Obama's Involvement in the Honduras Coup

The Honduras Coup: Is Obama Innocent?

Is President Obama innocent of the events occurring in Honduras, specifically the coup launched by the Honduran military resulting in the abduction and forced deportation of democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya? Obama has denounced the coup and demanded that the rules of democracy be honored. Still, several troubling questions remain.

First, almost all the senior Honduran military officers active in the coup are graduates of the Pentagon's School of the Americas (known to many of us as "School of the Assassins"). The Honduran military is trained, advised, equipped, indoctrinated, and financed by the United States national security state. The generals would never have dared to move without tacit consent from the White House or the Pentagon and CIA.

Second, if Obama was not directly involved, then he should be faulted for having no firm command over those US operatives who were. The US military must have known about the plot and US military intelligence must have known and must have reported it back to Washington. Why did Obama’s people who had communicated with the coup leaders fail to blow the whistle on them? Why did they not expose and denounce the plot, thereby possibly foiling the entire venture? Instead the US kept quiet about it, a silence that in effect, even if not in intent, served as an act of complicity.

Third, immediately after the coup, Obama stated that he was against using violence to effect change and that it was up to the various parties in Honduras to resolve their differences. His remarks were a rather tepid and muted response to a gangster putsch.

Fourth, Obama never expected there would be an enormous uproar over the Honduras coup. He hastily joined the outcry against the perpetrators only when it became evident that opposition to the putschists was nearly universal throughout Latin America and elsewhere in the world.

Fifth, Obama still has had nothing to say about the many other acts of repression attendant with the coup perpetrated by Honduran military and police: kidnappings, beatings, disappearances, attacks on demonstrators, shutting down the internet and suppressing the few small critical media outlets that exist in Honduras.

Sixth, as James Petras reminded me, Obama has refused to meet with President Zelaya. He dislikes Zelaya mostly for his close and unexpected affiliation with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. And because of his egalitarian reformist efforts Zelaya is hated by the Honduran oligarchs, the same oligarchs who for many years have been close to and splendidly served by the US empire builders.

Seventh, under a law passed by the US Congress, any democratic government that is the victim of a military takeover is to be denied US military and economic aid. Obama still has not cut off the economic and military aid to Honduras as he is required to do under this law. This is perhaps the most telling datum regarding whose side he is on. (His Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is even worse. She refuses to call it a coup and states that there are two sides to this story.)

As president, Obama has considerable influence and immense resources that might well have thwarted the perpetrators and perhaps could still be applied against them with real effect. As of now he seems more inclined to take the insider track rather than an actively democratic stance. On Honduras he is doing too little too late--as is the case with many other things he does.

Letter from Zelaya to Obama, last night (Original in Spanish)

PRESIDENCIA DE LA REPUBLICA

Del Escritorio
del Señor Presidente

Tegucigalpa, 14 de Noviembre de 2009

S. E.
BARACK OBAMA
PRESIDENTE EEUU
Washington D.C.

Estimado Presidente Obama:

Cuando nos reunimos por primera vez el 8 de julio con la Secretaria de Estado Clinton después del Golpe de Estado se dejo claro ante mí y ante el mundo la posición de la administración Obama de condenar el Golpe de Estado, desconocer sus autoridades y exigir el retorno del estado de derecho con la restitución, al cargo de Presidente electo por el pueblo. La posición oficial de su gobierno y sus representantes que patrocinaron y firmaron las resoluciones de la ONU, OEA. En el que el tercer punto exige mi restitución inmediata y segura.

A partir del 28 de junio de 2009 mi secuestro por los militares y destierro a Costa Rica. El Congreso de la República emitió un decreto ilegal donde ordena “Separar al ciudadano José Manuel Zelaya del cargo de Presidente Constitucional de la República” sin facultades constitucionales para hacerlo, y sin el debido procesos sin ser citado a ningún juicio.

Desde la primera reunión con la secretaria Hillary Clinton me propusieron la mediación del Presidente de Costa Rica Oscar Arias a pesar de que considero que es contraproducente dialogar con personas que tienen un arma en sus manos, acepte considerando el auspicio de EE.UU y de la comunidad internacional.

En un comunicado de fecha 04 de septiembre del presente año la Secretaria de Estado Hillary Clinton expresaba a lo siguiente: “La conclusión positiva del proceso iniciado por Arias sería la base adecuada para proceder con una elección legítima”

De todos es conocido que el Régimen de Facto sin la visita a Honduras del sub. Secretario de Estado para el Hemisferio Occidental, Thomas Shannon, Daniel Restrepo y Craig Kelly no hubieran firmado el Acuerdo. Todos sabemos por qué se rompió el acuerdo, Tegucigalpa – San José. El propio Presidente Oscar Arias en aras de la verdad declaro que: “Micheletti nunca tuvo voluntad de colaborar y que por el contrario se estaba burlando de la comunidad internacional y sólo buscaba dilatar el tiempo para nunca entregar el poder a quien corresponde”.

El Ex Presidente Ricardo Lagos, miembro prominente de la Comisión Internacional de Verificación en sus declaraciones confirmo esto, al manifestar: “El Señor Micheletti lo rompió”, “Micheletti hizo cosas que no debía haber hecho como decir yo formare un gobierno de unidad sin Zelaya” lo que hizo fracasar este acuerdo negociado.

