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President of Honduras Overthrown in Military Coup
TEGUCIGALPA - A group of at least
100 soldiers surrounded the residence of Honduran President Manuel
Zelaya early Sunday morning, hauled him out of bed, took him to an air
force base and put him on a plane for Costa Rica.
Congress,
which decided late Thursday to investigate whether the president was
fit to govern on the grounds that he "failed to pay due attention to
problems of national interest and did not obey legal decisions, to the
detriment of the rule of law," planned to meet at noon (18:00 GMT) to
complete the process.
The head of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, will be named acting president, as Zelaya’s constitutional successor.
General elections are due in Honduras in November, and Zelaya’s term ends in January.
Blackout
There is virtually no power or Internet in the Honduran capital
in the wake of the coup d’etat. Electricity was gradually cut
throughout the city, which is being overflown by war planes and
helicopters. The few media outlets that continue to broadcast are only
airing music.
The police have reportedly fired tear gas to disperse the growing crowds that have taken to the streets to protest.
There is also a blackout in some neighbourhoods in San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in this Central American nation.
The Organisation of American States (OAS) has convened an
emergency meeting on the situation, at its headquarters in Washington,
D.C.
In a statement, OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza strongly
condemned the military coup and called on the Honduran people, the
countries of the Americas and the international community "to join
forces against this grave disturbance of the democratic process" in the
region.
U.S. President Barack Obama said "I am deeply concerned by
reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of
President Manuel Zelaya. As the Organisation 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."
Officials in the White House reported that Obama and National
Security Adviser James Jones met early Sunday to discuss the situation
in Honduras.
Zelaya’s plans to hold a non-binding popular referendum Sunday
asking voters whether or not to hold a formal vote in November on
creating a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution put him at
loggerheads with the Supreme Court, the military and Congress,
including members of his own party, the Liberal Party.
The situation deteriorated quickly over the last few days.
On Wednesday the president dismissed the military chief,
General Romeo Vásquez and accepted the resignation of Defence Minister
Edmundo Orellana after the armed forces commanders refused to help
organise the referendum by distributing ballot boxes and providing
security.
The Supreme Court ruled that the referendum was illegal, and
voted to reinstate Vásquez. But Zelaya refused to accept the military
chief’s reinstatement, and went ahead with the distribution of voting
materials.
The opposition maintains that Zelaya’s aim was to change the constitution to allow presidents to run for re-election.
Sunday’s unofficial referendum was deemed illegal on the
argument that it violates the constitutional stipulation that
referendums cannot be held during an election year.
The European Union has called on the Honduran military to
release Zelaya and restore constitutional order. "The EU strongly
condemns the arrest of the constitutional president of the republic of
Honduras by the armed forces," Foreign Minister Jan Kohout of the Czech
Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters in
Corfu, Greece.
"This action is an unacceptable violation of constitutional
order in Honduras," said Kohout. "The EU calls for the urgent release
of the president and a swift return to constitutional normality."
Zelaya was elected as the candidate of the centrist Liberal Party, but soon after taking office he took a turn to the left.
Demonstrators hold up copies of Honduras' flag as they take part in a show of support for Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya outside Miraflores Palace in Caracas June 28, 2009. (REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)
- Posted in
72 Comments so far
Show AllThis is a very disconcerting development, but had been building over the past week. Especially now that reports are in about the Ambassadors to Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela also being taken away, even if only briefly. Is this the challenge to the Latin American nations who are rising up and resisting the "Washington Concensus"? To keep up please include this website in your reading: www.venezuelanalysis.com/ . Greg Grandin's book Empires Workshop is also recommended.
Joe in Gainesville
They where trying to protect the ex-canciller Patricia Rodas, from being arrested, she was the most powerful women over the leftist direction the expresident was goin to, she didn´t hide their emotions when she was near Fidel or Hugo Chavez, treating them as Hollywood stars.
They where trying to protect the ex-chancellor Patricia Rodas, from being arrested, she was the most powerful women over the leftist direction the expresident was goin to, she didn´t hide their emotions when she was near Fidel or Hugo Chavez, treating them as Hollywood stars
Let's accept your argument that she treated Castro and Chavez as rock stars? Let's assume that she was as you say "the most powerful women over the leftist direction the expresident was goin to"
SO FREAKING WHAT? You don't like her, you don't like her politics, that is what elections are for. Vote no in the referendum.
