Honduras Supreme Electoral Tribunal Comes Out Against Coup Decree
By Al Giordano
D.R. 2009 Latuff, Special to The Narco News Bulletin
The layers keep peeling away from "president" Roberto Micheletti's coup d'etat, which began with a consensus of most of upper class Honduras and its political institutions but in recent days has seen Congressional and business leaders begin looking for the EXIT sign.
It was Micheletti's authoritarian decree, announced on Sunday, that blasted away the glue that had previously held them all together, with its prohibitions on Constitutional rights of speech, press, assembly, transit and due process.
Today, the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal joined the growing mob of former unconditional backers of the coup for whom Micheletti's decree went a step too far:
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE, in its Spanish initials) of Honduras today asked president Roberto Micheletti to cancel the decree that suspended constitutional rights because it harms the electoral process scheduled for November... and thus joined in similar demands made by Congress, presidential candidates and other sectors...
Micheletti said... that he would agree to analyze the request and insisted that the decree will be "cancelled in the opportune moment."
However, he said that he would continue to consult on the matter with the Supreme Court and other State organisms with the goal of making a "consensus" decision.
Those few paragraphs speak volumes about what is happening behind the curtain. Let me translate them.
On Sunday, Micheletti announced the authoritarian decree without having the aforementioned "consensus" of key coup players. Some seemed as surprised as the general public to find out about it. The decree already does not have any "consensus" even among the limited power players between whom the coup was negotiated and implemented. Now he is saying he needs "consensus" to remove it.
What does this tell us? It reveals that Micheletti himself isn't calling the shots here. He specifically mentions the Supreme Court, and his reference to "State organisms" most likely means the Armed Forces: the two real kingpins of the coup, for whom Micheletti is a mere marionette.
In typical style, he fools gullible reporters to repeat claims that he has already backed off the decree, while this morning military and police troops continued attacks on peaceful demonstrators that have maintained government agricultural offices occupied for three months now. Clearly, the real powers behind the decree - the Supreme Court and the military - want to make sure it meets its main goals before having to call it off.
What the electoral commissioners can clearly see that the inner trinity of coup power - the Army, the Court and Micheletti - don't seem to "get" is how the decree has destroyed any hope of convincing Hondurans or the world that the November 29 elections can be made free or fair. It's already too late. Smarter minds are seeing it, while the the Army, the Court and Micheletti push on out of an apparent belief that if they don't keep brutally repressing and silencing speech, the nonviolent civil resistance is going to roll right over the coup.
It's possible that both sectors are right about their analysis in this way: The coup "moderates" understand that their electoral "solution" is now screwed, thanks to the decree. While the "hard liners" understand that if they allow basic constitutional rights, they won't be able to hold back the tide of public opinion much longer. Meanwhile, by stalling on the requests by his former coup allies to cancel the decree, Micheletti is further isolating the Army, the Court and he from the support they previously enjoyed. And this is the part of the movie when the once invincible coup regime begins to divide and fall.
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Theater of dissent screens concrete crackdowns
Submitted on September 30th, 2009 by Nell (not verified)A practical result of this 'theater of dissent' is that the state of siege continues while figures like Pepe Lobo get international publicity and credibility for opposing the decree, so that actions like this morning's forcible removal and arrest of the farmworkers occupying the National Agrarian Institute (with the resulting risk to campesinos' hard-won land titles) and the threatened shutdown of four more radio stations continue almost unremarked.
The decree will stay in force as long as it takes the regime to hit all the targets on their little list. Channel 36 is still dark. Radio Globo is only up on internet; the hundreds of thousands of Honduran listeners without net access are s.o.l. Those land titles aren't coming back if they're destroyed or altered.
But the press continues to report that the regime is "easing up" and "relenting". The World Cup game is on for San Pedro Sula Oct. 10 (another missed opportunity to pressure the golpistas).
