A Public Service Announcement from a Colombian Street Messenger!

Lest we forget, this is an important message for all of us to remember. Thank goodness for those creative grafiteros in Bogotá!

MAMA

Latest Developments from Honduras: Rights Action

DAY 87 – HONDURAS COUP RESISTANCE = AGAIN, A VICIOUS CRACK-DOWN
September 22, 2009, Alert#69

BELOW:

• Action requested: Demand for comprehensive economic sanctions & possible “blue helmuts” peace-keeping mission
• Various information from today’s brutal repressive crackdown
• How to donate fund for the National Front Against the Coup & what to do?

INTERVIEWS & MORE INFORMATION:

• Grahame Russell, Rights Action co-director, 1 (860) 352-2448, cel: 1 (860) 751-4285, info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org
• Sandra Cuffe, journalist in Honduras, 011 [504] 9525-6778

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RIGHTS ACTION COMMENTARY – THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR THE HONDURAN PRO-DEMOCRACY, ANTI-COUP MOVEMENT

In response to President Zelaya returning to Honduras, where he is staying inside the Brazilian embassy, the oligarchic-military regime, headed by Roberto Micheletti and General Romeo Vasquez, unleashed another day of repression against the Honduran people – there are dead, wounded, and hundreds of illegal detained and beaten people.

Again, the Honduran people are staying in the streets and public places, demanding an end to this brutal regime, demanding a return of their democratic government.

(I don’t know how one nominates a people’s movement for the Nobel Peace Prize, but Honduras’ extraordinary pro-democracy, anti-coup movement should be considered.)

Again, the illegal Honduran regime has shown it has no interest in democratic principles, the rule of law, international law and human rights.

There is only one way that this regime can remain in power – repression, repression and more repression.

It is long past time for the so-called “international community” (from institutions like the United Nations and OAS (Organization of American States) to other governments) to stop appeasing the regime and apply direct sanctions and actions.

The so-called “San Jose Accords” – mediated by President Oscar Arias - must be rejected. Calling, again, for negotiations between President Zelaya’s government and the illegal oligarchic-military regime serves, effectively, to help keep the regime in power.

Only concrete economic and military measure from the OAS, the UN and the countries of the “international community”, particularly countries of the Americas, particularly the United States (that for generations has trained, funded and armed the Honduran army and police), can put an end to this brutal oligarchic-military regime.

The “international community”, from the OAS to particular governments of the Americas, must immediately implement comprehensive military, economic and political sanctions, against the coup plotters and perpetrators.

The “international community” must have full discussions, in the United Nations, about sending an armed peace-keeping force to Honduras, to help re-establish the constitutional order, to help facilitate a return to democratic institutionality of the country, and to initiate legal proceedings against the coup plotters and perpetrators.

INTERVIEWS & MORE INFORMATION:

Grahame Russell, Rights Action co-director, 1 (860) 352-2448, cel: 1 (860) 751-4285, info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org

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Rights Action urges people to act …

DEMAND FOR COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS & POSSIBLE “BLUE HELMUTS” PEACE-KEEPING MISSION

Please write immediately to the member States of the United Nations “Economic and Social Council”, including missions from Canada, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and others.

Send copies to your own politicians and media.

Below, you will find a sample letter and contact information for the listed missions.

Demand that the United Nations impose comprehensive economic sanctions against Honduras, which is a demand of the National Front Against the Coup. The General Assembly of the United Nations initiated a session today in New York City.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya yesterday arrived in Honduras, and is in the Brazilian Embassy. The de facto government is attacking protesters who have gathered around the Brazilian Embassy to protect the constitutionally elected President Manuel Zelaya. Dangerous quantities of tear gas are being used around the Brazilian embassy at a level that puts in danger the lives of the Brazilian diplomatic corps, President Zelaya, and neighbors of the Embassy.

Protesters are being rounded up and held in stadiums. Live ammunition along with rubber bullets have been used against protesters, along with extreme beatings. Masked men accompany police and military. The deaths of at least 3 protesters have been reported.

The offices of leading Honduran human rights organization COFADEH (Committee of Family Members of the Disappeared) was attacked with tear gas.