El propio día en que se instalaba en Tegucigalpa la Comisión de Verificación, del
acuerdo sorprendieron las declaraciones, de funcionarios del Departamento de Estado donde modifican su posición e interpretan el acuerdo unilateralmente con las declaraciones siguientes“…las elecciones serían reconocidas por Estados Unidos con o sin restitución…”; El régimen de facto celebro este cambio y utilizaron estas declaraciones para sus objetivos, e inmediatamente terminaron por incumplir y violar el Acuerdo Por lo anteriormente expuesto nos manifestamos de la siguiente manera:

Que el Acuerdo Tegucigalpa-San José queda sin valor ni efecto por incumplimiento unilateral del gobierno de facto. Este fue concebido para implementarse en forma integral y simultánea; pues no se contemplaron como doce acuerdos separados, fue un solo acuerdo con doce puntos el cual tenía un solo propósito, restaurar el orden democrático y la paz social, y con esto se revirtiera el golpe de estado, lo que implica el seguro retorno del Presidente de República elegido legítimamente por voto popular. Y con esto, propiciar un clima de reconciliación nacional y un siguiente proceso electoral
constitucional, limpio, con garantías de participación igualitaria y libre para todos los ciudadanos de Honduras Que las próximas elecciones se debían desarrollar en un marco de legalidad y respaldo internacional especialmente de la OEA y ONU y que fuera de esas condiciones políticas y de derechos ciudadanos mínimos para garantizar un resultado apegado a la libertad y a la transparencia.

En esto, quiero anotar que la nueva posición de los funcionarios del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos esquiva el objetivo inicial del diálogo de San José, relegando un acuerdo con el Gobierno legítimamente reconocido hacia un segundo plano, y tratando de trasladar este acuerdo hacia un nuevo proceso electoral sin importar las condiciones en que se desarrolle. Entre otras, con recursos públicos están siendo autorizados por funcionarios públicos no reconocidos legalmente e imputados a un documento de Presupuesto que no ha sido autorizado por Presidente legítimamente reconocido.

En estas condiciones, este proceso, y por lo tanto sus resultados serán sujetos de impugnación y no reconocimiento; lo cual pone en grave riesgo la estabilidad futura de las relaciones entre Honduras y el resto de naciones que reconozcan sus resultados.

Como lo ha señalado el Secretario General de la OEA José Miguel Insulza, no existe un ambiente político, para elecciones, como lo ha observado y apuntado la Congresista Norteamericana Jane Sharkorky en su visita a Honduras, se observa un ambiente comprobado de violación a los derechos humanos en Honduras.

El 6 de noviembre pasado, hemos comunicado nuestra negativa a continuar con el dialogo falso, y por lo tanto al expirarse el plazo el texto constituye letra muerta que pierde vigencia, porque un acuerdo se cumple en tiempo y forma, la violación de este por el régimen de facto es para nosotros la condición que determina que el acuerdo dejo de existir. Indudablemente se perdió tiempo precioso en este intento fallido.

La elección presidencial está actualmente prevista para la última semana de noviembre. En este caso, como Presidente Constitucional de Honduras, y como ciudadano que representa y fue elegido por voto democrático del pueblo de Honduras, me veo en la obligación de informar que bajo estas condiciones no podemos respaldarla y procederemos a impugnarlo legalmente en nombre de millares de hondureños y de cientos de candidatos que sienten que esta competencia es desigual y no se presentan las condiciones de participación en libertad.

En Honduras por la represión a que hoy está sometido el pueblo Hondureño, donde no se respeta ni la más alta autoridad el Presidente de la Republica, donde no se ha considerado que en tres años logré los mejores indicadores económicos y la más grande reducción de la pobreza de los 28 años de vida democrática, donde fui derrocado por la fuerza de las armas, nunca fui sometido a un juicio ni al proceso debido y tengo hoy 24 acusaciones y ordenes de captura por narcotráfico corrupción y terrorismo entre otros, y donde la mayor parte de los Ministros de mi gabinete son objeto de persecución política y se encuentran huyendo del régimen en diferentes partes de América.

3500 personas detenidas en cien días, mas de 600 personas heridas y golpeadas en los hospitales, más de un centenar de asesinatos y una incontable cantidad de personas sometidas a torturas cometidas contra ciudadanos que se atreven a oponerse y manifestar sus ideas, de libertad y justicia, en manifestaciones pacificas, todo esto convierten las elecciones de noviembre en un ejercicio anti-democrático por estado de ilegitimidad, por la incertidumbre y la intimidación militar, para grandes sectores de nuestro pueblo.

Realizar elecciones, en las que el Presidente electo por el pueblo de Honduras, a quien reconoce su Gobierno y la Comunidad Internacional, está prisionero, rodeado por militares en la sede diplomática de Brasil, y un Presidente de Facto, que impusieron los militares, rodeado por los poderosos en el palacio de gobierno, será una vergüenza histórica para Honduras y una infamia para los pueblos Democráticos de América.

