8 November 2009By Stephen Lendman
On October 29,
Honduran coup d'etat "president" Roberto Micheletti
announced that:
"....a few minutes ago I authorized my negotiating
team to sign a final agreement" to let Congress and
the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) decide whether or
not deposed President Manuel Zelaya may return to
office and complete the remaining weeks of his term,
expiring on January 27. If he does, will it matter?
Zelaya is a wealthy businessman, a member of the
right-wing Liberal Party (PL), a former National
Congress Deputy from 1985 - 1998, a former PL Minster
for Investment, and president from January 27, 2006 to
when he was deposed on June 28.
His 2005 presidential campaign was largely on a
law-and-order platform with pledges that, if elected,
he'd address Honduras' crime problem with more police
programs against and reeducation ones for violent
international and local street gang members.
Zelaya also joined Venezuela's Bolivarian Alternative
of the Americas (ALBA) based on fair, not one-sided
"free" trade; complementarity, not competition;
solidarity, not domination; cooperation, not
exploitation; and respect for each nation's sovereign
freedom from corporate control.
According to supporters like Alejandra Fernandez, a
Honduran student, he also:
"raised the minimum wage, gave out free school
lunches, provided milk for the babies and pensions for
the elderly, distributed energy-saving light bulbs,
decreased the price of public transportation, (and)
made more scholarships available for students." In
addition, he built roads and schools in rural areas.
"That's why the elite classes can't stand him and why
we want him back. This is really a class struggle."
One the Resistance is detemined to win and hardliners
aim to crush.
The Coup d' Etat
On June 28, dozens of Honduran soldiers stormed
Zelaya's residence at night, arrested him in his
pajamas at gunpoint, and exiled him to Costa Rica in
violation of the 1982 Constitution that states:
"No Honduran may be expatriated nor delivered by the
authorities to a foreign state," nor may a
democratically elected leader be deposed.
On July 3, the Honduran army's top lawyer, Col.
Herberth Bayardo Inestroza, admitted as much in a
Miami Herald interview saying:
"We know there was a crime there. In the moment that
we took him out of the country, in the way that he was
taken out, there is a crime. Because of the
circumstances of the moment this crime occurred, there
is going to be a justification and cause for acquittal
that will protect us."
He meant protection from the Constitution's Article
239 (crafted by a military government to subordinate
civilians to repressive rule) that states:
"No citizen that has already served as head of the
Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President.
Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform, as
well as those that support such violation directly or
indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions
and will be unable to hold any public office for a
period of 10 years."
Also, Article 374 stating:
"It is not possible to reform, in any case, the
preceding article, the present article, the
constitutional articles referring to the form of
government, to the national territory, to the
presidential period, the prohibition to serve again as
President of the Republic, the citizen who has
performed under any title in consequence of which
she/he cannot be President of the Republic in the
subsequent period."
Zelaya didn't suggest it or break the law in calling
for a simple non-binding June 28 "yes" or "no"
referendum on one question:
"Do you think that the November 2009 general elections
should include a fourth ballot box (the other three
being for candidates) in order to make a decision
about the creation of a National Constituent Assembly
that would approve a new Constitution?"
The Honduran Congress and military opposed it. The CSJ
illegally ruled it unconstitutional, ordered no
distribution of ballot boxes, and threatened those
doing it with 8 - 12 years in prison for "abuse of
authority." The High Court and Congress are stacked
with right-wing ideologues. In addition, the Council
on Hemispheric Affairs calls the CSJ "one of the most
corrupt institutions in Latin America."
So is the military whose officers from captain on up
have been trained for decades at the infamous School
of the Americas (SOA), renamed the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISEC), where
they're taught the latest ways to kill, maim, torture,
oppress, exterminate poor and indigenous people,
overthrow democratically elected governments,
assassinate targeted leaders, suppress popular
resistance when it erupts, and work cooperatively with
Washington to solidify hard-right rule, intolerant of
progressive change - familiar tactics since June 28.
The day before, the military set off a chain of
events. Reports said Zelaya fired Joint Chiefs Head
General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez for refusing to
distribute ballot boxes. He denied it. Velasquez may
have resigned on his own. So did Defense Minister
Edmundo Orellana and several military commanders.
Nonetheless, the CSJ and Congress called Velasquez's
dismissal illegal. Military forces deployed around
Tegucigalpa, surrounded the Presidential Palace, and
took over the airport and borders in advance of the
planned coup, made in Washington, of course, like
numerous others for decades.
Zelaya, nonetheless, ordered ballot boxes distributed.
Congress recommended removing him. The Federal
Prosecutor's Office announced that anyone setting up
polling stations or promoting the referendum would be
prosecuted. Anti-Zelaya forces urged a boycott.
Right-wing media hype called the vote illegal, a ploy
to re-elect Zelaya, a way to shift his conservative
Liberal Party far-left, a scheme to solidify his
Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA)
membership and let Chavez make Honduras socialist. In
a pro forma June 29 pronouncement, the CSJ reinstated
Velasquez. The Catholic Church backed the coup
government. Months of terror followed, including:
-- imposing military rule, martial law, and a state of
siege;
-- deploying combat troops on city streets;
-- suspending civil liberties, including habeas, the
right of assembly, free movement and free expression;
-- committing thousands of human rights violations;
-- thousands more illegal arrests;
-- dozens of killings, beatings, kidnappings, and
nationwide intimidation;
-- according to the human rights NGO Comite de
Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras
(Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared - COFADEH),
torturing and sodomizing men and gang-raping women;
-- reactivating the infamous Battalion 316, the
CIA-created death squads that disappeared, tortured,
and exterminated regime opponents in the 1980s;
-- silencing the independent media; and
-- harassing and arresting Honduran and foreign
journalists; at least one was murdered, Gabriel Fino
Noreiga on July 3.
Barack Obama ignored the worst of state terror in
support of coup d'etat rule - no surprise from a
president calling the fraudulent Afghan election "a
step forward...to advance democracy, peace and
justice....in "the interests of the Afghan people
(and) a reflection of a commitment to the rule of
law."
Post-coup on Veneuela's TV Telesur, Zelaya called his
ouster:
a "kidnapping. An extortion of the Honduran democratic
system. And I will ask the presidents of the Americas,
including the US president - I want to hear the US
Ambassador Hugo Llorens in Tegucigalpa if they are
behind this, and if not, clear it up, because if the
US is not behind this coup, they won't be able to stay
there forty-eight hours."
For over 100 years, Washington repeatedly intervened
in Central and Latin American affairs - by invasions,
bombings, occupations, assassinations, countless
episodes of destabilization and election rigging, and
numerous coup d'etats against leaders it wished to
depose.
Zelaya was the latest, confirmed by the Obama
administration's refusal to cut diplomatic ties, halt
military aid, impose sanctions as US law requires, or
call the ouster a coup.
Announced Deal
On October 30, New York Times writers Ginger Thompson
and Elisabeth Malkin headlined, "Deal Set to Restore
Ousted Honduran President." To what given the agreed
on terms. On October 29, AP reported that:
"opposing political factions resumed talks (today in
hopes of reaching a deal) to end the power crisis that
has paralyzed the country" since June 28. "The two
sides returned to the negotiating table a day after
visiting US diplomats urged both factions to be more
flexible and find a solution (ahead of) scheduled"
November 29 presidential, parliamentary, and municipal
elections.
Terms of the So-Called Agreement/Accord
Signed on October 30, it's for Congress and the CSJ to
approve it. Titled "Accord for National Reconciliation
and the Strengthening of Democracy in Democracy," it's
as Orwellian as "War is peace. Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength."
Post-coup, The Hill.com reported that the far-right
Business Council of Latin America (CEAL) hired former
Bill Clinton special counsel, Lanny Davis' firm,
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, to lobby Congress and
conduct a supportive PR campaign for its leaders.
Lobbyist Bennett Ratcliff was enlisted to work with
Davis, and according to an unnamed source in The New
York Times, the Micheletti government hasn't made a
move without first consulting him.
These men, their associates, and legal staff prepared
the Accord, the way business sectors craft all
Washington legislation affecting them.
It begins saying:
"We, Honduran citizens, men and women, convinced of
the need to strengthen the rule of law, protect our
Constitution and the laws of our Republic, deepen
democracy and ensure a climate of peace and
tranquility for our people, have carried out an
intense and frank process of political dialogue to
seek a peaceful and negotiated solution to the crisis
in which our country has been submerged in recent
months."
Terms include:
1. Forming a "National Unity and Reconciliation
Government."
Fact Check
Only hardliners need apply, and if reinstated, Zelaya
will finish his term as an impotent puppet head of
state.
2. Renouncing "a Call for a National Constituent
Assembly and Amending the Unamendable Articles of the
Constitution."
Fact Check
According to Article 5 of the 2006 Honduran "Civil
Participation Act," government officials may hold
non-binding inquiries (referenda) to determine popular
support for proposed measures. Gauging sentiment for a
National Constituent Assembly for a new Constitution
is legal. Illegally, Washington and Honduran
hardliners stopped it.
3. The coup regime calls on Hondurans to "peacefully
participate in the coming general election and to
avoid any type of demonstrations that oppose the
elections of their results, or promote insurrection,
unlawful conduct, civil disobedience or other acts
that could result in violent confrontations or
transgressions of the law."
Fact Check
Honduran coup opponents called for an election
boycott. On September 15, so did Zelaya saying:
"One cannot talk about the elections where there are
no guarantees that the will of the people is going to
be respected."
On October 24, 300 members of the two dominant
parties, the National Party (PL) and Liberal Party
(PL), announced they'll refuse to participate. Will
they now after the Accord was signed?
If some reports are accurate, Zelaya capitulated to
coup d'etat terms by calling the Accord a democratic
"triumph" - even though trade unionist independent
candidate and National Resistance Front member Carlos
Reyes and legislative deputy Cesar Ham of the small
leftist Democratic Unification (UD) party dropped out
of the presidential race on September 9. Most of the
remaining PN and PL candidates are conservative
hardliners who'll assure no possibility of democratic
change.
The elections will fill 2,896 positions, including the
presidency, all 128 National Congress deputies, 20
others to represent Honduras in the Central American
Parliament (PARLACEN), 298 mayors and another 2,000
municipal officials.
4. The Honduran military and police will be "placed at
the disposition of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal from
one month before the general elections for the purpose
of guaranteeing the free exercise of suffrage, the
custody, transport and surveillance of electoral
materials and other security aspects of the process."
Fact Check
Hardline security forces will subvert democratic
change. Hondurans will be disenfranchised if they back
the charade. In betraying his supporters, Zelaya
capitulated, meaning he'll support coup d'etat
authority.
5. The CSJ and Congress will "resolve the issue
regarding 'restoring possession of the Executive Power
to its status prior to June 28 until conclusion (of)
the current governmental period on January 27, 2010."
Fact Check
Two hard-right bodies will decide IF Zelaya is
reinstated and on what terms. He'll be impotent by
agreeing to the charade.
6. A "Verification Commission" will be created "to
verify commitments made under this Accord and those
deriving from it....composed of two (coup lackey)
members of the international community and two members
of the national community, the last two to be chosen,
one each, by" Micheletti and Zelaya.
Fact Check
Staunch Washington ally, Ricardo Lagos, former Chilean
president, and Obama's Labor Secretary, Hilda Solis,
will represent the international community along with
Jorge Eduardo Idiaquez, Zelaya's UN ambassador, and
coup lackey, Arturo Corrales Alvarez. A three to one
edge assures no chance for democratic change.
7. The coup regime calls for "Normalization of
Relations between the Republic of Honduras and the
International Community" to restore the status quo.
Fact Check
The regime wants international recognition for its
illegitimacy, continued hardline policies, and
apparently will get it.