A military curfew is in effect and scheduled to begin at 4 pm, and extreme repression during the curfew is expected.

SAMPLE LETTER

Esteemed Ambassador:

I write to request that in your capacity as a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council you propose a resolution to obligate members of the United Nations to impose comprehensive economic sanctions against Honduras.

In this way the non-recognition of the de facto regime, that came to power through a military coup on June 28, 2009, will be made effective.

Today the coup regime is undertaking a direct attack on the Embassy of Brazil, where the constitutional President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya is located. They are using dangerous levels of tear gas, and have fired live ammunition; acts that put at risk the lives and wellbeing of members of Brazil’s diplomatic corp and thousands of people in the street and homes around the embassy.

This repression is the latest in 88 days of repression by the coup government.

For this reason it is urgent that comprehensive economic sanctions be imposed and that the possibility of a United Nations “blue helmuts” peace-keeping mission be discussed.

Sincerely,

* * *

MISSIONS IN THE “ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS”

CANADA:
canada@un.int
prmny@international.gc.ca
tel: 212-848-1100
Fax: 212-848-1195, -1192, -1128

UNITED STATES
http://www.archive.usun.state.gov/Issues/contactus.html
Tel: 212-415-4062
Fax: 212-415-4053

UNITED KINGDOM
UK@UN.int
Tel: 212-745 9200
Fax: 212-745 9316

FRANCE
france@franceonu.org
Tel: 212-702 4900
Fax: 212-421 6889

GERMANY
http://www.new-york-un.diplo.de/Vertretung/newyorkvn/en/Kontakt.jsp

INDIA
India@un.int
Tel: 212-490-9660
Fax: 212-490-9656

NETHERLANDS
Tel: (212) 519-9500
Fax: (212) 370-1954
netherlands@un.int

NEW ZEALAND
Tel: (212) 826 1960
Fax: (212) 758 0827
nzmissionny@earthlink.net

NORWAY
Tel: 212-421-0280
Fax: 212-688-0554
delun@mfa.no

SWEDEN
sweden@un.int
Tel: 212 583-2500
Fax: 212 583 2549

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INFORMATION

One can get up-to-the-moment information (when the regime is not cutting off broadcasting) from:

Honduran radio “Radio Globo”: http://www.radioglobohonduras.com/
Telesur TV: http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/canal/senalenvivo.php
Radio Progreso: http://radioprogresohn.com/
TV Canal 36, Cholusat Sur: http://www.cholusatsur.com/

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Day 87 - VICIOUS CRACK-DOWN

THE INFORMATION BELOW IS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, INCLUDING RADIO GLOBO, TELESUR TV, AND PHONE CALLS WITH PEOPLE IN HONDURAS.

• Today’s out break of repression began around 5:00am. President Zelaya is in the Brazilian embassy.
• There are some 300 people in the embassy, including Catholic priest Father Tamayo. The regime recently took away Tamayo’s nationality (an illegal executive decision), as he is a priest who has spoken out against the regime.
• Most of the country is militarized. Freedom of movement has been suspended – military road blocks are stopping vehicles. Pro-democracy, anti-coup people are apparently moving on foot towards Tegucigalpa and the Brazilian embassy.
• There is an all-day, all-night military state of siege throughout the country; the regime has suspended all civil rights.
• One can see (Telesur’s live streaming) that masked soldiers and police have the Brazilian embassy completely surrounded.
• Today, soldiers/ police opened fire with rubber and live bullets on peaceful protesters in front of Brazilian embassy.
• They have armored, water trucks. Tear-gas canisters have been fired on top of the embassy. The water truck is firing hi-powered water jets against protesters.
• The regime is blasting noise (hi-pitched screeching sound) throughout the neighborhood, around the Brazilian embassy.
• Police and military helicopters are flying over-head.
• The regime is not permitting the entry of food and water into the Brazilian embassy.
• The soldiers and police are using force to move journalists away from the area around the Brazilian embassy
• Allegedly 3 people have been killed; apparently, one is a child who was affixiated by tear-gas. Dozens are wounded – some have gone to hospitals; many are hiding, afraid to get medical treatment for fear of detention.
• 100s have been detained . Detention camps [“campos de concentration”, such as the “Chochi Sosa” stadium, such as the “Lempira Reina” baseball field] have been set up, where people are detained with no rights.
• The four airports of the country have been shut down.
• Radio Globo and channel 36 are regularly being taken off the air = their electricity is being cut off, all while Honduras’ mainstream radios and TV stations (owned by the coup perpetrator oligarchic elites) are broadcasting regular programs and shows – anything but covering the repression in the streets.
• Despite the military state of siege, many people are in the streets - they are acting on the basis of Article 3 of the Constitution – that they have no responsibility to listen to or obey a “usurper” regime.