Este proceso electoral es ilegal porque oculta el golpe de estado militar, y el estado de facto en que vive Honduras no brinda garantías de igualdad y libertad en la participación ciudadana, a todos los Hondureños, es una maniobra electoral antidemocrática repudiada por grandes sectores del pueblo para encubrir los autores materiales e intelectuales del Golpe de Estado.

Las Elecciones son un proceso no son solo un día donde se va elegir, es un debate, es exposición de ideas es igualdad de oportunidades.

En mi condición de Presidente electo por el pueblo Hondureño, reafirmo mi decisión que a partir de esta fecha cualquiera que fuera el caso, YO NO ACEPTO, ningún acuerdo de retorno a la presidencia, para encubrir el golpe de estado, que sabemos que tiene un impacto directo por la represión militar sobre los derechos humanos de las habitantes de nuestro país.

Sr. Presidente en la Cumbre de Países del Continente Americano celebrada en Trinidad y Tobago a principios de este año, donde estuve presente Usted manifestó

“Que dejáramos de acusar a Estados Unidos por lo que hizo en el pasado en el continente y que viéramos hacia el futuro”. El futuro que hoy nos muestran al alterar su posición en el caso de Honduras y favorecer así la intervención abusiva de las castas militares en la vida cívica de nuestro Estado, (causa histórica del atraso y estancamiento de nuestros países en el siglo XX) No es mas que el ocaso de la libertad y un desprecio a la dignidad humana, es una nueva guerra contra los procesos de reformas sociales y democráticas tan necesarios en Honduras.

Presidente Obama, cada vez que se derroca un Gobierno legítimamente electo en América la violencia y el terrorismo nos gana una batalla y la Democracia sufre
una derrota.

Todavía Nos resistimos a creer que este golpe de estado militar en ejecución en Honduras, es ya el nuevo, terrorismo de estado del siglo XXI. Y será el futuro para América latina que nos hablo en Trinidad y Tobago.

Estamos firmes decididos a luchar por nuestra democracia sin ocultar la verdad y cuando un pueblo se decide a luchar pacíficamente por sus ideas, no hay arma, no hay ejército ni maniobra capaz de detenerlo.

En espera de su pronta respuesta, le reitero mi más alta consideración.

JOSE MANUEL ZELAYA ROSALES
Presidente de Honduras

Letter from Zelaya to Obama, last night

Office of the President of the Republic

From the Desk of the President

Tegucigalpa, 14 November, 2009

His Excellency
Barack Obama
President of the United States
Washington D.C.

Dear President Obama:

When we met for the first time the 8th of July with the Secretary of State Cinton after the Coup d'Etat there was made clear to me and to the world the position of the Obama administration of condemning the Coup d'Etat, not recognizing its authorities and demanding the return to the state of law with the restitution to the office of President elected by the people. The official position of your government and its representatives that sponsored and signed the resolutions of the UN, OAS. In which the third point demanded my immediate and secure restitution.

Beginning the 28th of June of 2009 my kidnapping by the military and expatriation to Costa Rica. The Congress of the Republic issued an illegal decree where it ordered "To separate the citizen José Manuel Zelaya Rosales from the office of Constitutional President of the Republic" without constitutional abilities to do so, and without due process without any legal ruling being cited.

From the first meeting with Secretary Hillary Clinton mediation by the president of Costa Rica Oscar Arias was proposed to me, despite the fact that I consider that it is counterproductive to engage in dialogue with persons that have a gun in their hands, I accepted considering the auspices of the US and the international community.

In a communiqué dated the 4th of September of the present year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed the following: "The positive conclusion of the process initiated by Arias will be the suitable basis to proceed with a legitimate election".

It is known by everyone that the de facto regime, without the visit to Honduras of the Subsecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Thomas Shannon, Daniel Restrepo and Craig Kelly, would not have signed the Accord. Everyone knows why they broke the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord. The same president Oscar Arias for the sake of the truth declared that "Micheletti never had the will to collaborate and that on the contrary he was mocking the international community and only sought to extend the time to never turn over the power that he has".

Ex-president Ricardo Lagos, prominent member of the international Verification Commission in his declarations confirms this, by stating "Sr. Micheletti broke it", "Micheletti did things that he should not have done such as to say I will form a government of unity without Zelaya" which made this negotiated accord fail.

The same day that the Verification Commission of the accord was installed in Tegucigalpa, they were caught unaware by declarations of functionaries of the State Department where they modified their position and interpreted the accord unilaterally with the following declarations: "the elections will be recognized by the US with or without restitution"; the de facto regime celebrated this change and used these declarations for their objectives, and immediately ended by default and violation of the Accord. For the before expounded we declare in the following manner:

That the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord remains worthless and without effect for the unilateral default of the de facto government. This was conceived to be implemented in an integrated and simultaneous form; since it cannot be treated as twelve separate accords, it was one single accord with twelve points which had one sole goal, to restore the democratic order and social peace, and with this the coup d'etat would be reverted, which implies the certain return of the President of the Republic elected legitimately by popular vote. And with that, to bring about a climate of national reconciliation and a constitutional electoral process to follow, fair, with guarantees of equal participation and free for all the citizens of Honduras. That the upcoming elections should be developed in a framework of legality and international backing, especially by the OAS and UN and there would be the political conditions and conditions of minimum civil rights to guarantee a result that holds to liberty and transparency.

