Ousted president Zelaya accuses US of providing cover for coup

[L. Coyote]

Source: The Earth Times

Ousted president Zelaya accuses US of providing cover for coup
Sun, 15 Nov 2009


Tegucigalpa - Deposed Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has rejected any possibility of a deal to restore constitutional order in the two weeks before the next scheduled elections, local media reported. Zelaya, who was ousted by the military on June 28, informed US President Barack Obama in a letter Saturday that he would not accept any proposal to return him to office temporarily "to cover up the coup d'etat."

"This electoral process is illegal because it conceals the military coup and the de facto state of Honduras that does not guarantee free and fair citizen participation," he wrote.

"It is an anti-democratic electoral maneuver, repudiated by large parts of the population, to cover the material and intellectual authors of the the coup d'etat."

Zelaya also accused the US government of modifying its initial opposition to the coup, noting that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had earlier told him the Obama administration would only recognize the new elections if Zelaya were restored to office first.

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Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/294752,ousted-p...

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Previous LATEST compilation:

U.S. envoy arrives in Honduras to break stalemate
Nov-11-09 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[fascisthunter]

1. and he'd be right about that

because this us government doesn't care about democracy, it only cares about fascism, and the government out there that are supportive to its ideology, corporations and upper class first at the behest of all others. No majority matters in these decisions, just a handful of wealthy interests.

I will never forget what happened to Aristide in Haiti....

[dotymed]

4. hunter, you are so right

Venezuela, IMO has become a beacon in the world. I would have
never predicted that. It is way past time to force the
redistribution of wealth in this country. If Obama would
model himself off of Chavez and use the independent media to
spread his message, he would be re-elected with a real
mandate. Then, America could be a real world leader. Obama
may have to order in the Marines for protection, but the
respect and legacy he would leave, could make a real
difference in this world. Just a pipe dream.

[Vidar]

5. I share your opinion of Chavez and gretly appreciate many ofthe other

"Bolivarean"leaders in Latin America,eg. Morales, Lula & Ortega. If the US hadn't derailed the original revolutions of Bolivar & San Martin, Latin America would perhaps be a paradise today. I'm hoping this generation of leaders can pull it off. Luckily, the US is running out of corrupt dictators to prop up.

Welcome to DU & bless you.

[harmonicon]

22. yeah, but...

hoping for Obama to do that is almost as far fetched as hoping that Bush would have done that. Obama simply is not a leftist, and certainly not a socialist. Sure, I voted for him, and I bet that I'll vote for him again, because the choice will be between having an intelligent person in power, or a foaming-at-the-mouth shit-for-brains lunatic.

[flamingdem]

2. The Coup mongers appear to be getting their way

just wondering if that is or is not the US preferred outcome.. the elections and done with it and on to other messes.

[ronnie624]

10. No doubt it was the preferred outcome

of those who have the most influence over the establishment of U.S. foreign policy. Obama would probably like to do the right thing, but his hands are surely tied by powerful forces in State, the Pentagon and the Senate that operate on behalf of greed, ideology or regional strategic interests at the expense of all else.

[harmonicon]

23. oh, come on....

all of those people answer to him. Obviously he either just doesn't really give a crap, or wants this outcome and knows that not enough people in the US will ever pay attention. Shit, even among those who voted for him, how many do you think can point to Honduras on a map? Of that small number, how many know about the coup? Of those who know about the coup, how many are informed enough to be up in arms about it?

The US is chock-full of ignorant - bursting at the seams with it.

[madrchsod]

3. change we were supposed to believe in....?

oh well, it`s business as usual in central america.

[timeforpeace]

6. He should stop obsessing about the US. Seems to have issues.

[Peace Patriot]

14. LOL! So the U.S. doesn't fund Honduras, doesn't prop up its military with multi-millions of

U.S. taxpayer dollars, John McCain isn't funneling $43 million (last count) of U.S. taxpayer dollars to the rightwing coup groups in Honduras through the USAID ("International Republican Institute"), Hillary Clinton hasn't been adding more multi-millions to Honduran big business through the Millennium Corporation, U.S. corps don't have sweatshops and big ag farms all over Honduras, and most of Honduras' trade isn't with the U.S., and Honduras wasn't the U.S. footstool in the 1980s for killing mayors, teachers, community organizers, human rights workers, religious advocates of the poor and other good people by the thousands in neighboring countries, Nicaragua and El Salvador, in addition to the US "School of the Americas"-trained Honduran military and associated death squads killing and brutalizing their own people, and Reagan's henchmen writing Honduras' Constitution?

"He"--the elected President of Honduras, with a 67% approval rating, brutally ousted by a military that you and me are paying for, organized and supported by Bushwhacks and corpo-fascists in this country--"should stop obsessing about the U.S."???

Yeah, he has "issues" with the U.S. Substantial issues. Overriding realities. Historical issues. Present-day issues. Brutal realities of massive poverty and U.S. domination. Issues and realities that aren't going to go away.

You need to read former ambassador Robert E. White's assessment of this situation--the Obama administration's treatment of Zelaya and the Honduran people and their democracy. He calls it a "charade" and "cynical and amateurish diplomacy." I would call it worse. But here is his rather charitable view ...

http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6565

You need to get informed. At least 26 people have been murdered in Honduras fighting for their democracy. Thousands of others have been beaten up, raped, tortured, unjustly jailed, bullied, threatened and denied human and civil rights. You demean these deaths and sufferings by making snotty remarks about the president whom the Honduran people overwhelmingly support.

[sudopod]

20. Didn't we cut much of that funding after the coup? nt

[roody]

24. just a few symbolic drops

[EFerrari]

7. "The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past." -- Faulkner

[bertman]

8. Now, let's hear from the Obama apologists who are going to say that President Obama

is using negotiation instead of force because he's all about diplomacy and not doing things the way BushCo did them. DESPITE the ongoing buildup in Afghanistan.

