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TechnoratiHonduran Coup Turns Violent, Sanctions Imposed
Thousands of Hondurans are now in the streets to protest the coup d'etat in their country. They have been met with tear gas, anti-riot rubber bullets, tanks firing water mixed with chemicals, and clubs. Police have moved in to break down barricades and soldiers used violence to push back protesters at the presidential residence, leaving an unknown number wounded.
If the coup leaders were desperate when they decided to forcibly depose the elected president, they are even more desperate now. Stripped of its pretense of legality by universal repudiation and faced with a popular uprising, the coup has turned to more violent means.
The scoreboard in the battle for Honduras shows the coup losing badly. It has not gained a single point in the international diplomatic arena, it has no serious legal points, and the Honduran people are mobilizing against it. As the military and coup leaders resort to brute force, they rack up even more points against them in human rights and common decency.
Only one factor brought the coup to power and only one factor has enabled it to hold on for these few days-control of the armed forces. Now even that seems to be eroding.
Cracks in Army Loyalty to the Coup?
Reports are coming in that several battalions-specifically the Fourth and Tenth-have rebelled against coup leadership. Both Zelaya and his supporters have been very conscious that within the armed forces there are fractures. Instead of insulting the army, outside the heavily guarded presidential residence many protesters chant, "Soldiers, you are part of the people."
President Zelaya has been remarkably respectful in calling on the army to "correct its actions." It is likely the coup will continue to lose its grip on the army as intensifying mobilizations force it to confront its own people.
International Community Imposes Sanctions
In the diplomatic arena, it's not that the coup is losing its grip-it never even got a foothold. The meeting of the Central American Integration System in Managua Monday became a forum for pronouncements from one after another of the major diplomatic groups in the region. Latin America is a region where diplomatic recombinations have proliferated in recent years, so the alphabet soup of solidarity statements just keeps on growing.
The Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) issued a resolution, announcing the withdrawal of its ambassadors while continuing the member countries' international cooperation programs in Honduras. The group urged other nations to do the same-a growing list including Brazil and Mexico has already followed suit.
The ALBA group cited the Honduran Constitution, which states in Art. 3:
"No one owes obedience to a government that has usurped power or to those who assume functions or public posts by the force of arms or using means or procedures that rupture or deny what the Constitution and the laws establish. The verified acts by such authorities are null. The people have the right to recur to insurrection in defense of the constitutional order."
Putting teeth behind the words has already begun. The Central American countries agreed to close off their land borders to all commerce with Honduras for the next 48 hours. The Central American Bank for Economic Integration has cut off all lending until the president is restored to power.
It also called for sanctions in multilateral organizations: "We propose that exemplary sanctions be applied in all multilateral organizations and integration groups, to contribute to bringing about the immediate restitution of the constitutional order in Honduras, and to make good on the principle of action that Jose Marti taught us when he said: 'If each one does his duty, no one can overcome us.'"
The Rio Group of Latin American and Caribbean nations also met in Managua and issued a statement condemning the coup and supporting Zelaya. Organization of American States Sec. General Jose Insulza was there too. President Zelaya received a standing ovation following his closing speech.
The U.S. government has been unambiguous in its condemnation of the coup and support of President Zelaya. President Obama stated today:
"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the democratically elected president there." He added, "It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backward into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition rather than democratic elections."
After years of the Bush administration, when the commitment to democracy abroad was decided more on the basis of ideological affinities than democratic practice, some sectors have trouble accepting that the U.S. government is condemning the overthrow of a president who espouses left-wing causes. Note the obstinacy of reporters at today's State Department press conference:
QUESTION: "So Ian, I'm sorry, just to confirm-so you're not calling it a coup, is that correct? Legally, you're not considering it a coup?"
MR. KELLY: "Well, I think you all saw the OAS statement last night, which called it a coup d'état, and you heard what the Secretary just said ..." (Clinton explicitly called it a coup).
