Haiti and Honduras : Considering Two 'Coups d'État'
By David Holmes Morris - anarkismo.net : July 31, 2009
President Manuel Zelaya was taken prisoner early Sunday morning after some 200 soldiers arrived at the presidential residence and disarmed his guards. Zelaya, still in his pajamas, was transported to an airfield and flown to Costa Rica. His ouster was similar, at least in superficial ways, to the last military coup in Latin America, which deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti, for the second time, in February, 2004. / The two countries, despite important ethnic, historical and linguistic differences, are similar as well. They are of about the same size, with populations of around 7.5 million, and they are both among the poorest three or four countries in the hemisphere. Seventy percent of Hondurans live in poverty. The average annual income is $1600. Honduras and Haiti both have historically powerful military forces that have often shown a disposition for brutality. And they have both long been controlled by small wealthy elites.
Post-coup limbo weighs on Honduran economy, trade
By Mica Rosenberg - reuters.com : July 31, 2009
Blockades on highways moving cargo, daily curfews, disruption at borders and fewer tourists are part of the new economic reality in Honduras after the president was toppled in a coup last month.
Third Stage of Operation Crack the Coup: Popular Mobilization
By Laura Carlsen - americasmexico.blogspot.com : July 31, 2009
Perhaps it will be a combination of renewed diplomatic efforts and the popular movement that finally restores constitutional order in Honduras. For now, the latter is on the forefront and deserves total international support for its efforts to end the impasse before more people are killed and wounded by a coup desperate to retain power gained against all conventions of international law and human decency.
Honduran interim leaders: Zeyala can't be restored
By Freddy Cuevas and Alexandra Olson, AP - google.com : July 31, 2009
Honduras' coup-installed leader has dampened hopes for a negotiated solution to the country's crisis, capping days of mixed signals by saying firmly that there's no way the ousted president can return to power.
Micheletti says Zelaya will not return to Honduras as leader
By itnnews - YouTube.com : July 31, 2009
Xiomara: "The US Has Given an Ultimatum to the Coup Regime"
By Al Giordano - narconews.com : July 31, 2009
"Yesterday, the State Department sent a very clear message to the President of the Republic, that he is the only President of the Republic of Honduras they recognize. They went to find him to tell him, 'there is an ultimatum that has been given to the coup regime. If they do not step down, we are going to have to act.'"
Restoring Democracy in Honduras
By Mark Weisbrot - Guardian/UK - commondreams.org : July 31, 2009 Hillary Clinton's attempts to resolve the crisis in Honduras have failed. It's time for Latin America to take the lead
In Honduras, Simon Says: 'End Your Coup'
By Robert Naiman - huffingtonpost.com : July 31, 2009
The relationship between the actions of the Obama Administration and the actions of the coup government in Honduras is starting to look like those children's games where you follow the order of the leader, but only if he says the special phrase. The Obama Administration says it wants to see President Zelaya restored. When the Administration appears to mean business, the coup regime appears to move towards compromise. When the Administration signals that its words are not to be heeded, the coup regime reasserts its intransigence.
More repression in Tegucigalpa; "resistance camp" on border
By WW4 Report - ww4report.com : July 31, 2009
Several were wounded and more than 250 arrested July 30 in clashes between protesters and security forces at several locations around Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital. Police and army troops used both rubber bullets and live rounds, and fired tear gas from helicopter. The worst violence occurred at El Durazno, on the northern outskirts, where protesters took over the highway and one was shot in the head. Protest leaders accused police of firing on peaceful protesters. TV footage showed some protesters armed with sticks and pick-axes.
Venezuela, Brazil agree to intensify pressure on Honduras' interim gov't
By Xinhua - xinhuanet.com : July 31, 2009
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez agreed to intensify international pressure on Honduras' interim government, the Venezuelan government said on Thursday.
De facto Honduran president changes course, calls for envoy
By CNN - cnn.com : July 31, 2009
Honduran interim President Roberto Micheletti's hard-line stance against the return of ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya has softened, he said, but the signing of a proposed agreement to end the country's political crisis remained uncertain.
Honduran police crack down on anti-coup demonstrations
By fsrn.org : July 31, 2009 (Audio)
The political crisis in Honduras continues, more than a month after a military-backed coup. The de-facto government has issued orders for police to disperse any and all demonstrations that block public roads. Police actions to break up protests have led to dozens of injuries and over a hundred detentions. Tim Russo has more from Tegucigalpa.
Honduras and Washington: Semantics and Contradictions
By Michael Fox - upsidedownworld.org : July 31, 2009
Last week Clinton called Zelaya's decision to attempt to return to his country from the Nicaraguan-Honduran border, "reckless". "We have consistently urged all parties to avoid any provocative action that could lead to violence," she said. A group of organizations and academics focusing on Latin America quickly responded. / "Given that neither Clinton nor President Obama, nor any U.S. official, has even once criticized the Honduran dictatorship for the violence and political repression of the last four weeks, Clinton's pointing the finger at Zelaya is especially threatening to the human rights of Hondurans," they said in a press release.
The Coup in Honduras: A Set Back for both Democracy and U.S.-Latin American Unity
By William Mathis - coha.org : July 31, 2009
The de facto regime, lead by now-president Roberto Micheletti, remains comfortably in power while Zelaya can do little more than hold interviews from Nicaragua and taunt the government in Tegucigalpa by poking his toes in Honduran soil for scant minutes at a time. Of course a higher reality is being played off camera, as the interim regime runs out of international reserves, inflation mounts, and factional strife begins to break out, not the least amongst the military. This multiplicity of factors working against him are certainly the driving force behind Micheletti’s mixed support of the San José accords, orchestrated by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, that would reinstate Zelaya as President of Honduras, but forbid him to change the constitution, and would also move elections forward.
EU eyes travel bans on Honduras coup leaders
By Deutsche Presse-Agentur - monstersandcritics.com : July 31, 2009
European Union member states should ban leaders of the coup in Honduras from travelling to Europe, EU diplomats agreed in Brussels on Friday. / 'Each member state will monitor that (EU) policy is closely adhered to, including the possibility of restrictions to the entry into their territories of senior officials of the de facto government in Honduras,' a statement from the Swedish government, which currently holds the EU presidency, said.
Honduras Coup Reveals Fragility Of Latin American Democracy
By Odeen Ishmael - caribbeanworldnews.com : July 31, 2009
The ouster of Zelaya was the first in Central America since 1993 when the military forced Guatemalan President Jorge Serrano to step down. In the case of Honduras, the military dominated political life until the mid-1980s, but despite the end of the era of coups as a means for political change, clearly it never relinquished the intervention habit.
Heritage Foundation calls Honduras coup a 'conservative awakening'
By Jeff McMahon - trueslant.com : July 31, 2009
I don't expect a lot from the Heritage Foundation, having seen its take on carbon dioxide, but I still find it startling to see a U.S. institution endorsing the military overthrow of an elected government in Latin America, where right-wing dictators and left-wing revolutions shed so much blood not so long ago. Just what heritage are we promoting?
MacKay re-examines continuing Canadian training program for Honduran soldiers
By The Canadian Press - 610cktb.com : July 31, 2009
Defence Minister Peter MacKay says that Canada is re-examining training programs for the Honduran military but says only a small number of soldiers are involved. / The Canadian assistance program gives soldiers language and peacekeeping training at military bases in Canada and pays for similar courses in South America.
Trinicenter.com reserves the right to publish your email responses in whole or part. If you are responding to a particular article, include the title and link to the article. If you would like your name withheld from publication, state this in your submission and supply a nom de plume.
