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by geogeo » Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:12 pm
by John Schröder » Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:18 pm
by John Schröder » Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:56 pm
Another layer of the onion rings around the coup regime begins to cry:
Honduras’s nationwide curfew is costing the Central American nation’s economy $50 million a day, said Jesus Canahuati, vice president of the nation’s chapter of the Business Council of Latin America.
Poor babe. Maybe Canahuati should have thought about that before helping to orchestrate the coup, put Micheletti in power, and then have his organization hire Lanny Davis to screw it all up in Washington! Yo, Sherlock; it's like that old flower child poster: Curfews are not healthy for oligarchs and other living things. If the poor can't go out on the street to slave in your sweatshops or buy the junk produced there, it hits you, too.
The country’s $14.1 billion economy has lost up to $200 million in investment since the military ousted Manuel Zelaya from office on June 28, Canahuati said in a telephone interview today.
“Those are numbers that aren’t sustainable in Honduras,” Canahuati said from San Pedro Sula. “We’re a poor country, and many people won’t eat if there’s no work.”
by JackRiddler » Thu Sep 24, 2009 12:56 am
rabs Thu Sep-24-09 12:42 AM
Response to Original message
10. Latest news update
I am listening to resistance station Radio Globo online. As of 10:30 p.m. Honduras time (12:30 Eastern):
-- Brazilian Embassy is still under siege. About 250 troops and police are stationed around embassy and in neighboring houses. Searchlights have been set up to illuminate the embassy grounds from all sides.
-- Callers to radio are reporting police are shooting into the air in several neighborhoods.
--Zelaya just spoke on the radio, said there are about 100 people in the embassy with him, including one woman who is about to give birth.
-- Zelaya's family today tried to deliver food to the embassy but was turned away.
-- Zelaya said that if the golpistas tried to assassinate him, it would be suicide for the golpistas.
-- He said although his life was at risk, he was not afraid and asked that his followers remain calm.
-- Earlier the station reported that at least 10 people had been killed since last night. There could be many more, according to callers.
Spanish speakers can follow what is happening here:
http://www.radioglobohonduras.com /
by JackRiddler » Thu Sep 24, 2009 1:45 am
by American Dream » Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:50 am
by John Schröder » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:12 am
by John Schröder » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:20 am
The coup regime - after two days of blocking Hondurans from traveling on all the roads to Tegucigalpa, after imposing curfews night and day, after beating up anybody it could lay a nightstick on who came to welcome the legitimate president or redress their grievances - has just called a pro-coup demonstration for tomorrow in the capital. You can bet there won't be any blockades or curfews or repression and the coup soldiers may even encourage the provocation of incidents outside the Brazilian Embassy.
But the resistance isn't stupid. Already the call has gone out via Radio Globo to the nation: Since the coup plotters have urged their protesters to dress in the color red, the members of the resistance should do the same, rent buses, and travel the highways to the capital, telling the cops at the roadblocks - if they even put them up tomorrow - that they're coming to join the pro-coup rally. And that will get them into the capital, for events on the following days once the "march of the perfumados" has gone back home.
This, again, points to how this regime is incapable of holding fair and free elections. When one side assembles, it brings out the blockades, the cops, the tear gas and billy clubs. When the others side does it, the regime rolls out the red carpet and even pays for it. Anybody that claims fair elections can be held in that climate of violence, intimidation and cheating is not really a friend of democracy, no matter how many times they mouth the word.
by John Schröder » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:34 am
Indefinite curfew
Micheletti's government has announced indefinite imprisonment of the Honduran people.
Insurrection continues, youths being carted off in large numbers
...from neighborhoods all over the city, where hunger and the pent-up fury of imprisonment and attacks on people in their homes is provoking people to want to take back their neighborhoods.
Radio Globo available
Since its own site and regular broadcast signal were shut down by the de facto government, it can be heard here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/concierto ... a-el-golpe
Sheeps to the slaughter- planned massacre today?
Sheeps to the slaughter: Innocents called to be used in the assault on the Brazilian embassy
Red Hondureña de Noticias - RedHN. Tegucigalpa, Wednesday, Seprtermber 23, 2009, 10:50- Tomorrow, Thursday thousands of public and private workers have been called upon and rounded up from all the regions of the country with the intention of carrying out a civil assault against the Brazilian embassy, where the constitutional president of Honduras, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, is staying.