This discussion and another drawn-out discussion in which reporters attempted to open up a window of doubt over support for reinstatement of Zelaya went on quite a while. Ian Kelly, the Dept. spokesperson, held fast as reporters tried to equate supposed violations of law by Zelaya with a military coup in a fantasy "everyone's-at-fault" scenario. Kelly reiterated that the coup is indeed an illegal coup and the only solution is the return of the elected president.
The "coup question" is more than semantics and has implications beyond conservative media's political agenda to justify the coup leaders. When a legal definition of coup is established, most U.S. aid to Honduras must be cut off.
Here's the relevant part of the foreign operations bill:
Sec. 7008. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available pursuant to titles III through VI of this Act shall be obligated or expended to finance directly any assistance to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree.
So far, the Obama administration has focused on diplomatic efforts and is waiting to see how long the Honduran stand-off will last before looking to specific sanctions. The probability that the coup's days are numbered makes that a reasonable strategy for the time being.
Attack on Freedom of Expression
The military coup has also launched an all-out attack on freedom of expression in the country. Venezuela's Telesur reports that its team was detained and military personnel threatened to confiscate its video equipment if it continued to broadcast.
The ALBA declaration notes the use of censorship as a tool of the coup, "This silence was meant to impose the dictatorship by closing the government channel and cutting off electricity, seeking to hide and justify the coup before the people and the international community, and demonstrating an attitude that recalls the worst era of dictatorships that we've suffered in the 20th century in our continent."
Grassroots organizations that support President Zelaya have faced an uphill battle against the media, which alternates between scaring people about the risk to keep them out of the streets and denying the existence of those who do go out. A message from Via Campesina Honduras warns people that information is controlled by the coup to hide opposition, cut off communications on many channels, and only allow information that favors them. They have now organized to open up contact with reporters throughout the world.
An increasingly organized opposition and independent media on the scene and on the net are breaking through the information blockade. A third source is Twitter. A major player in the Iranian uprising, Twitter has become the pulse of, if not the body politic, at least some bodies of that politic.
All this means that the information black-out designed by the coup is riddled with points of light. It's still hard to get statistical information like crowd numbers or figures of killed and wounded, but Honduras is certainly not the isolated and insignificant "banana republic" it once was.
The Return of the President
Zelaya now leaves for New York City where he will speak before the General Assembly of the United Nations to further outpourings of support. In Managua, he announced that from there he will return, accompanied by Insulza, to Honduras.
In an interview with CNN a coup leader said that Zelaya "can return to Honduras-as long as he leaves his presidency behind."
The Honduran ambassador to the UN, Jorge Reina, said that although the coup leaders have asked to address the UN, "the UN does not recognize them ... They have made a serious mistake, those who think that countries can be led through coups."
"That history has passed."
For More Information
ALBA and Via Campesina Issue New Declarations Against the Honduran Coup http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/06/alba-and-via-campesina-issue-new.html
Honduran Coup Moves from Failed Arguments to Repression, International Sanctions Imposed http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/06/honduran-coup-moves-from-failed.html
Resolution from the OAS Diplomatically Isolates Honduran Leaders http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/06/resolution-from-oas-diplomatically.html
23 Comments so far
Show AllIt's nice to see that ALBA and the OAS can make a meaningful gesture by withdrawing support. Despite all the problems, this marks some local progress.
All of what this person is reporting is false. Today over 100,000 Hondurans marched peacefully in Tegucigalpa against Zelaya and in favor of the new government. The violent manifestations were from a few hundred Zelaya simpatizers who destroyed public property, attacked police and blocked streets and that was met with police force. Nobody has to interfere in Honduran politic, especially the corrupt and OAS and UN organizations. It is obvious Ms. Carlsen gets her "facts" from the biased liberal press. When did you people become so blind? Zelaya has demonstrated again and again that all he wants is power. Honduras was going the way of Venezuela, were TV and radio stations were shut down, private land and companies were confiscated, and government resources , i.e taxpayers money, was squandered. Nice response by the way. Cut off help and starve an impoverished country. Enjoy your afternoon latte and biscotti in the comfort of your air conditioned office.
For transparency and disclosure, how much did the National Endowment for Democracy pay you for those banal neocon talking points?
Sorry, troll, but I watch the REAL news on TeleSur--although that was interrupted for awhile when your gorillas kidnapped and beat the correspondent.
Ms. Carlsen, like this poster, lives in Latin America and doesn't have to rely on any biased press. Very intensive coverage is widely available in the Latin American media--definitely in Mexico, where Ms. Carlsen lives.
Enjoy invoicing your employer for your lies and hate speech posted here.
But don't think for one second that anyone else is buying it.
The LA Times reports "a few thousand" pro coup demonstrators.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-honduras1-2009jul01,0,5869703.story
"The violent manifestations were from a few hundred Zelaya simpatizers who destroyed public property, attacked police and blocked streets and that was met with police force."
Ah yes. It is always violent protesters, destroying property. It is always police who were simply defending public order. Whether Honduras, Iran, the G20 protests in London, etc, it is ALWAYS the "violent" protesters who were entirely at fault, always the sainted police who were defending law and order.
Are you a fascist?
"Nobody has to interfere in Honduran politic, especially the corrupt and OAS and UN organizations."
Very revealing that you do not include the US. The US that has repeatedly staged coups in LA, that has propped up massively corrupt and despotic regimes.
"Honduras was going the way of Venezuela, were TV and radio stations were shut down, private land and companies were confiscated, and government resources , i.e taxpayers money, was squandered."
If you don't want that to happen, vote.
So am I supposed to believe that you support unconstitutional actions in order to defend the constitution? That is what your comment seems to be insinuating. As humans, Hondurans have a right to dissent. The military, Congress and Supreme Court are not at fault for disagreeing with President Zelaya or expressing concern for the direction their country is headed. However, unless I am completely mistaken, a referendum, especially one ruled illegal by valid democratic means, does not constitute any change to the Honduran constitution. It would only supply evidence for arguing that a constitutional amendment or change were desirable by the people of Honduras. And if the extension or removal of presidential term limits is equivalent to "going the way of Venezuela" as you put it, what do you think of President Uribe?
Where would she find a biased liberal press?
Where would she find an unbiased liberal press?
Gushn01 - I don't know who you are or where you get your information, but I do know that there is a Honduran bougoissie that dominates the congress and courts and from whom the coup leaders come. This group puts out a lot of disinformation that tries to legitimize their position. But in reality this group is only interested in maintaining the status quo, keeping economic control, and holding on to political power at the expense of those who live in poverty.
It is spelled "BOURGEOISIE".
"Enjoy your afternoon latte and biscotti in the comfort of your air conditioned office."
Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you, Capt. Twitter. Because I can see you now, surfing the internet deep in the fields of Honduras, sweat breaking off your back but fortunately not pooling in the hard drive of your shiny new police-purchased laptop.
This is probably not the best place to "warn" us about the perils of Venezuela-ization. Most of us would applaud.
As for starving an impoverished country, I suspect your aristocratic patrons are doing the job nicely enough and need no help from us.
Now, where did I set my latte? Oh, right here, on a copy of National Review-Honduran edition.
It is so refreshing to see an American administration actually walk the walk as well as talking the talk. I can well imagine what the Bush administration's reaction to the coup.
At last there is no stark contrast between how the United States dealt with the Iranian electoral crisis and what is happening in its own backyard.
I hope the right wingers are shaking in their boots now that they realize that wielding weapons and dancing around in uniforms does not always make them right.
the right wingers are not shaking in their boots
because Obysmal isn't walking the walk.
I hear the talk
where is the walk.
