Friday, September 25, 2009
Inauguration Deep Thought
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 9:38 AM
So the ousted president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, has the support of both Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez. (That ought to drive the Teabaggers bananas.) And now Zelaya is stuck in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, trying to whip up support for a counter-coup. He's also starting to go a little stir crazy:
After a couple of days of street demonstrations, Tegucigalpa was getting back to normal Thursday, and Mr. Zelaya was reduced to making hysterical accusations about being bombarded with radiation and toxic gases by "Israeli mercenaries."
It looks like both sides have violated the Honduran constitution. From the NYT:
According to a recent analysis of the legal issues of the case prepared by the Law Library of Congress in Washington, both Mr. Zelaya and those who ousted him appear to have broken the law.In Mr. Zelaya’s case, he flouted court rulings ordering him not to conduct a survey on whether to convene a citizens assembly to change the Constitution. Eventually, the chief prosecutor filed a complaint with the Supreme Court accusing Mr. Zelaya of treason and abuse of authority, among other charges. That led to an arrest warrant that was carried out on June 28.
But Mr. Zelaya was not formally arrested when soldiers raided his home. Instead, the army detained him, took him to the airport and put him on a plane to Costa Rica, even though the Honduran Constitution says no citizen may be handed over to foreign authorities.
Obama has called Zelaya's removal a coup and withdrawn aid from Honduras—but would he do the same if the Iranian military turned its guns on Ahmadinejad and installed Mousavi?
Another sticky fact: Zelaya is not only vocally supported by Chavez, but by Brazil—and Ahmadinejad has been crowing about how much he loves Venezuela and Brazil these days. So does that put Obama in the same camp with Chavez, Brazil's da Silva, and Ahmadinejad? Just add a Kim and you have an American conservative's worst nightmare.
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1
The Bush administration conspicuously did not raise the same sorts of objections when Chavez, a democratically elected leader, was ousted in a military coup. This ended up biting them on the ass when, three days later, Chavez was reinstated. Chavez has pointed to this fact ever since as evidence that the CIA was complicit in the coup, and thanks in large part to his tireless repetition of this point, anti-U.S. sentiment has reached unprecedented heights in Venezuela and throughout the region.
So the Obama administration is, to all appearances, behaving appropriately. It damages our country's credibility when we support democracy in some instances (when it produces results we like) and not in others (when democratically elected leaders nationalize their countries' oil production, for instance.)
Ahmadinejad was not democratically elected, so in the event of his ouster there would be no similar onus on the U.S. to protest his removal in a coup.
So the Obama administration is, to all appearances, behaving appropriately. It damages our country's credibility when we support democracy in some instances (when it produces results we like) and not in others (when democratically elected leaders nationalize their countries' oil production, for instance.)
Ahmadinejad was not democratically elected, so in the event of his ouster there would be no similar onus on the U.S. to protest his removal in a coup.
2
http://socialistworker.org/2009/09/24/tu…
COMMENT: SHAUN JOSEPH
New turning point in Honduras
Shaun Joseph, recently returned from a solidarity delegation to Honduras, analyzes the latest stage in the struggle to stop the coup against Manuel Zelaya.
September 24, 2009
HONDURAS' LEGITIMATE president, Manuel Zelaya, returned to the capital city of Tegucigalpa in defiance of the coup regime led by Roberto Micheletti, ushering in a new stage in the battle against the ruling oligarchy and the military.
In a spectacular secret operation, Zelaya entered the country covertly--likely from neighboring Nicaragua--and traveled overland to the capital, announcing his arrival in a Monday morning phone call to the Honduran television network Cholusat Sur. Zelaya is now installed in the Brazilian embassy, together with several members of his cabinet and leaders of the anti-coup resistance.
The golpistas (coup-makers) spent much of Monday denying Zelaya's presence in the country; in an unforgettable turn of phrase, Micheletti dubbed Zelaya's announcement an act of "media terrorism."
Indeed, the golpistas have good reason to be terrified by the situation. Within hours, thousands of people had gathered around the Brazilian embassy to welcome Zelaya home. The coup regime announced a blanket curfew that was extended for several days afterward.
