denunciation from La Voz de los de Abajo
This is to make known that on October 7th at 6am three army patrols broke down the doors and stormed the first Garifuna hospital in Honduras, located on the Atlantic Coast.
Alexy Lanza of La Voz de los de Abajo interviewed Dr. Luther Castillo, a young Garifuna doctor and community organizer who is the founder and director of the hospital that is bears the name “For the Health of Our People” (Luaga Hatuadi Waduheno in the Garifuna language)
The hospital and clinic is dedicated to providing the most important health services to the indigenous communities isolated on the Atlantic Coast. After graduating from the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba in 2005, Dr. Castillo returned to the coast of Honduras and led the construction of the first “Garifuna hospital” which now serves 20,000 people in the area. The hospital opened in December 2007 and Dr. Castillo was named “Honduran Doctor of the Year for 2007 by the International Rotary Clubs of Tegucigalpa. Since the military coup on June 28, 2009, Dr. Castillo and the hospital have been subject to many threats of closure and other attacks by the military.
AL: Please tell me Dr. Luther what happened yesterday, on the morning of Wednesday October 7th?
Dr. Castillo: I am extremely worried about the situation at the hospital. As you well know, the repression, intimidation, extra-judicial executions, the fabrication of criminal charges – the grave violations of human rights against the resistance movement against the coup have been worsening. Yesterday three carloads of army troops arrived, broke down the doors to the hospital and searched everything.
AL: What time did this occur?
Dr. Castillo: It was about 6 in the morning which is the time of shift change for the doctors. The doctor who has stayed all night goes to rest and between 6-7 am the other shift arrives. The army took advantage of this to enter the hospital. The most alarming thing is that they used the pretext of a raid in search of drugs; they said that they had received information that there were narcotraficantes at the hospital.
AL: Narcotics traffic at the first hospital in service to the indigenous communities. What was that about?
Dr. Castillo: Intimidation. They want to wipe us out, they want to shut us up. We have been strongly denouncing the coup d’etat and we are a part of this people in resistance that refuse to accept a military coup. After the coup they took away our standing as a hospital and reclassified us as a medical center. We had achieved the classification of hospital due to the recognition we received for the high quality and commitment of our work. President Zelaya, through our work, advocated for us and that was how we were established as a hospital. So what is happening now is that they want to intimidate us and destoy us, but we won’t give them that pleasure.
AL: Why do you think they are doing this?
Dr. Castillo: Look, what we think is that they want to use this fabrication to hurt the reputation and all of the work that we have been doing in favor of the people. We are worried that they will come again and confiscate the medical equipment that we have been able to obtain through donations from different organizations and people from around the world. So we are denouncing this, to alert everyone who knows our work.
AL: Tell me, did they arrest anyone during the raid? What is the situation in the hospital now? Is it closed or open?
Dr. Castillo: Fortunately they did arrest anyone, but we are in constant fear that they might come back and takeover the hospital. It is not closed but continues open and we continue to do our work as doctors taking health to our people.
This was a short interview with Dr. Luther Castillo on October 9th. The diagnosis we can make from these events is that it makes very obvious the plan of the coup government to fabricate criminal charges against the leaders of the popular organizations that are an essential part of the resistance movement against the military coup in Honduras. This is a common practice that different repressive, dictatorial and right wing governments in Latin America have practiced. – To intimidate, to silence, to repress, to fabricate charges so that later they can wipe out the resistance movement that has popular support.
We call on the national and international community to join in denouncing any act of repression that arises from this incident. This has been an act of intimidation not only against the medical team of the hospital but against all of the communities that it serves.
We ask that letters be sent to Congressional representatives and Senators expressing not only our concern and outrage but also demanding an end to the violations of human rights by the golpistas and demanding the return to constitutionality of Honduras. We demand that those guilty of all these crimes against the Honduran people related to the coup d’etat be punished.
We Demand:
The immediate return of President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales
The return to constitutionality
No to the illegal elections called by the de facto government.
Respect for the popular vote – Yes to the national constituent assembly.
Stop the violations of human rights.
Honduras belongs to all the people and no just to the oligarchy — we will struggle to the end!
