06-07-2009, 07:18 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-07-2009, 07:45 AM by Peter Lemkin.)
What next? I was right - they didn't allow them to land. The USA put zero pressure on the coup faction - sickening. We did the same with Aristide...US military hustled him abord a plane out of Haiti and then said it wasn't a coup and we had nothing to do with it....new technique...just physically remove the duely elected President and put in one's prefered puppets to take over using whatever illegal cover they care to spout....Somewhere in D.C. is a list with a check-mark after Honduras....the list has all of the new centrist-populist and leftist governments in Central and South America....who's next?
Honduras slides toward greater instability
By WILL WEISSERT and JEANNETH VALDIVIESO – 21 minutes ago
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Already volatile Honduras slid toward greater instability after soldiers blocked an airport runway to keep ousted President Manuel Zelaya from returning, and protests that had remained largely peaceful yielded their first death.
Police and soldiers blanketed the streets of the capital overnight Monday — enforcing a sunset-to-sunrise curfew with batons and metal poles.
The extended curfew added to the tension after a turbulent Sunday that saw soldiers clash with thousands of Zelaya backers who massed at the airport in hopes of welcoming home their deposed leader.
Zelaya's plane, on loan from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, arrived to find the runway blocked by military vehicles and soldiers under the command of the government that has ruled this Central American country since Zelaya's ouster last weekend.
His Venezuelan pilots circled around the airport and decided not to risk a crash.
Zelaya instead headed for El Salvador, and vowed to try again Monday or Tuesday in his high-stakes effort to return to power in a country where all branches of government have lined up against him.
"I call on the Armed Forces of Honduras to lower their rifles," he said late Sunday at a news conference, flanked by the presidents of El Salvador, Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador, and the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, who flew there from Washington.
"I am risking myself personally to resolve the problems without violence," said Zelaya, who planned to fly later to Nicaragua. He urged the United Nations, the OAS, the United States and European countries to "do something with this repressive regime."
Insulza said he "is open to continuing all appropriate diplomatic overtures to obtain our objective."
But interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti said he won't negotiate until "things return to normal."
"We will be here until the country calms down," Micheletti said. "We are the authentic representatives of the people."
Clashes broke out Sunday afternoon between police and soldiers and the huge crowd of Zelaya supporters surrounding Tegucigalpa's international airport. At least one man was killed — shot in the head from inside the airport as people tried to break through a security fence, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene. At least 30 people were treated for injuries, the Red Cross said, after security forces fired warning shots and tear gas.
When Zelaya's plane was turned away, his supporters began chanting "We want blue helmets!" — a reference to U.N. peacekeepers.
Karin Antunez, 27, was in tears.
"We're scared. We feel sad because these coup soldiers won't let Mel return, but we're not going to back down," she said. "We're the people and we're going to keep marching so that our president comes home."
Zelaya won wide international support after his ouster, but several presidents who originally were to accompany him decided it was too dangerous to fly on Zelaya's plane, which carried only his close advisers and staff, two journalists from the Venezuela-based network Telesur and U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, a leftist Nicaraguan priest and former foreign minister.
Honduras' new government has vowed to arrest Zelaya for 18 alleged criminal acts including treason and failing to implement more than 80 laws approved by Congress since taking office in 2006. Zelaya also refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling against his planned referendum on whether to hold an assembly to consider changing the constitution.
Critics feared Zelaya might try to extend his rule and cement presidential power in ways similar to what his ally Chavez has done in Venezuela — though Zelaya denied that.
But instead of prosecuting him or trying to defeat him at the ballot box, masked soldiers flew the president out of the country at gunpoint, and Congress installed Micheletti in his place.
The military solution drew international condemnation, and Honduras was suspended by the OAS. Many called the coup a huge step backward for democracy, and no nation has recognized the new government. President Barack Obama has united with Chavez and conservative Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in insisting on Zelaya's return.
Speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the State Department, senior U.S. officials said the United States and other OAS member countries are coordinating contacts to facilitate a resolution, despite their insistence on having no formal relations with the interim government.
Without OAS membership, Honduras faces trade sanctions and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidized oil, aid and loans for the impoverished nation.
Moments after Zelaya's plane was turned away, trucks filled with police ordered everyone off the streets.
"This is a war," said Matias Sauceda, 65, a human rights activist. "Imagine — things are so bad, that the president is in the air and they don't let him land."
--------------------------------------------
By Kim Ghattas
BBC News, Washington
Mr Obama has condemned his Honduran counterpart's removal
US President Barack Obama has called the removal of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya on Sunday a "coup".
The ousted leader has been meeting US officials in Washington.
But the US State Department has not recalled its ambassador from Tegucigalpa and it is still reviewing whether to cut off aid to Honduras.
So while Washington's reaction has been strong and swift, when it comes to statements, its actions have so far been measured.
This is a signal that Washington is not keen to use its clout to help Mr Zelaya return to power, shying away from any action that could be seen as interventionism in a region where the US has a long, complex history.
