First rule of US foreign policy in regards to Latin American politics:
-If a democratically elected leader wishes not to do business with west in a manner to their liking. They must be demonized and steps must be taken to overthrow said leader. Without fail.
The Honduran Supreme Court of Justice, Attorney General, National Congress, Armed Forces and Supreme Electoral Tribunal have all falsely accused Manuel Zelaya of attempting a referendum to extend his term in office.
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Nevertheless, this is far from what President Zelaya attempted to do in Honduras the past Sunday and which the Honduran political/military elites disliked so much. President Zelaya intended to perform a non-binding public consultation, about the conformation of an elected National Constituent Assembly. To do this, he invoked article 5 of the Honduran “Civil Participation Act” of 2006. According to this act, all public functionaries can perform non-binding public consultations to inquire what the population thinks about policy measures. This act was approved by the National Congress and it was not contested by the Supreme Court of Justice, when it was published in the Official Paper of 2006. That is, until the president of the republic employed it in a manner that was not amicable to the interests of the members of these institutions.
There is a lot of great analysis circulating on the military coup against Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. I do not see a need to re-invent the wheel. (See here here here and here). However, a few key things jump out at me. First, we know that the coup was led by Gen. Romeo Vasquez, a graduate of the US Army School of the Americas. As we know very well from history, these “graduates” maintain ties to the US military as they climb the military career ladders in their respective countries. That is a major reason why the US trains these individuals.
It is impossible to imagine that the US was not aware that the coup was in the works. In fact, this was basically confirmed by The New York Times in Monday’s paper:
As the crisis escalated, American officials began in the last few days to talk with Honduran government and military officials in an effort to head off a possible coup. A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the military broke off those discussions on Sunday.
So they knew it was going down, then condemned it.
Just so everybody’s clear on what he was attempting to do, was to have THE PEOPLE vote on whether to amend the constitution and allow a second term for the president. Not to vote for him, but a vote to see if a second term limit should be allowed.
The military took over because the supreme court found him to be in violation of a the proper protocol to hold a vote for the people.
So the supreme court did not want the people to be heard. Sounds like the 2000 election.
In November, Zelaya hailed Obama’s election in the U.S. as “a hope for the world,” but just two months later tensions began to emerge. In an audacious letter sent personally to Obama, Zelaya accused the U.S. of “interventionism” and called on the new administration in Washington to respect the principle of non-interference in the political affairs of other nations.
US intelligence agencies have been busy little beavers over the past few months.
The people are resisting, beginning to take the streets, block the roads
– dozens of buses of people coming to the capital from other parts of the country
– over 10,000 people gathered yesterday in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa to protest the military coup, and they were violently dispersed by the military, using tear gas and guns (not clear if rubber bullets or otherwise). More protests are planned for today.
– There are wounded and dead, but numbers are still unclear
– our friends in Honduras have been to hospitals and have documented some cases
– THE OFFICIAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AND THE FISCAL (ATTORNEY GENERAL) ARE REFUSING TO DOCUMENT THE ABUSES, AND ARE SUPPORTING THE COUP GOVERNMENT. COFADEH ASKS THAT WE DENOUNCE THESE OFFICIALS AS NOT FULFILLING THEIR DUTY AS DEFENDERS OF HUMAN RIGHTS. THEY ARE RAMON CUSTODIO, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AND SANDRA PONCE, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
Electricity is constantly being cut off, then comes again
– Censorship of the t.v. media, only channels of rightwing media being shown
– Coup govenrment is using well-known human rights abusers and their spokespersons
– Strike of schools and workers taking place
