No Happy Ending in Honduras

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 by OtherWords.org
No Happy Ending in Honduras
The Central American nation's woes continue to rage despite Secretary of State Clinton's insistence to the contrary.
by Emily Schwartz Greco

Did you know the Atlantic coast of Honduras features miles of stunning undeveloped beaches frequented only by local villagers? Or that its Mayan ruins at Copán are as haunting and spectacular as what you'd find in Guatemala or southern Mexico?

Maybe that sounds enticing, but Honduras isn't drawing the waves of tourists Costa Rica has lured. And that's not just because its food is lackluster. Honduras is experiencing the worst political turmoil in Latin America--thanks in part to the Obama administration's embrace of a regrettable U.S. foreign policy tradition.

This tradition involves making a fuss about democratic processes when Latin American leaders attempt to help the impoverished majority, empathizing with arch-conservatives when they oust those leaders, pretending the ensuing elections staged by the arch-conservatives are "free and fair," and ignoring the bloody aftermath.

Here's a snapshot of Honduras' astounding recent history:

•June 28, 2009: Masked soldiers drag Honduran President Manuel Zelaya into a plane headed out of the country. In his pajamas. Months of dramatic mobilization and repression ensue, during which Zelaya manages to sneak back and hole up for weeks in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.
•Nov. 29, 2009: Porfirio Lobo wins elections boycotted by Zelaya's supporters and shunned by observers from the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS), which expelled Honduras from its organization after the coup.
•Jan. 28, 2010: Lobo is sworn in.
•July 29, 2010: Human Rights Watch issues a report decrying the rampant murders of Honduran journalists and other abuses in the first six months of Lobo's government.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/21-8

[Judi Lynn]

1. Repression in Honduras? Dinner at the White House

Repression in Honduras? Dinner at the White House
September 21, 2010

ADRIENNE PINE
Recently back from Honduras, Pine is assistant professor of anthropology at American University. She said today: "There has been an escalation in government attacks on free speech following the resistance movement's announcement of the collection of over 1,300,000 signatures demanding a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution. Last week, on Honduran Independence Day, a peaceful concert attended by 40,000 women, men and children was violently broken up by the military and police. Soldiers shot tear gas canisters and water cannons directly at the stage and into the audience, killing at least one person. Over the weekend, nurse union president and resistance movement leader Juana Bustillo was assassinated."

More:
http://www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2337

[Peace Patriot]

2. The plane carrying Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint stopped at the U.S. military base

in Soto Cano, Honduras, for re-fueling.

Nothing more really needs to be said about U.S. policy in Honduras, or, indeed, in Latin America as a whole. All that followed from the coup in Honduras--the murders of teachers, union leaders, coup protest organizers and journalists, and other horrible oppression--is the responsibility of the United States government in materially supporting the coup, and then actively supporting, with our tax dollars--through entities like John McCain's "International Republican Institute"--an election HELD UNDER MARTIAL LAW.

The article doesn't mention this fact--the role of the Pentagon in the coup--and it has never been investigated. What were the U.S. military commanders in Honduras DOING while the plane carrying the kidnapped president of the country stopped at their airport? Playing anti-Venezuela video games?

[Bacchus39]

3. Soto Cano is a Honduran base with US troops and aircraft stationed there

it is operated by Honduras so the US had no say whether the plane carrying Z could land or not.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soto_Cano_Air_Base

Soto Cano Air Base

IATA: none – ICAO: MHSC
Summary
Airport type Military
Location Comayagua
Elevation AMSL 2,062 ft / 628 m
Coordinates 14°22′57″N 87°37′05″W / 14.38239°N 87.61794°W / 14.38239; -87.61794Coordinates: 14°22′57″N 87°37′05″W / 14.38239°N 87.61794°W / 14.38239; -87.61794
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 8,008 2,441 Paved
Soto Cano Air Base (commonly known as Palmerola Air Base) is a Honduran military base 5 miles to the south of Comayagua in Honduras. A modest concentration of US troops and the Honduran Air Force academy use the airbase. The airbase became operational in 1981, changing the old location the Honduras Air Force Academy in Toncontin, Tegucigalpa to Palmerola. More info about Honduras Air Force Academy <1> (Spanish) The US government once used Palmerola as a base of operations to support their foreign policy objectives in the 1980s. Now the U.S. military uses Soto Cano as a launching point for its war on drugs efforts in Central America as well as humanitarian aid missions throughout Honduras and Central America.

In addition to the Honduran Air Force Academy, the US military's Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-B) is headquartered at Soto Cano. JTF-B consists of Medical Element - Military Hospital, Army Forces, Air Force Forces, Joint Security Forces, and the 1st Battalion-228th Aviation Regiment (consisting of some 18 aircraft, a mix of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and CH-47 Chinook helicopters).

Contents
1 About Soto Cano and JTF-Bravo command and structure
2 Infrastructure
3 Civil aviation
4 References
5 External links


About Soto Cano and JTF-Bravo command and structure
José Enrique Soto Cano Air Base is a Honduras military installation and home of the Honduras Air Force and Honduras Air Force Academy. It is located less than 10 miles (16 km) from Comayagua (population: 33,000), and 60 miles (97 km) from the Honduras capital, Tegucigalpa. The base is about two miles (3 km) wide and six miles (10 km) long; lies in the Comayagua Valley and is ringed by 8,000-foot (2,400 m) mountain peaks to the east and west. Soto Cano sits at an elevation of 2,062 feet (628 m) above sea level.