"Zelaya was elected as the candidate of the centrist Liberal Party, but soon after taking office he took a turn to the left."
Ruh, roh. And in Honduras, no less. The one place we've always taken for granted. So is twitter twittering? Again?
he just went mad as he make friendship with Hugo Chavez
so then why did the EU, OAS, most ALBA affiliated countries, and others condemn the removal of the president?
so making friends with hugo chavez makes one mad? i can see that...it does invite certain consequences.
you guys should've taken notes from the Mousavi guys. they were much more sophisticated.
i'd recommend you email Dreyfus. he'll be a receptive audience.
Not true, the electricity is on since morning, we have cable tv, internet functioning, expresident Zelaya broke the law, he tried by any mean, even fraudulent referendum to stay in the presidency, he was mad, didn´t hear anyone, didn´t obey the judge unruliyng the referendum, so he had to be arrested.
Everything is normal here, just little group of people are protesting, he didn´t to anythyng after the earthquake three weeks ago , nothing with the virus ANH1 or any its name is, he had only 20% of aprobation of the honduran citizens. We just stop a new dictartoship born in Latin America.
it is against the Honduran constitution to have a referendum?
According to the article, it is during an election year, and if an election is due in January then yes it seems so.
thre's more to this story, of course. making an enemy of the military and a historically elite judiciary usually involves money and lots of it. i'll wait until I see that trail reveal itself in any direction.
Why would he rely on the military to distribute ballot boxes anyway? That would not be tolerable in this country.
when the army kidnaps a democratically elected president and forces him out of the country, I hardly call that stopping "a new dictatorship born in Latin America" (sic), rather, I call that, the birth of another dictatorship in Latin America.
Everything is normal there - yes, normal for Honduras.
Here's a paragraph from a piece by Kristin Bricker of Narco News (narconews.com):
The lie that Zelaya is pushing for a new Constitution so that he can be re-elected has been repeated so many times that even self-proclaimed western hemisphere experts are parroting it. The third sentence in the Council on Hemispheric Affairs' (COHA) analysis entitled "Political Reform in President Zelaya's Honduras" states: "As a result of this referendum, the president hopes to eliminate the one-term limit placed on Honduran presidents." As previously stated, the ballot for tomorrow's poll only asks one question, "Do you think that the November 2009 general elections should include a fourth ballot box in order to make a decision about the creation of a National Constitutional Assembly that would approve a new Constitution?" COHA obviously never checked the actual text of the ballot, because it writes that tomorrow's voting is to re-elect Zelaya--a claim that even the conservative Honduran press hasn't been brazen enough to make. COHA writes, "Later that day [on June 25] the Supreme Electoral Tribunal declared Zelaya’s re-election null and ordered the seizure of all ballot boxes and election-related materials."
Has there been an explanation about why the current Constitution of Honduras needs to be replaced?
Obama's First Coup d'Etat: Honduran President has been Kidnapped: Updates 1-17
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/4554
thanks a ton for the link. that was useful. nice to know our little community rated a government troll coming aboard for a couple of less than stellar posts about "madness".
here we go again. can't wait to see the spin on this one.
http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/06/oas-countries-back-zelaya-calls-for.html
more information.
i am confused by your government troll coming aboard... comment... ??
venezuelanalysis.com is not a government website, it is privately run.
apologies, that was not directed at you, but another poster below.
oh lefties....
The big turnover is underway... the people will pay and pay and pay and pay.
The pioneer will sink like a stone,
The head of the coup was a graduate of the School of the Americas.
This is why there needs to ba a South American Treaty Organization, to come to the aid of fellow members when the students of the School of the Americas cause this kind of mischief.
Surely the CIA was involved, with carrots, promises, rewards.
On venezuelananalysis, Hugo Chavez is quoted: "Soldier, empty out your riffle against the oligarchy and not against the people"
This is the same Hugo Chavez who caught flak this week for opening his mouth over the Iranian election. On balance, it's a good thing for the people of the world that Hugo Chavez opens his mouth.