In this, I want to note that the new position of the functionaries of the Government of the US skirts the initial objective of the San Jose dialogue, relegating an accord with the legitimately recognized Government to a second place, and trying to move this accord toward a new electoral process without concern for the conditions in which it would be carried out. Among others, with public resources that are being authorized by public functionaries not legally recognized and attributed to a Budget document that has not been authorized by the legitimately recognized President.

In these conditions, this process, and therefore its results, will be subject to challenge and non-recognition; which will put in grave risk the future stability of relations between Honduras and the rest of the nations that might recognize its results.

As the Secretary General of the OAS José Miguel Insulza has pointed out, there does not exist a political environment for elections, as has been observed and pointed out by the North American Congress member [Jan Schakowsky] in her visit to Honduras, observing a veritable environment of violation of human rights in Honduras.

This past November 6, we communicated our refusal to continue with a false dialogue, and therefore on the expiration of the due date the text constitutes a dead letter that loses its validity, because an accord is fulfilled in time and form, the violation of this by the de facto regime is for us the condition that determines that the accord stopped existing. Undoubtedly precious time was lost in this unsuccessful attempt.

The presidential election is now scheduled for the last week of November. In this case, as Constitutional President of Honduras, and as citizen who represents and was elected by the democratic vote of the people of Honduras, I see myself obligated to state that under these conditions we cannot back it and we will proceed to challenge it legally in the name of thousands of Hondurans and hundreds of candidates that feel that this contest is unequal and does not present the conditions of free participation.

In Honduras due to the repression that the Honduran people today is subjected to, where there is no respect even for the highest authority of the President of the Republic, where they have not considered that in three years I achieved the best economic indicators and the greatest reduction of poverty in the 28 years of democratic life, where I was removed by force of arms, never was submitted to a trial nor to due process and today have 24 accusations and orders for arrest for drug trafficking, corruption, and terrorism, among others, and where the major part of the Ministers of my cabinet are the object of political persecution and are to be found fleeing the regime in different parts of the Americas.

3500 people detained in 100 days, more than 600 people wounded and beaten in hospitals, more than 100 assassinations and an unknown number of people subjected to tortures committed against citizens that dared to oppose and demonstrate for their ideas, for liberty, and for justice, in peaceful demonstrations, all that converts the elections of November into an anti-democratic exercise by an illegitimate state, due to the uncertainty and military intimidation, for large sectors of the people.

To carry out elections, in which the President elected by the people of Honduras, who is recognized by your Government and the international community, is prisoner, surrounded by military in the diplomatic mission of Brazil, and a de facto president, who imposes the military, surrounded by the powerful in the palace of government, would be a historic shame for Honduras and an infamy for the democratic peoples of the Americas.

This electoral process is illegal because it covers up the military coup d'etat, and the de facto state that Honduras lives with does not furnish guarantees of equality and liberty of citizen participation, for all the Hondurans, it is an antidemocratic electoral maneuver repudiated by large sectors of the people to cloak the material and intellectual authors of the Coup d'Etat.

The elections are a process, not just a day when you go to vote, they are a debate, they are the exposition of ideas, they are equality of opportunities.

In my status as President elected by the Honduran people, I reaffirm my decision that from this date on, whatever will happen, I WILL NOT ACCEPT any accord of returning to the presidency, to cloak the coup d'etat, that we know has a direct impact through military repression on the human rights of the inhabitants of our country.

Mr. President, in the Summit of Countries of the American Continent celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago at the beginning of this year, where I was present, you said

"That we should stop accusing the US for what it did in the past in the continent and that we should look toward the future". The future that today shows us the alteration of your position in the case of Honduras and thus favors abusive intervention by military groups in the civic life of our State (historical cause of the backwardness and stagnation of our countries in the 20th century). It is nothing more than the sunset of liberty and a deprecation of human dignity, it is a new war against the process of social and democratic reform that are so necessary in Honduras.

President Obama, each time that a legitimate elected Government is overturned in the Americas violence and terrorism win a battle and Democracy suffers a defeat.

We still refuse to believe that this military coup d'etat executed in Honduras, is now the new state terrorism of the 21st century. And that it will be the future for Latin America that you spoke to us about in Trinidad and Tobago.

We are firmly resolved to battle for our democracy without hiding the truth and when a people decide to peacefully fight for its ideas, there is no weapon, no army nor maneuver that is capable of stopping it.

In the expectation of your prompt response, I repeat my highest regards.

JOSE MANUEL ZELAYA ROSALES
President of Honduras

Obama administration playing footsie with Honduran junta

RT: Obama administration playing footsie with Honduran junta

The Annotated pack of lies that oozing Clintonite pustule Lanny Davis, published in the WSJ

Longtime BoRev reader "Jakob" thought it might be "fun" to read this hilarious pack of lies that oozing Clintonite pustule Lanny Davis published in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, during a fact checker's strike, perhaps? and then point out each time he just makes shit up or otherwise says something stupid. Behold Jakob's idea of a good a time, after the jump!

