The NarcoSphere -

A Mega-March of Supporters Will Receive Zelaya in Tegucigalpa

Kristin Bricker — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:00:54 -0400

Military Blockades Attempt to Block Zelaya Supporters from Reaching Tegucigalpa and the Airport

Yesterday President Manuel Zelaya issued a call to the people of Honduras: "Accompany me on my return to Honduras."

Honduran civil society has responded to this call. People from all over Honduras are heading to Tegucigalpa to receive Zelaya when his plane lands at Toncontin Airport in the capital.

Honduras' Radio Progreso reports that there are only about 200 Zelaya supporters outside the airport right now. There would be more people, according to Radio Progreso, but military and police checkpoints have blocked off all entrances to the airport. People have attempted to enter, but Radio Progreso says that the airport is closed to all pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

A mega-march of thousands of people from all over Honduras is headed from downtown Tegucigalpa to the Toncontin airport. A military checkpoint at Camosa (one of the checkpoints outside the airport) has stopped the march temporarily. Radio Liberada reports that approximately 300-400 police and soldiers are stationed at the Camosa checkpoint. Marchers called into Radio Globo to report that six planes filled with approximately 500 soldiers landed at the Toncontin airport to reinforce the Camoza military checkpoint in anticipation of the march's arrival.

Currently, march leaders are negotiating with the military to attempt to allow the marchers to pass and enter the airport, reports Radio Progreso. Marchers have reported that thus far, the soldiers and police have made no attempt to repress the mobilizations that are occurring both inside and outside the airport. Likewise, the marchers have chosen the path of negotiation with the military, rather than simply overwhelming the significantly outnumbered soldiers that man the checkpoint.

While no Honduran media has attempted to quantify the number of marchers (all of them have said that there's simply too many people to make an accurate estimation), Radio Liberada's correspondent in the march says that the march is "much bigger" than yesterday's march, in which Globovision estimated that 200,000 people participated.

Meanwhile, citizens from other parts of the country continue to try to reach Tegucigalpa to receive Zelaya when he enters Honduras in a few hours. Several Zelaya supporters called Radio Globo to denounce that six buses full of people are being detained at a checkpoint near La Plancha, Francisco Morazan, outside of Tegucigalpa. These buses, according to the callers, came from the coast (given their reported location on the highway, this presumably means the northern coast).

Keep checking back at this post for updates on the mega-march, which is still stopped at the Camosa military checkpoint.

Honduras Coup General Was Charged in 1993 Auto Theft Ring

Al Giordano — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:15:49 -0400

By Al Giordano

General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, who appeared on stage this week with Honduran coup “president” Roberto Michiletti, and who ordered the kidnapping and forced deportation of P resident Manuel Zelaya last Sunday, was charged with grand auto theft in 1993, Narco News has learned.

On February 2, 1993, the front page of the Tegucigalpa daily El Heraldo included this headline: “Eleven Members of the Gang of 13 Go to Prison”:

“Eleven individuals arrested for their alleged participation in the theft of 200 luxury automobiles… were sent to prison yesterday… (including) Colonel Wilfredo Leva Caborrea and Major Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, accused as alleged participants…”

(Narco News makes the document available for download by press and public here, including two interior pages of the newspaper that report on the case, each mentioning the then-major, now commander of the military coup in Honduras.)

The newspaper report further stated:

“…Major Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, connected to the theft of luxury cars in the ‘Gang of 13,’ will be imprisoned in the Central Penitentiary (PC, in its Spanish initials).”

Prior to his criminal acts, Vásquez attended the US School of the Americas in 1976 and 1984, when the school was located in Panama, but he did not graduate.

It was the same Honduran Congress that endorsed, after the fact, last Sunday’s military coup, and named Roberto Micheletti as the country's "president," that promoted this common car thief as head of the Armed Forces.

Memo to the General: Objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear...

Rampant Corruption at DHS and subordinate agencies: Open Letter to 44th U.S. President and the 111th U.S. Congress

Miguel Contreras — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:27:07 -0400

Rampant Corruption at DHS and subordinate agencies: Open Letter to 44th U.S. President Barack Obama and the 111th United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.

Every DHS employee has the right to work in an environment free of corruption, misconduct or mismanagement.

It is imperative that U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, and U.S. House of Representative Bennie G. Thompson get together with all of their Homeland Security Committee and Subcommitte members hold hearings on corruption (criminal and administrative), gross mismanagement, waste, fraud, abuse of authority by public employees of DHS who are being paid with american taxpayers' dollars.

This will be the introduction of a series of investigative reports regarding corruption at DHS and some of the largest subordinate agencies such as ICE, CBP, and USCIS.

The 44th U.S. President Barack Obama should ask the 111th United States Congress to conduct U.S. Congressional hearings on corruption and gross misconduct by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and all of the subordinate agencies, commencing with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Border and Customs Protection (CBP), the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and all others. Hopefully, President Obama will be good to his word that if elected U.S. President, that changes were to take place. Unfortunately, the changes that are taking place are not what Americans who went to the polls in 2008 expected.