Because solidarity is the tenderness of the people. WE ARE ALL HONDURAS!”
by John Schröder » Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:56 am
Update: A hundred demonstrators protested in front of where talks were going on, and were dispersed by tear gas and water cannons. Fake Minister of Culture Myrna Castro has blocked access to the Center for Historical Investigation. The police threatened historian Natalie Roque with two days in prison for wanting to enter. Dick Emanuelsson interviewed Luther Castillo, the head of the Garifuna hospital. Via HondurasOye, Castillo is interviewed by Alexy Lanza. The dictatorship attacked the hospital and there is a fear it will be closed.
Radio Globo: Zelaya, in an interview, sounds as if has softened his deadline of the 15th for restoration. But I don’t think that the resistance will allow any significant change. Marco Aurelio of Brazil said that the Nobel should be used to put pressure on the dictatorship. (Later) Radio Globo is talking about a kind of chemical weapon that causes disorientation that was used yesterday.
The US press, as far as I can tell, continues to refuse to report the poll showing that Hondurans oppose the coup d’etat. Arturo Cano of La Jornada has a comprehensive article that covers a lot of what’s happening, including the poll. Marvin Ponce says that the coupistas should have had bids for the PR contract to gussy up their image, but they did it no-bid.
Amnesty International called on the Honduran dictatorship to re-open Channel 36 and Radio Globo.
Twelve indigenous people, associated with COPINH, sought sanctuary from the repression in Honduras in the Guatemalan embassy.
Update2: Radio Globo is still silent, and I expect the worst. The recent decree was aimed at someone, was directed toward Conatel, and therefore if Globo was doing pirate broadcasting, could have been used as a justification to seize their Internet broadcast operation. Listening to Radio Liberado: they say Globo has been closed, but it’s not clear if they’re talking about now or before.
Manuel Olle Sesé, President of the Spanish Assembly for Human Rights and Luis Guillermo Pérez Casas, Secretary General of Human Rights of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) filed a criminal complaint against the top members of the military and Micheletti at the International Criminal Court in Holland. Named were Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, Chief of Staff, General Miguel Ángel García Padgett, head of the Army, General Luis Javier Prince Suazo, Air Force Chief, Admiral Juan Pablo Rodríguez Rodríguez, Naval Chief and Daniel López Carballo, ex-Chief of Staff.
Greg Grandin says that Billy Joya was involved in the recruitment of Colombian mercenaries.
_____________________________
Update. Radio Globo is off the air, er, Internet. Radio Progreso is still there. The speaker says (correctly I think) that what unites the resistance is not Zelaya, but the coup d’etat.
Imaginary vice-chancellor Martha Lorena Alvarado says that the dictatorship’s allowing Zelaya to stay in the Brazilian embassy shows their civic-spiritness. That and the Brazilian Air Force. Showing that they’ve been watching too much FOX television, the dictatorship says it fears that Zelaya has a Venezuelan commando team in the embassy.
A short film in English about Zelaya supporters jailed for demonstrating here. They have been sent into a prison for hardened criminals.
The negotiators between Zelaya and the dictatorship say they have made 60% progress on the agenda, but there is no agreement on restoring Zelaya to complete his term of office. Micheletti says he’s very happy with the progress. He also refuses to let Zelaya stay at some less cramped location while things are worked out. The government says that the sniper platform they have erected is for “security.” “It gives us a panorama into the embassy so that we know what’s going on” says Danilo Molina of the National Police. “It’s an addition measure to give us control over what happens inside.” That’s an open confession they’re violating the Vienna Convention.
(Via Voz) Romeo Vasquez filed a complaint against the president of the Central American parliament, Gloria Oqueli, for calling him a murderer and criminal. Small problem: we know that Vasquez should have gone to jail for car theft, so it will be particularly hard for him to prove that he’s not a criminal. TeleSur via Voz el Soberano: Zelaya calls for tougher sanctions.
TeleSur withdrew its journalists from the Brazilian embassy for fear of their health. This is an independent confirmation that the conditions in the embassy– the gas, the presence of snipers peering over the walls, the noise weapons– amount to torture. TeleSur further denounced the authorities for denying access to replacements.
by John Schröder » Sun Oct 11, 2009 12:24 pm
Reports from Honduras alternated today between a possible opening of negotiations to resolve the crisis brought about by the June 28 coup and continued repression against the mass resistance movement. Meanwhile, a delegation of human rights activists from the United States was preparing to leave Oct. 7 for a fact-finding mission to Tegucigalpa, the Central American country’s capital.