The Way Forward in Honduras
The U.S. should recognize the coming election, whether Manuel Zelaya does or not.
LANNY J. DAVIS

For months Honduras has faced a political crisis. In June, its president, Manuel Zelaya, attempted to subvert the country's constitution [Would be interesting to see what Mr. Davis had in mind here, the proposed opinion poll was allowed for under the Citizen Participation Act that was enacted in 2005] and was removed from office [Might it be useful to tell the readers how we was removed? As in kidnapped and exiled by the Honduran military]. He has since pushed to return to power [Did the constitutional president push to return to his rightful place? What a power-hungry dictator!], called the current president--Robert Micheletti--illegitimate [Is this criticism? Not a single country in the World sees Micheletti as legitimate], and has cast a shadow over presidential elections to be held at the end of this month [The gross violations of human rights, as documented by groups both in Honduras and internationally are casting shadows over elections. That and the dictatorship running the country].

On Oct. 30, it appeared the crisis might come to a close when representatives of Mr. Zelaya signed an agreement with representatives of Mr. Micheletti to create a reconciliation government to oversee the country until the next president is seated (among other provisions)[Among other provisions?? You know, like that little provision about Congress voting on Zelaya's return to the presidency. It is hard to imagine the agreement called for a "reconciliation government" headed by the coup president without even the congressional vote on Zelaya's return having taken place. Point five of the agreement refers to returning the executive power back to its position prior to June 28th, was Micheletti the president then?]. But in recent days, that agreement--known as the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Accord--fell apart [What do you know, something true].

It's more accurate to say Mr. Zelaya moved to destroy the accord [This is ridiculous even for a paid lobbyist]. It called for him to propose members of the reconciliation government by Nov. 5, and it also gave Honduras's Congress the right to vote whether to reinstate him as president. But Mr. Zelaya refused to make his appointments, even while Mr. Micheletti proposed his appointments on time [Zelaya refused to make appointments because Congress was delaying the vote on his return to power, a clear prerequisite to naming a reconciliation government. Congress was meant to vote on the issue prior to the November 5 naming of a reconciliation government. Rather, Micheletti moved to install a government with himself at the head, unilaterally. It is important to note that not even the Liberal or National parties submitted candidates to the reconciliation government]. On Friday, Mr. Zelaya declared the accord null and void before Congress could vote on whether to restore him to power [He declared it null and void BECAUSE Congress did not, and did not even plan on, voting on his restoration before the naming of a reconciliation government and perhaps not even before elections on November 29]. Interestingly, he had insisted on adding the congressional vote to the agreement, so his decision to blow up the process before the vote is an indication that even he realizes he would lose a vote in a Congress controlled by his liberal party [This is absurd, if Congress, as they have stated, did not plan on ruling on Zelaya's reinstatement before elections the accord would be null and void].

If there is to be a resolution to this crisis, it will likely only come if the Obama administration (which helped both sides hammer out the accord), leaders in the U.S. Congress, and the Organization of American States (OAS) make sure that Mr. Zelaya does not get away with breaking his word [Who has broken their word? First, the Obama administration, who for months qualified their support for elections on Zelaya's return, only to change positions and say they would except the results no matter what. Secondly, the coup government, who clearly subverted the accord to push back the congressional vote and unilaterally install a reconciliation government. Not Zelaya, who signed an accord with a virtual gun to his head, and maintains his rightful and constitutional claim to the presidency].

One vital part of the accord calls for international monitors to go to Honduras to prepare for the presidential elections, which are scheduled for Nov. 29 [Interesting that Mr. Davis considers this a vital point of the accord but not congress voting on Zelaya's return]. Under the accord the monitors will work with the Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal, a four-member body [Actually a three member body, but hey, who's counting?] appointed by Honduras's Congress when Mr. Zelaya was in power, and which is independent of the executive branch [and which is now in control of the military, you know, the military that overthrew the president and killed innocent civilians, yeah, that military]. The White House and the U.S. Congress need to call for this step to be taken immediately [Apparently Mr. Davis believes that signing the accord is all that it takes to recognize elections, no matter if the accord is actually carried out. Further, nothing has been done to curb the violations of human rights and freedom of expression that is the biggest barrier to recognizing and participating in elections. Forget Zelaya for a minute, there is no way the legal election period, most of which occurred under a state of siege, has allowed free and fair elections to take place in less than 3 weeks].

Mr. Zelaya's modus operandi is clear. In 2005, he got elected president while vowing to uphold the constitution. He then violated the country's constitution by pushing for a vote that would have allowed him to extend his time in office [I wonder how Mr. Davis might prove this? The proposed opinion poll did not mention term limits, Zelaya clearly stated he did not want to stay in office, in other words Mr. Davis is peddling a lie for money]. Honduras's Constitution specifically states that a president who does that is to be automatically removed, which is why the country's Supreme Court and Congress supported his removal [If that is why the Supreme Court and Congress removed him they did a great job hiding it in the 86 pages that were released by the Supreme Court justifying his ouster. The document never once mentioned term limits or article 239 of the Constitution, which is what Mr. Davis is referring to. And I wonder if the fake "resignation letter" that was presented to Congress had anything to do with term limits?]. Mr. Zelaya's response was to turn to OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza and the OAS to support him in ignoring his constitutional and legal commitments--and they did so [Yes and no, Zelaya and the international community did turn to the OAS, and the OAS did support him. Not to ignore Zelaya's constitutional commitments, but to uphold the Inter-American Democratic Charter which had clearly been violated by the usurpation of democratic institutions by the coup leaders. A little international body called the United Nations also supported Zelaya, oh and the EU, Rio Group, UNASUR and Non-Aligned Movement].