I agree. One can't be right all of the time, but Hugo's instincts are genuine, and we should thank heaven we have at least one world leader who can cut right through the BS.
We really do need more information to be able to sort this development out, but the idea of a military coup led by a formerly dismissed military chief Vasquez and Defense Minister Orellana is unsettling.
Equally unsettling is the rejection of the displaced Presidente by his own political party and the Supreme Court after ruling that his referendum planned during an election year was unconstitutional.
Equally confusing is the apparent dislike of develpments by the EU, the Beige Bush (aka Barack Obama), and ALBA, a grouping that almost never agrees on anything. I hope Amy Goodman and Democracy Now will have some additional clarifying information tomorrow on their broadcast.
Poet
You shouldn't be so quick to trust Obomber's finger-shaking tsk tsk. Its very lukewarmness arouses suspicion. If he was truly against this coup, a far stronger reaction was in order, especially in light of all the recent hysteria over Iran.
Here's a bit of the "more information" you ask for (for the whole article, see: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/4554):
"UPDATE 1: As of 11:15am, Caracas time, President Zelaya is speaking live on Telesur from San Jose, Costa Rica. He has verified the soldiers entered his residence in the early morning hours, firing guns and threatening to kill him and his family if he resisted the coup. He was forced to go with the soldiers who took him to the air base and flew him to Costa Rica. He has requested the U.S. Government make a public statement condemning the coup, otherwise, it will indicate their compliance.
UPDATE 2: 12pm noon - The Organization of American States is meeting in an emergency session in Washington concerning the situation in Honduras and the kidnapping of Honduras' president. Venezuelan Ambassador to the OAS, Roy Chaderton, just announced that the ambassadors of Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua in Honduras have just been kidnapped along with Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas, and are being beaten by Honduran military forces.
President Obama has made a statement regarding his "concern" for the situation in Honduras and a call to all political leaders and parties to "respect democratic norms". However, this statement is NOT a clear condemnation of the coup d'etat that has taken place during the early morning hours on Sunday. Nor did Obama indicate, as other countries have done, that Washington would not recognize any other government in Honduras other than the elected government of Manual Zelaya.
Opposition forces in Honduras, led by a US-funded NGO Grupo Paz y Democracia, have stated via CNN that a coup has not ocurred, but rather a "transition" to democracy. Martha Diaz, coordinator of the NGO, which receives USAID funding, has just declared minutes ago on CNN that "civil society" does not support President Zelaya nor his "illegal quest" to hold a non-binding referendum on a potential future constitutional reform. She justified his kidnapping, beating and removal from power as a "democratic transition". Again, this is eerily reminiscent of the coup d'etat in Venezuela in April 2002, when so-called "civil society" along with dissident military forces kidnapped President Chávez and installed a "transition government". The goups involved also received funding from the U.S. government, primarily via the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and later from USAID as well.
CNN en Español, Telesur, and other international television stations reporting on the situation in Honduras have been removed from the airways in the Central American nation. The whereabouts of the Foreign Minister and the ambassadors of Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua are still unknown. OAS General Secretary Jose Miguel Insulze has announced he will travel immediately to Honduras to investigate the situation. President Chávez of Venezuela has also announced an emergency meeting of ALBA nations in Managua, Nicaragua, as soon as this evening.
More to come as the situation develops over the next few hours. Catch live blogging at www.chavezcode.com.
More from same site:
UPDATE 3: 12:18pm - Dan Restrepo, Presidential Advisor to President Obama for Latin American Affairs, is currently on CNN en Español. He has just stated that Obama's government is communicating with the coup forces in Honduras, trying to "feel out" the situation. He also responded to the reporter's question regarding whether Washington would recognize a government in Honduras other than President Zelaya's elected government, by saying that the Obama Administration "is waiting to see how things play out" and so long as democratic norms are respected, will work with all sectors. This is a confirmation practically of support for the coup leaders. Restrepo also inferred that other countries are interfering in Honduras' international affairs, obviously referring to Venezuela and other ALBA nations who have condemned the coup with firm statements earlier this morning.