The embassy is considered an extension of the Brazilian state, so the golpista forces cannot enter it without committing an act of war. But the coup-makers have attempted to cut off food, water and electricity to the embassy compound. Zelaya also reports that the golpistas are blasting loud music at the building, reenacting a bizarre yet common U.S. military tactic.
Zelaya's return depended on the political isolation of the golpistas, both internationally and domestically. Zelaya couldn't have managed the operation to get back to Tegucigalpa without the cooperation of at least Nicaragua and Brazil--as the most conservative of the center-left Latin American governments, Brazil's participation is telling. Domestically, it is difficult to believe that Zelaya's passage was possible without the acquiescence of some part of the armed forces.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE MICHELETTI gang has few good options for responding. Assuming it avoids starting an unwinnable international war, the one path left to them is to escalate the violence against the people, in the desperate hope of forcing Zelaya to compromise.
The regime may have already cast its lot this way--on Tuesday, golpista forces attacked demonstrators outside the Brazilian embassy. According to a report posted on the National Front Against the Coup d'Etat Web site [1]:
Forces of repression have used firearms, tear gas bombs, pepper spray and rubber bullets against those who were found [near the embassy], some who were still asleep. There are people with bullet wounds and grave injuries at the Hospital Escuela. The exact number of detainees is unknown.
But repression has so far not been successful in intimidating the active resistance or its mass base.
The Front called for a mass peaceful demonstration Wednesday morning in open defiance of the golpistas' blanket curfew. Just surviving requires Hondurans to demands violating the curfew. Meanwhile, pro-resistance Web sites are reporting barricades up in the streets in neighborhoods across greater Tegucigalpa, and street fighting against the police.
Zelaya is calling for a "dialogue" to resolve the situation, but this is likely more for diplomatic consumption than anything else.
The San Jose Accords, a rotten "compromise" fronted by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias on behalf of the U.S. government, are probably dead--the Front is the organizer of Zelaya's triumph, and its leaders, drawn from the popular organizations of workers, peasants and indigenous people, are uniformly hostile to Arias' proposed settlement. Although the Organization of American States formally backed the Accords in a recent vote, the dissenting votes of Venezuela and Nicaragua are surer signs of the new reality.
The U.S. still supports the Arias deal, but it scarcely matters. The Obama administration's attempts to "face both ways" have landed it in a position where both sides resent the U.S., and feel that they owe it nothing. Within American politics, the administration opened itself to attacks from the Republican Party, which forthrightly took up the golpista cause--the right will blame Obama for "losing" Honduras.
Regardless of who "lost" it, though, Honduras is beginning to break free from the suffocating grip of North American imperialism. No one can say whether the golpistas will abdicate on the basis of some face-saving agreement or be overthrown by an insurrection, but the idea that they will survive in power seems nearly impossible.
The working classes of Honduras, organized in a resistance movement of great discipline and determination, are on the verge of the most important political victory for the people of Latin America since the defeat of coup against Venezuela's Hugo Chávez in 2002. If they succeed, they won't stop with restoring the old status quo.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
What you can do
The Quixote Center suggests that activists call the U.S. State Department (202-647-4000) and Congressional representatives (202-224-3121) to demand that the U.S. send a strong message to the coup regime in Honduras to refrain from violent assaults on civilians, human rights organizations and/or the Embassy of Brazil.
For more on the situation in Honduras, Spanish speakers can find live streaming video from the Venezuelan TV station TeleSur [2]. The Honduran TV network Cholusat Sur [3] and radio station Radio Globo [4] also provide live streams, although both are frequently pulled off the air by the golpistas. The Frente Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado [5] Web site also carries the latest communiques from the resistance.
English speakers can find frequent updates at the excellent Honduras Oye! [6] and Al Giordano's The Field [7].
The Facebook page Miguel and Shaun in Honduras [8] also posts frequent updates from a variety of sources in both languages.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Material on this Web site is licensed by SocialistWorker.org, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [9] license, except for articles that are republished with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed to the author and SocialistWorker.org.
[1] http://contraelgolpedeestadohn.blogspot.…
[2] http://www.telesurtv.net/
[3] http://www.cholusatsur.com
[4] http://contraelgolpedeestadohn.blogspot.…
[5] http://contraelgolpedeestadohn.blogspot.…
[6] http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/
[7] http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefiel…
[8] http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miguel-and…
[9] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-n…
More...
