EVA UPDATES: 2 updates, both Sat., 7/25

[magbana]

"Saturday, July 25, 2009

UPDATE, SATURDAY 3PM: ZELAYA AT HONDURAN BORDER AGAIN; CLINTON SAYS HE'S "RECKLESS"
President Zelaya is at the Honduran border again, reinitiating his attempt to enter the country, which although he passed through briefly yesterday afternoon, his reentry was prevented by military forces under orders from the coup regime. He is hoping to reunite today with his wife and children, who have been detained since yesterday several miles from the border in El Paraíso, Honduras, by police and army forces. There are approximately 3000 police and army forces at the border preventing Zelaya's reentry and interaction with supporters on the Honduran side.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Zelaya's behavior "reckless" in statements yesterday afternoon. Her specific statement was, "President Zelaya’s effort to reach the border is reckless. It does not contribute to the broader efforts to restore democratic and constitutional order in the Honduras crisis. So we urge President Zelaya and all other parties to reaffirm their commitment to a negotiated, peaceful solution to the integrity of Honduran democracy and the safety and well-being of the Honduran people. In fact, we urge both parties to accept the proposal put forth by President Arias. It is the basis for a peaceful solution, and that is what the United States supports."

Right, but the coup regime's repression of the Honduran people, political assassinations, tortures, detentions of over 1000 Zelaya supporters, violent kidnapping and forced exile of Zelaya, illegal usurpation of the presidency and executive functions, censoring of media, expulsion of foreign journalists, amongst other crimes, is "good behavior" that "contributes to democracy"??? Because we haven't heard any clear condemnations from Clinton or her spokesmen regarding all of the above. Zero, zip, nothing.

The whole Arias negotiation is a trap to buy time and consolidate the coup regime, or return Zelaya to the presidency with no power. Clinton advisor Kevin Casas-Zamora, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute (the most influential "democrat" think-tank in Washington) and former Vice President of Costa Rica under President Arias (hmmm, maybe that's why he is the designed negotiator) laid out the terms that Arias/Clinton are trying to impose on Zelaya in an article on July 9, 2009, at least one week before Arias presented his first proposal to resolve the Honduran conflict. Casas-Zamora said,

"First of all that Zelaya should return to the presidency, though not necessarily to power. The presidency and power are two different things. Number two, he has to end his plans to amend the constitution, which won't be much of a problem. Number three, he has to put some distance between himself and Chavez. That's essential. Number four, there has to be some kind of power-sharing agreement, whereby Zelaya remains at the helm of the government but some other people chip-in in the main decisions that are to be made between now and the next election in November. Number five, there has to be some kind of amnesty, for lack of a better word, where everybody turns a blind eye on the pervasive illegal behavior of all the parties involved, because all of them have acted with illegal behavior and have acted with total disregard for the rule of law. Sadly for Honduras, they will have to turn a blind eye to all of that. At this point, no party is in a position to demand accountability from anybody. There's no such thing as high moral ground in Honduras at this point."

So, let the coup regime off the hook and turn Zelaya into a limp president. This is the "smart power" solution of the Obama-Clinton administration. Save the empire's face and its interests too!

Zelaya's "reckless" return to Honduras and his reunification with his people is the only way to restore dignity to the Central American nation.
Posted by Eva Golinger at 3:09 PM 3 comments Links to this post

ZELAYA FOLLOWER TORTURED & ASSASSINATED BY COUP REGIME IN HONDURAS
During the protests yesterday against the coup regime in Honduras, a curfew was imposed at noon that remains in place throughout the day and night today, Saturday. A large group of hundreds of protesters was detained in the El Paraiso region by armed forces under orders of the coup regime and prevented from reaching the border with Nicaragua, where President Manuel Zelaya was attempting his second entry into the country since his ouster one month ago.

The police and army repressing the people in El Paraiso fired tear gas, bullets and detained dozens of protesters. Violence erupted during the protests in reaction to the brutal force imposed by the coup regime. There are reports from the protesters in El Paraíso that the coup forces are preparing a nearby stadium to use for large-scale detentions. This would be reminiscent of the dictatorships in Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in the 1970s that used stadiums to detain, disappear, torture and execute tens of thousands of leftists.