Mr. Zelaya's agenda is to reinstall himself to power before the presidential elections [How silly of the Constitutional President to be restored to power before an election takes place. This is also the "agenda" of the entire international community, except of course the United States]. If he succeeds, he might be able to disrupt those elections and create a constitutional crisis by ensuring that no one is credibly elected president [The constitutional crisis began on June 28, when the CONSITUTIONAL president was illegally OVERTHROWN. The constitutional crisis would continue if the coup was allowed to stand and elections took place under a repressive coup government who's only goal is to consolidate their power and crush the popular movement that has courageously taken to the streets for over 130 days]. If that occurs, he would likely declare himself president ad infinitum--just what he was trying to do when he was ousted in June [Mr. Davis must have been paid a little extra for that statement; "ad infinitum", really?].

The bottom line is that a deal is a deal [and a lobbyist is a lobbyist]. The U.S. government needs to insist on the implementation of the accord and endorse the results of the Nov. 29 presidential elections as verified by international monitors [The implementation of the accord, which calls for a congressional vote on Zelaya's return and a reconciliation government with representatives from all sectors of society. Not a unilaterally installed government with coup president Micheletti continuing to lead]. Once that happens, Mr. Zelaya will be irrelevant, a footnote as a president who thought he was above the constitution [I think the majority of Hondurans, who continue to support their elected president, and who have been fighting in the streets for his return, might not just up and forget everything. Come November 29 it will just be like "that whole coup thing, so last month."].

And then, on Jan. 27, a new president will be sworn into office in Honduras. That will restore to normalcy the proud little constitutional republic that has always been a loyal and reliable ["proud little...", "loyal and reliable", are you talking about your dog? Or a sovereign nation?] friend of the United States [For instance a training ground and launching pad for the U.S. war against Nicaragua, or the loyal client state for U.S. multinationals like United Fruit].

Mr. Davis, an attorney at the Washington D.C. office of McDermott, Will & Emery, is a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton and represents [is paid to spread lies by] the Honduran Latin American Business Council.

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Honduras: VICTORY FOR "SMART POWER" by Eva Golinger

HONDURAS: A VICTORY FOR "SMART POWER"

Henry Kissinger said that diplomacy is the “art of restraining power”. Obviously, the most influential ideologue on US foreign policy of the twenty first century was refering to the necessity to “restrain the power” of other countries and goverments in order to maintain the dominant world power of the United States. Presidents in the style of George W. Bush employed “Hard Power” to achieve this goal: weapons, bombs, threats and military invasions. Others, like Bill Clinton, used “Soft Power”: cultural warfare, Hollywood, ideals, diplomacy, moral authority and campaigns to “win the hearts and minds” of those in enemy nations. The Obama administration has opted for a mutation of these two concepts, fusioning military power with diplomacy, political and economic influence with cultural penetration and legal manuvering. They call this “Smart Power”. Its first application is the coup d’etat in Honduras, and as of today, it’s worked to perfection.

During her confirmation hearing before the Senate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remarked that “we should use what has been called “smart power”, the complete range of tools that are at our disposal – diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural – choosing the correct tool, or combination of tools, for each situation. With “smart power”, diplomacy will be the vanguard of our foreign policy.” Clinton later reinforced this concept affirming that the “wisest path will be to first use persuasion.”

So, what is intelligent about this concept? It’s a form of politics that is difficult to classify, difficult to detect and difficult to deconstruct. Honduras is a clear example. On one hand, President Obama condemned the coup against President Zelaya while his ambassador in Tegucigalpa held regular meetings with the coup leaders. Secretary of State Clinton repeated over and over again during the past four months that Washington didn’t want to “influence” the situation in Honduras – that Hondurans needed to resolve their crisis, without outside interference. But it was Washington that imposed the mediation process “led” by President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, and Washington that kept funding the coup regime and its supporters via USAID, and Washington that controlled and commanded the Honduran armed forces, involved in repressing the people and imposing a brutal regime, through its massive military presence in the Soto Cano military base.

Washington lobbyists also wrote the San José “agreement”, and in the end, it was the high level State Department and White House delegation that “persuaded” the Hondurans to accept the agreement. Despite the constant US interference in the coup d’etat in Honduras – funding, design, and political and military support – Washington’s “smart power” approach was able to distort public opinion and make the Obama administration come out as the grand victor of “multilateralism”.

What “smart power” achieved was a way to disguise Washington’s unilateralism as multilateralism. From day one, Washington imposed its agenda. On July 1st, spokespeople for the Department of State admitted in a press briefing that they had prior knowledge of the coup in Honduras. They also admitted that two high level State Department officials, Thomas Shannon and James Steinberg, were in Honduras the week before the coup meeting with the civil and military groups involved. They said their purpose was to “impede the coup”, but how, therefore, can they explain that the airplane that forcefully exiled President Zelaya left from the Soto Cano military base in the presence of US military officers?