The reaction is also in line with the promise President Obama made to Latin America at the Organization of American States summit in April, not to dictate US policy on the continent anymore but to be an equal partner.
Political shift
But the careful approach also underscores how awkward it can be for a US president to follow through on his declared desire to "stand on the side of democracy, sovereignty and self-determination" when the overthrown leader is someone with whom Washington has recently had cool relations.
The region has made enormous progress over the last 20 years in establishing democratic traditions... We don't want to go back to a dark past
Barack Obama
"Whatever political disagreements you might have, there are democratic norms that have to and should be followed," White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said.
Honduras is a strong US ally and gets a considerable amount of development and military aid. The US is also Honduras's biggest trading partner.
But Mr Zelaya, who came to power in 2006 as a centre-right leader, turned into a supporter of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez halfway through his term.
He then joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a leftist alliance led by Venezuela.
Mr Chavez has long been Washington's bete noire, even though relations have thawed somewhat since Mr Obama came to office.
Mr Zelaya's recent attempts to amend the constitution are reminiscent of those Mr Chavez and other populist presidents have taken to extend their time in office.
His call for a referendum to determine whether there was popular support to rewrite the constitution put him at odds with his country's Congress, military and Supreme Court.
It is probably not a path that Washington wanted to see Honduras take, but the military removal of Mr Zelaya was an even worse direction for the country in the eyes of the US administration.
"On the one instance, we're talking about conducting a survey, a non-binding survey; in the other instance, we're talking about the forcible removal of a president from a country," said a state department official on Sunday, speaking on conditions of anonymity.
US involvement
Echoing the condemnation by Latin American leaders, President Obama also said that "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," he added.
And while Washington has - oddly - found itself on the same side as Mr Chavez in condemning the removal of Mr Zelaya and calling for his return to power, it has also had to reject allegations by Mr Chavez that it had a hand in the coup.
General Romeo Vasquez, Honduras' top military chief, who led the coup, is one of the hundreds of Honduran officers who have received military training from the US.
He was sacked by Mr Zelaya for refusing to carry out the referendum.
On Tuesday White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that the US had spoken out on the Honduran situation to put to rest "any rumours that we were in any way involved in this".
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that Washington was perhaps hoping that the situation could still be resolved, which explains why the US is still only reviewing its financial assistance to Honduras and has not cut off aid just yet.
She said the US was "withholding any formal legal determination" of the incident as a coup, which would trigger an end to US aid.
"Much of our assistance is conditioned on the integrity of the democratic system.
"But if we were able to get to a status quo that returned to the rule of law and constitutional order within a relatively short period of time, I think that would be a good outcome," she said on Monday.
It is still unclear whether that outcome will be possible.
Mr Zelaya has garnered impressive international support, including a unanimous condemnation of the coup at the UN, but Honduras's new leaders, while isolated, have vowed to arrest Mr Zelaya if he tries to return.
Honduras slides toward greater instability
By WILL WEISSERT and JEANNETH VALDIVIESO – 21 minutes ago
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Already volatile Honduras slid toward greater instability after soldiers blocked an airport runway to keep ousted President Manuel Zelaya from returning, and protests that had remained largely peaceful yielded their first death.
Police and soldiers blanketed the streets of the capital overnight Monday — enforcing a sunset-to-sunrise curfew with batons and metal poles.
The extended curfew added to the tension after a turbulent Sunday that saw soldiers clash with thousands of Zelaya backers who massed at the airport in hopes of welcoming home their deposed leader.
Zelaya's plane, on loan from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, arrived to find the runway blocked by military vehicles and soldiers under the command of the government that has ruled this Central American country since Zelaya's ouster last weekend.
His Venezuelan pilots circled around the airport and decided not to risk a crash.
Zelaya instead headed for El Salvador, and vowed to try again Monday or Tuesday in his high-stakes effort to return to power in a country where all branches of government have lined up against him.
"I call on the Armed Forces of Honduras to lower their rifles," he said late Sunday at a news conference, flanked by the presidents of El Salvador, Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador, and the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, who flew there from Washington.
"I am risking myself personally to resolve the problems without violence," said Zelaya, who planned to fly later to Nicaragua. He urged the United Nations, the OAS, the United States and European countries to "do something with this repressive regime."
Insulza said he "is open to continuing all appropriate diplomatic overtures to obtain our objective."
But interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti said he won't negotiate until "things return to normal."
"We will be here until the country calms down," Micheletti said. "We are the authentic representatives of the people."
Clashes broke out Sunday afternoon between police and soldiers and the huge crowd of Zelaya supporters surrounding Tegucigalpa's international airport. At least one man was killed — shot in the head from inside the airport as people tried to break through a security fence, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene. At least 30 people were treated for injuries, the Red Cross said, after security forces fired warning shots and tear gas.
When Zelaya's plane was turned away, his supporters began chanting "We want blue helmets!" — a reference to U.N. peacekeepers.
Karin Antunez, 27, was in tears.
"We're scared. We feel sad because these coup soldiers won't let Mel return, but we're not going to back down," she said. "We're the people and we're going to keep marching so that our president comes home."