May I suggest also that Assistant President of HSCT to President Obama ask him to recommend and support such U.S. Congressional Hearings. The outcome of such hearings will have a tremendous and shocking effect and will bring DHS up to standards. Since the creation of DHS, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the DHS' Office of Inspector General have conducted numerous audits and investigations at DHS and all subordinate agencies and for the most part problems were found and recommendations were made

The investigative reports that this writer will be submitting to the America and the world will be based on facts. Some of the names that you will see mentioned are the same federal employees mentioned in 1992 during similar U.S. Congressional Hearings, who were accussed of employee misconduct and yet, the same employees now are running the above referenced DHS agencies.

This writer tried contacting Arizona U.S. House of Representative Raul Grijalva, who is my local U.S. Congressman. I tried contacting U.S. Senator John McCain but they never returned my letters, calls, or Emails regarding my requests for assistance.

I listed U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) on top of the below list because his Phoenix staff responded to my aid. Not only once, but several times. I am very thankfull and appreciate all of the help I got from U.S. Senator Kyl. I believe that he and his staff really cares for any resident of Arizona.

As to DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner or all of the U.S. Treasury's Inspectors General and their staff never, ever responded to legitimate complaints against Legacy U.S. Customs Service's Offices of Investigations and Internal Affairs. The only time I came in contact with a Treasury's OIG agent is when I was being investigated for some trumpeted allegation made by Customs or ICE management officials.

Some of the crimes that ICE, CBP and USCIS current and former-retired employees involved murder; drug smuggling and trafficking; child sex abuse by top management officials; sex acts by top ICE senior executive managers, use of government-owned computers for the use of viewing sex adult websites, bribery, the use of ICE controlled informants who have been involved in murder and a number of other criminal acts, and gross mismanagement.

I will have to refer to Bill Conroy's House of Death and other related reports dealing with the Legacy U.S. Customs Service, and ICE. I will also cite Miami Herald reporter David Kidwell and other investigative reporters who have contributed to a collection of investigative reports on corruption, mismanagement, favoritism, retaliation, harassment by former Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly, all of the acting Customs commissioners, and Assistant Commissioner William "Bill" Keefer.

After the DHS creation in 2003, several agencies merged into ICE. Since the Legacy U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) had been receiving low grades by several watchdog public and private agencies, the Customs' Office of Investigations' HQ management officials immediately took a leading role.

However, I will focus and concentrate on current and/or retired DHS officials regardless of their title. Also, I will report on current and former DHS' and U.S. Treasury's Inspectors Generals job performances.

In closing, I will report on how DHS and ICE, CBP and USCIS management abuse their Labor and Employment Relations (LER) employees and agency's attorneys to fabricate trumpeted administrative charges in order to retaliate, suspend, and fire any employee who file EEO or any complaint (s) against management; and how LER and DHS attorneys follow any and all request by management without checking to see if the allegation (s) has/have any merits.

Millions of taxpayers dollars DHS has already spent after losing in federal court and/or in settlements.

I believe it is time now to hold any and all DHS employees who violate their badge and authority.

Fax documents will be submitted in the very next future.

The United States Attorney General Eric Holder and his deputy will be made aware of these reports. The states to be mentioned first will be California, Arizona, Texas, Washington (Seattle), and Colorado.

The following leaders and agencies will be immediately provided with a copy of this letter.

The Honorable U.S. President Barack Obama, The White House, Washington, D.C. 20500, Phone: (202) 456-1414; Fax: (202) 456-2461.

The Honorable Jon Kyl, United States Senate, 730 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, Phone: (202) 224-4521; Fax: (202) 224-2207.

The Honorable Charles “Chuck” Grassley, United States Senate, 135 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510-1501; Phone: (202) 224-3744; Fax: (202) 224-6020.

The Honorable Joseph Lieberman, Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, 340 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, Phone: (202) 224-2627, Fax: (202) 224-9750.

The Honorable Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), United States House of Representatives, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, For immediate response: Contact Dena Graziano or Adam Comis at (202) 225-9978, 176 Ford House Office Building, 2432 Rayburn HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515, Phone: (202) 226-2616; (202) 225-5876; Fax: (202) 226-4499; (202) 225-5898

The Honorable Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong, Chair of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), U.S Office of the Inspector General, United States Department of Agriculture, Room 117-W Jamie Whitten Bldg
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20250; Phone: (202) 720-8001; Fax: (202) 690-1278

The Honorable Secretary Janet Napolitano, United States Department of Homeland Security, 245 Murray Lane, SW, Washington, D.C. 20528; Phone: (202) 282-8000; Fax: (202) 282-8401

Anti-Coup Protests Reported Across Honduras

Kristin Bricker — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:11:09 -0400

Despite Repression and the Suspension of Constitutional Guarantees, Hondurans Keep Fighting the Coup Government

The anti-coup movement's momentum appears to be building across Honduras, with protests reported across the country. Meanwhile, international pressure builds against the coup government.

Over the past two days, anti-coup protests were reported in Tocoa, Colon; San Pedro Sula; La Ceiba; El Progreso, Yoro; Tegucigapla; Intibuca; El Paraiso; Olancho; Santa Barbara; and all over President Zelaya's native department of Olancho. Moreover, the BBC reports that citizens have blocked major highways in Copan and Tocoa. The BBC's sources on the ground in Honduras say anti-coup protests have occurred in the majority of Honduras' departments.

A leader of the teachers union, Freddy Vega, told TeleSUR that teachers are on strike and classes will not resume until ousted President Manuel Zelaya is back in Honduras.

Via Campesina reports that yesterday morning, social leaders from across the country met to discuss strategy.

Teachers union leaders report that citizens in Cortés, Choluteca, Comayagua, Santa Bárbara, and Copán are preparing mobilizations and marches to Tegucigalpa to receive President Zelaya when he returns. Zelaya had originally stated that he would return on Thursday. However, as a result of the Organization of American States' (OAS) decision to give the coup government 72 hours to turn power over to Zelaya, the ousted president has decided to postpone his return until after the OAS' 72-hour deadline has passed on Saturday.

The delay will give Zelaya supporters more time to reach Tegucigalpa. The AFP reports that several Honduran social leaders have told that news agency that soldiers have blocked highways, preventing thousands of people from arriving in Tegucigalpa.

Jose Antonio Zepeda, President of the Central American Union Movement, says that when a caravan carrying peasants and union members towards Tegucigalpa reached a roadblock near San Pedro Sula, the 105th Infantry used machine guns to shoot out the tires on their busses. Undeterred, the unionists and peasants continued to Tegucigalpa on foot. They arrived in the capital today, where they await President Zelaya's arrival this weekend.

Pro-Coup Rallies

Pro-coup forces also mobilized yesterday, drawing thousands of protesters to a rally in Tegucigalpa. Coup president Roberto Micheletti and the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Romeo Vasquez, spoke during the rally, which was organized by the Democratic Civic Union (UDC). The UDC organized a similar, smaller protest in San Pedro Sula, Honduras' second-largest city. A UDC protest occurred today in Choluteca.

While it is impossible to get accurate crowd estimates on any of the protests, the UDC's Tegucigalpa rally appeared to be larger than any of the anti-coup protests that occurred yesterday. But appearances can be deceiving.

Rumors are circulating that bosses forced their workers to participate in the pro-coup mobilizations. The Popular Resistance Front of Honduras (which, like the UCD, is an ad-hoc organization formed in response to the current crisis), issued a communique claiming that "fast food, factory, and private security company employees have been forced to participate in the [UCD] event."

Andrés Pavón of the Honduran Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, echoed that claim: "They took all of the fast food workers in Honduras and private security guards and they dressed them in white. In Honduras there's 30,000 private security guards and they dressed six thousand guards [in white]."

Likewise, Rafael Alegría, leader of Via Campesina in Honduras, says that factory workers in San Pedro Sula were forced to participate in the march in that city.

It's important to point out that these claims have not been confirmed.

Even if the rumors and claims that workers were forced to participate in the pro-coup rallies aren't true, one fact is undeniable: the UDC's protests enjoy the full support of the coup government. As such, the government has made no attempt to repress the marches.

That is not the case for the anti-coup protests. At an anti-coup protest in Tegucigalpa yesterday, an unidentified speaker told the crowd, "Our protests would be bigger, but you are all aware of the repression that we are experiencing." Police have used tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, billy clubs, live ammunition, and water cannons against anti-coup protesters.

The following video from inside a Tegucigalpa hospital shows some of the injuries inflicted by police and soldiers. Even if you don't speak Spanish, you should be able to understand the injured people. At one point, the police shoot tear gas at the hospital.

Some of the most severe repression has been reported in President Zelaya's native department of Olancho. The Committee of Family Members of Disappeared Detained People in Honduras reports that the military is going house-to-house in communities all over the department and arresting young men. Young men have fled into the mountains, but the commuities report that military patrols are persuing them there as well.

Anti-coup protesters must also deal with limited communications. When the military kidnapped President Zelaya, it carried out simultaneous operations against pro-Zelaya media. Raids on radio stations continue, and international reporters have been detained (and later released) by the military. The pro-coup media, however, has operated without interruption. They publish calls to attend rallies in support of the coup as if it were news.

Despite the repression, Hondurans all over the country take to the streets every day to protest the coup--and that is a victory the coup supporters can't claim. A speaker told an anti-coup rally in Tegucigalpa, "Today, there are protests all over the country. That [pro-coup] protest in Central Park is small compared with the protests all over the country."

More Repression to Come

Congress has suspended certain constitutional guarantees from 10pm-5am daily. The suspension of guarantees is scheduled to last 72 hours, but it should be noted that the curfew imposed by the coup government, originally supposed to last only 48 hours, has been extended until Friday.

According to Honduras' El Tiempo, the following constitutional guarantees have been suspended:

Article 69, which guarantees the personal freedom.
Article 71, which states that no one can be detained or held incommunicado for more than 24 hours without an arrest warrant.
Article 78, which guarantees freedom of association and freedom of assembly.
Article 81, which states, "Everyone has the right to free movement, to leave, enter and remain in national territory."

El Tiempo reports that with the aforementioned guarantees suspended, "no one can hold meetings, neither public nor private, be it in the streets, in churches, in their own homes, or in union or guild halls."

Honduras: The People in Their Labyrinth

Charlie Hardy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:40:16 -0400

The June 29 coup in Honduras did not surprise me.

The day before I read in the morning newspaper that General Romeo Vasquez said a coup d’état was “not certain.” He said “we (the military) are seeking the use of reason and not force in order to resolve the conflicts by dialogue.”

As soon as I saw the words, “not certain,” I said to myself immediately that it was one of the options the general was considering. I also felt he was not talking about dialogue but about a monologue that the opposition would present to President Manuel Zelaya.

I was not surprised when I learned that General Vasquez attended the School of the Americas and that a good part of the Honduran military were trained there and in its successor, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).