U.S. govt clearly hopes to bless elections
Submitted on September 30th, 2009 by Nell (not verified)It is worth emphasizing that in Monday's OAS meeting, the thuggish Amselem explicitly echoed the coup regime's line on the elections, characterizing them as a solution to the crisis. He took an active role in organizing opposition to a resolution that would have declared OAS non-recognition. And, until someone higher up says different, he speaks for the U.S. government on that issue.
The decree did endanger the already shredded legitimacy of the elections, but I put absolutely nothing past this administration now.
The rock and the hard place
Submitted on September 30th, 2009 by Ryan Vaquero (not verified)I agree completely with the analysis here; I've seen the coup regime as being stuck between a rock and a hard place since Zelaya resurfaced in Tegucigalpa. The social movements are the rock -- without extreme repression, Zelaya can build and give momentum to the social movements until they are able to overwhelm the coup regime. The hard place is that if the coup regime does massively increase the repression, they remove the veneer of democracy and make life even harder for the business class that they rely on. The exemption of Roatan from the 24-hour curfew shows at least one place where the coup regime can escape this problem but this exemption illustrates exactly what the problem is.
Something like this HAD to come. Considering that in the United States, presidential elections usually include a year of campaigning, it is hard to imagine that once the "special decree" is lifted, there will be anywhere near enough time for a valid election. I'm sure that many members of the coup regime are figuring out where they can go when the time comes for a little exile vacation.
Also, in case you didn't see it -- I hadn't noticed this at all -- but Greta van Susteren sat down with Roberto Micheletti for a very lengthy interview. Here it is complete and unedited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuPK9nEBBp4
Wow. Micheletti couldn't fit the "coronel" stereotype more perfectly. You can tell that Greta is uncomfortable throughout the interview and even she can't handle some of the extraordinary lies that Micheletti comes out with. Some highlights include:
- She asks him what would happen if Zelaya tried to return to Honduras. He says that he would be sent before the Supreme Court and tried. Then, she asks him about the two times he's attempted to return before. Micheletti, with a straight face, says that Zelaya never tried to return. Greta appears confused and she brings up the fact that Zelaya attempted to fly into Honduras. Micheletti replies that "he never wanted to land" and that it was all a political show so that Zelaya's supporters could have a martyr -- but that there is no proof that the military killed the young man at the airport. Greta dutifully does not bring up the fact that militay vehicles blocked the air strips to pevent Zelaya from landing. Micheletti insists that Zelaya never attempted to return to Honduras.
- Greta also asks him if there is anyone in Honduras who wants Zelaya re-instated. He declares that there is no one. Greta presses him on this and Micheletti says: "Yes, there are people who want Zelaya to return. The United States." He insists that there isn't anyone in Honduras who wants him to return. Who exactly wanted a martyr at the airport is unclear but, then again, a lot is unclear in this interview.
These are just two of many gems in this video, which is 6 parts. It is interesting to watch Micheletti literally lie through his face. I would encourage everyone to write Greta van Susteren about this interview and mock her for being a fake journalist and, worse, one who helps a dictator hold onto his illegitimate power. She lets him get away with the most absurd lies but you can see she is uncomfortable with it. I am looking for better contact info but ontherecord@foxnews.com is for her show ...
Micheletti's spot-on image as your typical, rich, Latin American elite is so perfect that it sends chills.
Also, Micheletti probably should have used a translator. There is someone off-camera who helps him here and there but whoever told him he is a fluent Enlgish speaker didn't do him any favors.
@ Nell
Submitted on September 30th, 2009 by Al GiordanoNell - I'm sympathetic with your concerns but whether worrying ourselves about the coup regime's maneuvers in Tegucigalpa or the inconsistency from Washington (and the media's capacity to screw up both) too many people, I think, tend to see those things as outcome determinative to the result. Such analyses put all the power in the hands of those up above, and fail to acknowledge the power of the people from below. That's what I spend my life reporting, and I've seen movements defeat tyrants under even more difficult conditions than this one.
