From: "Cort Greene" <cort.greene@gmail.com>
To: <laamn@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 8:25 AM
Subject: [LAAMN] Dept. of State: "NO COUP D'ETAT" HAS TAKEN PLACE; SAYS
SHOULD BE A LESSON TO ZELAYA NOT TO FOLLOW VENEZUELA
http://www.chavezcode.com/2009/07/dept-of-state-agrees-with-coup-regime.html
Monday, July 20, 2009
DEPT OF STATE AGREES WITH COUP REGIME IN HONDURAS THAT "NO COUP D'ETAT" HAS
TAKEN PLACE; SAYS SHOULD BE A LESSON TO ZELAYA NOT TO FOLLOW
VENEZUELA<http://www.chavezcode.com/2009/07/dept-of-state-agrees-with-coup-regime.html>
The State Department finally concluded 3 weeks of ambiguity on its
determination of whether or not a coup d'etat has taken place in Honduras.
Despite the United Nations, European Union, Organization of American States
and every Latin American nation clearly condemning the events as a coup
d'etat, the United States government has today stated it doesn't consider a
coup has taken place. The Obama administration joins only with the coup
regime and its supporters (other coup leaders and/or executors of coups) in
that determination.
Here is the statement made today by Phillip Crowley, spokesman for the
Department of State:
"QUESTION: Have you ruled this as a coup d'état there legally --
MR. CROWLEY: No."
Crowley also made this statement, which appears to be a not-so-veiled
attempt to tell President Zelaya and any other head of state overthrown by
US allies that they better have learned their lesson: Washington will back
(fund, support, design) coups against governments that align themselves with
Venezuela. Breathe deep. And please do remember, this is Obama's State
Department, not Bush's. Here it is:
"QUESTION: Coming back to Honduras, we're getting some reports out of the
region that there might be some sort of rift now between Zelaya and the
Venezuelan Government. Is that Washington's understanding? And if so, is
that something that can be leveraged as these negotiations move on? To put
it another way, is Chavez out of the way, and does that make Washington
happy?
MR. CROWLEY: (Laughter.) We certainly think that if we were choosing a model
government and a model leader for countries of the region to follow, that
the current leadership in Venezuela would not be a particular model. If that
is the lesson that President Zelaya has learned from this episode, that
would be a good lesson.
QUESTION: When you say that the Venezuelan Government is – should not be an
example of government for any leader --
MR. CROWLEY: I'm a believer in understatement.
QUESTION: Can you say that again? (Laughter.) It's like – it's justifying,
sort of, the coup d'état, because if any government try to follow the
socialist Government of Venezuela, then it's fair, then, that somebody can
try to make it – you know, defeat the government or something like that? Can
you explain a little bit where we're – what was your statement about
Venezuela?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, I think, as we have talked about and as the Secretary has
said in recent days, we have, on the one hand, restored our Ambassador to
Venezuela. There are a number of issues that we want to discuss with the
Venezuelan Government.
On the other side of the coin, we have concerns about the government of
President Chavez, not only what he's done in terms of his own country – his
intimidation of news media, for example, the steps he has taken to restrict
participation and debate within his country. And we're also concerned about
unhelpful steps that he's taken with some of this neighbors, and
interference that we've seen Venezuela – with respect to relations with
other countries, whether it's Honduras on the one hand, or whether it's
Colombia on the other. And when we've had issues with President Chavez, we
have always made those clear."
Full text here <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2009/july/126250.htm>.