President Manuel Zelaya, from his asylum in the besieged Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, said that the coup regime of Roberto Micheletti must restore civil liberties in Honduras and agree on his return to the presidency before the negotiations could continue. “I am ready to sit down face-to-face with the dictator [Micheletti] when he decides to sign the Arias plan,” Zelaya said, referring to a plan proposed by President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica that the coup regime has so far rejected. (AFP, Oct. 5)
The coup regime, which represents the 13-family Honduran oligarchy and rests its power on the bayonets of the Pentagon-trained Honduran army, announced Oct. 5 that it would rescind its decree from a week earlier suspending the Constitution. However, the two local media outlets that broadcast stories reflecting the view of the majority of Hondurans who oppose the coup are still closed down.
Commenting on the cancellation of the state of siege, Rafael Alegría of the National Front for Resistance against the Coup called it “a triumph for the people and the popular resistance.” (EFE, Oct. 6)
Delegation from U.S. to Honduras
At the offices of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, an Oct. 5 news conference announced that a 12-person delegation would arrive Oct. 7 in Tegucigalpa for a fact-finding mission. The delegation includes political and religious activists, community organizers, labor unionists, students and youths.
The delegation had planned to attend the First International Conference Against the Coup and for the Constituent National Assembly in Honduras, which was scheduled to take place Oct. 8-10. However, given the tense political and social crisis in the country and the increased repression from the coup regime, the conference has been postponed.
The U.S. delegation, coordinated by the International Action Center, will, nevertheless, continue its trip to Honduras Oct. 7-11. The group plans to look into reports that the Micheletti coup government has consistently attacked the Brazilian embassy, dropping chemical gas, shutting off the water and electricity, and using Long-Range Acoustic Devices that can result in permanent hearing loss.
IAC co-director Teresa Gutiérrez told Workers World the group “also plans to meet with students, labor, women, youth, representatives of the National Front of Resistance against the Coup and others to find out the truth about the situation in Honduras and to bring it back to the United States.”
Vanessa Ramos, president of the American Association of Jurists and a member of the National Lawyers Guild, helped organize a delegation to Honduras in late August. Ramos told organizers that the presence of a delegation from the U.S. is critical at this time and that she supports the efforts of the Oct. 7-11 fact-finding delegation.
The report of the NLG trip—which was written by members of the AAJ, the NLG and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers as well as the International Association Against Torture—confirms that the June 28 events in Honduras constitute a genuine military coup. The report further states that the military overthrow “was a clear violation of Honduras’ 1982 Political Constitution.”
In light of the tense and fluid situation in Honduras, the Oct. 7-11 delegation has posted a petition calling on elected officials, members of Congress and representatives of the press to assure the success and safety of the U.S. delegation by aggressively declaring the illegitimacy of the Micheletti government, by condemning the repression of the Honduran people and by demanding the immediate restoration of Honduras’ democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. The IAC has also begun a Twitter feed to enable instantaneous communication from Honduras during the trip. These links can be found at www.iacenter.org.
Solidarity with resistance
According to statements from delegation spokespeople, the group will not only gather facts from the resistance, but also express its solidarity with the people and resistance of Honduras. This resistance has persisted now for over 100 days since the June 28 coup and is set to go out into the streets again today, Oct. 6.
A leading spokesperson for the National Front, Juan Barahona, said in a Sept. 30 interview with Brazilian activist-journalist Pedro Fuentes that “The National Front of the Resistance has gathered in the majority of the people.” In the days of struggle since the coup, Barahona added, “Honduras changed completely, and a very positive result will remain from all this—an organization and a great experience. In these days of struggles the level of consciousness rose much more than in 100 forums discussing the class struggle.”
Barahona added that the National Front is “in favor of participating in the negotiations but at the same time we say to the golpistas [coup perpetrators] that we won’t stop fighting; we will be in the streets until the last day they are in power.”
Honduras, Day One
The U.S. Delegation in Solidarity with the Honduran Resistance had a very successful first day in Tegucigalpa, capital city of Honduras, culminating with a confrontation with police and military at the Brazilian embassy. Our delegation is exhausted from our 4 a.m. flight; however, our spirits are high from our ability to solidarize ourselves with the Honduran people today.
Tegucigalpa is one of the many areas where a large resistance movement is fighting back against an illegal, right-wing de facto government that installed itself after kidnapping democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya some three months ago.
Today, 12 activists from the U.S.–including teachers, youth, women, labor delegates, community leaders, Honduran immigrants and religious figures—were warmly greeted by members of the National Resistance Front [again, please check name] at the airport in Tegucigalpa.