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UNITED STATES & PRESIDENT OSCAR ARIAS TREAT ‘DE FACTO’ REGIME AS EQUAL PART TO PRESIDENT ZELAYA’S GOVERNMENT

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Oscar Arias are again using the manipulative argument of calling on “both sides” not to use violence.

Only one side is using violence, since June 28.

They are again calling on “both sides” to negotiate a solution to the situation.

One side – the de facto regime – has rejected all aspects of the negotiation established by President Arias.

In effect, the United States and President Arias are again empowering the de facto regime by treating it as some sort of equal part in the problems in Honduras, and not treating it as an illegal, military backed, repressive regime.

ASK THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST MILITARY REPRESSION IN HONDURAS

From: Alexis Aguilar, Asst. Professor, Salisbury University, MD [cocobila@gmail.com]

The Honduran military has moved in against peaceful demonstrators in Honduras with tear gas, water cannons, shrilling noise, batons, and rubber and live bullets. Two people have reportedly been killed by the military. Yet, the U.S. remains silent.

Please take a couple minutes and call the State Department at 202-647-4000 to deliver the following message: "Demand the unconditional immediate reinstatement of President Zelaya, demand that the Honduran military STOP repressing the people and that they do not move against President Zelaya, and ensure that the coup plotters will be held responsible for their actions. This and any future bloodshed is on the hands of the coup government and security forces."

Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 with the same message.

State Department and Congressional Contact Information:

State Department Honduras Desk: Rebecca Valerin, 202-647-3482
Office of Central American Affairs: Director Christopher Webster, 202-647-4087
Secretary Hillary Clinton, 202-647-5291

Find your Congressperson’s Contact Info Here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt

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SPEAKING TOURS: “RESISTANCE TO MILITARY COUPS & GOLD MINING DEVASTATION IN HONDURAS & GUATEMALA”

In October, activists with Rights Action will be on speaking tours in Ontario, Quebec and eastern Canada, and north-east USA, showing slides and short documentaries and speaking about the on-going pro-democracy, anti coup movement in Honduras and about indigenous and community resistance to Goldcorp Inc.’s open-pit, cyanide leach mines in Guatemala and Honduras.

Karen Spring (spring.kj@gmail.com) in Ontario
Francois Guindon (francois.guindon@gmail.com) in Quebec and eastern Canada
Grahame Russell (info@rightsaction.org) in north-east USA

AMERICANS & CANADIANS should contact our members of congress, senators & members of parliament every day, day after day, send copies of this information, and demand:

• unconditional and public support for the return of the entire constitutional government of President Zelaya
• an immediate suspension of the release of all international funds and loans to the regime
• unequivocal denunciation of the military coup and no recognition of this military coup and the regime of Roberto Micheletti and General Romeo Vasquez
• no recognition of the November 2009 elections, that candidates from the traditional Nationalist and Liberal parties are campaigning for, even as the country is militarized and repression is widespread
• concrete and targeted economic, military and diplomatic sanctions against the coup plotters and perpetrators
• application of international and national justice against the coup plotters and perpetrators
• reparations to the victims for the illegal actions and rights violations committed during this illegal coup

TO DONATE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE FUNDS to the people’s pro-democracy movement in Honduras, make check to “rights action” and mail to:

UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
CANADA: 552-351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm

For foundations and institutional donors, Rights Action can (upon request) provide a full proposal of which organizations and people we are channeling funds to and supporting.

Thank-you for your on-going support for our work and for this struggle.

The Road to Zelaya’s Return: Money, Guns and Social Movements in Honduras

Here's an interesting overview of the historic developments taking place in Honduras, posted on Upside Down World.