I was not surprised when the immediate response from Washington was tepid and non-committal. In spite of the information that the U.S. government had to have had, Dan Restrepo, the presidential advisor for Latin American affairs, said the administration was waiting to see how things would play out. (The response has been stronger since then, but still seems to lack the strength other America nations have put forward in their demands.)

I was not surprised when I saw the repression of the people demonstrating near the presidential palace.

I was not surprised when I read that the U.S. has a military base in Honduras, gives the Honduran military a few million dollars each year, and that most of the military equipment used against the people was from the U.S.

I was not surprised when I learned that a group that openly supported the coup, “Paz and Democracia” (Peace and Democracy), received money from the USAID. (Eva Golinger reported that the USAID pumps more than 50 million dollars into the country each year.)

I was not surprised to know that members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and clergy were among Micheletti’s supporters.

I was not surprised when I listened to Telesur’s reporter saying to a soldier, who was pointing an armament at her, that she would not give up her cellular phone. Then the transmission was cut off. (Soon after, she was back on the air for a few moments as she was being told that she was under arrest. Later she was released.) It brought back memories of November 1992 when I heard the same type of reporting in Caracas. On that occasion, the government was saying on television that everything was normal in Venezuela, but on the radio a reporter was shouting that the police were breaking into the radio studio. Then there was silence.

What I couldn’t believe was listening to the man who wants to be the president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, reading a letter of resignation from President Zelaya—a letter that Zelaya never wrote. The whole world, outside of Honduras, knew that Zelaya had been abducted and whisked out of the country. (If Zelaya resigned for reasons of health as Micheletti said, why is he now threatening to arrest him if he returns to Honduras?)

Micheletti could have given as many reasons as he would have wanted to give. But to begin taking control of the government by openly lying to the people he said he wanted to represent seemed to me to be absolutely stupid. The people, who were able to see him reading the letter through their television sets, will learn someday that there was no such letter.

When President Hugo Chávez was toppled in 2002 the people were also told that he had resigned. Fortunately a soldier told him to write a note saying he hadn’t resigned and to leave it in a waste basket. The soldier later picked up the basket and was able to get the note to his commanding officer. This short letter was an important element in Chávez’s return to power.

I wonder today how the majority of people in Honduras will react when they realize that Micheletti lied to them. If what happened here in Venezuela is any harbinger of what will happen, there will people who won’t care an iota: they simply hate Zelaya. But it may matter a lot to honest Hondurans who know what a Wyoming rancher said to me years ago: “We judge people in Wyoming by their words. If we can’t trust what a man says, then we don’t deal with him.”

In his book, The General in His Labyrinth, Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about Simon Bolivar waiting for a letter of love from Manuela Saenz. However, her letters are never delivered to him. I don’t know how much information the people in Honduras are receiving about what is happening within and outside their country. But almost two hundred years after the death of Bolivar, I would guess that the little people of Honduras are waiting for a letter from someone who loves them, too. Hopefully this time it will be delivered.

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Zelaya Says He Will Return to Honduras on Thursday

Kristin Bricker — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:53:26 -0400

Latin American Presidents, OAS Secretary General, and Citizen Caravans Will Accompany Him

Ousted Honduran President Manual Zelaya has announced that he will return to Honduras on Thursday. "I'm going to finish my four-year term, whether or not you coup leaders are in agreement," he stated.

Zelaya will return to Honduras accompanied by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and a commission of Latin American presidents. The Argentine government has announced that its President Cristina Fernandez will accompany Zelaya to Honduras as part of the presidential commission. In a press conference following his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Zelaya stated that Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa will also accompany him.

Colinas, Santa Barbara, Mayor Amable de Jesus Hernandez told TeleSUR that citizen caravans were being organized to travel from his region to the capital of Tegucigalpa on Thursday to receive President Zelaya.

Threat of Arrest?

Reports in Honduran and international press that interim President Roberto Micheletti says that "if Zelaya sets foot on Honduran soil he will be arrested" are overblown, thanks in large part to a provocative headline in that regard published by Colombia's Radio Caracol. Yes, Micheletti has stated that Honduran courts have issued arrest warrants against Zelaya, but thus far he has not definitively stated that his forces will attempt to arrest Zelaya when he arrives accompanied by Secretary General Insulza, President Fernandez, President Correa, and possibly other Latin American presidents.

Reports that Micheletti has threatened to arrest Zelaya arose out of an interview Micheletti did with Radio Caracol. The interviewer asked Micheletti how he planned to respond in the event that Zelaya follows through on his promise to return on Thursday. Micheletti responded: "My country's courts have arrest warrants against him for breaking the law." He then went on to explain his case for why Zelaya had broken the law when he attempted to carry out a public opinion poll on forming a new constitutional convention to draft a new constitution. Micheletti never told Radio Caracol that his government planned to act on the aforementioned arrest warrants.

However, Radio Caracol decided to publish its interview with Micheletti under the headline "Micheletti: If Zelaya Sets Foot on Honduran Soil He Will Be Arrested." The story--with its somewhat misleading title--has been picked up all over the world.

On a side note, La Prensa reports that members of Zelaya's cabinet and other officials who helped organize and promote Zeyala's opinion poll may be criminally prosecuted. According to La Prensa, more details will be released later today.