Since early today versions have filtered through the national and international press indicating that in the march of the "perfumed" (government supporters in favor of the current de facto regime), soldiers will be dressed in red to provoke disturbances that will end with the death of various innocents participating and thereby justify the aggressions against the diplomatic mission, which will culminate with the assassination of all its occupants.
Various Resistance leaders have issued called for public and private workser to not participate in the mobilization tomorrow to avoid being used as cannon fodder by the de facto authorities presided over by Roberto Micheletti Bain and general Romeo Vásquez Velásquez. (EMC)
COFADEH human rights organization violently attacked
This photo is of Carlos Humberto Izaguirre, 51, who was at COFADEH to file a complaint about how he was tortured by National Police for the fourth time since the de facto regime has been in place. Image links to article in Spanish, and COFADEH's statement about the attacks they suffered at the hands of the de facto government are below.
Day 88, September 23, 2009 from Oscar (my translation)
[translator's note: from this morning- so much is happening that this is already somewhat outdated]
I began this note as the day approached marking the end of the dark night, and a new Honduras was about to awaken, full of anxiety and hope that what seems to be the climax of the crisis is the prelude of its demise. The dictatorship has certainly awoken a giant and to put him back to sleep they'll have to beat him with force or dye trying.
The neighborhoods and districts of the city have grown silent for the moment. At the end of the pre-dawn hours we could hear sporadic gunshots coming from an amorphous darkness in contrast with what mere hours before seemed to be a city in combat. Nobody knows what is happening, our channels of information and media have been restricted, even if we have filled every available space.
Dozens of neighborhoods and districts have risen up against this dictatorship, confronting the police that has not been able to cope with controlling a slum that has always been the nightmare of the middle class and the bourgeois of this country. The poor people, the poorest of Honduras have said "enough!" and are making their shouts be heard, reaching the farthest corners of this chaotic land.
The curfew has been extended by two additional hours and we still don't have a trustworthy death count in this unequal confrontation. The information we are hearing is confusing. We are under the impression that each neighborhood now has at least one martyr at the hands of the police. The screams and cries for help are mixed with the gunshots that no one can trace.
Anywhere and everywhere, the news of police abuses are harrowing. The markets and corner stores have shut down as their supplies have run out, and people demand food, water, dignity. If we were to imagine a pre-revolutionary setting in Honduras, this would be it.
The Front is trying to call for a march in the vicinity of the Universidad Pedagógica. The police has warned that they will not tolerate this. The "whites" have called for their own march to condemn the UN for the "injustice" that they have committed on refusing to recognize their "democratic qualities" and the government has partially suspended the curfew so that they can feel free to move. They seek to impose a false reality on the world, for six hours, because they know that when the night comes the confrontations will arise again.
On radio and television the foreign minister López Contreras gave a press conference, representing the disappeard "president" Micheletti, announcing their interest in a pseudo-"dialogue," since they don't recognize the Resistance as a political force, nor do they recognize Mel as an interlocutor. We are open to dialogue, said López Tonteras [transl. note: a mockery of his last name], reaffirming that that would only happen once Mel had turned himself in to be tried and never as president.
The announcement of the meeting of the UN Security Council scared the de facto government which immediately gave up on its plan to attack the diplomatic headquarters. Nonetheless the attacks continued the whole night. They used high energy radio frequency microwave weapons and chemical weapons trying to force Mel and the people accompanying him to leave. Military helicopters fly overhead making the windows rattle. The dictatorship is falling but we know that there is still much sacrifice to come.
by John Schröder » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:53 am
Channel 36, Cholusat Sur, reports that the InterAmerican Human Rights Commission has asked the Supreme Court of Honduras for urgent permission to conduct an emergency visit because of the deteriorating human rights conditions in the country, a result of the curfew and repression of protests. It asked the Supreme Court for permission because they were unable to contact either Manuel Zelaya or his Foreign Minister, Patricia Rodas. The de facto government was not consulted.
El Tiempo has more information. It reports that the IACHR (or CIDH in Spanish) sent a letter to the President of the National Congress and President of the Supreme Court. In it, they noted that "The CIDH has recivied information about acts of violence and the reinstallation of the curfew and the decrease in the observation of human rights in Honduras. Because of this, the CIDH has decided to ask for an urgent visit to Honduras with the objective of verifying the brevity of the observation of human rights."