Written by Benjamin Dangl Monday, 21 September 2009 Nearly three months after being overthrown by a violent military coup, Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has returned to Honduras. "I am here in Tegucigalpa. I am here for the restoration of democracy, to call for dialogue," he told reporters. The embattled road to his return tested regional diplomacy, challenged Washington and galvanized Honduran social movements. During a recent beach-side interview, with tropical breezes blowing along a sandy shore in the background, Honduran coup leader Roberto Michelleti told a Fox News reporter, “This is a quiet country, and a happy country.”(1) However, since Michelleti took over on June 28, Honduras been anything but quiet and content. Michelleti’s de-facto regime has ruled the country with an iron fist while popular movements for democracy have gained steam with nearly constant strikes, road blockades and massive street protests. The coup inspired a movement that is now seeking more than just the reinstatement of Zelaya, but the transformation of the country through a new constitution. Michelleti says presidential elections in November will proceed as planned, though few Hondurans, governments and international institutions say they will recognize the results given the violent situation in the country. At least 11 anti-coup activists have been killed since Zelaya was ousted.(2) Following the coup, approximately 1,500 people have been jailed for political purposes, and many Zelaya supporters have been beaten.(3) Via Campesina offices have been attacked, and the Feminists of Honduras in Resistance said that there have been 19 documented cases of rape by police officers since the coup took place.(4) The newspaper El Tiempo reported that armed groups in Colombia have been recruiting demobilized paramilitaries for mercenary work in Honduras. Honduras business leaders are hiring these paramilitaries for their own private security.(5) Though Zelaya was a relatively moderate president, his policies challenged the elite enough to inspire a right wing coup. While in office, he passed a 60% increase in minimum wage, bringing income up from around $6 a day to $9.60 a day.(6) Zelaya also gave subsidies to small farmers, cut bank interest rates and reduced poverty.(7) Salvador Zuniga, a leader of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) said, "One of the things that provoked the coup d'etat was that the president accepted a petition from the feminist movement regarding the day-after pill. Opus Dei mobilized, the fundamentalist evangelical churches mobilized, along with all the reactionary groups."(8) “Maybe he made mistakes,” Honduran school teacher Hedme Castro said of Zelaya, “but he always erred on the side of the poor. That is why they will fight to the end for him.” She continued, “This is not about President Zelaya. This is about my country. Many people gave their lives so that we could have a democracy. And we cannot let a group of elites take that away.”(9) Ignoring the relevance of the Organization of American States, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Zelaya and Michelleti to meet with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to work out a solution to the crisis. Many believe Clinton made the move to impose conditions on Zelaya’s return and kill time as the November elections neared. Zelaya has accepted Arias’ proposed solution, which entails his return to the presidency with limited powers, plus amnesty for those who have committed political crimes in the country. Micheletti rejected the Arias’ solution.(10) While repression of anti-coup activists increases, so does the movement for democracy in Honduras. This broad coalition of activists has the support of many of the governments in the hemisphere, and has the backing of the country’s 1982 constitution, which explains, "No one owes obedience to a government which usurps power nor those who assume public functions or employment through the use of arms.... The people [of this country] have the right to recur to insurrection in defense of constitutional order."(11) This insurrection is taking place right now. Voices of the Resistance in Honduras Protests, strikes and road blockades have been going on in the country almost daily since Zelaya was ousted. Many of the interviews with activists participating in these protests offer insight into the relationship between Zelaya and the movement, and what might lie ahead for the country. "This struggle is peaceful, organized, and is not getting desperate. The coup leaders are getting desperate—they haven't been able to govern a single day in tranquility and we will defeat them," said Israel Salinas, a leader of the National Front Against the Coup in Honduras and member of the Unified Confederation of Honduran Workers.(12) Honduran women’s right activist Marielena spoke of the current reality under the Michelleti regime, "Today's not the same as the 80s because there's a popular movement that the coup leaders never imagined … What Zelaya has done is symbolize the popular discontent accumulated over the years."