Zelaya won wide international support after his ouster, but several presidents who originally were to accompany him decided it was too dangerous to fly on Zelaya's plane, which carried only his close advisers and staff, two journalists from the Venezuela-based network Telesur and U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, a leftist Nicaraguan priest and former foreign minister.
Honduras' new government has vowed to arrest Zelaya for 18 alleged criminal acts including treason and failing to implement more than 80 laws approved by Congress since taking office in 2006. Zelaya also refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling against his planned referendum on whether to hold an assembly to consider changing the constitution.
Critics feared Zelaya might try to extend his rule and cement presidential power in ways similar to what his ally Chavez has done in Venezuela — though Zelaya denied that.
But instead of prosecuting him or trying to defeat him at the ballot box, masked soldiers flew the president out of the country at gunpoint, and Congress installed Micheletti in his place.
The military solution drew international condemnation, and Honduras was suspended by the OAS. Many called the coup a huge step backward for democracy, and no nation has recognized the new government. President Barack Obama has united with Chavez and conservative Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in insisting on Zelaya's return.
Speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the State Department, senior U.S. officials said the United States and other OAS member countries are coordinating contacts to facilitate a resolution, despite their insistence on having no formal relations with the interim government.
Without OAS membership, Honduras faces trade sanctions and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidized oil, aid and loans for the impoverished nation.
Moments after Zelaya's plane was turned away, trucks filled with police ordered everyone off the streets.
"This is a war," said Matias Sauceda, 65, a human rights activist. "Imagine — things are so bad, that the president is in the air and they don't let him land."
--------------------------------------------
By Kim Ghattas
BBC News, Washington
Mr Obama has condemned his Honduran counterpart's removal
US President Barack Obama has called the removal of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya on Sunday a "coup".
The ousted leader has been meeting US officials in Washington.
But the US State Department has not recalled its ambassador from Tegucigalpa and it is still reviewing whether to cut off aid to Honduras.
So while Washington's reaction has been strong and swift, when it comes to statements, its actions have so far been measured.
This is a signal that Washington is not keen to use its clout to help Mr Zelaya return to power, shying away from any action that could be seen as interventionism in a region where the US has a long, complex history.
The reaction is also in line with the promise President Obama made to Latin America at the Organization of American States summit in April, not to dictate US policy on the continent anymore but to be an equal partner.
Political shift
But the careful approach also underscores how awkward it can be for a US president to follow through on his declared desire to "stand on the side of democracy, sovereignty and self-determination" when the overthrown leader is someone with whom Washington has recently had cool relations.
The region has made enormous progress over the last 20 years in establishing democratic traditions... We don't want to go back to a dark past
Barack Obama
"Whatever political disagreements you might have, there are democratic norms that have to and should be followed," White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said.
Honduras is a strong US ally and gets a considerable amount of development and military aid. The US is also Honduras's biggest trading partner.
But Mr Zelaya, who came to power in 2006 as a centre-right leader, turned into a supporter of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez halfway through his term.
He then joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a leftist alliance led by Venezuela.
Mr Chavez has long been Washington's bete noire, even though relations have thawed somewhat since Mr Obama came to office.
Mr Zelaya's recent attempts to amend the constitution are reminiscent of those Mr Chavez and other populist presidents have taken to extend their time in office.
His call for a referendum to determine whether there was popular support to rewrite the constitution put him at odds with his country's Congress, military and Supreme Court.
It is probably not a path that Washington wanted to see Honduras take, but the military removal of Mr Zelaya was an even worse direction for the country in the eyes of the US administration.
"On the one instance, we're talking about conducting a survey, a non-binding survey; in the other instance, we're talking about the forcible removal of a president from a country," said a state department official on Sunday, speaking on conditions of anonymity.
US involvement
Echoing the condemnation by Latin American leaders, President Obama also said that "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," he added.
And while Washington has - oddly - found itself on the same side as Mr Chavez in condemning the removal of Mr Zelaya and calling for his return to power, it has also had to reject allegations by Mr Chavez that it had a hand in the coup.
General Romeo Vasquez, Honduras' top military chief, who led the coup, is one of the hundreds of Honduran officers who have received military training from the US.
He was sacked by Mr Zelaya for refusing to carry out the referendum.
On Tuesday White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that the US had spoken out on the Honduran situation to put to rest "any rumours that we were in any way involved in this".
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that Washington was perhaps hoping that the situation could still be resolved, which explains why the US is still only reviewing its financial assistance to Honduras and has not cut off aid just yet.
She said the US was "withholding any formal legal determination" of the incident as a coup, which would trigger an end to US aid.
"Much of our assistance is conditioned on the integrity of the democratic system.
"But if we were able to get to a status quo that returned to the rule of law and constitutional order within a relatively short period of time, I think that would be a good outcome," she said on Monday.
It is still unclear whether that outcome will be possible.
Mr Zelaya has garnered impressive international support, including a unanimous condemnation of the coup at the UN, but Honduras's new leaders, while isolated, have vowed to arrest Mr Zelaya if he tries to return.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass