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No Fair Election in Honduras under Military Occupation
As the Honduran election approaches on Sunday, November 29, let's be clear about the conditions under which it is taking place. Human rights abuses are rampant, freedom of speech is under attack, and the election process is in the hands of the very people who perpetrated the coup. Clearly, no free and fair election is possible under the repressive thumb of the military coup that has been in place for five months.
While the 23 nations of the Rio Group from Latin America and the Caribbean have condemned the election and announced they will not recognize its outcome, the Obama administration still insists it will recognize the results--once again isolating the United States from those who are upholding democracy in the hemisphere.
President Obama should join the rest of the world and immediately declare the elections fraudulent and demand the immediate restoration of President Manuel Zelaya, the withdrawal of the Honduran military, and a delay of the election until three months after Zelaya has been full reinstated.
Imagine a "free and fair election" under the conditions in Honduras today (and imagine if this were taking place in the United States):
- The same Honduran military,which perpetrated the June 28 coup forcing President Manuel Zelaya out of the country, and which has brutally occupied the country for five months, physically controls the ballots, the ballot boxes, the computers that tabulate the results, and the dissemination of the outcome.
- The legitimate President of the country is being held captive in the Brazilian Embassy under draconian circumstances, and has denounced the elections as fraudulent.
- The leading opposition candidate, the independent Carlos H. Reyes - who has a real chance of winning a free and fair election - has withdrawn his name from the ballot in protest. Throughout the country, hundreds of candidates for congress and municipal office, including those from the mainstream parties, have announced they are withdrawing from the election. They include the mayor of San Pedro Sula, the nation's second largest city.
- All three trade union federations, the leading human rights organization, women's groups, organizations of indigenous and African-descent peoples, the gay and lesbian movement, and the campesino movement--united in the National Front Against the Coup d'Etat--have denounced the election as fraudulent.
- The coup government has made it illegal to advocate not voting.
- Peaceful demonstrations are routinely teargassed. As the Committee of Families of the Disappeared (COFADEH) has documented, dozens of people have been killed, over 600 beaten, and over 3,500 illegally detained, including lawyers who have shown up to secure the release of detainees. Opponents of the coup continue be threatened, illegally arrested, and beaten in their homes.
- The military has recently instructed all mayors in the country to compile a list of persons in their jurisdiction who oppose the coup.
- The two presidential candidates remaining in the election from the traditional parties of the oligarchy, Elvin Santos from the right wing of the Liberal Party, and Porfirio Lobo Sosa from the National Party, both initially supported the coup.
No free and fair election can take place under these circumstances. Only when the legitimate President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, has been fully restored to office for three months, only when the military has been pushed back into its barracks, and only when civil liberties are completely restored can an orderly transfer of power to a new administration take place.
By persuading coup leader Roberto Micheletti to briefly step aside in the week before the election, the U.S. State Department has tried to whitewash the election at the last minute. But that doesn't change the fact that the Honduran military and the oligarchs, who perpetrated the coup and who have dictated the nation's politics for decades, are still brutally repressing the people of Honduras.
The vast majority of Hondurans aren't fooled. After five months of military repression, they know the difference between a fraudulent cover for the continuation of the coup regime, and a truly free and fair election under the rule of law. So does the European Union, the Organization of American States, and the Rio Group. They understand well the dangerous precedent the Honduran coup represents.
President Obama should refuse to recognize the results of the election and bring an end to embarrassing isolation of the United States from the rest of the world.
22 Comments so far
Show AllAnd it looks like the three far-right countries: Colombia, Panamá and Perú are going to recognise the golpista controlled elections. There is an orchestrated programme to "reverse the pink tide" in Latin America. Democracy is seen as a dangerous instrument in the hands of the people.
The Afgan and Iraq "elections" were also held under foreign military occupation.
Why should Obama / the US not recognize the election when they were behind the coup to begin with? Does the fox let go of the hen after it's caught it? AFter all, do want to waste all that money we spent on the School of the Americas, training Foreigh puppet dictators and generals?
when will someone step up and start campaigning in new hampshire against obama? the 2012 primary will be here before you know it, and he's never going to do the right thing until he hears the thunder at his heels. he's easily intimidated by bishops, talk show hosts, honduran generals, american generals, blue dogs, and a lot of other folks who don't like him. so, maybe he would change if he heard the thunder from his base somewhere off in the distance, but growing louder and closer by the day. who will have the courage to take up the challenge and run against this nice but all too nice man?
Paid actors do only what their paid to say and do.
"No Fair Election in Honduras under Military Occupation..."
And no free election in the USA under Pentagon / corporate occupation...
Banana republic as usual, U.S. imperialism as usual, business as usual: Obama as usual!
I wonder if we'll be informed of the fact when John Negroponte arrives in Honduras to supervise the death squads which are his specialty. Where he goes death squads soon follow.
Will our SOA trained Junta invite US Corporate bases and prison (torture) camps? Products from Chiquita and Dole leave such a bad taste that I don't purchase their products anymore - at any price.
My admiration for Barack Obama continues to grow as he emerges as the master of the post-modern power grab. America has orchestrated a Latin American coup with the unnoticed efficiency of a star's new role. The term Eva Gollinger uses for the new imperial strategy is "smart power" and she describes it as follows: "The Obama administration [has fused] military power with diplomacy, political and economic influence with cultural penetration and legal manuvering. They call this 'Smart Power'. Its first application is the coup d’etat in Honduras, and as of today, it’s worked to perfection." - Eva Golinger, "Honduras: A Victory for Smart Power", Nov. 2, 2009.
This is the essence of the post-modern capitalist strategy - to modulate, guide and enhance wished-for behavior in order to counter Latin American democratic movements that threaten U.S. hegemony. The "smart power" strategy in Honduras worked this way: the rhetoric was constantly on the side of the legitimate President, Zelaya, but the concrete action was always supportive of the coup regime. Golinger sums up the success of this strategy as follows, "Despite the constant US interference in the coup d’etat in Honduras – funding, design, and political and military support – Washington’s 'smart power'approach was able to distort public opinion and make the Obama administration come out as the grand victor of 'multilateralism'" - Eva Golinger, "Honduras: A Victory for Smart Power", Nov. 2, 2009.
The genius of this strategy is it emerges with a clear victory for U.S. imperial control while retaining Obama's progressive credentials. "Everything is normal," says the Pentagon about the current situation in Honduras. Indeed it is - "The people were left out, excluded. Months of repression, violence, persecution, human rights violations, curfews, media closures, tortures and political assasinations have been forgotten. What a relief, as Subsecretary of State Thomas Shannon remarked upon achieving the signature of Micheletti and Zelaya on the final 'agreement', that the situation in Honduras was resolved 'without violence'." Precisely, violence is only real when it's against those in power. Repression of those below is elided with the smooth turn of a jazz solo.
The success of this first post-modern coup will doubtless inspire many more ruling elites in Central and South America to hatch their own plots. And the Obama administration will smile benevolently, modulating, guiding and enhancing the process until victory is achieved. Bravo, Barack!
Thanks for the disillusionment, Boyd. As my Dad would say, illusions are bad; be glad when you are disillusioned. But, ouch, the higher the illusions, the harder they fall. In manipulating perception to twist reality, Obama has trumped Reagan in spades.
Golinger’s theory sure fits many of Obama’s head-spinning betrayals on civil rights, human rights, war, economics, etc.---a litany that is now too long to allow any benefit of doubt, while also explaining his dramatic personality split from campaigning to governing. From this viewpoint, even the weirdness of the tea party fringe, as it is given so much play on MSM with Beck, Limbaugh, and Palin, however bizarre, makes perfect sense---as contrived theater: it blinds us to seeing Obama’s outright betrayals and violations as somehow reasonable, in the final analysis, by contrast. The insanity of the wingnuts, alternately calling him Marxist, socialist, fascist, Nazi, etc., thus becomes his best insurance for reelection. He can still appear to be the lesser of two evils when there is no practical difference.
I think you're right on target - contrived theater. Politics in the age of Obama is a dramatic art in which the rhetorical sheen has nothing to do with the realities of power. The tea-party nonsense is a dramatic counter theme intended to help retain Obama's progressive credentials. These phony movements allow the media to position Obama as a centrist while he continues doing his service to the national security state far more effectively than Bush.
Obama's strategy in Honduras is easy to understand once his formal condemnation was understood as mask for the actual power plays. The purpose of most of the meetings and "initiatives" was to delay the return of Zelaya until the coup had consolidated power. The State Department never issued a finding that a coup had taken place because they had to keep the aid flowing to the coup leaders. What nearly thwarted their plans was the surprising strength of the resistance and Zelaya's courage in returning to Honduras. That's why the "intervention" of Thomas Shannon was needed. The fact that the so-called agreement to return Zelaya to the presidency was immediately betrayed shows that it was intended to diminish his credibility. Now everything is focused on the phony elections which will establish the coup leaders as a credible government. Once established, unfortunately, the reign of terror will worsen and we can count on the Obama administration to continue its policy of silence on the murders and tortures taking place now.
Progressives should carry out a clear-headed analysis of U.S. imperial strategy. The purpose of the Honduran coup is to reaffirm the neoliberal model of exploitation which had been threatened by the rise of populist movements in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and elsewhere in Latin America. With Obama's establishment of military bases in Columbia and redeployment of the Navy's Fourth Fleet in the Caribbean, he is setting the stage for direct military intervention in Venezuela. Once the election in Honduras confirms the golpistas in power, the signal will be sent to the right-wing forces in Latin America that they will receive covert U.S. support to re-establish dictatorships.
