Honduran high court rules against Zelaya's return

[L. Coyote]

Source: PRESSTV = the first Iranian international news network, broadcasting in English

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:43:43 GMT

The Honduran deposed President Manuel Zelaya cannot return to power, the country's Supreme Court has claimed in a non-binding ruling aimed at blocking his reinstatement.

While the court failed on Wednesday to publish the full text of its ruling, sources and lawyers familiar with the proceedings said the court has not altered its earlier decisions and supports Zelaya's removal for his efforts to amend the constitution on presidential terms limits.

Following the Court's ruling, which will be submitted to legislators, it will be up to the Honduran Congress to decide on Zelaya's reinstatement.

.............

Washington is widely suspected of involvement in the military coup that forced Zelaya out of office. The US military is known to have a dominating influence in the Honduran armed forces and political establishments.

Read more: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=112260§ionid=351020706

---

No big surprise here, except that the timing seems to be geared for the coming election.

===================
Previous LATEST compilation threads:

Threats, Detentions, Persecutions Prior to Honduran Polls
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4157480

Honduras regime seeks to disarm citizens ahead of polls
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4155309

[L. Coyote]

1. Assassination of the anti-coup resistance leader after public arrest and beating

Honduran People Leader Assassination Worsens Crisis
http://www.periodico26.cu/english/news_world/november2009/honduras-assasination112509.html


Tegucigalpa, Nov 25, (PL).- Assassination of the anti-coup resistance leader in the southern Honduran .... National Front against the Coup d'état leader Luis Gradis Espinal's corpse was found on Tuesday after he was arrested by the police, human rights authorities denounced.

Reports by the Front said 56-year-old Espinal, retired teacher, had left on Sunday southern Valle department for the capital, and his whereabouts had been unknown since then.

A witness said the vehicle in which she was travelling with Espinal was stopped at the city's Beltway by a police patrol and the teacher was arrested and also beaten with a pistol in his head.

The Detainees and Missing People's Relatives' Committee (CAFADEH) reported that Espinal's corpse was found in Las Casitas sector, in the capital's western area.........

That alliance of people forces reiterated a call to ignore actively the elections, which it considers a complete sham to legitimize the military coup .....

[L. Coyote]

2. No UN Observer to Honduran Elections

No UN Observer to Honduran Elections
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2009/november/26/centam-091126-02.htm


UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations will not send observers to elections called by the de facto regime in Honduras on Sunday, an official spokesman confirmed.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's official spokesman Farhan Haq told Prensa Latina that the organization will have no role in the polls.

The United Nations is not involved whatsoever in the Honduran elections next weekend, he said in response to a question about an eventual presence of UN observers in the Central American countries.

.......

Other important international player, including OAS and the Spanish Government, have already announced that they will not send observers to the Honduran polls.

Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay and other Latin American countries warned that they will not recognize the election results .......

[L. Coyote]

3. UN Members Read Zelaya Letter to Obama

UN Members Read Zelaya Letter to Obama
http://www.periodico26.cu/english/news_world/november2009/zelaya-obama112509.html


United Nations, Nov 25, (PL).- Circulation at the United Nations of a letter by Honduran constitutional President Manuel Zelaya to US President Barack Obama has reactivated the issue of the current crisis in this Central American nation.

The letter was sent 10 days ago by the Honduran president..... Copies of the message to the White House tenant were also sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UN General Asembly President Ali Treki.

......

In his letter to the US president, Zelaya announced his refusal to return to his post in order to not supporting a maneuver to mask the coup that overthrew him.

He also criticized Obama's change of stance in favor of the forces that broke the democratic order in Honduras and deplored Washington's support for the elections that will be held on Sunday.

Zelaya warned about the illegal nature of those elections ......

[L. Coyote]

4. Trampling on Honduran democracy

Trampling on Honduran democracy
o Calvin Tucker
o guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 November 2009 11.30 GMT - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/26/honduras-democracy-election-us

The election in Honduras has the blessing of the US, but not the people, their president or the rest of the world

On Sunday, Honduras's coup regime, with the support of the US, is staging a presidential election of a special kind. Voters will have a choice of two candidates: the coup supporter Porfirio Lobo or the coup supporter Elvin Santos. The anti-coup candidate, Carlos Reyes, has withdrawn his nomination and condemned the election as fraudulent.

"Cash discounts" will be offered to anyone who can prove they voted, courtesy of the country's coup-supporting big business federation. Trade unions and social movements calling for a boycott of the election are facing mafia-style threats, with the regime's chief of police boasting that he has compiled a blacklist of "all those of the left". "We removed the so-called head , and we know everyone, from A to Z, that forms part of these groups."

Those on the blacklist have good cause to be concerned. Since Zelaya was overthrown by the military in June, 4,000 people have been arrested, hundreds beaten and hospitalised and dozens charged with sedition. Yet more have been kidnapped, raped, tortured, "disappeared" and assassinated.