(13) - Bertha Cáceres, a leader of COPINH, the Front Against the Coup, and a mother of four children, spoke of the importance of the constituent assembly to rewrite the country’s constitution. It was partly this push for constitutional reform, which Zelaya backed along with broad support from the Honduran people, that led to the coup. When speaking of the assembly, Cáceres says, "For the first time we would be able to establish a precedent for the emancipation of women, to begin to break these forms of domination. The current constitution never mentions women, not once, so to establish our human rights, our reproductive, sexual, political, social, and economic rights as women would be to really confront this system of domination."(14) Cáceres discussed the work of the women’s movement for the new constitution “to dismantle this belief that others have the right to make decisions about our bodies, to start guaranteeing that women are the owners and have autonomous rights to their bodies. It is a political act; a political proposal. … The ability to have and guarantee access to land, territories, cultures, health, education, art, dignified and decent employment for women, and many other things, are elements that we must guarantee in this process of a new constitutional assembly that leads to a real process of liberation.”(15) Gilberto Rios, from the Front Against the Coup spoke of how the coup has galvanized a broad movement in the country. “In the past, when we called for people to protest in the streets, they came out, but not in the same numbers as what is happening now. In recent days, we have had protests that start in the morning and stay in the streets all day. At night, there are convoys of cars in major cities. It shows that the workers are participating, and the middle class is also coming out.” He also affirmed that the movement is entirely grassroots. “The leftist political parties recognize they do not control any part of the popular movement.”(16) Leticia Salomón, the Director of Scientific Research for the National Autonomous University of Honduras said, “It doesn't matter who wins the elections in November, the next government will have to deal with this important social force if it hopes to even minimally govern the country.”(17) World Isolates Coup Regime At the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico in August, President Barack Obama said "critics who say that the United States has not intervened enough in Honduras are the same people who say that we're always intervening and the Yankees need to get out of Latin America. You can't have it both ways."(18) But as New York University history professor and author Greg Grandin points out, all many are asking is for the US to act multilaterally with the OAS – it did the opposite by defying the OAS and appointing Arias as the mediator between Michelleti and Zelaya. In addition, through its financial support to the regime, the US has been far from taking a neutral stance.(19) Indeed, Washington has been acting unilaterally since the beginning by not refusing to follow the lead of other nations in putting more pressure on the coup government.(20) - However, US State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said on September 3rd that “At this moment, we would not be able to support the outcome of the [November] elections [in Honduras].”(21) Zelaya was happy to hear this news from Washington. He said the move "puts the United States in line with Latin America, because it was not said before."(22) In addition to the US, the EU, the OAS, union leaders in Honduras and members of the Front Against the Coup say they will not recognize the election results.(23) Honduras business owners have devised their own plan to increase voting; they’ll be giving discounts to everyone who casts a ballot and then comes into their business with ink on their fingers, showing that they’ve voted.(24) The US State Department did end up revoking the US visas of over a dozen officials in the coup government, including Michelleti.(25) But the US could go further by blocking members of the regime from using US banks.(26) Various levels of funding to Honduras from the US and other governments and institutions have been cut since the coup took place. “On Sept. 3, the State Department announced the termination of $33 million dollars, including $11 million in Millennium Challenge Funds and approximately $22 million in State Department funds,” according to Latin American analyst Laura Carlsen. The IMF said that due to the coup, Honduras won’t have access to $150 million in assistance.(27) A spokesperson from the IMF said the institution cut off all aid to the country three days after the coup.(28) On July 2, the US cut the following spending: $1.9 million from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and $16.5 million in military funding.(29) The Inter-American Development Bank, and the Central American Bank of Economic Integration all cut lending to the Honduran government.(30) The UN has cut off various forms of aid to Honduras.