Over 55 Organizations and Scholars Call on Obama Administration to Warn Honduran Regime Against Furt

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Common Dreams

July 20, 2009
9:18 AM

Over 55 Organizations and Scholars Call on Obama Administration to Warn Honduran Regime Against Further Violence

WASHINGTON - July 20 - 56 representatives of organizations and academic experts on Latin America and scholars issued the following statement today:

The Obama administration's recent statements are endangering the lives of Hondurans, including the president Manuel Zelaya. From the Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2009:

"A senior U.S. official said Friday the Obama administration continues to stress to Mr. Zelaya its opposition to him trying to return. The official said Washington fears another attempt by Mr. Zelaya could reignite political tensions while undercutting efforts to find a negotiated settlement. 'Zelaya is well aware of our position," the official said.'"

Such statements are very disturbing, especially combined with the fact that the administration has not issued a single warning to the coup government, which has already shot and killed peaceful demonstrators, that such human rights abuses are unacceptable.

In fact, there has not been a single statement from the Obama administration since President Zelaya was overthrown on June 28, condemning the violations of human rights and civil liberties committed by the coup government. These violations include shootings and beatings; arrests, intimidation and deportation of journalists; and the closing of independent radio and TV stations. These abuses have been documented and condemned by the Inter American Commission for Human Rights, by human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and a report from the Honduran Committee for the Relatives of the Disappeared Detainees.


Read more: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/20

[yorgatron]

1. FURT!

:hide:

[Judi Lynn]

2. LTTE: Honduras a reminder of the 1953 coup in Iran

Posted on Mon, Jul. 20, 2009


Letters: Honduras a reminder of the 1953 coup in Iran

How ironic that Rick Santorum ("Going against democracy," Thursday) would choose to criticize President Obama's support of Manuel Zelaya, who in the author's own words, is "the democratically elected" president of Honduras
How ironic, as well, that the leader of the coup d'etat that ousted Zelaya, one Romeo Orlando Vasquez Velasquez, is a graduate of the School of the Americas, based at Fort Benning, Ga. The SOA has been training Honduran paramilitary officers for years at Fort Benning. Five other leading members of the coup are also SOA graduates.

Santorum's argument that the coup was justified goes "against democracy." This is reminiscent of 1953, when our CIA overthrew the democratically elected government in Iran and placed the shah in control. His oppressive regime, in power for 25 years, enraged the Iranian public and led to present tensions between the United States and Iran. When is the United States going to recognize that overthrowing democratically elected governments simply causes resentment toward our arrogant and belligerent foreign policy?

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090720_Letters__Honduras_a_reminder_of_the_1953_coup_in_Iran.html

[Judi Lynn]

3. Guatemalan Civil Society Denounces Coup in Honduras

Guatemalan Civil Society Denounces Coup in Honduras
Written by Convergence of Human Rights and Social Organizations in Guatemala, Translation by Beth Lavely
Sunday, 19 July 2009
The convergence of Human Rights and social organizations in Guatemala express their strong comdemnation of the coup that is developing in the Republic of Honduras beginning in the early hours of the morning, June 27, 2009 by Honduran Armed Forces moved by the interests of Conservatives and oligarcies.

The rupture of Honduran institutional order is not only against the legitimate regime, but also against the history of peaceful and democratic order of our communities. It shows a grave regression that a dispute between the State and factious powers cannot be resolved through dialogue, or nonbiased institutional channels, but rather by means of force. A case in point is the abduction of the elected official who, in public declarations Friday, said that he did not have intentions to modify the Constitution to get reelected.

Acts of violence occurring as a result of this coup are condemnable; acts that include the detention of the Ambassadors of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela who appear to have been beaten while detained. Likewise, the disapearance of Chancelor Patricia Rodas.

The negative precedent now established by the Honduran military and politicians opens a door in the region for the return of authoritarianism and dictatorship. The region is in danger without a clear and strong return of democracy.

Guatemalan human rights organizations fear for the security of human rights workers, other champions of human rights, all citizens that fight for democracy in Honduras, who in recent months have been suffering a wave of threats and murders.

More:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1997/68/

[Judi Lynn]

4. Honduras Crisis Required an Examination of Controversial U.S. Military Training School

Honduras Crisis Required an Examination of Controversial U.S. Military Training School
July 18, 11:27 AM7

The June 28 coup in Honduras was carried out by the School of the Americas (SOA) graduates Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, the head of the of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran military and by Gen. Luis Prince Suazo, the head of the Air Force. The leadership of SOA graduates in the coup follows a pattern of anti-democratic actions by graduates of the SOA (renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, WHINSEC). The Pentagon claim -- that the institute instills respect for democracy and civilian leadership while teaching combat skills to Latin American soldiers -- has once again been disproved by the actions of the institute's graduates.

SOA-trained Honduran Army Attorney Col. Herberth Inestroza justified the military coup and stated in an interview with The Miami Herald “It would be difficult for us, with our training, to have a relationship with a leftist government. That's impossible.'' Inestroza also confirmed that the decision for the coup was made by the military. Another SOA graduate, retired General Daniel López Carballo, told CNN that the coup was warranted because Venezuelan President Chávez would be running Honduras by proxy if the military had not acted.

The crisis in Honduras began when the military refused to distribute ballot boxes for a nonbonding opinion poll that was supposed to determine whether or not a majority of Hondurans desire to enter into a process to modify their constitution. President Zelaya fired the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, SOA graduate General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez. The heads of all branches of the Honduran armed forces quit in solidarity with Vasquez. Vasquez, however, refused to step down, bolstered by a Supreme Court ruling that reinstated him. Vasquez remains in control of the armed forces.

Vasquez, along with other military leaders, graduated from the United States' infamous SOA. According to information that SOA Watch obtained from the US government through a Freedom of Information Act request, Vasquez studied in the SOA at least twice: once in 1976 and again in 1984.

The head of the Air Force, General Luis Javier Prince Suazo, studied in the School of the Americas in 1996. The Air Force has been a central protagonist in the Honduran coup. When the military refused to distribute the ballot boxes for the opinion poll, the ballot boxes were stored on an Air Force base until citizens accompanied by Zelaya rescued them. Zelaya reports that after soldiers kidnapped him, they took him to an Air Force base, where he was put on a plane and sent to Costa Rica.

Former Representative Joe Kennedy stated, "The School of the Americas...is a school that has run more dictators than any other school in the history of the world."

More:
http://www.examiner.com/x-16503-LA-County-Foreign-Policy-Examiner~y2009m7d18-Honduras-Crisis-Required-an-Examination-of-Controversial-US-Military-Training-School

[peacetalksforall]

5. Time is also running out for me. This article says that the U.S. was talking to the military

up until the day before the coup. Given that this administration has not done anything other than participate in negotiations for a settlement and based on all the positions of other countries against the coup, based on the unproven fact that Otto Reich was involved - an employee or operative of the CIA - I would say that there are plenty of clues that our Obama-Clinton-military-intelligence leadership is complicit - subject to learning otherwise.

Yes, time is running out. It is very eary in the four or eight years of this administration to learn about an act that sounds like it came from Cheney.

This is scary. I am not one to forgive and excuse acts and hypocritical positions related to high and mighty statements about the glory of democracy. I hold it against all political entities who act in an imperical, not democratic way.

I hope we are not facing another massacre and disappearance or assassination of the elected Hondurian President of that country.

Very scary. Time is running out.

[David__77]

6. Obama deserves criticism for this.

The admonitions should all be directed at the coup plotters. They are the ones who should facilitate the return of the president and not impede it. If there is violence, it is because they are defending their coup, which is immoral and unjust.

[Flaneur]

7. The Obama administration is being mealy-mouthed on the coup.

Token opposition, not much more.

Of course, who would seriously expect the administration in Washington of going out of its way to support the restoration to power of a left-populist Latin American leader? When it comes to Latin America, we don't have Democrats and Republicans, we have the Single Unified Capitalist War Party. !Viva United Fruit!

[karynnj]

8. Kerry had an op-ed on this in the Miami Herald

Early on Sunday, June 28, soldiers burst into Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's residence and dragged him into exile in his pajamas. An old-fashioned Latin American coup thrust upon our leaders a familiar dilemma: How to respond to the overthrow of a democratically elected leader often at odds with America and critical of our policies?

Although Zelaya has been no friend to America and engaged in petty anti-American sloganeering, our president stood on principle and demanded his reinstatement ``not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders.''

That was the right thing to do, as was enlisting the assistance of the OAS and Costa Rican statesman Oscar Arias to help resolve the crisis. We should now use our immense influence to help the mediation achieve a negotiated deal that strikes a blow for democracy in Honduras and across Latin America. "

http://www.miamiherald.com/honduras/story/1141973.html