Independent media has fared little better. Anti-coup TV and radio stations have been raided by the army and forced off air; their broadcasting equipment confiscated or destroyed with acid. In one case, journalists leapt from third-floor windows to escape the soldiers.

Yet Hondurans have continued marching, striking, blocking roads – and meanwhile getting used to day and night curfews, the smell of tear gas and the grief for friends and family members murdered by the coup regime. .....

.................

[L. Coyote]

5. Elections in Honduras Ought Not Be Blessed by U.S. Policymakers

Elections in Honduras Ought Not Be Blessed by U.S. Policymakers
Sarah Stephens, Director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas
Posted: November 26, 2009 08:55 - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-stephens/elections-in-honduras-oug_b_371541.html


During my last visit to Honduras with a delegation that included Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, we met a man named Jose David Murillo. Jose's son, 19-year old Isis Obed, was shot and killed on July 5, as he and thousands of others clamored for the return of President Manual Zelaya who'd been deposed in a military coup a week earlier and was trying to land at Tegucigalpa's airport in a chartered airplane.

Jose learned of his son's fate when he called him on his cell phone that day; someone from the morgue answered and told him the phone's owner was dead. For me, he had a message: We've pinned our hopes in God and international justice, he said, because our internal justice system is not working.

Jose's words still echo in Honduras, even as the country prepares to vote for a new president, a new Congress and mayors on Sunday. Since the military rustled Zelaya from bed at gunpoint on June 28, and hustled him into an airplane that took him to Costa Rica, human rights groups say that more than twenty people actively opposed to the coup have been killed and hundreds have been injured.

Thousands of individuals opposed to the coup have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and many charged with political crimes such as "sedition." In Honduras, our delegation met numerous people who'd been beaten by police and the military, and one 13-year old boy who'd been shot in the stomach by security forces. A mother came to us in tears, wondering when her son would be able to return from exile after his role in the resistance had put him in danger and forced him to flee.

...................

[L. Coyote]

6. The Honduran Coup: A Graphic History

The Honduran Coup: A Graphic History
Nikil Saval and Dan Archer
Posted: November 25, 2009 12:40 PM - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nikil-saval/the-honduran-coup-a-graph_b_370749.html


..... Read the first part of The Honduran Coup: A Graphic History here.(http://www.alternet.org/world/143325/striking_graphic_novel_tells_story_of_honduras_coup_and_unrest)

After a considerable delay, the US finally intervened to broker a deal on Oct 30, which has since been rejected outright by Zelaya and decried by the International community. Despite its previous solidarity with the deposed President, the US has now agreed to recognize the new elections that are scheduled for November 29, with or without Zelaya's restitution. Why the change of heart for the Obama administration?

In our follow-up to The Honduran Coup: A Graphic History, (http://www.alternet.org/world/143325/striking_graphic_novel_tells_story_of_honduras_coup_and_unrest) which was published online at Alternet.org in October, we look at the situation on the ground in Honduras, examining the details of the proposed accord and the background realpolitik that led to the sudden change of heart in the US's stance. See the links below each page for their sources and corroborating evidence.

...............

[G_j]

8. excellent job

thanks!

[Peace Patriot]

7. 'for his efforts to amend the constitution on presidential terms limits.' This baldfaced LIE

has gone far and wide. This is a perfect example of what "disinformation" is--a LIE aimed at confusing public discussion, which is then trumpeted through the corpo-fascist press so that, even if they later correct their scribblings, the damage has been done,. Their failure to investigate the charge--or failure to print the truth about it--is an egregious journalistic crime, repeatedly committed on this matter.

For the record, once again, here is the ENTIRE RESOLUTION that President Zelaya proposed for an ADVISORY vote of the people:

"Do you agree that, during the general elections of November 2009 there should be a fourth ballot to decide whether to hold a Constituent National Assembly that will approve a new political constitution?"

It had nothing whatever to do with term limits. Zelaya never said he wanted this constitutional convention to address term limits. The vote could not have extended his term limit. It was a GRASS ROOTS proposal--from labor unions, religious advocates of the poor and community groups--to begin a process of reforming Honduras' rancid political system and a Constitution (written by Reagan's henchmen in the 1980s) that Oscar Arias has called "the worst in the world." This process would have taken years. It first had to go to Congress, and be approved there. The Constituent Assemblies had to be voted on, with participation by all sectors of Honduran society. Then they had to review and discuss all aspects of the Constitution, and agreee on revisions. Then it would have had to go to a vote of the people. Zeyala's term is is up in January. Zelaya proposed this ADVISORY vote because he agreed with the grass roots groups that Honduras needs fundamental reform.

And for THAT, they threw him out of office, shot up his home, terrified his wife and children, dragged him out of bed at gunpoint and put him on a plane with blackened windows into exile in Costa Rica, while declaring martial law in Honduras, shutting down the media and beating up, arresting, torturing and even killing anyone who objected.