We met with a representative of COFADEH, an organization originally formed to support families of the disappeared in the 1980s. COFADEH has recently, however, been working to bring justice against the atrocities being committed by the de facto regime of Micheletti. A report on our encounter with COFADEH will be forthcoming; we plan on returning to their office to get more time to talk with them this week.
Finally, we went to the Brazilian embassy, where President Zelaya has been in refuge since returning to the country on September 21. The area was surrounded by police; we were told that it would be impossible to get inside the embassy to meet with the president.
Upon arrival in Tegucigalpa, we had learned that a delegation from the Organization for American States had also arrived today in the country, and that the police and military forces had been scaled back in order to put a good face on the regime, which has been repressing the people through these same armed bodies. However, upon arrival at the hotel, a member of the resistance received a call that heavy repression was going on at the Brazilian embassy—so heavy that it was advised that we not go.
We also learned that Micheletti had supposedly lifted a ban on individual liberties that he had enacted in the past week. However, when we approached the police and asked them why we were not allowed to exercise our civil liberties, the police, laughing, told us that they weren’t recognizing the lifting of the ban.
Holding our banner, which reads “U.S. Delegation in Solidarity with the Honduran Resistance – No to the Coup!”, we formed a line in front of the police, facing off with them. When, by slowly marching forward, they pushed us almost into the street, we turned our backs to them and faced the passing traffic, generating massive honking, thumbs up and fists in the air by cars passing by. Many delegation members were interviewed by the press, and we were able to get out our message of solidarity and demands for respect of Honduran self-determination.
After about an hour, our delegation was joined by a truck and car caravan of resistance fighters, including a large number of women. I met two self-identified resistance fighters, young women ages 8 and 16. Flags waved from the backs of trucks and militant chants could be heard everywhere.
After a while, people in the resistance saw our banner and came over to offer heartfelt thanks. The police stood off with us for hours, and it was believed by many protesters that had a delegation from the U.S. not been there, what would have ensued would have been another round of repression–a series of attacks with tear gas, beatings and more. In fact, as the crowd was dispersing a truck arrived filled with members of the army; they began to surround protesters, wielding huge batons.
Tomorrow is another day of protest—in fact, we are told that there will be protests all week. The OAS delegation is supposed to be here for another day; many are wondering whether the repression will increase once they have left. We will continue monitoring the situation and report back to this blog as often as communication methods allow.
HONDURAS TRIP, DAY TWO
URGENT: We just heard there is an emergency occurring at the Brazilian embassy. Tonight they have erected two scaffold and placed two snipers on it—one a member of the police, the other of the army. They have also set up speakers and are sending out commands and making animal sounds, terrifying the people. The National Resistance Front has sent out an emergency email notice.
*****
Day two of the U.S. Delegation in Solidarity with the Honduras Resistance began early. At 7 am, we traveled to the offices of the bottler’s union, which has become somewhat of a headquarters for the resistance movement here in Honduras. This morning, members of the many varied, yet unified, sectors of the resistance—Indigenous, campesinos, labor unions, women, religious figures, artists, writers, doctors, engineers, youth, and more—were meeting to be debriefed about the political situation and to plan next steps.
The level of organization was impressive and exciting, with representatives giving reportbacks on pertinent information. A representative reported on the negotiations with the Organization of American States—negotiations in which the resistance movement has a seat at the table. Others reported on the numbers of people injured at the hands of the state at various places throughout the country.
Next was another day of protest—this time, a march from the pedagogical university to the Clarion Hotel, where the OAS delegation was staying. The situation quickly became tense, with truck after truck of heavily armed, face-masked police and army forces arriving to surround protesters. We once again attended the march, carrying our banner identifying us as being from the U.S. This time, protestors stopped and clapped for us as we arrived; one woman directed as many members of the press as she could find to us.
Once again, we saw women on the frontlines of the struggle; one diminutive but clearly fierce woman was brought over to the delegation and introduced as “la abuela de la resistencia”—the grandmother of the resistance.
With the presence of international media, a U.S. delegation, and the OAS representatives, the government’s armed forces once again held off from attacking the crowd. However whether or not the attacks occur, it is clear that the resistance here has no intention of backing off. One of the chants often heard is “tienen miedos porque no tenemos miedos”–they are afraid because we are not afraid.