If Micheletti's forces do decide to arrest Zelaya upon his return, it would constitute a brazen and desperate move of a dictatorship in its final death throws. The United Naitons, the OAS, the Bolivarian Aliance of the Americas (ALBA), the Rio Group, the Central American Integration System (SICA), Mercosur, and virtually all nations that have taken an official stance on the crisis on Honduras have condemned the coup and demanded the immediate and unconditional return of Zelaya as Honduras' constitutional president.

Gobierno Asesino en Honduras: Communique desde Honduras (Español and English)

Maggie Von Vogt — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:52:43 -0400

Report from a contact involved in popular struggle and human rights movement in Tegucigalpa, Honduras received Monday June 29th at 11:04pm.

Reportaje de un contacto del movimiento civil y de derechos humanos en Tegucigalpa, Honduras el Lunes 29 de Junio recibido a las 11:04 de la noche. - Español abajo

Greetings,

Today has been a very tragic day for our country. The army's violent repression continues against the demonstrators protesting peacefully for the restoration of constitutional order and democracy in Honduras.
The outcome is as follows:

-At least two people dead. One of those is a member of the Honduran Telecommunications Company union (Hondutel), who died after being crushed by a vehicle driven by military in the area surrounding one of this government entity's buildings. The second casualty a young person during the afternoon that was among the group of demonstrators supporting the people's response to the coup.

-Various people illegally detained, having been taken to different police stations violently and by force. Some of these people have not been returned to their families, in some cases bypassing Habeas Corpus or personal exhibition.

- Raiding of some homes of social leaders, media voices, and mayors of some of the country's municipalities, who have been detained without judicial order and are being taken to military battalions (kidnapped). Information is circulating about the supposed existence of a list composed of names of persons that make up farmers' and workers' groups, human rights organizations, and others who would be submitted to this type of violation of their most fundamental rights. All of this for having expressed their position against the coup.

- The international press is being pressured to not broadcast the violent and repressive events that the Army and the Police are carrying out to reduce the people in favor of the restitution of President Zelaya. In the afternoon journalists from the Telesur Channel -- who were transmitting live images to the entire world from a building close to the Presidential House about the events in that which the demonstrators were being assaulted by the Army -- were taken by force from the building, their equipment confiscated and taken to the Migration and Immigration offices (we think with the goal of expelling them from the country). This means that many few international media chains are giving wide coverage of the events occurring in the country.

-The suspension of constitutional guarantees continues: a curfew at night beginning at 9pm, the close of the communications media that had expressed a position critical towards the group usurping power, and the blocking of international news channels in cable television. Additionally there are intimidation campaigns en the media allied with the new "government." Last night Mr. Billy Joya was invited to a debated and national opinion program, as an analyst concerning the situation that implies the supposed "constitutional transition." This man is ex-military, retired, that supposedly is indicated as one of the principal people responsible for the disappearance, death, and torture of hundreds of Hondurans in the 80s when terror was imposed as part of the national security policy. You can imagine the psychological distress and what this means for many people to see on the screen a man like this, who is linked with the events of terror during the age of disappearances in the country.

- An environment of uncertainty and confusion is being promoted among the population, of which a good number can be found terrified and huddled in their homes. The communications media that are functioning present interviews of the new government officials affirming that this is not about a coup, but rather a "democratic transition," which is untrue under any light.

A government like this that already has the blood of at least 2 people on its hands and the kidnapping of so many other people CANNOT call itself a democratic government. On the contrary the government of Mr. Roberto Micheletti has converted itself into an assassin, intimidating, and oppressive government.
Fortunately, there are people in the streets resisting despite all the tear gas, the bullets, and the rain. Chains of solidarity have been created too attend to the demonstrators with food, water, and medicine, as well as the work to liberate them when they have been detained by the Police.

Thank you for the support and solidarity of the international community and the people sensitive to this problem, which has violated the rights of an entire people.

We ask you once more to circulate this information that comes from our country, so that the world knows what is happening and so they do not forget us.

Regards,

Éver Guillén

-----------------------------

En Español:
Reportaje de un contacto del movimiento civil y de derechos humanos en Tegucigalpa, Honduras el Lunes 29 de Junio recibido a las 11:04 de la noche.

Estimad@s,

El día de hoy ha sido muy trágico para nuestro país. Continúa la represión violenta por parte del ejército hacia las personas manifestantes que están protestando en forma pacífica para lograr la restitución del orden constitucional y la democracia en Honduras. El saldo es el siguiente:

- Al menos dos personas muertas. Una de ellas un miembro del sindicato de la Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones (Hondutel), quién murió luego de ser atropellado por un vehículo conducido por militares a las afueras de una de los edificios de esta ente gubernamental. El segundo muerto un joven que se encontraba en horas de la tarde entre el grupo de manifestantes que apoyan la respuesta popular al golpe.

- Varias personas detenidas ilegalmente; quienes han sido llevadas a diferentes estaciones policiales utilizando la violencia y la fuerza. Algunas de estas personas no han sido entregadas a sus familiares, eludiendo en ocasiones el recurso de hábeas corpus o exhibición personal.

- Allanamiento de algunas viviendas de líderes sociales, comunicadores sociales y alcaldes de algunos municipios del país; quienes han sido detenidos sin orden judicial y están siendo llevados a batallones militares (secuestrados). Se circula información de la supuesta existencia de una lista compuesta por nombres de personas que integran grupos campesinos, obreros, organizaciones de derechos humanos y otros quienes serían sometidos a este tipo de violación a sus derechos más elementales; todo por haber expresado su posición en contra del golpe de Estado.