But, just as the Honduran people made a surprising show of nonviolent resistance, the populist movements in Latin America may prove quite stubborn. Their first breath of freedom and democracy in centuries could give them the strength to make an effective resistance to a return to U.S. hegemony, "smart power" be damned.
"They understand well the dangerous precedent the Honduran coup represents."
Bananas as usual. With plenty of help from the 130 million USans who voted "United Fruit" yet again in Nov 2008.
Intelligent fascism projected by the worlds most powerful pseudo democracy led by our first black president is a strange brew. Democrats and Republican's are active participants. Question: can the eagle fly with two right wings?
"Question: can the eagle fly with two right wings?"
That was REALLY good!
We should simply stay out of Honduras. Let the Latin American nations handle it or let them have the UN intervene.
And no, we didn't instigate a coup.....Jeezzzeeeee.
Take our military base out of Honduras?
Ridiculous, it is the only nation we have war planes amd thousands of boots on the ground in all of Central America.
Super ridiculous, for President Zelaya notified the U.S. that he would soon turn it into an international airport, it having about the longest runways in all of Central America.
Obama's strategy in Honduras is easy to understand once his formal condemnation is understood as mask for the actual power plays. The purpose of most of the meetings and "initiatives" was to delay the return of Zelaya until the coup had consolidated power. The State Department never issued a finding that a coup had taken place because they had to keep the aid flowing to the coup leaders.
What nearly thwarted their plans was the surprising strength of the resistance and Zelaya's courage in returning to Honduras. That's why the "intervention" of Thomas Shannon was needed. The fact that the so-called agreement to return Zelaya to the presidency was immediately betrayed shows that it was intended to diminish his credibility. Now everything is focused on the phony elections which will establish the coup leaders as a credible government. Once established, unfortunately, the reign of terror will worsen and we can count on the Obama administration to continue its policy of silence on the murders and tortures taking place now.
Progressives should carry out a clear-headed analysis of U.S. imperial strategy. The purpose of the Honduran coup is to reaffirm the neoliberal model of exploitation which had been threatened by the rise of populist movements in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and elsewhere in Latin America. With Obama's establishment of military bases in Columbia and redeployment of the Navy's Fourth Fleet in the Caribbean, he is setting the stage for military intervention in Venezuela. Once the election in Honduras confirms the golpistas in power, the signal will be sent to the right-wing forces in Latin America that they will receive covert U.S. support to re-establish dictatorships.
But, just as the Honduran people made a surprising show of nonviolent resistance, the populist movements in Latin America may prove quite stubborn. Their first breath of freedom and democracy in centuries could give them the strength to make an effective resistance to a return to U.S. hegemony, "smart power" be damned.
As we further our adventures in the Middle East in the name of democracy and freedom, we allow a coup to topple a democracy right at our doorstep. Oh gosh, can't do anything about that. Thank you, Mr. Obama, for such audacity.
ZELAYA ---- CIA PAID ACTOR?
(1) Was Zelaya so naive as to not know that all his actions gave the
rich nobility no way to save their excessive wealth but a coup d’état?
(2) WAGES UP 60% ---- Instead of a gradual increase of 10% a year
so cost of manufactured goods could be raised accordingly, Zelaya made
it impossible for the rich to show a profit.
(3) Massive increases in social programs, education for all and other
government increases that made the rich subject to massive tax increases.
(4) Fired the actual dictator of Honduras, the general hand-picked by the richest of the rich to rule over all the deadly force in Honduras.
(5) Guaranteed all the indigenous peoples of Honduras a share of the land.
Over 70% of it now owned by the ten most wealthy families in Honduras.
(6) Announced that the U.S. Air Force base would be made into an international airport.
(7) The manifesto created just after the 1882 coup, the document the rich ruling
class call a “Constitution,” this Zelaya decided to abolish in a quick hurry
without first having public debate and building up popular support. For election day in November is when a vote on the change should have taken place.
(8) Zelaya is a wealthy rancher, timberland owner and large scale logger. Going back generations a member of the rich nobility without the slighest interest in doing anything for the working class but slave labor them at $3 a day.
(9) No greater damage could the CIA do to President Chavez and his Bavarian Revolution, the progressive left movement that has captured the hearts and minds of all the Americas.
Yes, Hookery Rodham Klanton did instigate coup dawg, but the US president didn't have the guts to tell Bill to tell her to buy a gigilo and put Richaard back in the Gere or maybe Chelsea could join and put some meange back in a trios.
AD
1.5 MILLION VOTED ---- 3 MILLION REFUSED
And so, Honduras is now ruled by the 1.5 million most
intelligent and wealth, class warfare in its finest hour.