Later we returned to the bottler’s union for a meeting with religious leaders, who have organized themselves to resist the coup. The large churches, and particularly the Catholic church, has been supportive and even offered their blessings to the illegal, repressive Micheletti regime. But smaller churches have taken up the mantle of liberation theology and dedicated themselves, as one sister said, not just to theory, but to practice–in the streets with the people.
Lastly, the delegation met with Carlos H. Reyes, who was an independent candidate for president before the coup d’etat. He explained the nuances of the struggle in the streets to us—how the struggle is increasingly a struggle between the classes; how the masses are rapidly becoming politicized in the midst of this situation; and more.
We have decided that tomorrow we will pay a visit to the U.S. embassy and tell them our observations from this delegation. We are going even though they dodged our calls all day, transferring our call to voicemail over and over.
The resistance here is amazing, and inspiring, and most of all, unstoppable. We will keep you all posted with developments as soon as we can; and we will continue to stand in solidarity with them while we are here, and when we return.
Urgent message from the delegation
In the last 24 hours, the situation in Honduras has reached a profound level of urgency. The illegal, de facto Micheletti regime is clearly reaching a point of desperation—and there is a serious danger in this, as the right-wing can and will do anything when they are desperate.IMG_0744
Last night, we received word that at the Brazilian embassy, where President Manuel Zelaya has been seeking refuge, two scaffolds had been erected and two snipers placed on them—one from the Honduran police and one from the Honduran army. Heavy military activity was also occurring on the ground around the embassy, with military convoys placed at strategic places all around the windows and doors of the embassy. The fear is that an assassination attempt on Zelaya’s life may be carried out soon.
Another alarming report relayed to us today from Honduran human rights leaders is of the presence of 120 paramilitaries—experts in killing—from other Latin American countries in Honduras. Many of these paramilitaries have been trained at the School of the Americas based in Georgia.
Today while we were in a meeting, the human rights leader we were meeting with received a phone call that police at the pedagogical university had given protesters there 10 minutes to disperse or face dire consequences. Military convoys had been brought in to surround the protesters.
As this email is being written, members of the U.S. Delegation in Solidarity with the Honduras Resistance are at the U.S. embassy, attempting to meet with representatives there to alert them of the situation and demand the discontinuation of U.S. aid to the de facto regime, a freeze on the assets of the golpista government members, and the abandonment of any electoral process that doesn’t first involve the restitution of President Zelaya, as is the will of the Honduran people.
Activists in Honduras are urging supporters to call the following numbers and demand an end to the violence and repression and the restoration of civil liberties:
* Honduras Desk, U.S. State Department 202-647-3482
* State Department Main Switchboard 202-647-4000
* White House 202-456-1111
* OAS Washington Office 202-458-3000
HONDURAS DELEGATION DAY FOUR
We’re back at the hotel after a very long day of meetings. We met today with students and youth and the international committee of the National Resistance Front. We also had the opportunity to connect with a delegation that is here from Los Angeles, and discussed coordinating future efforts. While some of us were busy sending out the emergency email this morning, others were able to get into the U.S. embassy and meet with a representative to present our evidence and demands.
The police and military have resumed their repressive tactics against protesters. People returning to the bottler’s union today from the demonstrations showed us the injuries they had sustained at the hands of these forces—one man with a large bruise across his upper arm, where he had been hit with a baton; another who suffered an allergic reaction from the gas, with a rash all over his back. A member of our delegation was shown dozens of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets that one protester had collected just that day.
Meeting with the youth and students, we learned that there was a kidnapping attempt on a leader of one of the student organizations today. The kidnapper attempted to drag the young woman into a car; with the help of a friend she was able to escape but fractured her hand in the process.
We have not heard any further reports about shooting at the Brazilian embassy, or of any injuries. On an exciting note, members of our delegation were able to speak by phone to Xiomara Zelaya, spouse of President Manuel Zelaya who is also seeking refuge at the Brazilian embassy.
Things remain tense; however the movement remains strong, organized and dedicated. In fact, as the repression intensifies, it even seems that the movement becomes more sophisticated and organized. Students and workers are all talking about how to take the struggle forward. Everybody talks about how class consciousness has been raised since the day Zelaya was kidnapped—a qualitative shift in the minds of the people. Something big is happening in Honduras.
Delegation Report – Day 4
Tonight, our last night in Honduras, a World Cup qualifying game is taking place here between Honduras and the U.S. Another alert has been raised; we’ve received reports that while the eyes of a large part of the country are focused on the game, more scaffolding has been put up around the embassy tonight, with more snipers.