UPDATE 4: 12:26PM - President Chávez of Venezuela has just announced that the Cuban Ambassador in Honduras has been kidnapped and beaten by Honduran military forces. The Venezuelan Ambassador was beaten, kidnapped and left at the side of a road outside of Tegucigalpa. Chávez has denounced that both CNN and Venezuelan private station Globovisión have been trying to justify the coup against President Zelaya in Honduras. Chávez is live from the presidential palace together with the Honduran Ambassador in Venezuela. Chávez spoke with Fidel Castro in Cuba just over an hour ago regarding the situation. Both Cuba and Venezuela, along with Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador, have unilaterally condemned the coup in Honduras.
UPDATE 5: 12:30PM - Foreign Minister of Honduras Patricia Rodas has been taken from her home by soldiers, beaten and imprisoned. Serious human rights violations are occurring in Honduras and President Obama has so far only said he is "concerned". Another showing of a US double standard? Since Zelaya is a "leftist" president, will the Obama administration refuse to condemn the coup against him?
Chávez announces that President Bachelet of Chile has also condemned the coup in Honduras and is emitting a formal declaration.
UPDATE 6: 1PM - President Zelaya is speaking right now live from San Jose, Costa Rica, alongside the right-wing president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, who traditionally has been a staunch ally of Washington. Arias has just adamantly condemned the coup against Zelaya and called for the whole hemisphere to follow suit.
UPDATE 7: 2:00PM - SOA WATCH CALLS FOR URGENT CALLS TO STATE DEPT
Military Coup in Honduras
A military coup has taken place in Honduras this morning (Sunday, June 28), led by SOA graduate Romeo Vasquez. In the early hours of the day, members of the Honduran military surrounded the presidential palace and forced the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya, into custody. He was immediately flown to Costa Rica.
A national vote had been scheduled to take place today in Honduras to consult the electorate on a proposal of holding a Constitutional Assembly in November. General Vasquez had refused to comply with this vote and was deposed by the president, only to later be reinstated by the Congress and Supreme Court.
The Honduran state television was taken off the air. The electricity supply to the capital Tegucigalpa, as well as telephone and cellphone lines were cut. Government institutions were taken over by the military. While the traditional political parties, Catholic church and military have not issued any statements, the people of Honduras are going into the streets, in spite of the fact that the streets are militarized. From Costa Rica, President Zelaya has called for a non-violent response from the people of Honduras, and for international solidarity for the Honduran democracy.
While the European Union and several Latin American governments just came out in support of President Zelaya and spoke out against the coup, a statement that was just issued by Barack Obama fell short of calling for the reinstatement of Zelaya as the legitimate president.
Call the State Department and the White House
Demand that they call for the immediate reinstatement of Honduran President Zelaya.
State Department: 202-647-4000 or 1-800-877-8339
White House: Comments: 202-456-1111, Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Visit www.SOAW.org and www.SOAW.org/presente for articles and updated information.
Still more from same site:
UPDATE 8: 2:10PM - CNN broadcasts from Honduran congree; stating Zelaya has resigned
Incredible! Just like Venezuela, April 2002. CNN has just issued a report saying that the Honduran Congress has just read President Zelaya's resignation from the presidency and the head of Congress will be the new president of Honduras. However, just under one hour ago, President Zelaya spoke live from Costa Rica and did not give ANY indication whatsoever that he was going to resign. Zelaya moreover reiterated that he remains the elected president of Honduras until 2010 and was hoping to return to his country as soon as possible... Is the resignation letter real? Or is this yet another strange repetition of Venezuela in 2002 when the opposition forces released a forged resignation letter they attributed to President Chávez but had actually been doctored by the coup leaders...
UPDATE 9: 2:20pm -President Zelaya Denies Resignation, Live On CNN
President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was just live on CNN enEspañol, confirming that he never signed nor authorized his resignation fromthe presidency. This is a coup d'etat taking place, he denounced. The Hondurancongress has forged a resignation letter removing illegally the president frompower. They say it's a correspondence they have received and have to process,but have not confirmed its authenticity. MAJOR COUP UNDERWAY.
