Zelaya Heads Home to Honduras on the Anniversary of Bolívar’s Birth
By Al Giordano
Honduras’ legitimate President Manuel Zelaya yesterday told reporters that he will cross back to the country that elected him on Friday, July 24, via land, a date that also marks 215 years from the birth of the Great Liberator, Simon Bolívar:
“I leave (Managua, Nicaragua) for Estelí, then Somoto and through Ocotal, and the next day (Friday) cross the border,” Zelaya told reporters yesterday. Members of his family and many, many journalists will accompany him on that voyage.
The announcement could be a “head fake” to throw the regime off his path and allow him to more easily enter by another route, but if President Zelaya does choose that location to cross, the Las Manos border crossing, in the Honduran state of El Paraiso, is open from six a.m. to six p.m. and, on a normal day, staffed by the National Police and the Honduras Immigration Service. The border crossing is about 144 kilometers (89 miles) from the capital city of Tegucigalpa.
“President Zelaya will come through here, of this I have no doubt,” Mayor Carlos Ovidio Seguro, of El Paraiso, Honduras told the Argentine daily El Clarin, which reported some other notable quotes:
“All of Honduras will be in El Paraiso awaiting the President,” announced the newsman on Channel 20, the regional TV station.
“We have no order to arrest him,” Lieutenant Colonel Gavilán Soto told the newspaper. “We’re not here for that. We’re only here for public safety and to avoid disturbances… May God shine and he not pass through here!”
Presuming that thousands of Hondureños and Hondureñas will flock to the border to accompany their President, a land crossing like this presents various dilemmas to the coup regime, which claims to have 18 criminal charges lined up to imprison Zelaya, but blinked from the opportunity to arrest him on July 5, when it blocked a runway to prevent his airplane from landing. To arrest him, the regime would have to violently break through a multitude of its country's own citizens. If it does arrest Zelaya, he will become an even more powerful symbol from prison inspiring greater resistance to the coup.
Meanwhile, yesterday in Costa Rica, President Oscar Arias made his final mediation proposal – one in which Zelaya would return on Friday but with weakened presidential powers – and told the coup regime that it would be his last effort. If the regime wants more negotiations, it will have to go to the Organization of American States (OAS) to mediate them, he said.
The evident refusal of the coup regime to treat the talks seriously will likely have blowback against those – most importantly, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – who had gambled the most on them. Secretary Clinton may not be a trustworthy friend to democracy in the hemisphere, but as anyone who closely observed her 2008 presidential campaign saw, her ego isn’t set up in a way as to forgive the kind of public insult that the coup regime offered to talks that she had set up for its very benefit. If she had illusions before that she or anyone could do business with the unstable criminal gang behind the coup, those illusions have shattered on the rocks of reality.
Meanwhile, the social movements of Honduras have never been better organized than they are today, 26 days after the June 28 coup d’etat. Today begins another round of highway blockades and strikes by workers and farmers throughout Honduras in protest of the coup. A week ago, these same movements demonstrated their organizational and tactical ability to successfully shut down commerce and transport throughout the country. A week later, their capacity to mobilize is even greater.
Two hundred and fifteen years ago tomorrow, the man known as “El Libertador” – the Great Liberator – Simon Bolívar was born, the George Washington of Latin America. He was the general that helped to free Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panamá, Perú and Venezuela from colonial rule. It is his sentence – Nuestra Patria se llama América - “The name of our country is América” – that has been the motto of this online newspaper since its own birth nine years ago.
What’s that sound you hear in the distance? It is the gallop of Bolívar’s horse, alive and well and today heading toward the Honduras border.
Update: As if the coup regime in Honduras didn't have enough problems hanging on to power already... Narco News has learned that the country's police forces have decided to go on strike in the coming hours. Recall that on July 5, after the Armed Forces shot into the crowd of anti-coup protesters, the national police commander pulled his cops out from the airport zone because he did not want the police to share in the infamy of repressing the Honduran people. The timing of this police strike - purportedly for better wages - may share similar motivations.
Update II: The coup military stopped seven buses with anti-coup citizens traveling through the Zamorano Valley from the northern state of Colón to Danlí - see map above, 14 kilometers north of El Paraiso - and, Narco News has learned, the bus riders simply got off and continued their journey on foot.