BoRev has quotes from some the corpo-fascist sources that LIED ABOUT this proposal. It is from BoRev that I got my first look at the actual resolution, which nobody in our controlled press even bothered to print (that I know of). Instead, they took the golpistas' word for what it said!

http://www.borev.net/2009/06/national_news_outlets_bring_th.html

[naaman fletcher]

18. thanks for the info.. i had no idea!

[Judi Lynn]

19. Thanks for revealing that terrifying item:polling for opinion on something to be decided long AFTER

Zelaya's term was completed in January, 2010.

Hope they will figure this out for themselves in the New Year.

[WriteDown]

23. I agree 100% but...

apparently their SC and Congress wanted him out.

[ronnie624]

38. Just because the supreme court and congressional leaders don't like the president,

doesn't mean they have the legal authority to arbitrarily oust him. Instituting a coup d'etat against a popular, legally elected president is definitely a violation of the spirit of democracy, and probably a violation of the laws of every country in the world that claims to be a democracy, including Honduras. It is also a violation of the UN Charter. Coup d'etat is inconsistent with democracy, and Democrats who genuinely embrace their party's namesake and principles, should accept no excuses for it.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

39. Their supreme court disagreed

[Peace Patriot]

42. They shot up his house. They dragged him from his bed at 5 am in the morning,

terrifying his wife and children. They took him to a plane at gunpoint, forced him on board and flew him out of the country, then left him in his pajamas on the tarmac at an airport in Costa Rica! The President of the country!

You're telling me this was a LEGAL act?!

If they had any case at all against Zelaya, why didn't they confront him with the charges against him, in a court of law, or congress, permit him to defend himself, and deliberate and making a ruling WITH THE ACCUSED PRESENT?

That is just the most fundamental human right of all. Habeas corpus--being TOLD the charges against you, to your face, and permitting you to answer them.

He then tried to return to Honduras, offering himself for arrest, and they blocked the roads and blocked the airport and wouldn't let his plane land!

Yeah, they really had a case to bring against this PRESIDENT. Not.

Then they declared MARTIAL LAW, shut down the media, arrested, strongarmed and deported international media, poured acid on the broadcast equipment of one anti-coup TV station in Honduras, and stole the broadcast equipment of another. They surrounded public buildings with soldiers and armored vehicles. Then they started teargassing, beating up, arresting, and using live ammunition as well as rubber bullets on anyone who protested. All protests were peaceful! And people started disappearing. And reports of rape and torture in prison began to be reported. AT LEAST ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE have been murdered--for their political views!

Where is their Supreme Court, huh? Where is their Supreme Court when the people of Honduras need to them most--to enforce their CONSTITUTIONAL rights?! Mitcheletti did anything he damned please. He suspended all civil rights. There have essentially been NO CIVIL RIGHTS in Honduras since their crime against Zelaya. Deportation of any Honduran citizen is expressly forbidden by the CONSTITUTION.

This Supreme Court's contempt for the rule of law couldn't be clearer.

If we needed any illustration of WHY the labor unions, grass roots groups, poverty advocates and human rights groups all over Honduras were calling for reform and a constitutional assembly, THIS and the behavior of the Honduran congress are the perfect example. When the Honduran congress met, AFTER the President had been forcefully exiled, to condemn Zelaya and choose a junta president, they BARRED members who disagreed! They then presented a FORGED Zelaya letter of resignation, and trumped up all kind of charges against him in his absence.

These are some characters we're seeing in the Honduran "ten families" oligarchy, who run Honduras like their private fiefdom. Utterly disgraceful and criminal behavior in any court of law in any democracy in the world. Verboten. Not okay. Fundamental rights egregiously violated, not just once, not just for a day, not just for two weeks, not just for a month--FOR FIVE MONTHS NOW, harming thousands of people! There are no freedoms in Honduras TODAY. The MILITARY is running this absurdity of an 'election.'

Geez. Get informed! Please!

And THIS is what our government permitted to happen and is about to endorse--spitting in the eye of the OAS and virtually all of Latin America, not to mention the EU and the UN. All these entities, which have experienced, established election monitoring groups, that frequently monitor Latin American elections, have REFUSED to participate in this election. And so has the Carter Center. You know who they have "monitoring" this election? John McCain's "INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICAN INSTITUTE," which funneled $43 million in US taxpayer money to rightwing, coup-supporting groups in Honduras--and other absolutely rancid organizations.

And there are ominous signs that more golpista violence is coming. They haven't done punishing the Honduran people for daring to ask for reform.

"Their supreme court disagreed." Give me a break.