UPDATE 10: 3:00PM -PEOPLE Taking To Streets In Honduras To Protest Military Coup
Minister of the Presidency in Honduras, Enrique FLoresLanza, is live on "Once Noticias" Channel 11 news in Hondurasaffirming that hundreds of thousands of Hondurans are taking to the streets todemand the return of President Zelaya. He has confirmed that President ZelayaHAS NOT RESIGNED and the letter presented by the Congress is a FAKE.
The OBAMA Administration has not yet called for theunequivocal reinstatement of Zelaya to the presidency of Honduras.
Call the State Department and the White House
Demand that they call for the immediate reinstatement ofHonduran President Zelaya.
State Department: 202-647-4000 or 1-800-877-8339
White House: Comments: 202-456-1111, Switchboard:202-456-1414
The Honduran Congress and Supreme Court are backing theArmed Forces and the military coup. They say a military coup per se has notoccurred because the military does not want to take power, but rather the headof Congress will be named president.
PRESIDENT ZELAYA WAS BEATEN AND KIDNAPPED FROM HIS HOUSETHIS MORNING AND TAKEN BY FORCE TO AN AIRPLANE AND SENT TO COSTA RICA. FOREIGNMINISTER PATRICIA RODAS HAS BEEN BEATEN, KIDNAPPED AND IMPRISONED BY MILITARYFORCES AND IS STILL IN CUSTODY, HER WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN. HONDURAN TELEVISION ISTRYING TO SAY THIS IS NOT A COUP. BUT THIS IS A COUP D'ETAT AND MUST BEUNILATERALLY CONDEMNED AND DEFEATED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TOGETHERWITH THE HONDURAN PEOPLE.
And more:
UPDATE 11: 3:15PM -International Community Unanimously Rejects Military Coup In Honduras
The Organization of American States, ALBA nations, EuropeanCommunity, United Nations, UNASUR, MERCOSUR and even the United States have nowALL condemned the military coup underway in Honduras. HOWEVER, the HonduranCongress, Supreme Court and military are refusing to recognize their actions asa coup d'etat.
Still the other nation to not unequivocally call forPresident Zelaya's immediate rescue and reinstatement is the United States,nevertheless, Hillary Clinton has issued a statement condemning the"situation" in Honduras and calling for "respect" forconstitutional order.
Electricity and state media outlets in Honduras are stillshut down in order to impose a curfew and blackout state so the military coupcan succeed.
Honduran Congress live on CNN en español, Jose AlfredoSaavedra, Secretary of the Congress, has just read a Decree declaring PresidentZelaya no longer President of Honduras because he wanted to proceed with theopinion poll scheduled to occur today.
What happened to the validity of all those who voted forZelaya? He is the elected president since 2005!
UPDATE 12: 3:30PM -Honduran Congress Says Can't Allow Constitutional Assembly To Ever Take Place
A member of Honduras' Congress has just admitted that indiscussions with the US Ambassador in Honduras, the US Ambassador suggestedthey just let the opinion poll take place and then vote against theConstitutional Assembly in November, but, said the congressmember, "wecan't just allow 'these people' to do this with the help of Venezuela andCuba."
"we can't have a constitution that allows the 'people'to elect members on the supreme court and allows the 'people' to be involved ingovernment".......
They also blamed Zelaya for increases in corruption,drugtrafficking and the relationship with "chavismo" in Venezuela....
Nevertheless, they can be in disagreement with Zelaya'spolicies, but he was elected by a majority of Honduran people and still remainspopular as their president...It's the elite and the conservative parties, whichhave power in Congress, who have backed this coup...
UPDATE 13: 3:44PM - Fake Resignation Letter From Zelaya Dated 3Days Ago
Alleged resignation letter with forged signature fromPresident Zelaya is dated June 25, 2009. This is completely ridiculousconsidering that up until he was violently kidnapped this morning, Zelaya gaveno indication whatsoever that he was planning to resign. Today, in is forcedexile from Costa Rica, he has reaffirmed his role as constitutional presidentof Honduras and denied any resignation via letter or any other means.
The Honduran Congress has violated the human rights of itscitizens and has brutally repressed members of Zelaya's administration. ForeignMinister Patricia Rodas, who was beaten and taken from her home a few hoursago, has still not resurfaced.