Throughout the repression, several protesters disappeared. One was found this morning around 6 AM, dead, with clear signs of torture and execution. Pedro Ezequiel, 28 years old, was identified by a resident of El Paraíso, who also claimed he had been detained by the police and army forces on Friday afternoon. His body was found this morning thrown by a roadside near the Nicaraguan border. There were signs of torture on his hands and body. Story in Spanish here.
Posted by Eva Golinger at 2:55 PM


http://www.chavezcode.com/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Ah, Kevin Casas-Zamora, straight from the Vice-Presidency of Costa Rica to Brookings,

to advisor to Hillary Clinton. Kevin Casas-Zamora, a man with his finger on the pulse of Latin America.

"Kevin Casas-Zamora is a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, in Washington DC. In 2006-2007, he was minister of National Planning and Economic Policy and second vice-president of the Republic of Costa Rica. He was selected as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kevin Casa Zamora , nació en San José el 4 de agosto de 1968, como el menor de cinco hijos de una familia de clase media formada por el cubano Antonio Casas y la costarricense Carmen Zamora.

Desde el 2003 está casado con la politóloga alemana Simone Bunse, fue elegido en enero de 2007 por el Foro Económico Mundial como uno de los más distinguidos líderes mundiales de 2007 menores de 40 años.

Se graduó del Colegio (privado) La Salle en 1984, tras lo cual estudió leyes en la estatal Universidad de Costa Rica.
Tras obtener la licenciatura en Derecho, se trasladó a Inglaterra, graduándose como Master en Política Latinoamericana en la Universidad de Essex y Doctor en Ciencias Políticas en la Universidad de Oxford.

Casas fue un estudiante sobresaliente, que obtuvo distinciones académicas y becas para realizar sus estudios en el extranjero. Entre esas distinciones destacan la obtención del tercer promedio de admisión a la Universidad de Costa Rica a nivel nacional en 1984.

En ese centro universitario fue Graduado de Honor, y obtuvo una Graduación con Distinción de la Universidad de Essex, el Premio “Washington Antonians’ Book Prize” por desempeño académico sobresaliente en la Universidad de Oxford y el Premio del European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) a la mejor tesis doctoral europea del año 2003 en Ciencias Políticas.
Su tesis doctoral, sobre la financiación de campañas en Costa Rica y Uruguay, ha sido publicada en el Reino Unido.

Este abogado y politólogo de profesión ha trabajado como litigante y oficial de programas en la Fundación Arias para la Paz y el Desarrollo Humano. También se ha dedicado por muchos años a la docencia universitaria. Desde 1996 es profesor del curso de Teoría del Estado en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Costa Rica, y ha sido profesor e investigador en el Centro Internacional para el Desarrollo Humano, en Costa Rica, y en los departamentos de estudios latinoamericanos de las universidades de Essex y Oxford.

Su experiencia en temas de democratización, sistemas electorales, financiación de campañas, seguridad ciudadana y relaciones cívico-militares, lo han convertido en consultor de numerosos organismos nacionales e internacionales como el Programa Estado de la Nación de Costa Rica, el Banco Mundial, Transparencia Internacional, la Fundación Internacional para los Sistemas Electorales y el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo.

En este último organismo fue coordinador general del Informe Nacional de Desarrollo Humano de Costa Rica, titulado “Venciendo el temor: (In)seguridad ciudadana y desarrollo humano en Costa Rica”, divulgado en el país a finales del año 2005.
Es autor de numerosos estudios y artículos académicos en materia de financiamiento político, elecciones, democratización y relaciones cívico-militares en América Latina, además de varios libros publicados entre 1997 y el 2005.

En el año 2004 fue seleccionado por el Semanario “El Financiero” como uno de los 40 líderes más importantes de menos de 40 años en Costa Rica.

Casas nunca había participado abiertamente en política hasta que el Premio Nobel de la Paz 1987, Oscar Arias lo designó como su candidato a la segunda vicepresidencia en las elecciones presidenciales de febrero de 2006, en la que obtuvieron la victoria para gobernar en el periodo 2006-2010.

Tras el triunfo electoral, Arias anunció que Casas se haría cargo también del ministerio de Planificación y Política Económica, donde se encarga de la coordinación de la Comisión Gubernamental de Gobierno Digital, así como la dirección del proceso de elaboración del Plan Nacional de Desarrollo.