COMMENT: SHAUN JOSEPH
New turning point in Honduras
Shaun Joseph, recently returned from a solidarity delegation to Honduras, analyzes the latest stage in the struggle to stop the coup against Manuel Zelaya.
September 24, 2009
HONDURAS' LEGITIMATE president, Manuel Zelaya, returned to the capital city of Tegucigalpa in defiance of the coup regime led by Roberto Micheletti, ushering in a new stage in the battle against the ruling oligarchy and the military.
In a spectacular secret operation, Zelaya entered the country covertly--likely from neighboring Nicaragua--and traveled overland to the capital, announcing his arrival in a Monday morning phone call to the Honduran television network Cholusat Sur. Zelaya is now installed in the Brazilian embassy, together with several members of his cabinet and leaders of the anti-coup resistance.
The golpistas (coup-makers) spent much of Monday denying Zelaya's presence in the country; in an unforgettable turn of phrase, Micheletti dubbed Zelaya's announcement an act of "media terrorism."
Indeed, the golpistas have good reason to be terrified by the situation. Within hours, thousands of people had gathered around the Brazilian embassy to welcome Zelaya home. The coup regime announced a blanket curfew that was extended for several days afterward.
The embassy is considered an extension of the Brazilian state, so the golpista forces cannot enter it without committing an act of war. But the coup-makers have attempted to cut off food, water and electricity to the embassy compound. Zelaya also reports that the golpistas are blasting loud music at the building, reenacting a bizarre yet common U.S. military tactic.
Zelaya's return depended on the political isolation of the golpistas, both internationally and domestically. Zelaya couldn't have managed the operation to get back to Tegucigalpa without the cooperation of at least Nicaragua and Brazil--as the most conservative of the center-left Latin American governments, Brazil's participation is telling. Domestically, it is difficult to believe that Zelaya's passage was possible without the acquiescence of some part of the armed forces.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE MICHELETTI gang has few good options for responding. Assuming it avoids starting an unwinnable international war, the one path left to them is to escalate the violence against the people, in the desperate hope of forcing Zelaya to compromise.
The regime may have already cast its lot this way--on Tuesday, golpista forces attacked demonstrators outside the Brazilian embassy. According to a report posted on the National Front Against the Coup d'Etat Web site [1]:
Forces of repression have used firearms, tear gas bombs, pepper spray and rubber bullets against those who were found [near the embassy], some who were still asleep. There are people with bullet wounds and grave injuries at the Hospital Escuela. The exact number of detainees is unknown.
But repression has so far not been successful in intimidating the active resistance or its mass base.
The Front called for a mass peaceful demonstration Wednesday morning in open defiance of the golpistas' blanket curfew. Just surviving requires Hondurans to demands violating the curfew. Meanwhile, pro-resistance Web sites are reporting barricades up in the streets in neighborhoods across greater Tegucigalpa, and street fighting against the police.
Zelaya is calling for a "dialogue" to resolve the situation, but this is likely more for diplomatic consumption than anything else.
The San Jose Accords, a rotten "compromise" fronted by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias on behalf of the U.S. government, are probably dead--the Front is the organizer of Zelaya's triumph, and its leaders, drawn from the popular organizations of workers, peasants and indigenous people, are uniformly hostile to Arias' proposed settlement. Although the Organization of American States formally backed the Accords in a recent vote, the dissenting votes of Venezuela and Nicaragua are surer signs of the new reality.
The U.S. still supports the Arias deal, but it scarcely matters. The Obama administration's attempts to "face both ways" have landed it in a position where both sides resent the U.S., and feel that they owe it nothing. Within American politics, the administration opened itself to attacks from the Republican Party, which forthrightly took up the golpista cause--the right will blame Obama for "losing" Honduras.
Regardless of who "lost" it, though, Honduras is beginning to break free from the suffocating grip of North American imperialism. No one can say whether the golpistas will abdicate on the basis of some face-saving agreement or be overthrown by an insurrection, but the idea that they will survive in power seems nearly impossible.