[EFerrari]

43. And it's likely they were well paid for it. The Honduran Supreme Court

isn't known for its judicial integrity. For example:

"The State Department’s 2008 human rights report writes: “Although the constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, the judicial system was poorly funded and staffed, inadequately equipped, often ineffective, and subject to patronage, corruption, and political influence…. Low wages and lack of internal controls rendered judicial officials susceptible to bribery, and powerful special interests exercised influence in the outcomes of court proceedings. There are 12 appeals courts, 77 courts of first instance with general jurisdiction, and 330 justice of the peace courts with limited jurisdiction. The Supreme Court of Justice names all lower court judges. The media and various civil society groups continued to express concern that the eight-to-seven split between the National and Liberal parties in the Supreme Court of Justice resulted in politicized rulings and contributed to corruption in public and private institutions.”

from Fact Checking Lanny Davis

http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_15/issue_14/opinion_10.html

[flamingdem]

9. Thanks for the info! nt

[L. Coyote]

10. Honduran military dictatorship arms itself with weapons and munitions of death

Honduran military dictatorship arms itself with weapons and munitions of death and declares war on the National Front of Non-Violent Resistance
PostDateIcon Wed, 11/25/2009 - 1:48pm | http://quixote.org/honduran-military-dictatorship-arms-itself-weapons-and-munitions-death-and-declares-war-national-fro


COFADEH Alert: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 *Military Dictatorship arms itself with weapons and munitions of death and declares war on the National Front of Non-Violent Resistance.*

The military-political-corporate dictatorship, by means of Roberto Micheletti, has moved its shadowy web to arm itself to the teeth, coming into possession in recent days of equipment and munitions of war, to turn the electoral process into a battlefield and confront the imaginary enemy represented by the National Front of Resistance against the Coup D’Etat.

The Committee of the Families of Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) has confirmed information that demonstrates these facts:

In a communication circulated November 9, 2009, by the Secretary of Finance of the de facto regime to the authorities of the Customs in the Port of Cortes, there was ordered the tax- free importation of an armored truck for control of street disturbances, based on the Ford truck model F750, with a Cummins diesel motor with six speed transmission, with all the accessories, at a cost of $11,990,000.00 USD ($11 million 990 thousand dollars), coming from the United States, through intermediary of the representative company, Commercio e Inversiones S. de R.L. of C.V. and co-signed by the Secretary of Security.

This death machine is equipped with a mounted water canon with 300 pounds of pressure and 150 gallons per minute capacity, 4 armored cameras with 360 degree vision, operated from video recording stations within the truck.

In addition, the heavy machine is equipped with doors for the placement of weapons, a barricade remover in front, rotation devices in all the tires in the case of flats, sirens, police lights, LCD monitors on console and rear station platform, protected by armor on the floor, in the windows, motor, radiator, fuel tank and battery.

The scandalous cost invested in leathal weapons registered in purchase Order SDES-0584-2009 is signed by the Secretary of Security, Jorge Rodas Gamero, who switched taking instructions from his commander Manuel Zelaya Rosales and now fulfills the whims of Roberto Micheletti.

Elsewhere the General Secretary of Finance, Rafael Antonio Trejo sent a note to the customs authorities in the La Mesa in San Pedro Sula to authorize the entry at official expense of 10,000 tear gas hand grenades valued at 12,800,000 lempiras and 5,000 tear gas projectiles of 37 mm each valued at 4,950,000 lempiras for a total value of 17,750,000 lempiras, detailed in request number 003534.

The squandering of millions utilized in the purchase of munitions and urban combat units, added to the communications circulated to the mayors asking them to identify members of the Resistance against the Coup d’ Etat, in addition to the order to vacate the rooms in the hospital centers of the country, reaffirms the conclusion that we are facing terrible signs on the eve of the implementation of the spurious act that will take place on November 29.

Bertha Oliva at the School of the Amercias ProtestCOFADEH has denounced the fact that the public school teachers are being considered as military and police targets, many of whose members have been assassinated for condemning the coup d’etat and demanding the return of the constitutional order, and hundreds of teachers have been victims of brutal repression.

In maneuvers never before seen, the cities of Nacaome and San Lorenzo in the department of Valle are militarized for pursuit of the resistance in these places.

Yesterday November 23, we learned of the kidnapping by paramilitaries of Professor Luis Gradis Espinal (56 years of age), Coordinator of the Resistance in the southern zone, and today his lifeless body was found feet and hands tied on a dirt road in the hamlet Las Casitas, southwest of the capital, near an area where various military units are located.

Professor Gradis Espinal left his house last Sunday, November 22 for the capital with the objective of meeting with one of his sons. Confirmed versions have it that Gradis Espinal was driving his vehicle when he was intercepted by a motorized patrol in the periphery loop road of the capital. The teacher was captured and taken to an unknown place.

The teachers are being persecuted; some of them have been obliged to leave the country temporarily.

In the same way our concern is needed in the case of professor Marco Tulio Valdez, leader of the Resistance in San Lorenzo, Valle, since he is being strongly threatened by the military authorities who have taken absolute control of the department; from this moment we hold responsible this body, especially Commander Mendoza, for any attempts on the life of Valdez.