Update III: From Jonathan Treat, reporting from Honduras:
Today, the 26th day popular nonviolent resistance to the military coup and the de facto regime in Honduras, is a key day in the struggle. Hopes of a negotiated settlement, for the moment, have been dashed. The Micheletti regime’s continued intransigence and unwillingness to accept the return to Honduras of deposed President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya to assume the presidency—a unanimous demand by governments around the world, the UN, and OAS—leaves Hondurans vulnerable to the very real threat of violence and bloodshed. One of the principal leaders of the pro-democracy movement said this morning, “The people can’t take much more of this.”
- Caravans of people in pro-democracy movement headed to the Nicaraguan border in hopes of forming a protective human shield to accompany President Zelaya back into the country—have been stopped by military troops.
- The northern entrance of the Panamerican highway into Tegucigalpa has been taken by pro-democracy protestors.
- Members of the National Preventative Police have announced that they are participating in a strike in protest of exploitative conditions since the coup, including not being paid. Official reports put the number of police on strike at 80; the actual numbers are very likely much higher.
- The air controllers are reportedly in strike. At present, flights are continuing to leave from the Tonkotin Airport in Tegucigalpa.
- There are report s that pro-democracy protesters have closed entrances to some of the principal ports, as well as other main highways in the country.
- Many public institutions have also been taken by the popular movement: the Social Security office, the National Agrarian Institute, the Civil Aeronautic office, the National Honduran Electric offices, various schools and universities, the telecommunications offices, and others.
- In the southern region of the country military operations, including the use of small tanks, have been initiated. There are reports of army troops detaining people and confiscating their identification documents.
- Large numbers of Hondurans reportedly have been displaced along the southern Honduran borders with Nicaragua and El Salvador.
- The Honduran military is reportedly occupying various public institutions: the national union of the national telephone network Hondutel, hospitals, and others.
More to come…
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Organizing of the Hondurans
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by John SladeWhat kinds of organizations are mobilizing the Hondurans? You've talked about how they've successfully gotten people out into the streets, blocking the highways, defending themselves, etc. I know that the unions have organized some and are involved in strikes, etc. but what other movements and groups are out there? I would think, a bit, that the long history of being near the bottom of the economic ladder and the top of the 'chosen state for US actions' list would have resulted in a somewhat beaten down citizenry. Although the left electoral successes across Central and Southern America have shown people power on the rise. Just wondering who the players in the citizen's movements are.
@ John
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by Al GiordanoJohn - Two of the most important organizations are Via Campesina which has organized the farmers for many years and the CUTH (the Honduras Central Labor Union) which is akin to the AFL CIO in the US. There are also highly organized ethnic and racial minorities (the Garifuna, or African-American, and indigenous communities), student organizations on every campus, important human rights, neighborhood and women's organizations. Each of those has been central to the resistance to the coup.
There is also the Democratic Unification Party and, at present, a deep split in the Liberal Party (of which both Zelaya and Micheletti are members), with members opposing the coup.
And there is a super-majority in Zelaya's own state of Olancho - mainly farmers and ranchers, thus the cowboy hat that is his trademark - that is hyper organized right now against the coup.
assuming it does come to
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by rich whalen (not verified)assuming it does come to this-- and it sure looks like it will-- don't you think the US has played this well? talking first almost always is a good plan because it does one of two things:
1) solves the problem.
or
2) exposes where the problem originates from.
it has been clear to you (and to me but only because i have been reading you) where the problem is here. but can you see how talking has strengthened the hands of the legitimate government? yes maybe hillary has bent over backwards to make it easy for the coup to talk but when they fail to even do that can you see how it makes this action seem less rash and more understandable to the world? the legitimate government did not need legitimacy but now they have even more.
its easy to dismiss talking but talking first makes action so much more digestable for the world....
open roads
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by badcrumble (not verified)Per The Field's 7/16 update, am I correct to read that the eastern route from Tegucigalpa is the only one NOT occupied by protestors?
Who is beaten down?
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by PATUCAWARRIOR (not verified)Campesinos are taking to the steets...
We do not need brand new white Tee shirts - supplied by Coup members...
"Beaten down citizenry" have nads as well amigo...
Some other popular movement organizations
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by Nell (not verified)@John:
Independent (non-governmental) human rights organizations are important elements of the mobilizing, in that they track and report repression as it happens, forming an important communications 'glue' for popular organizations as well as ensuring some visibility for abuses.