The Honduran Congress says they have not executed a coupd'etat but rather are installing "rule of law" and"democracy". WTF?????
BTW, the FAKE RESIGNATION letter states:
"Mr. President:
Due to the polarizing political situation in the country,which has provoked a national conflict that is eroding my political support,and due to my uncureable health problems that have impeded me fromconcentrating on my fundamental duties in the government, I am handing in myirrevocable resignation as President of the Republic, together with my Cabinetmembers, effective as of today.
With my resignation, I hope to contribute to healing thewounds in the national political environment.
Sincerely,
Jose Manual Zelaya Rosales
President of the Republic of Honduras
Addressed to: President of the National Congress
Honorable Representative Don Roberto Micheletti Bain
Legislative Palace
Tegucigalpa"
THIS IS CLEARLY A FAKE! AND THE GUY IT'S ADDRESSED TO,MICHELETTI, IS THE ONE THE CONGRESS JUST NAMED PRESIDENT OF HONDURAS!
Also, the "health problems" referred to in theletter are regarding the opposition's claim that President Zelaya is"mentally ill". Hmmm....the Venezuelan opposition has tried to saythe same about President Chavez and have even had psychiatric studies conductedto back their "accusations".
Maybe all of us are mentally ill who fight for social andeconomic justice and refuse to bow to imperialism, fascism and military coups!!
UPDATE 14: 4:10PM -If Obama Does Not Refuse To Recognize Coup Leaders Than Us Approving MilitaryCoup
AS of this time, late Sunday afternoon, after the HonduranCongress has illegally removed President Zelaya from power and violentlykidnapped and forced him into exile in Costa Rica, the Obama Administration hasSTILL NOT stated that it WILL NOT recognize any other president of Hondurasother than the democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya.
All of the nations in the region have made clear that theywill only recognize President Zelaya as the legitimate president of Honduras.Even the United Nations and European Community have made clear the samesentiment. Only the Obama Administration has made no statement confirming thatit will not recognize the head of Congress, who just declared himself presidentof Honduras, as a legitimate leader.
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! We must DEMAND the Obama Administrationrefuse to recognize any other president than Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. If theObama administration's rejects such a demand, then it is evidences its role inthis illegal military coup.
And finally:
UPDATE 15: 4:32PM -Massive Human Rights Violations Underway In Honduras
The Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, elected in November2005, has been kidnapped, beaten and forced into exile in Costa Rica. A fakeletter of resignation, with his forged signature (see blog entry below), wasused by Honduras' opposition majority Congress to justify the president'souster. Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas was brutally beaten and kidnapped bymilitary forces in her residence just before noon and taken into custody. Shehas not been seen since.
In complete violation of diplomatic law, the ambassadors ofVenezuela and Cuba were both beaten and kidnapped for a short period byHonduran soldiers, under orders of the coup leaders. They have both beenreleased and have taken refuge again in their respective embassies.
A non-binding vote, scheduled for today, on a possiblefuture constitutional assembly, was impeded by the coup leaders, violating theHonduran people's right to vote and participate in their political processes.
Nations around the world, including the United Nations,Organization of American States, Latin American countries and even the UnitedStates have condemned the events in Honduras. Only the Obama Administration hasyet to clarify whether they will recognize the illegal coup government led bythe president of Honduras' congress, Micheletti.
UPDATE 16: 5:00PM - Illegal Swearing In Of De FactoPresident In Honduras
RIght now the Honduran Congress is illegally swearing in thepresident of Congress, Micheletti, as the de facto president of Honduras, inthe next development of this ongoing military-civil coup taking placethroughout the day.
President Zelaya is still in forced exile in Costa Rica,after being beaten and kidnapped by soldiers under orders of those involved inthe coup. Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas is still disappeared, after also beingbeaten and taking prisoner by the Honduran military in clear violation of herrights.
The United States maintains a military base in Soto Cano,Honduras, that houses approximately 500 soldiers and special forces. The U.S.military group in Honduras is one of the largest in U.S. Embassies in theregion. The leaders of the coup today are graduates of the U.S. School of theAmericas, a training camp for dictators and repressive forces in Latin America.