COFADEH energetically condemns the assassination of Luis Gradis Espinal, whose death is added to that of Roger Vallejo, Mario Contreras and Felix Murillo.Bertha Oliva

We exhort the national and international community to condemn these attacks to which the Honduran people are falling victim by the military dictatorship and once again we reiterate that the public act that will take place on November 29 is a military, police and paramilitary action.

*For the crimes and the perpetrators*

*We will not forget nor forgive*

*COFADEH* Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Translation: Steven Bartlett, Ag. Missions

[EFerrari]

11. I'm sure the timing had NOTHING to do with a four day holiday in the US.

Cabrones, you will reap what you sow.

[L. Coyote]

12. National Front against the Coup d'état leader Luis Gradis Espinal's corpse was found on Tuesday,

just before the election, as the police announce they have the names of all leftists.

Come Monday, they will have the names of everyone who did NOT vote. Will that also, like being liberal, be a heinous crime punishable by a summary execution death?

Back in the 80s in El Salvador, when liberals were shot at roadblocks, a general's son was mistaken for an ordinary liberal. Even that did not stop the roadside assassinations, of course!!

[peacetalksforall]

13. I am sick physically and spiritually by this administation. We knew the minute that we

heard the names Negroponte and Reich what the cards were. And now the support for the coup appears to be unwavering.

I think this issue is my breaking point. Two, Sec. Clinton, and President Obama, are lost to me.

I was not waving the flag for either of them during the campaign because of doubts I could not explain and support. I told myself that Obama would never betray me because he would not betray the other little people who rejoiced in his candidacy and worked for him and, any like me, who then dismissed the doubts in favor of breaking through the ceiling and centuries of very limited powers and lack of inequality which has made us the greatest of hypocritical nations.

The U.S. role in Honduras is my answer, I guess. Is there anything I am missing? Any news of efforts to reverse the coup - that are sincere?

I know about the military bases and the telecommunication interests, plus, of course, the earth resources, always the earth resources, including humans, even the sky and shore.

If what I sense is true, I must ask - how can either of them make claims about children.

Those are villages there. I thought 'it' takes 'villages'. This really hurts.

When we don't understand what is going on with our policy, we have feelings. Sorry to dump mine here.

Iran, Honduras, Venezuela, Bolivia - new mega evil and new axis of evil?

[L. Coyote]

14. No question, Obama and Clinton gave the GREEN LIGHT to the heinous murders

ongoing in Honduras. Policy has consequences, and signing off on an election before it happens is plain stupidity.

But, if you want to hang this on someone in Washington, do not forget
DeMint and the other Pinochelettis who openly provide support for the killers.
What Obama needs is to grow a pair and stand up to these idiots.

[peacetalksforall]

21. It looks like it's the US and Israel - and - the US and Michelletti coup - going it alone.

I wonder what Spain is saying and doing about Honduras - just for the heck of it - the leaders and the left of center folks.

When we lifted Aristedes right out of his country, as if by a crane - France was right there with CheneyBush on that coup d'etat.

[WriteDown]

22. I heard there are photos where Coke Zero operatives were

caught handing Obama and Clinton marching orders and stacks of bills. :eyes:

[anonymous171]

41. One call to the CIA and Zelaya could be back in power by next week.

I have no doubt Obama and company are supporting this.

[anonymous171]

15. I want those fascists dead. nt

[EFerrari]

17. I'd be satisfied with Hillary coming out against rape, kidnapping and murder.

[L. Coyote]

26. I want the Contitutional government restored and justice served, rather than

having good people become fascist murderers too!

[anonymous171]

40. How does killing a fascist make you a fascist?

:shrug:

[Judi Lynn]

16. Brazil says won't recognize new Honduran government

Brazil says won't recognize new Honduran government
Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:11am IST

MANAUS, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil will not recognize the winner of this weekend's election in Honduras as a legitimate president, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said on Thursday, setting the stage for a potential showdown with Washington.

Honduras will hold elections on Nov. 29 in hopes of ending a political crisis that began when soldiers toppled leftist President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, installing Roberto Micheletti as the country's de facto leader.

Asked whether Brazil would recognize the president emerging from elections in Honduras, Amorim said: "No, it will not."

More:
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-44276220091126?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=401

[Jack_DeLeon]

20. Good, people who violate the constituion of thier nation shouldnt be in power...

[EFerrari]

25. Yes, the Pinochettis should all be thrown in jail for their horrible abuses.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Countdown to the Honduran Electoral Farce

Countdown to the Honduran Electoral Farce
Friday, 27 November 2009, 4:36 pm
Column: Julie Webb-Pullman

http://img.scoop.co.nz.nyud.net:8090/stories/images/0911/01dc706d819b03b2147a.jpeg

Deputies, mayors and candidates lining up at the
Electoral Tribunal to submit their letters of resignation

From street vendors to specialists in internal medicine, retired people to professionals the resistance has come into the streets again today, as they have every day since the June 28 coup While the corporate media pretend it is business as usual (which if one considers the corruption, exploitation and human rights abuses, it undoubtedly is), that is not true of the tens of thousands whose daily lives have been put on hold for the last five months as they stand up to brutal repression for daring to demand their right to self-determination. Schools have close, teachers not been paid, many businesses have gone broke and been forced to close down.

