tagged w/ honduras coup
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Thousands of people marched last week in Honduras demanding the return from exile of their former leftist President Manuel Zelaya, who was overthrown a year ago by a military coup d'etat.Thousands of people marched last week in Honduras demanding the return from exile of... more
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President Barack Obama has largely disappointed hopes for an "equal partnership" with the countries of Latin America, according to the latest in a series of annual reports on U.S. relations with the region released this past week.President Barack Obama has largely disappointed hopes for an "equal... more
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In Honduras, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has begun its investigation into the events surrounding the coup in 2009 that overthrew the government of Manuel Zelaya. Human rights groups and opponents of the coup, however, are critical of the commission, saying that it lacks a mandate to investigate the human rights abuses that have occurred since the coup.In Honduras, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has begun its investigation into... more
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Last week, Jorge Alberto Orellana became the seventh Honduran television reporter to be gunned down since March 1. The country has seen increasing complaints about human rights abuses since a military-led coup last June.Last week, Jorge Alberto Orellana became the seventh Honduran television reporter to... more
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This Week:
1. The King of Cock
2. Twiran
3. Honduras Coup Plug
4. Mayan’s fight back against Goldcorp
5. The ELF strikes in Mexico
6. Jim Hansen’s Coal Theater
7. Uribe’s new boss
8. cOalbama’s clean energy plan
9. Really clean CO2 free transport
10. Emergency Broadcast Network
11. Nickelsville USAThis Week:
1. The King of Cock
2. Twiran
3. Honduras Coup Plug
4. Mayan’s... more
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended a tour of Latin America last week by calling for more countries to recognize the controversial, post-coup government of Honduras.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended a tour of Latin America last week by calling... more
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Less than a month into his term, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo is facing street protests, complaints of human rights violations, and criticism of the truth commission he set up to investigate last summer’s coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya.Less than a month into his term, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo is facing street... more
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In These Times reports that in the Honduran capital, labor union leader and nurse Vanessa Yamileth Zepeda, was killed in the beginning of February. Zepeda was a leader of Workers Union for the Honduran Social Security Institute. The administration of the newly inaugurated President Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo has called Zepeda’s murder and other recent attacks common crime. But the Honduran resistance movement – mobilized since the June 2009 coup against then-president Manuel Zelaya – see it as a clear message.In These Times reports that in the Honduran capital, labor union leader and nurse... more
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Honduran coup regime's claims of more than 60% participation in free and fair election revealed as fraud. "There is wide agreement that last week's presidential election in Honduras..." begins an editorial in Saturday's New York Times, "...was clean and fair." The editorial gives no hint as to whom all these people are that are in agreement, except for the 'official' data from the same regime that overthrew the elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, at gunpoint. The Times joins governments, commentators and editorial pages around the world that have fallen victim to the 'official' coup data. But, as this video shows, the proof of the fraud was sitting out in the open the whole time.
Produced by Jesse Freeston, on location in Honduras.Honduran coup regime's claims of more than 60% participation in free and fair... more
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The right-wing businessman just elected president of Honduras in a post-coup d’etat poll widely seen as fraudulent and illegitimate, Porfirio Lobo, was quick to announce that he wants political amnesty for all those involved in the coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya.The right-wing businessman just elected president of Honduras in a post-coup... more
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At dawn on June 28, the Honduran military abducted President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint and flew him out of the country. Conflicting and ambiguous statements from the Obama administration left many confused about whether it opposed this coup or was really trying to help it succeed. Here are the top ten indicators (with apologies to David Letterman):
10. The White House statement on the day of the coup did not condemn it, merely calling on "all political and social actors in Honduras" to respect democracy. Since U.S. officials have acknowledged that they were talking to the Honduran military right up to the day of the coup - allegedly to try and prevent it - they had time to think about what their immediate response would be if it happened.
9. The Organization of American States (OAS), the United Nations General Assembly, and other international bodies responded by calling for the "immediate and unconditional" return of President Zelaya. In the ensuing five months, no U.S. official would use either of those two words.
8. At a press conference the day after the coup, Secretary of State Clinton was asked if "restoring the constitutional order" in Honduras meant returning Zelaya himself. She would not say yes.
7. On July 24th, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced President Zelaya's attempt to return to his own country that week as "reckless," adding that "We have consistently urged all parties to avoid any provocative action that could lead to violence."
6. Most U.S. aid to Honduras comes from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government agency. The vast majority of this aid was never suspended. By contrast, on August 6, 2008, there was a military coup in Mauritania; MCC aid was suspended the next day. In Madagascar, the MCC announced the suspension of aid just three days after the military coup of March 17, 2009.
5. On September 28, State Department officials representing the United States blocked the OAS from adopting a resolution on Honduras that would have refused to recognize Honduran elections carried out under the dictatorship.
4. The United States government refused to officially determine that there was a "military coup," in Honduras - in contrast to the view of rest of the hemisphere and the world.