The only walking away that Beige Bush does is walking away from his constiuency.
to claim that the coup "lost" or is "losing" is to ignore the fact that the main objective of the coup plotters was to avoid any plebiscite on the future of the honduran constitution.
given that the USA has taken a very equivocal stance - condemning the "coup" out of one corner of its mouth and refusing to call it a "coup" so that government aid to the tune of 40 some millions a year can continue to flow to the honduran military/banana complex, the US "support" for zelaya has been notable for its duplicity.
it seems now that zelaya has bowed to US/School of the Americas pressure and agreed to NOT seek a plebiscite and to retire from political life at the end of his term.
another victory for the empire
Which part of the Secretary of State calling a coup did you miss?
The US IS STILL WAFFLING
As of 9:30 PM, Pacific time, the LA Times reports that:
"Washington, which has maintained close ties with the military for decades, will consider cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, officials said. That would require the administration to formally label Zelaya's ouster a military coup."
In other words, they haven't done it yet.
Which means that:
OBAMA HAS NO CREDIBILITY ON HONDURAS
"We tried to tell the Honduran military not to do it," says the prez. Sorry Mr. Obama, it won't wash.
Even now, three days after the takeover, the administration is still sucking its thumb about whether to call the "events" in Honduras a "coup." Why? Because by American law, if is officially a coup the US is obligated to immediately stop all aid, including military aid.
If the Obama administration had REALLY wanted to stop the coup before it happened, they would have told the generals, if you do it we will instantly cut off all aid. Maybe even an embargo ala Cuba or 90's Iraq. Or an economic strangulation like that applied to Haiti before the ouster of Aristide in 2004. (The US vetoed all international loans.) Obviously the US didn't threaten any of these actions, because even now it is not carrying them out.
Or, the US could have warned President Zelaya. Obviously that didn't happen either, since Mr. Zelaya was caught sleeping in his bed.
So please, Mr. Obama, spare us the crocodile tears - although we have to admit that you are very, very good at it.
Also, the mainstream press is complicit after the fact. They have been telling us that the coup was all about Zelaya wanting another term. That's not it. Zelaya's goal was to call a constituent assembly to rewrite the ENTIRE constitution, which would replace the present pro-elite document. The vote he was trying to have now was a non-binding plebiscite on whether to call for a constituent assembly, whose constitution would then be voted on.
What was brewing in Honduras was a case of TOO MUCH DEMOCRACY for a US banana republic. Too much for the US establishment which profits from low Honduran wages, and too much for the change agent in the White House. Most likely Obama would like to broker a deal to put Zelaya back in the presidency. Very heroic and democratic. But the deal will leave the traitorous army in place to make sure that the president is well behaved. His good behavior has already been assured when he told the UN that he would not seek a referendum. At least for the short term, the coup has already succeeded. The people's voice will not be heard.
If it is a victory, it's temporary. Zelaya even if returned would've been hard pressed to go forward with the open animosity of the elite anyway. Given the complicity in the coup of much of the institutional framework of the government, his choices were fairly stark. And without the support of the military or a sufficient slice of it, he would've been hard-pressed to dissolve those bodies to bring about any changes a new constitution might have provided.
On the other hand, the elites are totally unmasked now. There's no question of how they feel about democratic processes and the will of the people. That will hurt the fake democracy in the long run.
The Honduran military is trying to enforce the "Washington Concensus".
And all the lions that roared over Iran?
Notice that everyone is calling for Zelaya's return? Even the US? Even Obama? Even Clinton has called it a coup.
She sure did--BUT she said that the US was NOT cutting off military aid--which it is obligated to do under the Democracy Charter provision of the OAS.
That's a wedge I don't want to invite on this issue! Please! In this case I'd like to think there would be near unanimity in support of popular power. I've noticed the coverage and milieu seem completely different between the two situations. Besides, it'llbe more fun to ferret out the obvious but poorly trained Honduran provocateurs trolling about today. That post up top is funny. It sounds like they trained for propaganda over on townhall.
OK! I'm on board.