In the news today, the Micheletti regime has imposed a decree stating that “the frequencies of radio or television stations may be canceled if they transmit messages that incite national hate and the destruction of public property.” It allows officials to monitor and control broadcasts that “attack national security.” (Associated Press, Oct. 10)
The two main resistance stations, Channel 36 and Radio Globo, were shut down by the Micheletti regime when President Zelaya returned to the country on Sept. 21; this new decree is yet another attempt to silence the resistance movement.
We had a number of informative and inspiring meetings today with feminists and other women in the resistance movement; young students at a school for revolutionary theory; and Juan Barahona, the representative from the National Resistance Front at the OAS negotiations.
But by far the highlight of the day was the protest we attended in one of the barrios, a community just outside of Tegucigalpa. The protest was smaller than the ones we’ve attended in Tegucigalpa but no less militant. Once again, the police showed up in massive numbers, lining the sides of the streets with their large shields, gas masks and batons. At this protest, however, the ultimate form of defiance to the police occurred when the music was cranked up and, singing and laughing, people started dancing in the streets. When we gave our hugs goodbye this time, it was with love and sadness that we had to leave our new comrades in the struggle.
There’s so much more to tell about this fact-finding solidarity mission that hasn’t been said in these late-night, exhausted posts. We plan to give report-backs and hope that everyone can attend to get the bigger picture about the situation in Honduras, and provide their solidarity to the struggle there.
What seems clearer than clear is that the resistance movement is highly organized, politically nuanced and united. We have been told time and time again that the struggle in Honduras is for more than the restitution of President Zelaya; it’s for a new society, one that provides for all and not just the few.
While nobody was willing to predict which way the struggle will go, the confidence that they would succeed was overwhelming. In a situation that many described as a laboratory, a practice ground for the U.S. and the corporations to commit coups against other left-leaning Latin America governments, the price of failure is far too great.
The Honduran people need and deserve the support of people in the U.S. and around the world. ¡Viva la resistencia hondurena!
by John Schröder » Sun Oct 11, 2009 1:27 pm
by Sweejak » Mon Oct 12, 2009 1:13 pm
When much of the Iranian citizenry protested their recent election, our major media organs relayed reports derived from Twitter messages. These "tweets" allegedly came from within Iran, although we had no proof of origin. Much of the information was demonstrably wrong.
Let us compare Iran and Honduras.
by John Schröder » Mon Oct 12, 2009 1:48 pm
Sweejak wrote:I don't know if this was already posted. I don't get email notifications for some reason.When much of the Iranian citizenry protested their recent election, our major media organs relayed reports derived from Twitter messages. These "tweets" allegedly came from within Iran, although we had no proof of origin. Much of the information was demonstrably wrong.
Let us compare Iran and Honduras.
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2009/10/ ... tweet.html
by John Schröder » Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:48 pm
Hibueras is back, with an open letter from a businessman who makes kitchen utensils. There are shortages of food and gasoline, as well as electrical outages that make work difficult. He complains that troops have taken over his business and stolen the tools. Of 20 employees, fifteen are being held without charges. He says that 30 dead bodies appeared at the south exit of Tegucigalpa. He went there to see if one of them was an employee who had been beaten by troops and had disappeared, but he was not among them. All of the corpses had been half burnt, had their hands tied with wire and had been shot in the head. He saw a human rights group recovering cartridges, which he thought were from M-16s. He is abandoning Honduras to go to El Salvador.
Juan Carlos Rivera at Mirada del Halcon has an up-close look at the situation at the Brazilian embassy. He says that the top tier of commandos are snipers, assault specialists, paratroops, military intelligence, and a group called TESON, for Tropas Especiales de Selva y Operaciones Nocturnas (Special Troops for Jungle and Night Operations). They are under the direct command of the military chiefs. Soldiers of inferior rank which use M-16s carry Galil assault rifles and Petro Beretta or CZ automatic pistols, a dagger, and balaclavas. Those in green camouflage are supported by PFP, DNIC, and DSEI police. The latter photograph and film people who come and go, and even invade reporters’s notebooks. There are 2000 personnel.