From street vendors to specialists in internal medicine, retired people to professionals the resistance has come into the streets again today, as they have every day since the June 28 coup While the corporate media pretend it is business as usual (which if one considers the corruption, exploitation and human rights abuses, it undoubtedly is), that is not true of the tens of thousands whose daily lives have been put on hold for the last five months as they stand up to brutal repression for daring to demand their right to self-determination. Schools have close, teachers not been paid, many businesses have gone broke and been forced to close down.

The resistance is not just about the return of the constitutional President, Manuel Zelaya, but also about the peoples’ right to call a constituent assembly, their right to set up a process to develop a new constitution to replace the present one drawn up during the succession of military juntas controlling the country between the coup of 1963 until 1981, and that favours only a few - the rich oligarchs.

Whatever flights of fancy the U.S. media is indulging in to pass off this week’s elections as valid, no-one here is in any doubt that they in no way resemble the free, fair and open process that is the hallmark of a true democracy.

http://img.scoop.co.nz.nyud.net:8090/stories/images/0911/301906b8806d55ef5f44.jpeg

4WD with no number plates

The 4WDs and vans with tinted windows and no number plates cruising the street, and as often as not entering and leaving the heavily guarded basement car-park of the Electoral Tribunal itself, are indicative of the lack of accountability or transparency in the conduct of these elections. Such vehicles are precisely the same ones involved in the snatching of social movement leaders from streets and houses, people who later turn up beaten, tortured, dead – or not at all.

More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0911/S00312.htm

[L. Coyote]

27. COURT: Zelaya cannot be reinstated unless he first stands trial

Honduras Supreme Court Rules Against Reinstatement of Zelaya
Latin American Herald Tribune - November 27,2009 - http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=348087&CategoryId=10718


In a non-binding ruling that is to be sent this week to Congress, the Honduran Supreme Court has ruled that ousted President Manuel Zelaya cannot be reinstated unless he first stands trial on charges of violating the constitution.

TEGUCIGALPA – ..... opinion, which was similar to an earlier decision issued in August, was approved Wednesday night by 14 of the 15 justices .....

An arrest warrant is pending against Zelaya ....

[L. Coyote]

28. CDA to U.S. Policymakers: Don't Ratify Honduras Elections as 'Free and Fair'

CDA to U.S. Policymakers: Don't Ratify Honduras Elections as 'Free and Fair'

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sarah Stephens, executive director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA), released this statement urging the United States government not to ratify the elections in Honduras as 'free and fair.'

"It will be a great mistake if the U.S. government simply ratifies the results of the Honduras election and supports a process that whitewashes the coup and excuses violations of human and political rights that made it impossible for Hondurans to exercise freely their rights to vote.

"No election can be deemed 'free and fair' when a de facto regime presides over a campaign marked by human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, limits on the freedoms of expression and the right to organize, and attacks on the media.

"If the United States blesses this election, and the majority of governments in our hemisphere do not, we will be divided from our allies and our credibility as advocates for democracy will be compromised once again.

"Instead, U.S. policy makers should stand for a restoration of the democratic order, implementation of the San Jose Accord, ending the violations of human rights, and full respect for civil liberties and an independent media. We should also stand in full support of a national dialogue in Honduras so that all citizens can debate their nation's democratic institutions and discuss steps that are needed to reform and improve them without interference from the government.

"Circumstances in Honduras present before the coup - a debate over how marginalized sectors in society could gain political, social, and economic inclusion - are also present in nations across the hemisphere. It is urgent that U.S. policy makers avoid creating the impression that democratic gains obtained at the ballot box can be taken away at the whim of the military or powerful economic interests with the apparent acquiescence of the United States of America."

Ms. Stephens, who visited Honduras with two delegations during the recently concluded campaign, published an article on the elections here.

The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA) is devoted to changing U.S. policy toward the countries of the Americas by basing our relations on mutual respect, fostering dialogue with those governments and movements with which U.S. policy is at odds, and recognizing positive trends in democracy and governance.

SOURCE Center for Democracy in the Americas
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cda-to-us-policymakers-dont-ratify-honduras-elections-as-free-and-fair-75997832.html

[L. Coyote]

29. ITF: Honduras election ‘cannot be legitimate’

ITF: Honduras election ‘cannot be legitimate’
27 November 2009 - http://www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/3992


Commenting on the impending Honduran elections Antonio Fritz, ITF Americas regional secretary, today stated:

“On the 28th of June Honduras’ democracy was stolen by a group of corrupt politicians backed by the military. Since then, despite their complete lack of credibility, they have scrabbled to justify this coup d’etat in the face of world public opinion and protests by the Organization of American States (OAS), governments and the international trade union movement.”