En octubre de 2006, Casas se vio envuelto en un escándalo, pues su hermano mayor, Ciro, fue vinculado con el presunto narcotraficante George Nayor, sospechoso de planear un supuesto atentado contra el presidente salvadoreño, Elías Antonio Saca.
El vicepresidente negó en todo momento que él tuviera algo que ver en las actividades de su hermano, que también es abogado, y tuvo el respaldo del presidente.

Kevin Casas habla inglés y tiene conocimientos el francés. Entre sus intereses y pasatiempos sobresalen la literatura de viaje, el ajedrez, el cine, el jazz y el squash.
http://www.casamerica.es/es/casa-de-america-virtual/visitas-ilustres/kevin-casas

google translation:

Kevin Casa Zamora was born in San Jose on August 4, 1968, as the youngest of five children of a middle class family consisting of the Cuban Antonio Casas Zamora Carmen and Costa Rica.

Since 2003 he is married to Simone Bunso German political scientist, was elected in January 2007 by the World Economic Forum as one of the most distinguished leaders in 2007 under 40 years.

He graduated from the College (private) La Salle in 1984, after which he studied law at the State University of Costa Rica.
After obtaining a degree in law, moved to England, graduating as MA in Latin American Policy at the University of Essex and a PhD in political science at the University of Oxford.

Casas was an outstanding student who received academic awards and scholarships to pursue their studies abroad. Those distinctions include obtaining third average for admission to the University of Costa Rica at the national level in 1984.

In this university was a graduate of Honor, and received a Distinguished Graduate of the University of Essex, the prize? Washington Antonians? Book Prize? for outstanding academic performance at the University of Oxford and the Prize of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) for best European PhD thesis in 2003 in Political Science.
His doctoral thesis on the financing of campaigns in Costa Rica and Uruguay, has been published in the United Kingdom.

This lawyer and political scientist by profession, has worked as a litigator and program officer at the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Development. It has also devoted many years to university teaching. Since 1996 Professor of the course Theory of State in the Law Faculty of the University of Costa Rica and has been professor and researcher at the International Center for Human Development in Costa Rica and in Latin American studies departments of Universities of Essex and Oxford.

His experience in issues of democratization, electoral systems, campaign finance, public security and civil-military relations, has become a consultant to numerous national and international agencies like the State of the Nation Program of Costa Rica, the World Bank, Transparency International The International Foundation for Election Systems and the United Nations Program for Development.

In the latter body was general coordinator of the National Human Development Report of Costa Rica, entitled? Overcoming the fear: (In) security and human development in Costa Rica?, Released in the country in late 2005.
He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and studies on political finance, elections, democratization and civil-military relations in Latin America, plus several books published between 1997 and 2005.

In 2004 he was selected by the Weekly? El Financiero? as one of the 40 most important leaders in less than 40 years in Costa Rica.

Houses had never overtly involved in politics until the Nobel Peace Prize 1987 Oscar Arias appointed him as its candidate for second vice president in the presidential elections of February 2006, which were to sail to victory in the period 2006 -- 2010.

After the election victory, announced that Arias would take also houses the Ministry of Planning and Economic Policy, which is responsible for coordinating the Government Commission for Digital Government and the leadership of the process of drafting the National Development Plan.

In October 2006, House was involved in a scandal, because his older brother, Ciro, was linked to alleged drug trafficker George Nayoro suspected of planning an attack on alleged Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca.
The vice president always denied he had anything to do with the activities of his brother, who is also a lawyer, and had the backing of the president.

Kevin Casas speaks English and knows the French. Among his hobbies and interests out of travel literature, chess, cinema, jazz and squash.

http://www.brookings.edu.nyud.net:8090/~/media/Files/experts/casaszamorak/casaszamorak_portrait.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org.nyud.net:8090/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Kevin_Casas.JPG/225px-Kevin_Casas.JPG http://www.nacion.com.nyud.net:8090/proa/2007/diciembre/02/_Img/1792932_0.jpg

Kevin Casas-Zamora

[magbana]

2. Very young and quite a thick resume. It looks like he has several promoters

including Hillary.

[flamingdem]

3. Kevin Casas-Zemora spends too much time playing chess not enough w/real people

So the presidency without the presidential power was his idea? Nice theory dude.