- La prensa internacional está siendo presionada para que no transmita los hechos violentos y represivos que el Ejército y la Policía están llevando a cabo para reducir a las personas que están a favor de la restitución del Presidente Zelaya. En horas de la tarde periodistas del Canal Telesur, quienes estaban transmitiendo imágenes en vivo y a todo el mundo desde un edificio cercano a Casa Presidencial sobre los hechos en los que las personas manifestantes estaban siendo agredidas por el Ejército; fueron sacados por la fuerza de este edificio, sus equipos decomisados y llevados a las oficinas de Migración y Extranjería (pensamos que con el fin de expulsarles del país). Esto ha llevado a que muy pocas cadenas internacionales estén informando ampliamente sobre los hechos acaecidos en el país.

- Continúa la suspensión de garantías constitucionales, el toque de queda por las noches a partir de las 9 p.m., el cierre de medios de comunicación que habían expresado una posición crítica hacia el grupo usurpador del poder y el bloqueo de canales internacionales de noticias en la televisión por cable; además existen campañas de intimidación en los medios alineados con el nuevo "gobierno". La noche de ayer fue invitado a un programa de debate y opinión nacional el Sr. Billy Joya, como analista sobre la situación que implica la supuesta "transición constitucional". Este señor es un ex-militar retirado quien supuestamente está indiciado como uno de los principales responsables por la desaparición, muerte y tortura de cientos de hondureños y hondureñas en la década de los 80 cuando se impuso el terror como parte de la política de seguridad nacional. Ustedes imaginarán la presión psicológica y lo que significa para muchas personas ver en pantalla a un tipo como éste, quien está vinculado con los hechos del terror durante la época de las desapariciones en el país.

- Se incentiva el ambiente de incertidumbre y confusión entre la población, la cual en un buen número se encuentra atemorizada y agazapada en sus hogares. Los medios de comunicación que están funcionando presentan entrevistas de los nuevos funcionarios afirmando que no se trata de un golpe de Estado, sino de una "transición democrática"; lo cual es a todas luces falso.

Un gobierno como este que tiene ya la sangre de al menos 2 personas y el secuestro de otras tantas personas NO puede llamarse un gobierno democrático. Por el contrario el gobierno del Sr. Roberto Micheletti se ha convertido en gobierno asesino, intimidatorio y represor.

Afortunadamente, hay gente en las calles resistiendo a pesar de los gases lacrimógenos, las balas y la lluvia.
Se han creado cadenas de solidaridad para atender a las personas manifestantes con alimentos, agua y medicamentos, así como la gestión para liberarlos cuando han sido detenidos por la Policía.

Gracias por el respaldo solidario de la comunidad internacional y de las personas sensibles a este problema que ha violentado los derechos de todo un pueblo. Se solicita de nuevo hacer circular toda información que llegue desde nuestro país para que el mundo sepa lo que está pasando y que no se olviden de nosotros.

Un saludo,
Éver Guillén

Latin American Nations Begin Economic and Political Blockade Against Coup Government

Kristin Bricker — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:48:39 -0400

Border Closings, Suspension of Aid, and Cutting of Diplomatic Relations Present a Non-Violent Response to a Violent Coup

Mexico and the countries of Central America have announced various political and economic sanctions against the coup government in Honduras as part of a non-violent and non-military strategy to return democratically elected President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya to power.

Member countries of the Central American Regional Integration adopted a resolution earlier today that requires taking "necessary measures in a staggered manner, including measures related to interregional commerce, against Honduras' de facto government until President Jose Manuel Zelaya is reinstated as president and institutional normalcy is reestablished." In the first direct action against the coup government, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala will close their borders with Honduras for 48 hours. The border closing means that all cross-border commerce will be shut down for 48 hours.

SICA countries also agreed to suspend all political, economic, financial, cultural, sports, tourist, and cooperation meetings with the de facto government. They will also instruct the board of directors of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (a regional development bank) to suspend all loans and grants to Honduras. SICA will also pressure the United Nations to take action.

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras (represented by Zelaya), Panama, the Dominican Republic, Belize, and Nicaragua signed the SICA declaration, which is reprinted here:

1. Immediately call all ambassadors to Honduras from SICA countries for consultations.

2. Instruct the directors from SICA countries in the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to immediately suspend all loans and grants to Honduras.

3. Suspend all political, economic, financial, cultural, sports, tourist, and cooperation meetings with the de facto government.

4. Veto the participation of all Honduran representatives that are not accredited by President Manuel Zelaya in SICA meetings.

5. Fully support the Organization of American States (OAS) resolution regarding the current situation in Honduras dated June 28, 2009, to reactive the reestablishment of constitutional order and request an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council so that it issues a resolution condemning [the coup] and adopts necessary coercive measures.

6. Request that the UN Secretary General open a session called "Honduras' Political Situation" that leads to a General Assembly resolution condemning [the coup].

7. If the constitutional order is not reestablished, SICA member countries will take the necessary measures in a staggered manner, including measures related to interregional commerce, against Honduras' de facto government until President Jose Manuel Zelaya is reinstated as president and institutional normalcy is reestablished.