8. The Verification Commission will handle
"differences regarding interpretation or application
of this Accord..."
Fact Check
Hardliners want rubber stamp approval. Commission
members chosen will assure it.
9. The Accord is effective on signing. The "following
calender for compliance" was agreed on:
(1) On October 30, signing the Accord into effect,
delivering it to Congress, and having it rule on Point
5, "Regarding the Executive Power."
(2) On November 2 or no later than November 5, forming
the Verification Commission and establishing the
"National Unity and Reconciliation Government."
(3) On January 27, "celebrating the transfer of
government."
The Accord was agreed to by Micheletti and Zelaya
representatives, Thomas Shannon, the former US
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere
Affairs and Obama's yet-to-be confirmed ambassador to
Brazil. Ostensibly, it will return Zelaya to office in
exchange for international support for subverting
democracy and continuity under far-right officials
taking over in January.
It also assures his impotence. Hardliners will be
empowered. Constitutional change will be prohibited.
Democracy will be subverted. Zelaya must distance
himself from Hugo Chavez. Perhaps other regional
center-leftists as well. Coup plotters will get
amnesty, and Zelaya may still be tried for treason for
ordering a legitimate referendum.
What's Next?
With elections in a few weeks, hardliners may stall,
obstruct, and from what Micheletti advisor, Marcia
Facusse de Villeda, told Bloomberg News maintain the
status quo until new officials take office in January.
"Zelaya won't be restored," she said. Further, "just
by signing this agreement we already have the
recognition of the international community for the
elections." From Washington for sure according to
Thomas Shannon. On November 4, Al Jazeera reported
that he:
"told CNN en Espanol (on November 3) that the US will
recognise the November 29 elections even if the
Honduran congress votes against Zelaya's return to
power before the vote."
No surprise, and according to Micheletti aide, Arturo
Corrales, Congress isn't in session so approving the
Accord will come "after the elections." Yet, according
to hondurasthisweek.com, the congressional Executive
Committee (Junta Directiva) met on November 3 to
evaluate the Accord, but what's next is anyone's guess
as Congress president, Jose Alfredo Saavedra, hasn't
convened an extraordinary legislative session to
decide on reinstatement. Nor has the CSJ ruled, yet
the November 5 midnight deadline came and passed.
Zelaya Reacts
Still holed up at the Brazilian embassy under threat
of arrest, Zelaya told Radio Globo: "There's no sense
in deceiving Hondurans." His negotiator, Jorge Reina,
said the Accord is dead because Congress failed to
vote by the agreed on date and added:
"The de facto regime has failed to live up to the
promise that, by this date (November 5), the national
(unity) government would be installed. And by law, it
should be presided by the president of Honduras,
Manuel Zelaya." Reina accused Micheletti of arranging
"a great electoral fraud this November. We completely
do not recognize this electoral process. Elections
under a dictatorship are a fraud for the people."
According to AP:
"Shortly before midnight, Micheletti announced that a
unity government had been created even though Zelaya
had not submitted his own list of members. Micheletti
said the new government was composed of candidates
proposed by political parties and civic groups."
In other words, mostly hardliners to solidify coup
d'etat rule even though earlier hondurasthisweek.com
cited a November 1 Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia
report saying Tegucigalpa diplomatic sources told the
paper that Thomas Shannon forced Zelaya's compliance
or risk his son, Hector's, prosecution on drugs
trafficking. He lives in America. Zelaya complied, but
as of November 6 no longer. Nonetheless, events are
fast moving with likely new developments in the hours
and days ahead.
At issue is how the international community will react
if a fake national unity government is established and
elections precede a vote on Zelaya's reinstatement.
The Organization of American States' (OAS)
Secretary-General, Jose Miguel Insulza, said he's
creating a "mission" to assure compliance, meaning
Zelaya must be reinstated once Congress and the CSJ
agree. However, no deadlines are set, so hardliners
may run out the clock and declare victory. They've
already won even though The New York Times reported
that:
"As news of the agreement spread, residents poured
from their homes and workplaces across Tegucigalpa,
the capital, to celebrate. Jubilation broke out in
streets," with more likely if Zelaya's reinstated.