Two prominent ones are COFADEH, the Committee of Families of the Disappeared/Detainees in Honduras, founded by Berta Oliva, and CIPRODEH, Center for the Investigation and Promotion of Human Rights in Honduras, which was represented at a press conference in DC Tuesday by Abencio Fernandez Pineda. COFADEH released a report last week summarizing their documentation of 1100 human rights abuses since the coup (assaults, threats, arbitrary detentions, disappearances, assassinations, media suppression, etc.)
The umbrella organization for indigenous groups is COPINH, the Civil Council for Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras.
Thanks and more power to you!
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by John Slade@ Al and Nell
Awesome, and thanks for the info. I'd suspected that there must have been a campensino organization, and I'm glad that there's a working central labor body that (it sounds like) has a class conciousness.
@ Patuca Warrior
Thanks for letting me know that the fighting spirit of the Honduran people is strong! I did not mean to slight you in any way, simply wondering if the years of School for Assassins trained military folks and etc. had cowed the people. And I was probably projecting from the US, where the people seem beaten down. Much of my awareness of South and Central American politics came from my coming of age in the Reagan years, when the death squads were operating all over.
So your spirit on the one hand, and the organizations of the people that I was asking about on the other hand make for a great mobilization of power. Good luck, and God bless!
Zelaya's return to power
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by Kevin Futhey (not verified)@ Al: Thanks so much for covering this issue so well. As a former Latin American Studies major (my focus was Nicaragua) I have been disappointed (although not shocked) by its poor coverage in the mainstream media.
My question is if you have any information about potential political routes for Zelaya's return to power.
It had been reported that the Assembly voted unanimously to--impeach?--Zelaya back before the coup. The courts and the military command were reportedly against him. At this point, who are his allies, if any, within the government?
Which brings me to another question: Were the reports of Zelaya's political abandonment by the legislature over-stated or over simplified?
Have there been any signs of potential alliances Zelaya could make within the Assembly or other political bodies if he makes it back?
Or do you see him looking to form a new, alternative government?
As far as the international alliances are concerned (UN, OAS), since they have denounced the coup and recognized it as such, would they tolerate a call by Zelaya to dissolve the coup government?
Exiled leader plots border crossing
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by barbs (not verified)Al, I can't thank you enough for the continual updates. My question to you is, why do they keep giving information about how President Zelaya will get back into the country. Wouldn't it be a lot better if they would just let it be known after he gets in the country? Fingers crossed that he arrives safe with lots of protection.
HONDURAN president Manuel Zelaya has vowed to end his month-long exile by staging a dramatic border crossing from Nicaragua, defying government threats to arrest him and warnings the move will prompt bloodshed.
Mr Zelaya - who was sent away by the Honduran military in a move supported by the courts and Congress on June 28 - said he would make his latest bid to return home tomorrow after Costa Rican-brokered talks with the de facto government collapsed.
Thanks Mr. AL Giordano
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by John ONeill (not verified)Thank you very much Mr. Al Giordano (et al) for your great reports! It is great to get your views of what's going on. They are far better than those the distorted reports given by the corporate media.
Finally the time has come for the people to have the power in Latin America!
¡VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
----------------
“I swear by the God of my parents, I swear by my nation, I swear by my honor that I will not allow my soul to rest, nor my arm to relax until I have broken the chains that oppress my people through the will of the powerful. Free elections, free land and free men, horror to the oligarchy.” Oath used by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - the Great, (when he was 28) and some of his amigos.
-it was copied from Page 80, !HUGO! by Bart Jones
Washington gives ultimatum
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by PATUCAWARRIOR (not verified)Washington just told Michellettis' people...
To honor the proposals by Arias...
I did not think Hillary would let Michelletti and Villeda push her aside...
We are still going to welcome Mel at the Nicaraguan border...
Honduran Organizations
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by Betsy (not verified)You know, this is a terrible time for Honduras, but when I read all these reports of civil society mobilization I can't help but think that this has to be good for the country in the long run. In the 20 years I have been following this country, I've never seen such a high level of organizing across different groups. Yes, there were individual movements, but there has also been a lot of apathy, or at least learned passivity due to constant low-grade repression, in the general population. I just feel sure that this coup in the long run (God knows what will happen in the short run) will change Honduran political culture for the better.
Why Zelaya can't just sneak in
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by Phoenix Woman (not verified)Barbs: Zelaya can't 'sneak in' for various reasons:
1) To 'sneak in' would require a force small enough to pass undetected -- but not large enough to adequately protect Zelaya. If he was caught, he wouldn't be let go again, nor would the golpistas announce that they had caught him. Instead, he would be shot, likely on the spot, and his body left to rot in the countryside.