The facts demonstrate the truth about Washington and the coup in Honduras, and the subsequent successful experiment with “smart power”. Washington knew about the coup before it happened, yet continued to fund those involved via USAID and NED. The Pentagon aided in the illegal forced exile of President Zelaya, and later, the Obama administration used the Organization of American States (OAS) – during a moment at which it was on the border of extinction – as a façade to impose its agenda. The discourse of the Department of State always legitimated the coup leaders, calling on “both parts…to resolve the political dispute in a peaceful way through dialogue.” Since when is an illegal usurper of power considered a “legitimate part” capable of dialogue? Obviously, a criminal actor who takes power by force is not interested in dialoguing. Based on this Washington logic, the world should call on the Obama administration to “resolve its political dispute with Al Qaeda in a peaceful way through dialogue, and not war”.

The Obama/Clinton “smart power” achieved its first victory during the initial days of the coup, persuading the member states of the OAS to accept a 72-hour wait period to allow the coup regime in Honduras to “think through its actions”. Soon after, Secretary of State Clinton imposed the mediation efforts, led by Arias, and by then, so much space had been ceded to Washington, that the US just stepped in and took the reigns. When President Zelaya went to Washington and met with Clinton, it was obvious who was in control. And that’s how they played it out, buying more and more time up until the last minute, so that even if Zelaya returns to power now he will have no space or time to govern.

The people were left out, excluded. Months of repression, violence, persecution, human rights violations, curfews, media closures, tortures and political assasinations have been forgotten. What a relief, as Subsecretary of State Thomas Shannon remarked upon achieving the signature of Micheletti and Zelaya on the final “agreement”, that the situation in Honduras was resolved “without violence”.

Upon signature of the “agreement” this past October 30th, Washington immediately lifted the few restrictions it had imposed on the coup regime as a pressure tactic. Now they can get visas again and travel north, they don’t have to worry about the millions of dollars from USAID, which hadn’t even been suspended in the first place. The US military in presence in Soto Cano can reinitiate all their activities – oh wait, they never stopped in the first place. The Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) of the Pentagon affirmed just days after the coup that “everything is normal with our armed forces in Honduras, they are engaging in their usual activities with their Honduran counterparts.” And Washington is already preparing its delegation of elections observors for the November 29th presidential elections – they are already on their way.

Forget about Cold War torturer Billy Joya who was scheming with the coup regime against the resistance; or the Colombian paramilitary forces sent in to help the coup regime “control” the population. Don’t worry anymore about the sonic warfare LRAD weapon used to torture those inside the Brazilian embassy in an attempt to oust Zelaya from the building. Nothing happened. As Thomas Shannon said, “we congratulate two great men for reaching this historic agreement”. And Secretary of State Clinton commented that “this agreement is a tremendous achievement for the Hondurans.” Wait, for who?

In the end, the celebrated “agreement” imposed by Washington only calls upon the Honduran Congress – the same Congress that falsified Zelaya’s resignation letter in order to justify the coup, and the same Congress that supported the illegal installation of Micheletti in the presidency – to determine whether or not it wants to reinstate Zelaya as president. And only after receiving a legal opinion from the Honduran Supreme Court – the same one that said Zelaya was a traitor for calling for a non-binding poll vote on potential future constitutional reform, and the same one that ordered his violent capture. Even if the Congress’ answer is positive, Zelaya would not have any power. The “agreement” stipulates that the members of his cabinet will be imposed by those political parties involved in the coup, the armed forces will be under the control of the Supreme Court that supported the coup, and Zelaya could be tried for his alleged “crime” of “treason” because he wanted to have a non-binding poll on constitutional reform.

Per the “agreement” a truth commission would supervise its implementation. Today, Ricardo Lagos, ex president of Chile and staunch Washington ally, was announced as the leader of the Honduran Truth Commission. Lagos is co-director of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Dialogue, a right wing think tank that influences Washington’s policies on Latin America. Lagos also was charged with creating a Chilean version of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), la Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo, to “promote democracy” in Latin America, US-style. Upon leaving the presidency in 2006, Lagos was named President of the Club of Madrid – an exclusive club of ex presidents dedicated to “promoting democracy” around the world. Several key figures involved in currently destabilizing left-leaning Latin American governments are members of this “club”, including Jorge Quiroga and Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (ex presidents of Bolivia), Felipe González (ex prime minister of Spain), Václav Havel (ex president of the Chech Republic) and José María Aznar (ex prime minister of Spain), amongst many others.

In the end, “smart power” was sufficiently intelligent to deceive those who today celebrate an “end to the crisis” in Honduras. But for a majority of people in Latin America, the victory of Obama’s “smart power” in Honduras is a dark and dangerous shadow closing in on us. Initiatives such as ALBA have just begun to achieve a level of Latin American independence from the dominant northern power. For the first time in history, the nations and peoples of Latin America have been collectively standing strong with dignity and sovereignty, building their futures. And then along came Obama with his “smart power”, and ALBA was hit by the coup in Honduras, Latin American integration has been weakened by the US military expansion in Colombia, and the struggle for independence and sovereignty in Washington’s backyard is being squashed by a sinister smile and insincere handshake.