----------------------
Monday, July 20, 2009 Second Latin America news roundup - July 20, 2009
<https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF-tc6k08RtVggSJxHKCgwMz1nUfSv89gWxpOPbQ-Ou76FxM0hNiuoxuQl8xnduOY7GtVvZLW5Be866HV_nxMBLEsnTTeMG6RJJcUG6jtgsf2REDM4vILoP2AYo2-b7Ul_xqmVkXIgsm0/s1600-h/lanny-davis_office.jpg>
*TOP STORY* - Final collapse of Honduras talks raises threat of new
violence<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/final-collapse-of-honduras-talks-raises-threat-of-new-violence-1754419.html>(Reuters)
*Honduras* - Arias fears civil
war<http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/neoboho/2009/07/arias-fears-civil-war.php?ref=reccafe>(TPMCafe)
*Honduras* - Zelaya supporters plan civil
disobedience<http://www.fsrn.org/audio/honduras-talks-fail-zelaya-supporters-plan-civil-disobedience/5080>(Free
Speech Radio News)
*Honduras* - Democra-phobia: Fear of citizen power in
Honduras<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/democra-phobia-fear-citizen-power-honduras>(The
Field)
*Honduras* - European Union freezes millions in aid to
Honduras<http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1008811&lang=eng_news>(Associated
Press)
*Honduras* - Transport workers to boycott Honduran
ships<http://www.joc.com/node/412425>(The Journal of Commerce)
*Honduras* - Urgent! Support pro-democracy movement in
Honduras<http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2002/68/>(Upside
Down World)
*Honduras* - Guatemalan civil society denounces coup in
Honduras<http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1997/68/>(Upside
Down World)
*Honduras* - Who's behind Lanny Davis' putsch
paycheck?<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2009/07/whos-behind-lanny-davis-putsch-paycheck>(Narcosphere)
*Honduras* - The nonviolent battle for the Zelaya home in
Catacamas<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/honduras-nonviolent-battle-zelaya-home-catacamas>(The
Field)
***
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/1143103.html
No justification for coup
BY BERTHA OLIVA cofadeh@gmail.com
Miami Herald: 07.15.09
Honduras
As a Honduran human-rights activist, it has been disturbing to hear the
drumbeat of voices in the U.S. media justifying what is taking place in my
country. While the Organization of American States, the United Nations and
heads of state from countries across the political spectrum worldwide have
condemned the coup, commentators in The New York Times, Washington Post and
The Wall Street Journal have called it a ''democratic'' coup, while others
have blamed exiled President Manuel Zelaya for it happening in the first
place.
U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fl., has joined the chorus as well, introducing a
resolution in support of the de facto regime in the name of ''the Honduran
people,'' just days after the coup leaders murdered peaceful citizens on the
streets of Tegucigalpa.
The events that have unfolded in Honduras are a forceful and illegal
overthrow of a democratically elected government. To justify this act by
adding the adjective ''democratic'' to the coup is not only an oxymoron, but
a blatant inaccuracy.
Many in the United States have declared that the proposal by President
Zelaya to hold a national consultation on constitutional issues was so
dangerous that he somehow brought the coup on himself. To set the record
straight, what was scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 28 was not a vote
on Zelaya's ability to continue in office, but a nonbinding survey on the
possibility of holding a constitutional assembly.
To purposefully misconstrue this as an aggressive, ''anti-democratic'' act
is to stretch the truth to its breaking point, in the service of a
pre-determined position against the Zelaya government's policies or
politics.
When our fragile democracy and millions of lives are at stake, what is truly
dangerous is for influential opinion leaders in the United States to imply
that certain kinds of democratically elected governments ''deserve''
overthrow. In a society based on Rule of Law, there are various mechanisms
available for an opposition to make claims against a sitting administration.
Kidnapping a president at gunpoint and spiriting him over the border is not
one of them and declaring marital law is not one of them. Even the top legal
military advisors to the de facto regime in Honduras admitted that their
actions were -- and are -- illegal.
My experience as the director of a human-rights organization that has
represented the families of Hondurans ''disappeared'' for more than 20 years
inform my fears of a return to the horrors we lived in the last century.
Unfortunately, these fears have proven justified.
The last few days have been an uncanny repeat of atrocities that we thought
were left behind in the 1980s: forced detentions, murder and violent
repression of peaceful protesters, media censorship and suspension of
constitutional rights. The situation has garnered swift reproach from Human
Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other prominent watchdog groups, but
the stifling of dissent has only intensified inside the country.
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have spoken up
for democracy and human rights in condemning the actions of the coup
leaders. Now the United States must put its money where its mouth is by
formally recognizing what happened as a coup d'etat and suspending all aid
to and trade with Honduras until the legitimate president is restored to
power.
Honduras is deeply dependent on the United States, which is the market for
roughly 70 percent of its exports. U.S. trade and aid are the backbone of
our economy. If the U.S. does not cut ties with Honduras, it is sending a
clear signal of tacit support for those who took power illegally as well as
the abuses of power we have seen in the week the regime has been in place.
Actions speak louder than words. The U.S. government is uniquely positioned
to play the deciding role in whether or not Honduras is returned to
democracy or plunged into dictatorship. Along with my fellow citizens, I
pray that this is a moral and political responsibility that the Obama
administration will not ignore.
Bertha Oliva is director of the Honduran Committee of Family of the
Disappeared Detainees (Comite de Familiares de Detenidos Desparecidos en
Honduras -- COFADEH) in Tegucigalpa.
No comments:
Post a Comment