2) To 'sneak in' would mean that there would be no way of getting word to the press if something awful were to happen to him, along the lines of what I just described in #1.
3) To 'sneak in' like a thief would be taken as an admission of both weakness and illegitimacy. Better to do so at the head of a large, orderly throng, with the world's media in attendance. In fact, the more press, the better -- the golpistas love their guns, but they don't want to be filmed shooting them.
Zelaya's increased activity
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by El Cid (not verified)I think Zelaya may have generally made the correct decision to re-insert himself as a leader of this restoration process, because I think he and his allies realized that it was not in his or his politics' interests to simply sit back passively and be returned as a lame duck by Uncle Sam & Brother Oscar, if that should occur. If it were up to me to guess, my guess would be that the U.S. doesn't much care for Zelaya's recent reassertiveness, and would rather the U.S. and Costa Rica be seen as entirely in the driver's seat here.
Badly timed, outrageous meddling by Connie Mack
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by Wendy (not verified)Super creepy Congressman plans visit this weekend to Honduras.
http://mack.house.gov/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=4fbe318...
Just bizarre.
Kevin Futhey: On the congressional vote
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by Charles (not verified)Kevin Futhey says, "It had been reported that the Assembly voted unanimously to--impeach?--Zelaya back before the coup."
Kevin, there is a report that the vote was far from unanimous and that the vote to install Micheletti was not legal. The Honduran Constitution does not provide for impeachment. According to the link, there were two votes. At the first one on June 26th, many representatives voted not to go along with the plan that would eventually lead to a "constitutional rupture." On June 28th, there was an unscheduled meeting of the Parliament to which representatives who had voted against the plan were not invited. In that meeting, representatives were told that Zelaya had resigned and were shown a later later shown to be a forgery. They then voted to install Micheletti. Had they known they were being lied to, it's questionable that many would have gone along. However, they might have voted to install someone other than Micheletti.
That's my understanding. The facts are murky... I don't even see a mention of the June 26th meeting in Wikipedia.
President Zelaya begins caravan back to Honduras
Submitted on July 23rd, 2009 by barbs (not verified)Thank you Phoenix Woman for your post
Int'l press to escort ousted Honduran president back home
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/6708703.html
President Zelaya begins Caravan back to Honduras
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/07/23/honduras.political.turmoil/...
They fear losing power to Hondurans
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by End of Oligarchy (not verified)Here's a 12 min video bombshell that smashes the oligarchy
Zelaya just one of millions
Honduran coup plotters' fear isn't losing power to Zelaya or Chavez, it's losing power to Hondurans
They didn't overthrow Zelaya when he raised the minimum wage, de facto president Roberto Micheletti even voted with Zelaya in approving the Chavez-sponsored ALBA initiative, but the day he went to ask the people to get involved the military kidnapped and expelled him. Canadian gold miners, US military bases, and the Honduran oligarchy all have something to fear at this time, but it isn't necessarily the return of Manuel Zelaya. A look at the time-line of the coup shows a pretty conclusive picture of the specter of participatory democracy as the catalyst to the Honduran coup.
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&It...
it's also on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i7nvxO2iQE&feature=player_embedded
What a creative progressive Pres would do
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by Nell (not verified)The talks failed, as expected, due to the intransigence of the coup regime. Zelaya accommodated them despite the basis unfairness of negotiating with the usurpers as if between equals, despite the way in which the talks played into the coup-makers' desire to delay and delay. He agreed to Arias' proposals, and the golpistas rejected them.
Under these circumstances, for the U.S. administration to sit back and tut-tut about Zelaya's effort to return is unacceptable. If Pres. Obama and Sec. Clinton really wanted to see Zelaya restored to his rightful office, and were genuinely determined to prevent the military shooting at unarmed, peaceful civilians, they'd send Amb. Llorens and the U.S. commander at Palmerola to the border to meet and accompany the president.
Olanchanos taking to the mountains of Paraiso
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by PATUCAWARRIOR (not verified)Since the military have a roadblock 12 kms from the Nicaraugaun border...
Our Pro Zelaya group from Catacamas, Olancho - have gone around the roadblock...
Using cow pastures and farms as the road to Nicaragua..
Viva Olancho!