8. Declare that no government that arises from this constitutional breakdown is recognized.

9. Maintain permanent contact, in particular through the Rio Group, in order to evaluate the situation as it evolves and the measures that will be necessary to adopt in the future in order to achieve the full reestablishment of democratic normalcy.

The consultations with SICA's respective ambassadors to Honduras does not necessarily mean that SICA countries will withdraw their ambassadors and cut off all diplomatic relations. El Salvador, for example, will not withdraw its ambassador. However, other countries have decided to withdraw their ambassadors and cut off diplomatic relations with the coup government. Mexico has withdrawn its ambassador in solidarity with ousted President Zelaya, as have all nations that are members of the Bolivarian Aliance of the Americas (ALBA).

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has announced that he will call a meeting of Petrocaribe on Tuesday to halt oil exports to Honduras. An agreement that President Zelaya signed with Venezuela has allowed Honduras--Central America's second poorest nation--to purchase Venezuelan crude at significantly reduced prices. The agreement was proposed in 2006, and likely saved the Honduran economy when petroleum prices drastically rose in recent years. Honduras imports 100% of its petroleum. Whereas Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua's border closing will only last 48 hours, Chavez says that oil exports to Honduras won't resume until Zelaya returns to power.

Economic Impact

The 48-hour border closing will not deal a death blow to Honduras' economy. Approximately 52% of Honduras' exports go to the United States, and many of them pass through Honduras' ports. 90% of all Honduras trade passes through ports in Puerto Cortes and San Pedro Sula and the airport in Tegucigalpa, all of which will be unaffected by the border closings.

However, by merely by opening up the question of economic boycott, the SICA countries opened the floodgates to a nonviolent strategy that would shake an already faltering economy and thus the business class that had originally supported the coup.

Indeed, the business class is already in an uproar over the first of Central America's escalating sanctions against the coup government. The Private Enterprise Federation of Central America, the Dominican Republic, and Panama (Fedepricap) issued a statement against the border closing. "It will limit interregional commerce," they complained. "Closing the borders is a blow to trade..."

While Honduras' ports are likely to keep Honduran trade rolling during the temporary border closing, SICA's measures will also impact Puerto Cortes for an indefinite period of time. Puerto Cortes is Central America's largest Caribbean port. The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) is currently providing $120 million in financing to upgrade the port. SICA's decision to suspend all CABEI funds to Honduras will bring that project to a sudden halt. Overall, in 2007 (the latest year data is available), the CABEI approved nearly $400 million in funding for Honduras.

Reports: Two Military Battalions Turn Against Honduras Coup Regime

Al Giordano — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:38:58 -0400

By Al Giordano

Community Radio “Es Lo de Menos” was the first to report that the Fourth Infantry Battalion has rebelled from the military coup regime in Honduras. The radio station adds that “it seems” (“al parecer,” in the original Spanish) that the Tenth Infantry Battalion has also broken from the coup.

Rafael Alegria, leader of Via Campesina, the country’s largest social organization, one that has successfully blockaded the nation’s highways before to force government concessions, tells Alba TV:

“The popular resistance is rising up throughout the country. All the highways in the country are blockaded…. The Fourth Infantry Battallion… is no longer following the orders of Roberto Micheletti.”

Angel Alvarado of Honduras’ Popular Union Bloc tells Radio Mundial:

"Two infantry battalions of the Honduran Army have risen up against the illegitimate government of Roberto Micheletti in Honduras. They are the Fourth Infantry Battalion in the city of Tela and the Tenth Infantry Battalion in La Ceiba (the second largest city in Honduras), both located in the state of Atlántida."

(You can see Tela and La Ceiba on the map, above, along the country's northern coast.)

Meanwhile, defenders of the violent coup d’Etat now have to eat the fact that their favored regime has extended its wave of terror to the press corps, censoring all independent media in the country, including CNN and Telesur. Reuters reports:

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras has shut down television and radio stations since an army coup over the weekend, in a media blackout than has drawn condemnation from an international press freedom group.

Shortly after the Honduran military seized President Manuel Zelaya and flew him to Costa Rica on Sunday, soldiers stormed a popular radio station and cut off local broadcasts of international television networks CNN en Espanol and Venezuelan-based Telesur, which is sponsored by leftist governments in South America.

A pro-Zelaya channel also was shut down.

The few television and radio stations still operating on Monday played tropical music or aired soap operas and cooking shows.

At the White House this afternoon, US President Obama reiterated his government’s non-recognition of the coup regime. According to the White House pool report by David Jackson of USA Today (obtained by Narco News via email):

Obama criticized the Honduras coup as "not legal," and said it would set a "terrible precedent" for the region. "We do not want to go back to a dark past," he said. "We always want to stand with democracy."

If Rafael Alegría - a serious man who gets serious results - says that the highways of the country are successfully blockaded, I tend to believe him. He likewise is not one to spread rumors about the Fourth Infantry Battalion without having solid information.

It seemed inevitable that once the cat is got of the bag regarding the total international rejection of the coup d'etat that military divisions would revolt and point their tanks in the opposite direction: toward the coup plotters above them. We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of a short-lived coup in Honduras.

Keep refreshing the front page of Narco News for more updates, sure to shortly come.

Update: TeleSur TV is reporting that its correspondents in Honduras, as well as those of Associated Press, have been arrested by the coup regime.