Cholusat Sur was showing live images of a peaceful gathering of people in the center of Tegucigalpa when the police and military showed up. There was some kind of argument between the police and the military about what to do. Eventually they must have worked it out because they began arresting everyone. In response to a reporter's question as to why, the reporter was told that the people had violated the "rule" that they could only gather in small groups, of five or fewer people.
They're making this rule up. No such rule was ever announced. The crowds that gathered at banks, supermarkets, gas stations,etc. all exceeded this.
Bloomberg reports that Jesus Canahuati, vice president of the Honduran chapter of the Business Council of Latin America, said that the curfew in Honduras is costing the economy $50 million a day. He noted that the economy has lost $200 million in new investments since June 28.
"Those numbers aren't sustainable in Honduras," Canahuati said.
In another Bloomberg report, Sandra Midence, the President of the Banco Central of Honduras for the de facto government predicted the return of Zelaya might lead to a high demand for foreign currencies, further draining the national reserves.
"Before Zelaya's return, I was pretty tranquil because the drainage of reserves had slowed. With his return, I'm waiting to see how it affects demand for dollars and Lempiras."
The de facto government just concluded a national broadcast in which it announced that the curfew would resume in 15 minutes, at 5 pm, and THEY WOULD ANNOUNCE AT A LATER DATE WHEN IT WOULD END. I'm pretty sure that, like the manner in which the curfew was invoked, violates Honduran law.
UPDATE: 7:55 PM PDT: The curfew will end at 6 am thursday morning.
Will the real Carlos Lopez Contreras stand up. Last evening, Carlos Lopez Contreras, Foreign Minister for Roberto Micheletti, said "Neither the OAS nor the international community should intervene," that the crisis should be solved by Honduran's using Honduran law. This seems very clear. It's a response to the OAS President José Miguel Insulza's offer to come to Honduras to facilitate dialogue between Micheletti and Zelaya.
However, unreported in Honduras, but reported in the English language press, today Carlos Lopez Contreras "invited a representative group of foreign ministers" from the membership of the OAS, US State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly informs us. These foreign ministers are invited to travel to Tegucigalpa for talks. Ian Kelly says the US "welcomes this announcement and looks forward to supporting that initiative."
Either Carlos Lopez Contreras has had a complete change of heart about the OAS and dialogue, or this has another meaning. I'd like to believe he's had a change of heart, but I don't. As I outlined in our posting Non Talk Talks, this is not really an effort at dialogue to resolve the issues in any way the international community would recognize; this is more of their "get people to listen to us" program. While details are scarce at this point, it appears that Carlos Lopez hand picked the group of foreign ministers, and I'd be surprised if he doesn't try to control their contacts once they're in Honduras.
UPDATE 5:24 PM PDT: Clarin, an Argentinian newspaper, reports that the OAS delegation will consist participants from Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic, and be headed by José Miguel Insulza.
UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon annouced today that the UN would temporarily withdraw its technical support of the Honduran elections scheduled for November 29. The UN will do this because the turmoil there means the elections will not be credible. The technical support in question included training polling station staff and a quick court project. The value of the assistance was $1.3 million.
A friend and colleague writes from Tegucigalpa:
It is now 4:11PM, day 3 since the first curfew this week
Today I personally witnessed the repression in downtown Tegucigalpa.
At 2PM I left my home, and I joined today´s massive demonstration when it arrived in the Plaza Central in front of the Cathedral where I was baptized long ago.
By 3:15PM the crowds began to disperse as rumors circulated that the military and police forces were about to arrive, in fact, dispatched from near the Brazilian Embassy. I saw the arrival, in huge trucks, of about 150 military men, and about 50 riot police, masked to protect themselves from the tear gas that they began to launch as people ran and tripped over each other on the streets and sidewalks. Some managed to slip into businesses and homes that offered shelter.
Terrified, I ran and managed to escape, running about a kilometer until, with others, I managed to get into cab; while running I ran into a man about 55 to 60 years old whose face had been beaten, and blood gushed from his face; a woman whom I took to be his wife or companion was trying to take care of him as he limped away.
By late tonight you will see certainly see photos from today´s repression. The new curfew begins at 5PM.
Romeo, Romeo, where....art thou, Romeo?
El Heraldo's minute-by-minute timeline just denied that Gen. Vasquez Velasquez himself is off talking to his Commander in Chief:
9:23
Really? Rumor, or not?
Romeo. El vocero de las Fuerzas Armadas de Honduras desmintió esta noche que el Jefe del Estado Mayor Conjunto, Romeo Vásquez, haya llegado a la embajada de Brasil en Tegucigalpa para reunirse con Zelaya.