This duplicity makes me sick.

[irislake]

9. Me too.

But unlike many people I never thought he would change the direction of American foreign and domestic policy.

[cali]

11. there is exactly no evidence to bolster the claIM that Obama's administration

had anything to do with the coup. There is substantial evidence that his administration does not support the coup.

Oh, and as for the pathetic attempt to marginalize anyone who disagrees with you, it's simply beneath contempt as well as being obvious

[wisteria]

13. Your correct on both those accounts, however the administration has changed their wording regarding

supporting the leader of the coup and recognizing his government. I think I can surmise why and I don't necessarily disagree, but this could have all been handled better than it was.

[Andronex]

15. "no evidence Obama had anything to do with the coup"

The plane that took Zelaya out of Honduras landed at the US military base there, before finally expelling Zelaya out of the country. Obama can always plead incompetence, it worked for Bush for 8 years,

[EFerrari]

17. That's not really true. The administration never recognized the coup

formally as a military coup. They bent over backwards not to do that. As a result, they never had to withdraw all financial support just they never stopped training the Honduran military.

Their diplomats repeated slammed Zelaya in public forums, they've said ZIP about the massive human rights abuses, and if you believe a plane with Zelaya can land at our base without the DoD knowing who is on it, you're more credulous than I am.

And now the State Department has reversed itself and is set to recognize patently undemocratic elections.

No, there's not "substantial evidence" that his administration does not support the coup.

[bertman]

21. "pathetic attempt to marginalize anyone who disagrees with you". That's hilarious.

I stated an opinion based on what transpired on myriad threads before this one. And look!! it's happening as I said it would. Maybe I'm clairvoyant.

P.S. I never said that the Obama administration had anything to do with the coup. And I don't believe that they did. However, I do believe that they are not the least bit interested in seeing another pro-campesino President have any influence on Central/South American politics. That's why they've been so "diplomatic" and wordy, but have failed to put the hammer down on the elite-backed golpistas. The administration does NOT want Zelaya back in as President. They want him and his politics to go away. Bad for bidness, you know.

[wisteria]

12. He is right about us changing our position. n/t

[boppers]

16. Any return would have been temporary.... unless he got to re-write the constitution.

Round and round it goes, Zelaya would accept nothing short of dictatorial powers in a constitutional democracy, but the gatekeepers of that democracy didn't use their constitutional authority to remove him from office...

Time for the AG to formerly arrest (and jail) Zelaya, Michaeletti, all of the congress, and possibly Romeo Vasquez, and put them all on trial for this farce.

[roody]

25. Are you serious?

[SharonAnn]

18. And he's right. We have provided cover for the coup. And apparently will continue to do so.

[unkachuck]

19. "Zelaya also accused the US government of modifying its initial opposition to the coup..."

....more 'same' we can believe in?

[boppers]

26. The first 48 hours looked like a possible military coup.

The next few weeks, as actors (and actions) played out, it looked very different.

If you want "same" you can believe in, look to a party where leaders don't change opinions, regardless of new information.

[L. Coyote]

27. So, you are a Republican?

[L. Coyote]

28. President Zelaya Drops Deal in Letter to Obama

Deposed Honduran President Drops Deal in Letter to Obama
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=347420&Catego...


TEGUCIGALPA – Deposed Honduran President Mel Zelaya said in a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama that he no longer accepted “any agreement” for his reinstatement in power.

“From this date forward, whatever had been the case, I do not accept any agreement for returning to the presidency,” Zelaya, who was ousted in a June 28 coup, said in the letter to Obama.

Copies of the letter were distributed to the press by his supporters.

Accepting the agreement would be “covering up the coup d’état, which we know has a direct impact due to the military repression on the human rights of the inhabitants of our country,” Zelaya said.

“The Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord is without value or effect through the unilateral noncompliance of the de facto government” headed by Roberto Micheletti, who was appointed to lead the country by the Honduran Congress on June 28 after the coup, Zelaya said.

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

[L. Coyote]

29. Obama, Bush, and Latin American Coups

"Obama, Bush, and Latin American Coups"
November 16, 2009 By Immanuel Wallerstein
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/23148


Something strange is happening in Latin America. The Latin American right forces are poised to do better during the U.S. presidency of Barack Obama than they did during the eight years of George W. Bush. Bush led a far right regime that was totally out of sympathy with popular forces in Latin America. Obama, on the other hand, is leading a centrist regime that is trying to replicate the "good neighbor policy" which Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed as a way of signaling the end of direct U.S. military intervention in Latin America.

During Bush's presidency, the only serious coup attempt supported by the United States was that against Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 2002, and that one failed. It was followed by a series of elections throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in which left-of-center candidates won in almost every instance. It culminated in a 2008 meeting in Brazil to which the United States was not invited and in which Cuba's president, Raúl Castro, was treated as a virtual hero.

Since Obama became president, there has been one successful coup, in Honduras. Despite Obama's condemnation of the coup, U.S. policy has been ambiguous, and the coup leaders are winning their bet of staying in power until the coming elections of a new president. In Paraguay, the left Catholic president, Fernando Lugo, has just averted a military coup. But his right-wing vice-president, Federico Franco, is maneuvering to obtain from a Lugo-hostile national parliament a coup in the form of an impeachment. And military teeth are sharpening in an array of other countries.

To understand this apparent anomaly, we must look at U.S. internal politics, and how it affects U.S. foreign policy. .................

[L. Coyote]

30. New LATEST thread:

US envoy heads to Honduras in bid to jumpstart talks
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...