Will the Obama Administration recognize the coup governmentin place now in Honduras? Or will Obama call for the reinstatement ofconstitutional president Manuel Zelaya. We are waiting to hear from the WhiteHouse....
Tonight, a special meeting of ALBA nations has been convenedin Managua, Nicaragua. Heads of state or high level representatives fromBolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela, Dominica, San Vincent and Antigua andBarbados are expected to attend.
UPDATE 17: 5:37PM -Coup Government In Place In Honduras
It's official, illegal, but official. Roberto Micheletti, upuntil right now the head of Congress, has just been sworn in as de factopresident after violently ousting President Zelaya from power, kidnapping himand forcing him into exile in Costa Rica. Micheletti just gave a speech beforeCongress, broadcast live via CNN en Español and Telesur, along with Honduranstations, was enraged with power, often yelling and declaring his "utmostrespect for democracy and the constitution" (?!) He also discussed how his"cabinet" which he is about to announce, will "restoredemocracy" and "respect for the constitution" to the country. Herepeated over and over again that what took place was not a military-civil coupbut rather a "civil society" action to "ensure democracy".
Still no word about kidnapped and beaten Foreign MinisterPatricia Rodas' whereabouts. The Congress also did not explain PresidentZelaya's beating and kidnapping and forced exile or the forged resignationletter, which they now obviously are no longer using as a legitimate"justification" for the coup. It's just too bogus.
BTW, The US Military Group in Honduras trains around 300Honduran soldiers every year, provides more than $500,000 annually to theHonduran Armed Forces and additionally provides $1.4 million for a militaryeducation and exchange program for around 300 more Honduran soldiers everyyear.
Obama and Clinton condemned the coup today.
A good thing!
So our US military members on a base in Honduras sit on their hands while a coup occurs. So what are they doing in Honduras?
So what are they doing in Honduras?
Cheering the fall of another democracy!
Providing cover for the CIA
They are doing what almost all of the other 750 or so US military bases are doing throughout the world... making sure that the "market" stays open to allow big business to do its thing - exploitation and reaping profits at the expense of other peoples land and lives.
What are they doing in hundreds of bases around the world? Waiting for the word to start killing people, what else.
The Lexus-set who voted O'Bamba to the throne are concerned about the stability of their family's supply of cavendish bananas from Honduras.
"Zelaya was elected as the candidate of the centrist Liberal Party, but soon after taking office he took a turn to the left."
-gee, that's a big crime, small wonder they didn't execute already!
Will this get the same amount of air time and debate as the elections in Iran?
I doubt it. So far it hasn't. My guess is that our government and the mainstream media powers to be are hoping that a few days go by without the media frenzy so that the new Honduran government will be irreversable. Meanwhile Obama will throw out a few words without action condemning the action. .
So far it hasn't. Apparently, as far as the corporate press is concerned, there's "democracy" and then there is "democracy". It all depends whose class interests are being served.
You must be joking.
"Civil society leaders report that more then 25,000 Honduras are protesting in front of the National Palace in support of the president, despite reports that the entry and exits to some towns have been blocked by the military to prevent public protests."
this was said by an organization known as Rights Action
http://www.rightsaction.org/Alerts/Honduran_coup_alert2_062809.html
more info:
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4559
As Gatos1014 pointed out, General Vasques studied at the SOA'S, in 1976 & 1984.
Also, the head of the Air Force, General Suazo studied at Fort Benning Georgia in 1996.
60,000 Latin American soldiers trained to do the United States's dirty work. The Dictators, Death Squads, Torturers. Arch Bishop Romero.
If Zelaya was violating the law by asking for a referendum, then why was he flown out of the country? And why cut power and fly military planes if it were a simple police action?
I'm not sure what's going on here. However, this sort of kidnapping tactic was last seen when the United States abducted President Aristide in Haiti and flew him to central Africa.
-TIA
Thank you, Obama, for being a beacon of light to the world.
When a protestor is killed, will we know her name? No...
Obama's tepid concern concerning the coup in Honduras seems about as genuine as the crocodile tears that he shed while over a thousand Palestinians were being slaughtered by Israeli bombs and rockets last year.