Update II: Here is a fuller text of US President Obama's statement at the aforementioned press conference:

President Zelaya was democratically elected. He had not yet completed his term. We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there. In that, we have joined all the countries in the region, including Colombia and the Organization of American States.

I think it's -- it would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections.

The region has made enormous progress over the last 20 years in establishing democratic traditions in Central America and Latin America.

We don't want to go back to a dark past. The United States has not always stood as it should with some of these fledgling democracies. But over the last several years, I think both Republicans and Democrats in the United States have recognized that we always want to stand with democracy, even if the results don't always mean that the leaders of those countries are favorable toward the United States. And that is a tradition that we want to continue.

So we are very clear about the fact that President Zelaya is the democratically elected president. And we will work with the regional organizations, like OAS, and with other international institutions to see if we can resolve this in a peaceful way.

(Bold text for emphasis.)

Honduras' First Full Day Under Coup Rule

Kristin Bricker — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:32:35 -0400

Foreign TV Channels Blocked, Violence Outside Presidential Palace

Honduras' Radio Globo reports that today Honduras' coup president Roberto Micheletti entered the Presidential Palace from which Honduras' legitimate President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya was kidnapped early yesterday morning. Micheletti will hold a press conference from the President's office later today.

TeleSUR reports that hundreds of soldiers remain deployed outside the palace, facing off with protesters that have the palace surrounded. Yesterday the demonstrators set up barricades of burning tires in the streets in an effort to impede further military movements around the palace, and to prevent re-enforcements from arriving.

TeleSUR published the following photo of soldiers standing guard outside the palace today:

Meanwhile, the coup government is already going about restricting Hondurans' freedom. One of the interim government's first official acts (that is, after imposing a 9pm-6am mandatory curfew) has been to inform Honduran cable providers that they are now prohibited from transmitting international television channels in Honduras. TeleSUR reports that Honduras' National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) sent a memo to Honduran cable operators with a list of prohibited international channels. The list includes the US' CNN, Venezuela's TeleSUR, and Cubavision Internacional.

CNN, TeleSUR, and Cubavision Internacional are strange bedfellows. This marks the second time in 24 hours that Honduras' coup government has lashed out against the US and Bolivarian Aliance (ALBA) member countries at the same time. The first time was last night, when coup president Micheletti told press that "he's not afraid of international isolation after different countries and international organisms demonstrated their discontent with the expulsion of Manuel Zelaya Rosales. Micheletti, who a few hours ago was the Speaker of the House, said that neither US President Barack Obama nor Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez would decide what should be done in Honduras."

Al Giordano, commenting on Micheletti's statements in The Field, wrote, "It takes a special kind of moron to unite Obama and Chávez against him in the very week that the US and Venezuela reestablished diplomatic relations and active ambassadors."

Likewise, it takes "a special kind of moron" to unite the fourth powers (that is, the media) of both the United States and ALBA countries against him.

The coup government's banning of international stations in Honduras is a sign of desperation. The Organization of American States, which was originally founded as a United States initiative to counter what it perceived to be communist forces in Latin America, has unanimously condemned the coup that overthrew Zelaya. Zelaya brought Honduras into ALBA, an organization of unabashedly socialist governments.

The Central American Integration System (SICA, the Central American regional coordinating body, of which all Central American countries are members) is meeting today in Nicaragua, reportedly to discuss the option of closing all borders with Honduras. SICA's closure of Honduras' borders would not be a security measure; rather, it would serve to pressure the coup government to step down and allow Zelaya to retake his position as constitutional president.

Even the United States has condemned the coup and refused to recognize Micheletti as president of Honduras. (When the last time the US government didn't officially back a coup in Latin America?)

In the face of total international political isolation, the move to ban international television is the coup government's last-ditch effort to shove Honduran citizens' head in the sand. Yesterday the coup government cut the power to a large part of Honduras yesterday to prevent communication within the country. It also took over all of the state television channels and shut them down, along with all radio stations that did not support the coup government. A few radio stations that don't support the coup, such as Radio Globo, have managed to set up transmissions (often intermittently) from clandestinity. Not satisfied with cutting off Hondurans from each other, the coup government wants to cut them off from the international community as well.

The coup government's attempts to isolate Hondurans isn't working. Radio Globo, in addition to transmitting from clandestinity, has sent a little to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding the repression it has suffered at the hands of the coup government. According to Radio Globo's letter, when the military raided Radio Globo's station, they beat radio workers and threatened to kill them. One of the workers has several broken bones, including a broken arm and several ribs. During the raid, the soldiers reportedly told one youngster who worked at the station, "You fucking n****r [racial slur] son of a bitch, we will kill you if you don't tell us where you're transmitting from."

National Strike

TeleSUR reports that the national strike against the coup is in full swing. Photos and videos from outside the Presidential Palace shows a multitude gathered outside the palace despite the heavy presence of heavily armed soldiers who don't seem to be afraid to stick automatic weapons in ladies' faces.

TeleSUR says that protesters remained outside the palace all night yesterday despite a 9pm-6am curfew imposed by the coup government.

Video from outside the Presidential Palace:

Late-breaking news from TeleSUR and Radio Globo says that soldiers are using "riot control" weapons against protesters outside the Presidential Palace. TeleSUR reports that one of its correspondents was injured by a rubber bullet fired by the military. TeleSUR and Radio Globo also report the use of tear gas, confirmed by video stills posted on the TeleSUR website.