The working classes of Honduras, organized in a resistance movement of great discipline and determination, are on the verge of the most important political victory for the people of Latin America since the defeat of coup against Venezuela's Hugo Chávez in 2002. If they succeed, they won't stop with restoring the old status quo.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
What you can do
The Quixote Center suggests that activists call the U.S. State Department (202-647-4000) and Congressional representatives (202-224-3121) to demand that the U.S. send a strong message to the coup regime in Honduras to refrain from violent assaults on civilians, human rights organizations and/or the Embassy of Brazil.
For more on the situation in Honduras, Spanish speakers can find live streaming video from the Venezuelan TV station TeleSur [2]. The Honduran TV network Cholusat Sur [3] and radio station Radio Globo [4] also provide live streams, although both are frequently pulled off the air by the golpistas. The Frente Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado [5] Web site also carries the latest communiques from the resistance.
English speakers can find frequent updates at the excellent Honduras Oye! [6] and Al Giordano's The Field [7].
The Facebook page Miguel and Shaun in Honduras [8] also posts frequent updates from a variety of sources in both languages.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Material on this Web site is licensed by SocialistWorker.org, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [9] license, except for articles that are republished with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed to the author and SocialistWorker.org.
[1] http://contraelgolpedeestadohn.blogspot.…
[2] http://www.telesurtv.net/
[3] http://www.cholusatsur.com
[4] http://contraelgolpedeestadohn.blogspot.…
[5] http://contraelgolpedeestadohn.blogspot.…
[6] http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/
[7] http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefiel…
[8] http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miguel-and…
[9] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-n…
3
This might be the Obama administration trying to change the international community's opinion on the US foreign policy, which you know *ahem* everybody outside the US hates (except for Israel).
And what better way to do that than taking sides with everyone else on some small country's affairs, relatively irrelevant for the world order?
The last thing non-americans want to see is the US backing up another military coup, like it used to happen in the not-so-old days.
And what better way to do that than taking sides with everyone else on some small country's affairs, relatively irrelevant for the world order?
The last thing non-americans want to see is the US backing up another military coup, like it used to happen in the not-so-old days.
4
If the Iranian military turned its guns on Ahmadi and installed Mousavi, it could quite plausibly spin that as a counter coup and a restoration of democracy. If they returned to the barracks and there was a pretty show trial, we could even look at easing sanctions, and the whole world would applaud.
5
Uh, since the DoD is well into the era of nonlethal weapon technology, say,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Deni…
And the Israeli equivalent of Blackwater/Xe guys have already been spotted in LatAm training police/military types since, oh, decades ago, maybe he's not that nuts?
Or maybe they're putting smelly French cheese in the A/C vents.
And even if he does get a li'l burning feeling on his skin when he steps out on the balcony, isn't that better than having New Kids on the Block blasted at you with loudspeakers all night long, like we did to Noriega?
Of course, there's no way anybody in the DoD is helping the Honduran military on this one. Or any ex-W administration folks. Nosiree Bob. That would be wrong. Same goes for the intel agencies. None of these folks have any opinions on this matter, have never operated in Honduras before, and didn't spend a full decade there setting up shop to conduct a war in two neighboring countries, and didn't make any friends there in that decade they weren't there. Oh no. Besides, they've always hated military dictators in Latin America! Dictators don't bring The Freedom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Deni…
And the Israeli equivalent of Blackwater/Xe guys have already been spotted in LatAm training police/military types since, oh, decades ago, maybe he's not that nuts?
Or maybe they're putting smelly French cheese in the A/C vents.
And even if he does get a li'l burning feeling on his skin when he steps out on the balcony, isn't that better than having New Kids on the Block blasted at you with loudspeakers all night long, like we did to Noriega?
Of course, there's no way anybody in the DoD is helping the Honduran military on this one. Or any ex-W administration folks. Nosiree Bob. That would be wrong. Same goes for the intel agencies. None of these folks have any opinions on this matter, have never operated in Honduras before, and didn't spend a full decade there setting up shop to conduct a war in two neighboring countries, and didn't make any friends there in that decade they weren't there. Oh no. Besides, they've always hated military dictators in Latin America! Dictators don't bring The Freedom.
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