Talk:Latin American/Latin@/legal studies group

Fault lines news clip on the military coup in Honduras:

part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYY4vj9ROC0&amp;feature=player_embedded

part 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upMu_oR2YUU&amp;feature=SeriesPlayList&amp;p=A7F406FC815CF518

HONDURAN DICTATORSHIP IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY IN THE HEMISPHERE By Mark Weisbrot, CEPR, November 18, 2009

A small group of rich people who own most of Honduras and its politicians enlist the military to kidnap the elected president at gunpoint and take him into exile. They then arrest thousands of people opposed to the coup, shut down and intimidate independent media, shoot and kill some demonstrators, torture and beat many others. This goes on for more than four months, including more than two of the three months legally designated for electoral campaigning. Then the dictatorship holds an "election.”

Should other countries recognize the results of such an election, to be held on November 29th? Latin America says absolutely not; the United States is saying, well, "yes we can"- if we can get away with it.

"There has been a sharp rise in police beatings, mass arrests of demonstrators and intimidation of human rights defenders," since President Zelaya slipped back into Honduras and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy, wrote Amnesty International. Human Rights Watch, the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and human rights groups worldwide have also condemned the violence and repression perpetrated by the Honduran dictatorship.

On November 5, the 25 nations of the Rio Group, which includes virtually all of Latin America, declared that they would not recognize the results of the November 29th elections in Honduras if the elected President Manuel Zelaya were not first restored.

Why is it that Latin American governments can recognize this threat to democracy but Washington cannot? One reason is that many of the governments are run by people who have lived under dictatorships. President Lula da Silva of Brazil was imprisoned by the Brazilian dictatorship in the 1980s. President Michele Bachelet of Chile was tortured in prison under the brutal Pinochet dictatorship that was installed with the help of the Nixon administration. The presidents of Bolivia, Argentina, Guatemala, and others have all lived through the repression of right-wing dictatorships.

Nor is this threat merely a thing of the past. Just two weeks ago the President of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, had to fire most of the military leadership because of credible evidence that they were conspiring with the political opposition. This is one of the consequences of not reversing the Honduran military coup of June 28th.

Here in the United States we have been subjected to a relentless campaign of lies and distortions intended to justify the coup, which have been taken up by Republican supporters of the dictatorship, as well as by hired guns like Lanny Davis, a close associate of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Perhaps the biggest lie, repeated thousands of times in the news reporting and op-eds of the major media, was that Zelaya was overthrown because he was trying to extend his term of office. In fact, the non-binding referendum that Zelaya proposed had nothing to do with term limits. And even if this poll of the electorate had led eventually to a new constitution, any legal changes would have been far too late for Zelaya to stay in office beyond January 29.

Another surreal part of the whole political discussion has been the attempt to portray Zelaya, who was merely delivering on his campaign promises to the Honduran electorate, as a pawn of some foreign power - conveniently chosen to be the much-demonized Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. The anti-communist hysteria of 1950s McCarthyism is still the model for these uncreative political hacks.

What a disgrace it will be to our country if the Obama team follows through on its current strategy and recognizes these "elections!" It's hard to imagine a stronger statement than that human rights and democracy in this hemisphere count for zero in the political calculations of this administration.

CEPR: Center for Economic and Policy Research, 1611 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20009, Phone: (202) 293-5380

Other articles on the coup:

United States backs illegal elections in Honduras – Betrays process to restore Constitutional order: http://quixote.org/united-states-backs-illegal-elections-honduras-%E2%80%93-betrays-process-restore-constitutional-order

Carta de Manuel Zelaya a OBAMA, donde especifica que no aceptara acuerdo para su restitucion que avale el golpe de Estado. http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B_yT2wITciTvY2U1M2JlMDMtNWY2Ni00ZGU4LWE2ZWMtYTA4MjBhNWMwNTQz&amp;hl=en

LETTER FROM HONDURAN ARMY (unofficial translation, by Rights Action)

ARMED FORCES OF HONDURAS FIRST COMMUNICATIONS BATTALION Las Mesas, F.M.

October 22, 2009

Issue: Request

To: Senior Mayor, Local Authority Of Your Office

By means of this request, I speak to a distinguished person, wishing that the Divine Creator of the Universe blesses you and your family and that you continue being successful as an authentic leader of your municipality.

The purpose of this letter is to request your support with the following:

Names and telephone numbers of the leaders of the community that support the Democratic Civil Unity and that work jointly with the municipality for the goodness of the people. Leaders, names and telephone numbers that support the resistance movement and that cause unrest in community projects.

Mr. Mayor, we need this information as soon as possible so that we can be prepared each day in order to strengthen our democratic system.

We await your response and communication. With appreciation,

Carlos Roberto Rivera Cardona Captain of Communications Leader of the RR.HH. Section (S-1) EHO-2782