“In the face of rejection both abroad and at home, those responsible for the coup have stooped to attacking freedom of speech, attacking trade unions and, indeed, the Honduran people’s human rights.”

Antonio Fritz continued: “The ITF, along with trade unions worldwide, condemns these tactics and the cowardly ambitions that motivated them, and stands in support of those harmed, abused and arrested since June. We back the people of Honduras who, in different and innovative ways, continue to fight for democracy and freedom for their country.”

“In our view José Manuel Zelaya is still the elected President of Honduras, and the only legitimate elections would be those that follow the ending of the current, unelected government. The only way to restore democracy in the country is through a return to the law and respect for the constitution.”

He concluded: “We call on the international community, the United Nations, the OAS and the international trade union movement not to recognise the results of any election called by Micheletti and the military regime. We further call on governments and international financial institutions to cease sending funds to that regime which are likely to be used to finance repression, violence and corruption.”

ENDS

[L. Coyote]

30. U.S. Groups That Supported Coups in Haiti and Venezuela Will Observe Elections

U.S. Groups That Supported Coups in Haiti and Venezuela Will Observe Elections in Honduras
The Center for Economic and Policy Research - Friday, 27 November 2009 - http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2226/68/


International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute Plan to Observe Elections Controlled by Honduran Military and Police

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), organizations that receive funding from the U.S. State Department, are planning on sending delegations to observe the November 29 elections in Honduras, according to a statement issued by Republican Senator Richard Lugar. The IRI is a group that has supported the ouster of democratically elected presidents in Haiti and Venezuela in recent years. Both groups are apparently planning to assist with observation of the elections, despite the fact that the electoral process will be effectively controlled by thousands of military troops and police officers -- the same forces who have committed innumerable human rights violations, including killings, rapes, beatings and thousands of detentions, since the June 28 coup d'etat.

"I am surprised to see NDI joining the International Republican Institute in its efforts to legitimize another coup," Center for Economic and Policy Research Co-Director Mark Weisbrot said. "NDI has generally been less willing to support coups and anti-democratic regimes than has its Republican counterpart."

Weisbrot noted that NDI steered clear of IRI's involvement in the ouster of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004, which became the subject of controversy following a major 2006 investigative report in the New York Times. When IRI publicly applauded the 2002 coup d'etat against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in a press release, the NDI remained silent. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) -- the primary funder of both IRI and NDI -- expressed its disagreement with IRI for voicing its support for an "unconstitutional" action.

NDI's plans to observe the elections have been surprising because Democratic leaders in Congress, including Senator John Kerry and Representative Howard Berman, have repeatedly expressed their opposition to the coup, and other congressional Democrats have urged President Obama not to recognize elections held under the coup regime.

Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, has written that ongoing human rights abuses under the coup regime, including continued repression of trade unionists, makes it impossible to hold free and fair elections. .........

............. much more .........

[L. Coyote]

31. Honduras: Stockpile of tear gas grenades uncovered-fears of election abuses

Honduras: Stockpile of tear gas grenades uncovered-fears of election abuses
Posted: 27 November 2009 - http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=18523


Amnesty International has learned that the de facto authorities in Honduras have stock piled 10,000 tear gas cans and other crowd control equipment, triggering fears of an increased risk of excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces around the presidential elections.

An Amnesty International delegation in Honduras to monitor the human rights situation around the presidential elections on Sunday 29 November received information of the recent official purchase of 10,000 tear gas grenades, 5,000 projectiles for tear gas grenades and a water spray tank, as well as the deployment of several thousands reservists.

Head of Amnesty International's delegation to Honduras, Javier Zuniga said:

'Since taking power, the de facto authorities have allowed the security forces to use tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to punish demonstrators in Honduras, causing several deaths and serious injuries, and nobody has been held responsible.

'The past misuse of tear gas and other crowd control equipment, together with the lack of guarantees that the purchased equipment will not be used to attack demonstrators and the absence of investigations on past abuses paints an extremely worrying picture of what might happen over the next few days.'

It is not clear how this new equipment will be used ..................

[L. Coyote]

32. No Fair Election In Honduras Under Military Occupation

No Fair Election In Honduras Under Military Occupation
Dana Frank - November 26, 2009 01:04 PM - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-frank/no-fair-election-in-hondu_b_371669.html


As the Honduran election approaches this Sunday, let's be clear about the conditions under which it is taking place. Human rights abuses are rampant, freedom of speech is under attack, and the election process is in the hands of the very people who perpetrated the coup. Clearly, no free and fair election is possible under the repressive thumb of the military coup that has been in place for five months.

While the 23 nations of the Rio Group from Latin America and the Caribbean have condemned the election and announced they will not recognize its outcome, the Obama administration still insists it will recognize the results -- once again isolating the United States from those who are upholding democracy in the hemisphere.