Zelaya at Las Manos crossing
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by Charles (not verified)Reported by Telesur at ca. 3PM Eastern
Livestream
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by Jorge Parada (not verified)http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/canal/senalenvivo.php
at the border crossing, sharpshooter spotted, no ID yet... Honduran military or mercenaries?
He's home. 4:26PM
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by Charles (not verified)An amazing act of courage, not only by Zelaya, but by the press, too.
Thank you for keeping the
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by margarita suarez (not verified)Thank you for keeping the spirit of our great Liberator--Simon Bolivar ALIVE.
Zelaya stepped back into Honduras (Telesur, RadioHN)
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by El Cid (not verified)Multiple sources including TeleSur, the AFP, the BBC, and Radio HN have Zelaya as having walked into Las Manos, Honduras, over the Nicaraguan border. At the moment he apparently is operating from both countries, waiting the arrival of family or others. Reportedly (RadioHN) Zelaya verified with a high member of the military his entry via cellphone communication before entering, presumably to avoid a firefight as he was surrounded by supporters. (And in my view because the coup leaders probably plan an arrest next.)
Border crossing Zelaya
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by Sophie Amrain (not verified)Zelaya has crossed the border and is in the middle of his supporters:
http://www.thurgauerzeitung.ch/ausland/amerika/Zelaya-ueberquert-die-Gre...
still on the side watiting for his wife to cross over
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by barbs (not verified)watching live on AlJazeera
He has been speaking to the military
The press is talking to him, the police have an arrest warrant
Good Luck Pres. Zelaya
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
I'm on the road
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by Al GiordanoHey all - Just in case anyone was wondering about my relative quietness today... I've been on the road all day and will be for a few hours more, but later tonight will post an update.
- Al
CNN coverage
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by kolla clandestino (not verified)Watching the English CNN coverage of Zelaya's re-entry: some guy was physically present with no cameras, commenting while the Telesur footage ran straight through.
The woman moderating this live feed kept on mentioning how this was not CNN's video, but only what "Telesur wants us to see, since they control the cameras". She also made a point to mention every five minutes that Telesur is a Venezuelan TV station.
To his credit, dude on the ground pointed out that Telesur is also funded by four or five other leftist gobiernos Americanos, although he neglected to mention that they are: Bolivia, Uruguay, Brazil, and Nicaragua, and he uncomfortably stated that this medium was formed in reaction to "what they see as" the right-wing and corporate manipulation of "other" media. Too funny.
He also clarified a couple of times that there was indeed a coup and that the man planning to re-enter his country was indeed, the legitimate constitutional president. All points which were simulataneously "refuted" by the think-tank stooge from Council of Americas in the studio, who repeated the lie that Zelaya was deposed by a direct Supreme Court Order for attempting to violate that article of the Constitution regarding the contemplation of re-election.
Though I can't help but laugh at the ignorance of these CNN "reporters" who kept asking the think tank stooge "what happens next?" and didn't even have the basic professional knowledge about the media they were pulling footage from, its a shame that so many people will probably come off with such poorly nuanced, and forged, facts.
In the hopefully unlikely event of violence, do you think something such as english subtitles or a flurry of angry emails could prevent CNN's usage of Telesur signal while making every possible attempt to distort? mil gracias, como siempre
@Barbs the important paragraph
Submitted on July 24th, 2009 by Mary (not verified)I think that this is the best paragraph in the Aljazeera article:
Honduras' security forces had been instructed by the military-backed interim government to arrest Zelaya if he entered the country, but they did not move against him.
Excellent coverage, AL... BUT.
Submitted on July 25th, 2009 by Richard Grabman (not verified)... and I know it's a small thing, but accuracy matters. Simon Bolivar was born in 24 July 1783. It was his 226th birthday, not 215th.
legality of impeachment
Submitted on July 26th, 2009 by waltinseattle (not verified)According to Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution: "No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform, as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years."
There is, of course, controversy over U.S. involvment in the writing of the constitution, but there it is. there shall be no second term, there shall be no constitutional change to allow it.
I think all sides have done a great job, considering the legacy, of levelheadedness. There have been no mass executions of the sort Mexico has practiced , even on non-political assembly (such as D.F. fall of 69) The country is much safer than E.S. it would appear.
All that said, the U.S. has been crapola in waivering and sending mixed signals- oh we have that down very well, just ask Husein, ("mind if I invade over there?")deceased thug dictator.