Congress critters going to Honduras?
Submitted on September 30th, 2009 by Erin RosaRos-Lehtinen to Visit Honduras for Meetings with Top Officials:
Ros-Lehtinen will hear first-hand from members of the current Honduran government and public who have been barred from traveling to the United States for meetings.
In addition to an expected meeting with President Roberto Micheletti, Ros-Lehtinen plans to meet with Honduran Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez Contreras, Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez, civil society representatives, and American business leaders living in Honduras.
Hope you're right, Al
Submitted on September 30th, 2009 by Roy MartinWe hear almost nothing of these goings on, not only in the MSM but also in the blogosphere (save this site). Even many left wingers seem willing to go along with the coup. I hope the people of Honduras have this thing because they're not getting much help from us.
The Key Is Still With The U.S.
Submitted on September 30th, 2009 by Alci (not verified)The main question is what will the US do when the coup regime falls apart on its own? I fear Clinton and the Pentagon will try to still send an international force to keep everything in line and make sure another puppet is elected in November. There is simply no way imperialism will let Mel Zelaya return to power, or at least without heavy restrictions. This is like the Dominican Republic in 1964, the U.S. was never going to allow what it called "another Cuba" from establishing itself in the Caribbean. In Central America no doubt Washington or Pentagon planners are moving with the goal of "not allowing another Venezuela."
Ros-Lehtinen?
Submitted on September 30th, 2009 by Sonya (not verified)I'm sure a representative who has described Otto Reich as "a person who has forward-thinking, innovative ideas on how to revamp US-Latin American policy" and helped terrorist Orlando Bosch obtain a pardon can be relied upon to observe impartially.
A funny little journalism / punditry / foreign policy project
Submitted on October 1st, 2009 by El Cid (not verified)It would be interesting if someone who had the time could compare statements made by U.S. officials, pundits, and journalists regarding the awful, terrible, harsh repression of democracy and the citizenry going on in Venezuela versus the minor, not too bad, and, hey, probably necessary tiny little preventative measures undertaken by those nice democratic coup people in Honduras.
The U.S.' official response to Micheletti's declaration of a State of Emergency and the revocation of basic Constitutional (even the shitty Constitution of 1982) rights in Honduras? Well, it's unhelpful, counter-productive, and should be reversed.
Venezuela failing to renew the radio licenses of broadcasters who had advocated the overthrow of the government or who hadn't even bothered to present legal proof of ownership? A disturbing threat to democracy, freedom of speech, a free press, and the rights of all people throughout the hemisphere.
My god do I hate these people.
Chinese/Japanese gas helmets/masks!
Submitted on October 1st, 2009 by no chemical weapons (not verified)Apparently Peruvian tear gas grenades are not enough "internationalism" for the Honduran repressive forces. These two photos show the Chinese/Japanese word for police - 警察 (Japanese: in hiragana: けいさつ, or in latin letters, "keisatsu"; Mandarin: jingcha) on the helmets of the police attacking the Agrarian Institute:
http://www.mediosindependientes.info/mi/_jpg_/c/chepos_chinos.jpg
http://www.mediosindependientes.info/mi/_jpg_/9/95dias-8.jpg
Human rights organisations in East Asia would be rather upset to see this - please circulate this information widely like that of the Peruvian tear gas grenades...
A close up photo might be able to distinguish whether the writing is Japanese or standard Mandarin vs Taiwanese vs Hong Kong variants!
They are most certainly
Submitted on October 1st, 2009 by Sergio (not verified)They are most certainly Taiwanese as Honduras is one of the very few countries that recognizes the Republic of China. Taiwan pays a pretty penny for the diplomatic ties as they have been building bridges, dams, levees and other infrastructure in the country for a long time. Even some police cars and other odd pieces of equipment have the symbols and they have had them for a while I believe.