3. The Obama administration defied the rest of the hemisphere and the world by supporting undemocratic elections in Honduras.
On October 30th, U.S. government representatives including Thomas Shannon, the top U.S. State Department official for Latin America, brokered an accord between President Zelaya and the coup regime. The agreement was seen throughout the region as providing for Zelaya's restitution, and - according to diplomats close to the negotiations - both Shannon and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave assurances that this was true.
Yet just four days later, Mr. Shannon stated in a TV interview that the United States would recognize the November 29 elections, regardless of whether or not Zelaya were restored to the presidency. This put the United States against all of Latin America, which issued a 23-nation statement two days later saying that Zelaya's restitution was an "indispensable prerequisite" for recognizing the elections. The Obama administration has since been able to recruit the right-wing governments of Canada, Panama, and Colombia, and also Peru, to recognize the elections. But its support for these undemocratic elections - to which the OAS, European Union, and the Carter Center all refused to send observers - has left the Obama administration as isolated as its predecessor in the hemisphere.
2. President Zelaya visited Washington six times after he was overthrown. Yet President Obama has never once met with him. Is it possible that President Obama did not have even five minutes in all of those days just to shake his hand and say, "I'm trying to help?"At dawn on June 28, the Honduran military abducted President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint... more
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"There is wide agreement that last week's presidential election in Honduras..." begins an editorial in Saturday's New York Times, "...was clean and fair." The editorial gives no hint as to whom all these people are that are in agreement, except for the 'official' data from the same regime that overthrew the elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, at gunpoint. The Times joins governments, commentators and editorial pages around the world that have fallen victim to the 'official' coup data. But, as this video shows, the proof of the fraud was sitting out in the open the whole time.
Produced by Jesse Freeston, on location in Honduras."There is wide agreement that last week's presidential election in... more
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In a controversial move, the Obama administration wasted no time to pledge its support for the outcome of elections in Honduras widely viewed as illegitimate in the wake of a recent military coup.In a controversial move, the Obama administration wasted no time to pledge its support... more
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The United States is massively building up its potential for nuclear and non-nuclear strikes in Latin America and the Caribbean by acquiring unprecedented freedom of action in seven new military, naval and air bases in Colombia.The United States is massively building up its potential for nuclear and non-nuclear... more
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A rash of military coups could be triggered across Latin America if the world fails to stand up to the illegal regime in Honduras, a close aide of the ousted president Manuel Zelaya warned this week.A rash of military coups could be triggered across Latin America if the world fails to... more
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By ESTEBAN FELIX (AP)
All night long, floodlights shine on the Brazilian Embassy where I have been holed up with ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya since he slipped back into the country.
When I do manage to sleep, I'm awakened by high-pitched cat calls from the soldiers ringing the compound, and music so loud the windows vibrate.
Day or night, through every window, police officers and soldiers stare in at me and the other journalists through binoculars.
When I'm not trying to do my job taking pictures of Zelaya and his entourage, I pass the time reading; I now know more about Brazil than I ever hoped to - the embassy has an impressive collection of books about the South American country.
Honduras' coup-installed government says soldiers will arrest Zelaya if he leaves the diplomatic mission. Zelaya says he is not going anywhere until he is reinstated as president, and the Brazilian government, which also wants him returned to power, has not pressured him or his supporters to leave.
So we in the media who pushed our way in when Zelaya took up residence here on Sept. 21 are stuck. Once we leave, we can't get back in.
Still, time has taken its toll as the crisis drags on, and Zelaya's group of fist-waving supporters dwindles with each passing week. Even Zelaya's son went home recently, hugging his mother, who stayed behind.
Talks stalled again after interim President Roberto Micheletti refused to budge on allowing Zelaya to be reinstated - the central point of a power-sharing agreement the two sides are negotiating.
A delegation headed by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon is headed to Honduras this week to urge the two sides to find a solution, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Tuesday.
Zelaya says if there is no breakthrough this week it will never happen, but he has not said what he would do then. In the meantime, Micheletti's government is banking on the Nov. 29 elections to end the crisis: Zelaya is not eligible to run since the Honduran constitution allows presidents to serve only one four-year term.
Meanwhile, those of us inside try to make the best of the situation; the other journalists and I wile away the hours playing endless games of Monopoly and cards.
Sleep is the biggest challenge.
The Zelaya supporters have put up a curtain to block the floodlights and covered windows with newspapers, but that has made little difference.
Soldiers bark like dogs, meow like cats and crow like roosters just as my REM cycle gets going and I'm jolted awake almost nightly.
Troops last week blasted us with music from 1:30 a.m. until 7 a.m. The playlist included the grating Spanish ballad "Two-legged Rat," an accordian-laced tirade against an ex-boyfriend made famous by Mexican singer Paquita La del Barrio. Its lyrics begin, "Filthy rat, crawling animal, scum of all life ..." and it got worse from there.