President Obama should join the rest of the world and immediately declare the elections fraudulent and demand the immediate restoration of President Manuel Zelaya, the withdrawal of the Honduran military, and a delay of the election until three months after Zelaya has been full reinstated.

Imagine a "free and fair election" under the conditions in Honduras today (and imagine if this were taking place in the United States):

* The same Honduran military,which perpetrated the June 28 coup forcing President Manuel Zelaya out of the country, and which has brutally occupied the country for five months, physically controls the ballots, the ballot boxes, the computers that tabulate the results, and the dissemination of the outcome.

* The legitimate President of the country is being held captive in the Brazilian Embassy under draconian circumstances, and has denounced the elections as fraudulent.

* The leading opposition candidate, the independent Carlos H. Reyes--who has a real chance of winning a free and fair election--has withdrawn his name from the ballot in protest. Throughout the country, hundreds of candidates for congress and municipal office, including those from the mainstream parties, have announced they are withdrawing from the election. They include the mayor of San Pedro Sula, the nation's second largest city.

............................

[L. Coyote]

33. Obama Backing of Honduras Election Crimps Latin America Ties

Obama Backing of Honduras Election Crimps Latin America Ties
By Janine Zacharia - http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=a4QDwm3DYQBQ


Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s backing of an election in Honduras widely seen by Latin American allies as illegitimate leaves the U.S. isolated regionally and has increased tensions with Brazil.

Most countries in Latin America, except Panama, have said deposed President Manuel Zelaya must be returned to office before a vote and have cited Zelaya’s restoration as a prerequisite for their recognition of the election results.

In the past three weeks, the U.S. backed off that demand, prompting warnings from Zelaya and analysts that the tolerance of his removal may invite coups elsewhere.

“The clumsy handling of this issue when they had the backing of the entire hemisphere is simply an embarrassment,” said Robert White, a former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador under President Jimmy Carter who heads the Center for International Policy in Washington. .........

............... The U.S. has political, military and economic interests in Honduras, which borders Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. The U.S. is Honduras’s top trading partner. American military personnel operate from an air base there ................

[L. Coyote]

35. U.S. risks isolation over Honduras election: Brazil

U.S. risks isolation over Honduras election: Brazil
Nov 27, 2009 9:03am EST - http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5AQ2HK20091127


By Raymond Colitt and Natuza Nery

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The United States risks souring relations with much of Latin America if it recognizes upcoming elections in Honduras, the foreign policy adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview on Wednesday.

Honduras will on November 29 hold elections which de facto leader Roberto Micheletti hopes will end a political crisis that began when soldiers exiled leftist President Manuel Zelaya in June.

Washington -- which condemned the coup -- has not announced an official position on the election but has suggested it will support the outcome by saying recognition of the presidential election was not contingent on Zelaya's reinstatement.

"The United States will become isolated. That is very bad for the United States and its relationship with Latin America," Marco Aurelio Garcia told Reuters, after he spoke on the telephone to White House national security adviser Jim Jones.

"Very important countries -- the majority in terms of population and political weight -- won't recognize (the result)," said Garcia. .................

[L. Coyote]

36. Brazil's Lula Answers Obama's Letter. Disagreements Persist

Brazil's Lula Answers Obama's Letter. Disagreements Persist
Written by Émerson Luiz - Friday, 27 November 2009 - http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/11476/1/


Minister Celso Amorim from Brazil Brazil's Foreign Relations minister Celso Amorim told reporters that he talked for about an hour this Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, with US's Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and that there is no crisis between Washington and Brasília.

........

The Obama administration has argued in recent weeks that the elections in Honduras would put an end to the crisis started with the coup d'état that ousted president Manuel Zelaya from power. Zelaya ended up reentering the country clandestinely and taking refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. That's where he's been for the last two months.

The Brazilian Foreign minister, however, let Clinton know, this Thursday, that Brazil won't accept the results of the Sunday's election in Honduras whoever the winner is. Obama condemned the coup when it occurred, but according to the Brazilian authorities, caved in due to pressure by Republican legislators.

"We argued very politely. We disagreed. We will see how things evolve," said Amorim referring to his conversation with the secretary of State.

"A coup d'état cannot be legitimized as a way of political change," said Amorim. "Our concern," added aide Garcia echoing Amorim, "is that the theory of the preventive coup be introduced in Latin America."

Garcia pointed out that approving Micheletti's "adventure" will encourage other countries to oust their legitimate elected leaders increasing political instability in Latin America.

.................

[L. Coyote]

34. New LATEST thread: Stock pile of tear gas grenades in Honduras triggers fears of human rights abuses

Stock pile of tear gas grenades in Honduras triggers fears of human rights abuses
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4162029

[fascisthunter]

37. more blood on America's Hands

and yet too many citizens still believe we are a good country. Well, I believe most of the people here in the States are good people, I just know this government is anything but representative of the majority of good people in this country.