9:23
Romeo. The spokesperson of the Armed Forces of Honduras denied tonight that the Head of the Joint Chiefs of the Armed Forces, Romeo Vasquez, had arrived at the embassy of Brazil in Tegucigalpa to meet with Zelaya.
[and yes, for the pedants among you, I know that I am committing an act of violence on the Shakespeare quote. But really, I resisted a direct reference this long, and that is more than anyone should
have expected]
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name": Romeo redux
El Heraldo again:
9:30pm
Now that is one dedicated head of the joint chiefs of staff!
FF AA. Según el vocero, Romeo Vásquez se encontraba en los predios de la embajada de Brasil en Tegucigalpa, por un acto de rutina y supervisión, y no para encontrarse con el destituido mandatario.
9:30 PM
Armed Forces. According to the spokesperson, Romeo Vásquez is in the property of the embassy of Brazil in Tegucigalpa, for an act of routine and supervision, and not to meet with the displaced leader.
And what kind of routine activity does the Honduran Armed Forces carry out on the property of an Embassy?
You will recall we reported on 9/22 in the bog entry "Presidential Candidates call for dialogue" that first Pepe Lobo, and later, four of the presidential candidates, called on Micheletti to start talks with Manuel Zelaya. Lobo went further and suggested that the Nationalist Party would withdraw its support of the Micheletti government if it did not begin talks. The President of the National Congress then announced that that would be the topic of the congresses general session next tuesday.
Yesterday evening Roberto Micheletti took Pepe Lobo to task for calling for dialogue and predicted he would have problems with his own party. "This threat will bring good to nobody" Micheletti indicated.
Today Porfirio Lobo Sosa "clarified" that he didn't mean dialog with Manuel Zelaya, but rather the dialogue that Micheletti had promised to convene between all the sectors of Honduran society, or so La Tribuna reports. Micheletti had promised to convene such a dialogue, and had appointed a "dialogue czar" who has done nothing since the coup.
The four presidential candidates have a meeting with Micheletti today to discuss the upcoming elections.
by John Schröder » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:18 am
by John Schröder » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:28 am
The Wall Street Journal has an editorial about the Honduran crisis, blaming the Obama administration for its handling of the situation. That is to be expected from the WSJ editorial board, but it is frustrating to see the same lies (it is too late, I think, to call them misrepresentations, misstatements, errors, or the like because the facts are so well known).
The essential argument for those who support Roberto Micheletti is that Mel Zelaya's ouster was entirely constitutional. So the editorial includes the following:
Mr. Zelaya was deposed and deported this summer after he agitated street protests to support a rewrite of the Honduran constitution so he could serve a second term.
We've gone over this a hundred times, and the best argument anyone can make is that "everyone knows" Zelaya would try for a second term, which is then taken as the same as evidence. But term limits were never mentioned in the referendum, and even the Supreme Court largely avoided the issue in its own supporting documents.
But this one is even better:
To avoid violence the Honduran military escorted Mr. Zelaya out of the country. In other words, his removal from office was legal and constitutional, though his ejection from the country gave the false appearance of an old-fashioned Latin American coup.
Escorted! What an odd word to choose. In legal terms, this is otherwise known as "forced into exile in violation of the constitution by a military acting according to its own whims without regard for the law." That is a coup.
I understand very well the anti-Zelaya arguments. But the lying is just sad.
From CNN: Roberto Micheletti says that he is willing to have a dialogue anywhere with Mel Zelaya. But that he would also have him arrested. Just that little hitch.
Micheletti's willingness to engage Zelaya seemed to be a reversal of his position. On Tuesday, he had said in an interview with local network Televicentro that Zelaya's sudden appearance would not revive negotiations to have him return to power.
Actually, no. The position is the same. Micheletti is willing to talk, but not to negotiate. He has often said he will discuss the San José Accord as long as he does not have to accept any of it.
And, by the way, when the power went out in the Brazilian embassy, Zelaya supporters did it themselves.
Despite local reports citing police officials that authorities turned off the power to the embassy and surrounding area ostensibly to discourage looting, Micheletti said that a congregation of pro-Zelaya protesters at the embassy short-circuited the power themselves.
Remarkably, they also threw tear gas at themselves and beat themselves with batons.
by John Schröder » Thu Sep 24, 2009 12:18 pm
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