It's not assured. Neither is what's next if it comes.
What if delay and obstruction follow, and what if
Venezuelan lawyer, author, and close Chavez confidant,
Eva Golinger, is right about more
Washington-instigated "coups in Paraguay, Nicaragua,
Ecuador and Venezuela, where subversion,
counterinsurgency and destabilization increase daily."
Latin America is being more militarized, the result of
Colombian president Alvaro Uribe giving the Pentagon
access to seven new military bases with US forces
currently on nine others, supplemented by the April
2008's Fourth Fleet's reactivation after a 60 year
hiatus. Now the Honduran coup suggests other regimes
outside the US orbit or not enough in it may be
targeted. Add Bolivia to Golinger's list and still
more if center-left regimes take over.
The Honduran Resistance Reacts
In an October 1 interview, National Resistance Front
leader, Juan Barahona, said:
"We will not stop. We will continue to be against the
coup until the last day they are in power. After the
June coup, the level of consciousness has greatly
risen. There has been a parting of waters. This is a
struggle between classes: on one side the exploited
people, and on the other the capitalists, the large
capitalists that dominate this country. (It's a)
struggle of the poor against the rich...."
Overwhelming public sentiment wants a referendum
calling for a National Constituent Assembly to draft a
new Constitution.
Will popular resistance demand it? On November 5, two
of its leaders appeared in Washington at an event to
restore democracy and human rights in Honduras -
Bertha Oliva, COFADEH founder, and Jessica Sanchez of
the National Alliance of Honduran Feminists in
Resistance.
On November 4, a London protest was held at the US
Embassy for the same purpose. It also stressed "end(ing)
all US economic, political and military support to"
the Honduran dictatorship. Speakers included trade
unionist leader Tony Burke, other activists, and
Jeremy Corbyn MP.
The UK Trades Union Congress (TUC), "the voice of
Britain at work (with) 58 affiliated unions
representing nearly seven million working people,"
called on MP David Miliband, Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, "to increase
pressure" on hardliners "to restore democracy and to
strongly condemn the series of human rights
violations" post-coup.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC),
representing 170 million workers in 158 countries,
unanimously passed a resolution at its recent Berlin
General Council meeting calling for:
-- suspending Honduran trade preferences and financial
aid and cooperation until democracy is fully restored;
and
-- not cooperating with the bogus November elections
by sending observers.
On October 31, the National Resistance Front told
Hondurans:
-- "We celebrate the upcoming restoration of President
Manuel Zelaya Rosales as a popular victory over the
narrow interests of the coup oligarchy;"
-- the Accord mandates "returning the holder of
executive power to its pre-June 28 state (and
assuring) a democratic framework in which the people
can exercise their right to transform society;"
-- the Accord must "be processed in an expedited
fashion by the National Congress; we alert all our
comrades....to pressure for the immediate compliance;"
-- "We reiterate that a National Constituent Assembly
is an unrenounceable aspiration of the Honduran people
and a non-negotiable right for which we will continue
struggling in the streets, until we achieve the
re-founding of our society to convert it into one that
is just, egalitarian and truly democratic....(After
over four months) of struggle, nobody here
surrenders!"
One of its leaders, Rafeal Alegria, told Prensa
Latina: "The people will not approve the electoral
farce the putschists are preparing. The only solution
to the conflict is the restitution of democratic
legality and the president elected by the people."
Key now is follow-through, persistence, and staying
mobilized for the long haul. Popular victories come
only at great cost after years of struggle the way
noted journalist IF Stone explained:
"The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you
are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them
and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who
believes as you do wins...."
It's for Hondurans and oppressed people everywhere to
understand, persevere, and endure, no matter what.
Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre
for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and
can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to The Global Research News Hour on
RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday at 10AM US
Central time for cutting-edge discussions with
distinguished guests on world and national issues. All
programs are archived for easy listening.
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