__________________________________________________________
(Image from El Libertador. Grafitti of Carlos Robertos Flores Facusse, former Honduran president and owner of La Tribuna…and a coup leader)
There are a lot of troubling signs. Radio Globo remains silent. Other electronic media were, according to chat at LibreExpresion, silent last night. I couldn’t raise El Libertador, and Tiempo was sticking very carefully to inoffensive news. Vos El Soberano just says that
Radio Progreso is up now; it reaches the southwest region of Honduras only. People are talking about the narco-taxi traffic that has been raining from the skies (there have been several crashes) and the fact that the coupista press is claiming they are Venezuelan whereas they are much more probably Colombian. Notinada has added a humorous feature that is a pun on the Cadena Nacional (”The National Chain” forced state broadcasts) called La Condena Nacional (National Condemnation). It begins with a call to all media…. horse carts, anything that makes noise, and closes. “If you haven’t been punished enough, you may have a repeat of the broadcasting to which you have been listening.
El Libertador has the text of the UN’s statement on mercenaries in Honduras. Tiempo editorializes that the OAS mission has failed. Juan Barahona has accepted what I regard as a very dangerous negotiating position that if Zelaya is restored to power, the government will be a “unity” government, but he has maintained a position against amnesty. He says that if there’s no agreement by Thursday, October 15th, all bets are off. The SIP (International Press Society) has requested the return of broadcast rights to Channel 36 and Radio Globo. This is just a bit ironic, since SIP’s membership includes people who led and sustain the coup.
The military has been blocking food, medicine, clothing, and other normal items into the embassy in violation of the Vienna Convention. Among the items they have blocked include underwear, a pillow, honey and chocolate cookies, grapes and apples, sleeping bags, dry nuts, juices, canned drinks, a chess game, canned tuna, powdered milk, a bag of banana bits, medicine, and canned goods. The FIDH (human rights) has requested that the EU not recognize any elections and that it expel any diplomats who supported the coup.
In its title bar, Tiempo has placed, “On our knees, but alive.” Their coverage is definitely missing something. They report that the “Guaymaras” negotiations begin again tomorrow. Our man from the OAS, John Biehl, says that things are going great. Six more people left the embassy; thirty one remain and a number of those are Zelaya’s family. It seems likely to me that if the dictatorship is planning to assault the embassy, they want to reduce the number of people inside to a minimum. This will better allow them to control the story. This is why it is so critical to lift the press restrictions.
Radio Globo (2:45 PM Eastern) Reporter Galdames confirms the report that they are blocking food, especially fruit, to the embassy. This is the first time I have heard Globo in days.
TeleSur has the following report, which seems to me like a waste of electrons, but it’s about the only written account I can find of what is going on (the translation is loose):
President Zelaya warned the international community of the strategies might use on Tuesday in a new dialogue between the parties that is being supervised by the OAS. Zelaya called such actions “a buffeting” of the Honduran nation and said he had no confidence in dialogue with the regime because it would refuse any request of the OAS. But he added, “I maintain my inclination toward dialogue.” He said that he still hadn’t considered what he would do if dialogue fell apart and indicated, “We will continue to fight in the streets, and the crisis will deepen.” Representatives of the imaginary government and of Zelaya met and agreed on a unity government and a rejection of amnesty, leaving the issue of restitution to this Tuesday. Zelaya said he never requested amnesty because he didn’t need it. He said that the negotiators for the regime are stalling for time by taking up other issues. He added that Micheletti is seeking acceptance from the international community for elections. “It is to Micheletti’s condemnation that some whisper sweet things in his ears to make him believe that the world will accept” elections. Zelaya spoke of the support offered by the international community in the OAS discussions. We have accepted everything that has been advanced to complete my term peacefully, but Tuesday is decisive. The international community is supporting me to deliver a lesson to the coupistas. Zelayas asked the international community to take stronger economic anc commercial steps against the imaginary government. He said the steps taken so far are not adequate to fight a regime that maintains itself by force of arms. He said if all nations took such steps, the coup would collapse within hours. He said he has never considered for a moment throwing in the towel and seeking political asylum. I am beset, I don’t deny it, it’s difficult, there’s rension, but my spirit is strong, it is spiritual strength that sustains me he said after denouncing electronic bombardment with microwaves [sonic bombardment?] which the regime has submitted him to and which produces a headache and organic destabilization. The regime continues to intensify its repressive acts, including the closure of Radio Globo and Channel 36 and Executive Order 124, which monitor and control media messages under the excuse of maintaining “national security.” The Frente decided that on Monday it will return to the streets to request the restitution of Manuel Zelaya.
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