That was a rough night.
The lack of sleep no doubt fogs your mind. So do the idle hours.
Zelaya's supporters take turns standing watch in three-hour shifts so they can sound the alarm if troops make any sudden movements indicating they have decided to storm the embassy - despite the interim government's promises not to do so.
Troops and police have erected platforms so they are at eye-level with the windows. The other journalists and I stare at them. They stare at us. Right now a police officer is staring at me through his binoculars. "Hi," I think.
The interim government also recently put a large apparatus covered in plastic at the compound's back wall. No one knows what it is, but people's sleep-deprived minds spin with the possibilities.
As for myself and the other journalists: We shoot photos and wait to see how history plays out.
Clink the link above for the whole articleBy ESTEBAN FELIX (AP)
All night long, floodlights shine on the Brazilian Embassy... more
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Following the removal by a military coup of José Manuel Zelaya on 28 June, the people of Honduras have been engaging in a peaceful struggle for his restoration as president, for their rights, and for the convening of a constituent national assembly. Much is said about a possible military intervention by the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez; of a supposed wish by President Zelaya to perpetuate himself in power; and of Zelaya's alleged crimes, but these are all being used simply to mask the real reasons for the coup.
Since his election, my father has promoted the idea of "citizen power": the involvement of citizens in the decision-making process. He promoted the Citizen Participation Law, giving the people the right to use surveys, plebiscites and referendums to participate in decision-making. From the beginning, the media criticised his ideas, proposals and actions. Sometimes they called him mad. They accused him of ignorance. They branded his government ineffective. Later they called him populist, and now they say he is a communist and fugitive from justice.Following the removal by a military coup of José Manuel Zelaya on 28 June, the... more
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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A U.S. senator and three congressmen plan to meet Friday with Honduras' interim leader in defiance of official Washington policy barring contact with the architects of the military coup that ousted the nation's president.
South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint intends to meet with interim President Roberto Micheletti as well as members of the Central American nation's Supreme Court, election officials and business and civic leaders during the fact-finding trip, said Wesley Denton, a spokesman for the senator.
The visit comes as President Barack Obama's administration seeks to isolate the interim government and use other forms of pressure – including suspending aid and canceling the visas of some members of the country's wealthy elite – in hopes of returning ousted President Manuel Zelaya to serve the remaining months of his term.
DeMint, one of a number of U.S. conservatives who have defended Zelaya's ouster on June 28 in Central America's first coup in more than a decade, supports the interim government plan to hold elections Nov. 29.
"The best solution to the crisis in Honduras is free and fair democratic elections that allow the Honduran people to decide their own future," DeMint said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
The international community has made it clear that the vote will not be recognized unless Zelaya is reinstated.
Zelaya was ousted after he ignored Supreme Court orders to halt efforts to revamp the constitution. His opponents argue that he intended to extend his time in power – a charge that Zelaya denies. He has been holed-up in the Brazilian Embassy with dozens of supporters since sneaking back into the country on Sept. 21.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/02/demint-honduras-trip-plan_n_307632.htmlTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A U.S. senator and three congressmen plan to meet Friday... more
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The ousted Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, said after talks last night that there was no possibility of a deal with the military-backed government that ousted him.
Zelaya has been threatened with arrest by the coup leader Roberto Micheletti if he steps outside the Brazilian embassy, where he has been sheltering with his family and dozens of supporters since sneaking back into the country on Monday.
He told the country's Channel 36 television last night that an official from Micheletti's administration had taken "an extremely hard" stand and the government's positions were "totally outside of any possibility of agreement".
Zelaya, who upset conservative elites by allying himself with the socialist Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, is insisting on his reinstatement while the de facto government has said he faces arrest and elections will be held in November.
Earlier, Zelaya had said talks were at an early stage and expressed hope at the outcome, but he had changed his tune by the end of the day.
Troops continue to surround the embassy and partial curfews were declared in border areas and the northern industrial city of San Pedro Sula, the country's second-largest city, from last night until this morning. Despite the threat of arrest hanging over Zelaya, Micheletti said yesterday he was "willing to establish dialogue wherever and whenever to try to find a solution".
Armed soldiers toppled Zelaya and sent him into exile in his pyjamas on June 28 after the supreme court endorsed charges of treason and abuse of authority against the leader for repeatedly ignoring court orders to drop plans for a referendum on whether the constitution should be rewritten.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the US president, Barack Obama, are among world leaders who have called for Zelaya's reinstatement.
The UN security council is due to meet today to discuss the political crisis in Honduras and Zelaya's future.
Micheletti has said the conflict will be resolved when Hondurans elect their next leader on 29 November. The US and other countries have said they may not recognise the vote unless Zelaya is reinstated first.The ousted Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, said after talks last night that there... more
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Guests of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya the night before his millitary removal from office recount the political corruption and human rights violations of this Honduran coup d'etat and its aftermath.Guests of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya the night before his millitary removal from... more
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