(31) In addition, the EU froze $92 million in aid and the OAS froze aid and began trade blocks against the coup government.(32) However, “For legalistic reasons, [the US State Department] continued to fall short of calling the coup a ‘military’ coup,” explained Adam Isacson of the Center for International Policy. “This means that some anti-poverty aid is being maintained, soldiers whose training was already paid for won't be sent back to Honduras, and State can flexibly restore aid once democracy returns.”(33) “State Department officials closed the door on determining legally that a military coup took place in Honduras and requiring application of Section 7008 of the Foreign Operations law,” Carlsen explained. “They assured reporters that all funds that could be suspended under Section 7008 have now been suspended … The State Department has admitted that $70 million in aid—over twice the amount suspended—will still flow to the coup.”(34) The Kansas City-based Cross-Border Network went on a delegation to Honduras after the coup and reported that "We met the U.S Ambassador who agreed it was a military coup even though the State Department won't call it that, thus invoking the law requiring cut off of all remaining aid."(35) Declaring the coup a coup, according to Grandin, “would automatically trigger certain cutoffs, financial cutoffs, it also would have to be certified by Congress. And that’s a fight that I think Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton don’t want, because the Republicans, led by Connie Mack and other foreign policy conservatives, regime change conservatives, Republicans, have seized on this issue to basically try to link Obama with Hugo Chavez and the Latin American left. And they certainly don’t want to kick it into Congress, where it’ll be debated, because to call it a coup would have to be certified by Congress.”(36) - But the Obama administration needs to understand that what’s at stake is more important than winning a political fight in Washington. The future of a nation, and perhaps the entire region, hangs in the balance. "The true significance of the coup, in one of the poorest and weakest countries in the hemisphere ... lies in the test it poses to the inter-American system," says Jorge Heine of the Balsillie School of International Affairs. "If the latter cannot succeed in restoring democracy in Honduras, it cannot do so anywhere. The message would thus be crystal clear: coup-makers can act with impunity."(37) Washington’s Ties to the Coup Washington has played a bloody role in Central America for years and this coup carries on that legacy while setting some new precedents. Fernando "Billy" Joya has returned to the stage in Honduras as Michelleti’s security advisor after serving in Battalion 316 in the 1980s, according to Grandin. Battalion 316 was a paramilitary unit that disappeared hundreds of people.(38) Joya was trained in Chile under the Pinochet dictatorship by Chilean police, and his Battalion 316 was created by the CIA to apply the repressive techniques used against “subversives” in Argentina and Chile.(39) In 1981, John Negroponte arrived in Honduras as the US ambassador. While there, the military budget in the country rose from $3.6 million in 1981 to $77.8 million in 1985 “when his mission was completed—having created the Contras in Nicaragua and protected the El Salvadoran dictatorship,” according to Honduras-based reporter Dick Emanuelsson.(40) Negroponte met with Michelleti before the June 28 coup on a trip made primarily to convince Zelaya not to transform a US airbase in Palmerola, Honduras into an airport for civilians.(41) Venezuelan Robert Carmona-Borjas has also joined the coup government in Honduras. He was involved in the attempted coup against President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 2002. Carmona-Borjas’ Arcadio Foundation began a media campaign against Zelaya in 2007.(42) - Lanny Davis, a lawyer to Bill Clinton and campaign advisor to Hillary Clinton, has been lobbying in Washington for Honduran coup leaders and elites. Some of the businesses that support the coup in Honduras that Davis is representing in DC are US companies such as Russell, Fruit of the Loom and Hanes – all of which have benefited from the low wages, neoliberal policies and crackdowns on union rights in the country.(43) Davis recently testified before Congress on behalf of the coup leaders and backers, and has helped to get media on the coup’s side.(44) The week before the coup, former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs Thomas Shannon and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Craig Kelly met with Honduran figures that ended up participating in the coup.(45) Days before the coup took place, John McCain and leaders from the International Republican Institute, invited future leaders of the coup to meetings in Washington.(46) US businesses also hold a considerable amount of weight in the country: in 2006, 70% of exports from Honduras went to the US, and 52% of imports were from the US. That same year, US investments in the country totaled more than $568 million, two thirds of foreign investment.(47) A Movement Larger Than Zelaya Just as the coup may change the geopolitical landscape of the region, the grassroots fervor in Honduras will likely alter the country forever. And that might be Michelleti’s legacy – that in ousting a moderate president, he inspired a revolution. When trying to break the political impasse Honduras finds itself in, Zelaya admits that much depends on the anti-coup movement of Honduras. "This movement is now very strong. It can never be destroyed," he said.(48) The coup leaders “were wrong here, they miscalculated,” Honduran activist Bertha Cáceres of the Front Against the Coup and COPINH explained. “They said it would be two days of resistance, and they were wrong. This population has demonstrated that we are capable of … a much longer struggle.”(49) Gilberto Rios, from the Front Against the Coup, spoke of the similarities this coup has to others throughout the last century that still haunt the region: “The oligarchy made the coup with an old manual, but the people have changed and the world has changed.”(50) - *** Benjamin Dangl is the author of the forthcoming book, Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America, (AK Press, 2010). He edits TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on world events and UpsideDownWorld.org, a website on activism and politics in Latin America. Email Bendangl(at)gmail(dot)com. Photo from Indymedia.org Notes: 1. Interview with Roberto Michelleti, Fox News, (September 17, 2009), http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/26446742/roberto-micheletti-pt-1.htm#q=micheletti. 2. Greg Grandin, “The Battle for Honduras and the Region,” The Nation, (August 12, 2009), http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090831/grandin/print. 3. Daniel Luban, “US-Honduras: State Dept Condemns ‘Coup d'Etat’, Curtails Aid,” IPS News, (September 3, 2009), http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48323. 4. “Group Says Honduran Cops on Rape Spree Since Coup,” Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=341851&CategoryId=23558 5. Unidad Investigativa, “Estarían reclutando ex paramilitares para que viajen como mercenarios a Honduras,” El Tiempo, http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/estarian-reclutando-ex-paramilitares-para-que-viajen-como-mercenarios-a-honduras_6086547-1 6. Ginger Thompson, “President’s Ouster Highlights a Divide in Honduras,” The New York Times, (August 8, 2009), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/world/americas/09honduras.html?pagewanted=print 7. Tom Hayden, “Zelaya Speaks,” The Nation, (September 4, 2009), http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090921/hayden_zelaya 8. Laura Carlsen, “Coup Catalyzes Honduran Women’s Movement,” America Program, (August 20, 2009) http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6369 9. Ginger Thompson, “President’s Ouster Highlights a Divide in Honduras,” The New York Times, (August 8, 2009), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/world/americas/09honduras.html?pagewanted=print 10. Juan Ramón Durán, “Honduras: Vote to Go Ahead Despite Int'l Refusal to Recognise,” IPS News, (September 9, 2009), http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48385 11. Jennifer Moore, “Honduras’ Historic Two Months,” América Latina en Movimiento, (August 28,. 2009) http://alainet.org/active/32686ã 12. Dick Emanuelsson, “Military Forces Sow Terror and Fear in Honduras,“ Americas Program, (August 13, 2009), http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6354 13. Laura Carlsen, “Coup Catalyzes Honduran Women’s Movement,” America Program, (August 20, 2009) http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6369 14. Ibid. 15. Laura Carlsen and Sara Lovera, “Honduran Constitutional Assembly Would Be a Step Toward the Emancipation of Women,” Americas Program, (August 19, 2009), http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6392 16. Kiraz Janicke and Federico Fuentes, “Honduras — Resistance leader: US is behind the coup,” Green Left Weekly, (September 7, 2009), http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/809/41602 17. Jennifer Moore, “National opposition to coup becomes a social force,” América Latina en Movimiento, (September 12, 2009), http://alainet.org/active/32978&lang=en 18. Cheryl W. Thompson and William Booth, “Obama Vows to Focus on Borders,” Washington Post, (August 11, 2009), http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081001797.html 19. Greg Grandin, “The Battle for Honduras and the Region,” The Nation, (August 12, 2009), http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090831/grandin/print. 20. Amy Oyler, “The Resurgence of US Interventionism in Latin America,” Z Communications, (August 31, 2009), http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/22466 21. Ian Kelly, “Termination of Assistance and Other Measures Affecting the De Facto Regime in Honduras,” US Department of State, (September 3, 2009), http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/128608.htm 22. Tom Hayden, “Zelaya’s Coup,” The Nation, (September 3, 2009), http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090921/hayden_web 23. Juan Ramón Durán, “Honduras: Vote to Go Ahead Despite Int'l Refusal to Recognise,” IPS News, (September 9, 2009), http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48385 24. “Honduran Resistance Boycotts Elections,” Weekly News Update on the Americas, (September 13, 2009), http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2009/09/wnu-1004-honduran-resistance-boycotts.html 25. “State Dept. Revokes Visa of Leader of Honduran Coup Government,” Democracy Now!, ,(September 14, 2009), http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/14/headlines#7 26. “US stops issuing visas in Honduras,” Al Jazeera, (August 26, 2009), http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/08/200982601353122962.html 27. Jorge Heine, “It's time for Canada to take a strong stand on Honduras,” The Globe and Mail, (September 18, 2009), http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/its-time-for-canada-to-take-a-strong-stand-on-honduras/article1287401/ 28. “Honduran Resistance Boycotts Elections,” Weekly News Update on the Americas, (September 13, 2009), http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2009/09/wnu-1004-honduran-resistance-boycotts.html 29. Ibid. 30. Mark Weisbrot, “IMF: Stop Funding Honduras,” The Guardian Unlimited, (September 3, 2009), http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/sep/03/imf-honduras-aid-zelaya 31. “EU threatens further sanctions on Honduras,” Reuters, (September 15, 2009), http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSLF361596._CH_.2400 32. Amy Oyler, “The Resurgence of US Interventionism in Latin America,” Z Communications, (August 31, 2009), http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/22466 33. Adam Isacson, “Another Baby Step on Honduras,” Huffington Post, (September 3, 2009), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-isacson/another-baby-step-on-hond_b_276972.html 34. Laura Carlsen, Americas MexicoBlog, “Honduran Coup Squeezed From Above and Below—But is it Enough to Restore Democracy?,” (September 10, 2009), http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/09/honduran-coup-squeezed-from-above-and.html 35. OneWorld, “US Chided for Aiding Honduras Despite Coup,” Common Dreams, (September 9, 2009), http://www.commondreams.org/print/46772 36. “US Cuts More Aid to Honduras as Zelaya Meets Clinton in Washington,” Democracy Now!, (September 4, 2009), http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/4/us_cuts_more_aid_to_honduras 37. Olivia Ward, “Raising the stakes in Honduras,” The Star, (September 6, 2009), http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/691633 38. Greg Grandin, “The Battle for Honduras and the Region,” The Nation, (August 12, 2009), http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090831/grandin/print. 39. Dick Emanuelsson, “Honduras: The Frontline in the Battle for Democracy,” Americas Program, (August 10, 2009), http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6337 40. Ibid. 41. Michaela D'Ambrosio, “The Honduran Coup: Was it a Matter of Behind-the-Scenes Finagling by State Department Stonewallers?,” Council on Hemispheric Affairs, (September 16, 2009), http://www.coha.org/2009/09/the-honduran-coup-was-it-a-matter-of-behind-the-scenes-finagling-by-state-department-stonewallers/ 42. Greg Grandin, “The Battle for Honduras and the Region,” The Nation, (August 12, 2009), http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090831/grandin/print. 43. Amy Oyler, “The Resurgence of US Interventionism in Latin America,” Z Communications, (August 31, 2009), http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/22466 44. Mark Weisbrot, “Who’s in charge of US foreign policy?” The Guardian Unlimited, (July 16, 2009) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jul/16/honduras-coup-obama-clinton/print 45. Michaela D'Ambrosio, “The Honduran Coup: Was it a Matter of Behind-the-Scenes Finagling by State Department Stonewallers?,” Council on Hemispheric Affairs, (September 16, 2009), http://www.coha.org/2009/09/the-honduran-coup-was-it-a-matter-of-behind-the-scenes-finagling-by-state-department-stonewallers/ 46. Amy Oyler, “The Resurgence of US Interventionism in Latin America,” Z Communications, (August 31, 2009), http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/22466 47. Amy Oyler, “The Resurgence of US Interventionism in Latin America,” Z Communications, (August 31, 2009), http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/22466 48. Tom Hayden, “Zelaya Speaks,” The Nation, (September 4, 2009), http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090921/hayden_zelaya 49. Laura Carlsen and Sara Lovera, “Honduran Constitutional Assembly Would Be a Step Toward the Emancipation of Women,” Americas Program, (August 19, 2009), http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6392 50. Kiraz Janicke and Federico Fuentes, “Honduras — Resistance leader: US is behind the coup,” Green Left Weekly, (September 7, 2009), http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/809/41602