The American contingent at Soto Cano Air Base is designated Joint Task Force-Bravo <2> and consists of both U.S. military personnel and Honduran civilians. They work in six different major support commands including the Joint Staff, 612th Air Base Squadron, Army Forces, Joint Security Forces and Medical Element. The sixth MSC is a tenant unit also based at Soto Cano. The 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, a U.S. Army South asset, provides aerial support for the JTF-Bravo mission. The Joint-Staff provides command and control for JTF-B.

The 612 ABS has among its functions; weather forecasting, fire protection, and maintaining a 24-hour C-5 Galaxy-capable runway. The Army Forces operate finance, personnel and airborne operations. Joint Security Forces consists of Air Force and Army force protection personnel who patrol the base and provide gate guard duty alongside their Honduran counterparts.

Health care services are performed by the Medical Element. The 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment performs a variety of airlift support missions throughout Central and South America with UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters. U.S. forces are guests on the base which is the home of the Honduran Air Force Academy. Soto Cano is not a U.S. installation as some media report.

Infrastructure
The Honduras Constitution does not permit a permanent foreign presence in Honduras. A "handshake" agreement between the United States and Honduras allows JTF-Bravo to remain in Honduras on a "semi-permanent" basis. This agreement, an annex to the 1954 military assistance agreement between the United States and Honduras, can be abrogated with little notice. Soto Cano lodging for U.S. personnel there consists of “hooches” and metal barracks. The hooches are temporary wooden buildings of tropical design, normally 16 feet (4.9 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m) with screened windows and a tin roof with air conditioners and fans for cooling. Metal dormitories are more permanent structures and have air conditioning. Both contain beds and other furniture, televisions, refrigerators and microwaves.

The hooches and metal barracks have no running water. However, latrines, shower facilities and laundry rooms are centrally located to the living areas. Dayrooms, volleyball courts, barbecues and “bohios” (covered picnic areas) are also located throughout the base. All the domestic facilities, like the post office, library, dining facility, fitness center, pool and base exchange, are clustered together within a five-minute walking distance.

The apartments and dormitories would replace some of the 270 wooden hooches used for decades by permanent party personnel, but now used by permanent and temporary party personnel. Most permanent party personnel are stationed at JTF-Bravo for several months and the assignment is treated as a remote assignment, much like assignments to Republic of Korea.

Plans called for the construction to take place over the forthcoming years with all base facilities to either be new or receive major upgrades. A big improvement with new construction will be the indoor plumbing and central air conditioning in the new buildings. Currently, metal and wooden dormitories each have an air conditioning unit, but no running water. In addition, the new buildings will lessen the requirement for constant maintenance.

As of January 2008, all 44 of the apartment buildings were finished and already occupied. Additional four-unit apartment buildings, or “quads,” are scheduled to be built in 2009. When construction on the dormitories would begin remains unclear.

All military personnel live on the installation; contractors live off base on the local economy. Contractors and foreign national employees are the only personnel allowed to drive personal vehicles on base and the majority of people walk or ride bicycles. Because the base is so compact, it poses no problem getting around.

Personnel assigned to Soto Cano can ride a bus that will transport them to Soto Cano from Tegucigalpa. The bus runs in conjunction with arrival and departure times.

Civil aviation
On 1990 Honduran President Rafael Leonardo Callejas decreed that commercial cargo flights were authorized to operate from Soto Cano. In 2008 President Manuel Zelaya announced that commercial flights would begin at Palmerola within a period of 60 days, after a crash at Toncontín International Airport which resulted in 5 deaths was blamed on the runway being too short at Toncontín.<1>. The crash was more human error, because a further investigation found the runway has nothing to do with the accident. The military was placed in charge of building a civilian air terminal with funding from the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (enabled by emergency decrees). This however was cancelled after Zelaya was removed from office on June 28, 2009 in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état.<2>

[Judi Lynn]

4. She didn't say the US could prohibit the plane from landing there if it wanted, did she?

Don't be so fast to pick a fight you're creating bogus claims and attributing them to Democratic posters here.

[Bacchus39]

5. her title says its a US base, its not

its a Honduran base where US is allowed to have soldiers there and conduct some operations. much like the Ecuadorian base in Manta which is still a Ecuadorian military base.

[naaman fletcher]

6. It is implied.

The U.S. controls their bases. A plane a kidnapped president landing at a U.S. base would be big news. But, it's not a U.S. base.

[EFerrari]

7. Hillary Clinton hasn't said a word about ongoing kidnapping, torture, rape. or murder

This is not a time for decent people to be quiet. Hillary.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Not one word, not a syllable from her, or anyone else in Washington.

All this from the same party which supported, championed the union workers who were being mowed down by hired guns of factory owners, railroad companies, mining companies, etc., etc., etc. , the ONLY po litical party which got behind the American workers.

Now the same party's administration wholeheartedly supports the same kind of vicious, murderous exploitation in Honduras (among other Latin American countries) it fought against, won against in the United States. WTF. :wtf:

The Party has been infested by maggots. Time they left.

Americans have historically supported the "little guy" in principle. What the hell has happened?

[VioletLake]

9. The Atlantic coast of Honduras, like most of Latin America,

is lovely if you can overlook the inequality and poverty, and their attendant miseries.

In San Pedro Sula, I stayed with a wealthy family in a beautiful house overlooking the small city. On my last day there, they prepared a feast in my honor and invited all of their servants to eat with us.

Copán is awesome.