Bowing before Washington, the crisis in Honduras “was resolved”. Ironically, the same crisis was fomented by the US in the first place. There is talk of similar coups in Paraguay, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Venezuela, where subversion, counterinsurgency and destabilization increase daily. The people of Honduras remain in resistance, despite the “agreement” reached by those in power. Their determined insurrection and commitment to justice is a symbol of dignity. The only way to defeat imperialist agression – soft, hard or smart - is through the union and integration of the people.

“The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes longer.” – Henry Kissinger

Newsbytes and comments

1. Besieged Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who is holed up in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, has been the subject of a smear campaign launched by the Miami Herald, Washington Post, and New York Times, all supporters of right-wing juntas like the one that is now stomping its fascist jack boot on the people of Honduras. Zelaya has been ridiculed for claiming that Israeli security advisers in Honduras were responsible for the use of cell phone jamming devices and toxic gas on the Brazilian embassy.

Zelaya is correct on both charges, contrary to the fantasies of the Miami, New York, and Washington oligarch newspaper. Weapons and CS gas used by the Hondurans against the Brazilian embassy is reportedly being supplied by a longtime Israeli businessman in Honduras, Yehuda Leitner, the owner of the firms Alfacom and Intrecom. In the 1980, Leitner, operating under the Mossad cover of manager of an agricultural firm in Honduras, Acensa & Shemesh Agrotech, was funneling weapons to the Nicaraguan contras and Honduran death squad Battalion 3-16, set up under the aegis of the CIA and U.S. ambassador to Honduras John Negroponte. Leitner denied at the time that he was an arms trafficker, insisting he was merely a "melon trafficker."

The Israeli weapons firm that funneled the weapons for Leitner was International Security and Defence Systems (ISDS), started in 1982 by Leo Gleser, an Israel Defense Force and Mossad veteran. ISDS specialized in interrogations and supervision of prisoners in Latin America, that is torture and illegal detention. ISDS also, curiously, provided security services to Venezuelan oil companies shortly before the 2002 abortive coup against President Hugo Chavez. The CIA and U.S. Special Operations Forces fomented anti-Chavez labor strikes and protests among the oil workers' unions prior to the coup. ISDS benefited greatly from security contracts with U.S. firms in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Leitner has also been associated with another Mossad front company in Tegucigalpa, Interseg, with its address at Col. El Prado, Edif. SYRE, 2nd. piso P.O.Box: 30122 Tegucigalpa M.D.C. The firm was actually recommended as a supplier of security equipment by the U.S. State Department's U.S. Foreign and Commercial Service in 1998.

The cell phone jammers used by the Honduran military on the Brazilian embassy are C-Guard units made by NetLine Communications Inc. of Tel Aviv. One was found on the roof of a home next to the Brazilian embassy and confiscated by Zelaya supporters and taken into the Brazilian embassy as proof of Israeli involvement with the Honduran junta. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) bans the use of such devices in the United States.

2. At a press conference at the UN last week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was asked why he is shutting down television stations in his country if he says he believes in democracy. Chavez asked the questioner what TV station he shut down. The answer was "RTV." Chavez corrected the reporter and said it was RCTV to which she was referring and he said he did not shut down the strongly anti-Chavez station but transferred its broadcasting licenses to 34 community-based TV stations that broadcast content heavy on public interest matters. The main staple of RCTV, which continues to broadcast unfettered on cable, is soap operas. RCTV backed the April 2002 abortive U.S.-supported coup against Chavez.

US Suspends some aid to Honduras as SOUTHCOM Commander confirms the plane that kidnapped Zelaya took off from the Soto Cano (US air base) in Honduras

by Eva Golinger

US Suspends some aid to Honduras as SOUTHCOM Commander confirms the plane that kidnapped Zelaya took off from the Soto Cano (US air base) in Honduras

Today's press statementfrom the Department of State

"Termination of Assistance and Other Measures Affecting the De Facto Regime in Honduras

Ian Kelly
Department Spokesman
Washington, DC
September 3, 2009

The Department of State announces the termination of a broad range of assistance to the government of Honduras as a result of the coup d’etat that took place on June 28. The Secretary already had suspended assistance shortly after the coup.
The Secretary of State has made the decision, consistent with U.S. legislation, recognizing the need for strong measures in light of the continued resistance to the adoption of the San Jose Accord by the de facto regime and continuing failure to restore democratic, constitutional rule to Honduras.

The Department of State recognizes the complicated nature of the actions which led to June 28 coup d’etat in which Honduras’ democratically elected leader, President Zelaya, was removed from office. These events involve complex factual and legal questions and the participation of both the legislative and judicial branches of government as well as the military.

Restoration of the terminated assistance will be predicated upon a return to democratic, constitutional governance in Honduras.

The Department of State further announces that we have identified individual members and supporters of the de facto regime whose visas are in the process of being revoked.

A presidential election is currently scheduled for November. That election must be undertaken in a free, fair and transparent manner. It must also be free of taint and open to all Hondurans to exercise their democratic franchise. At this moment, we would not be able to support the outcome of the scheduled elections. A positive conclusion of the Arias process would provide a sound basis for legitimate elections to proceed. We strongly urge all parties to the San Jose talks to move expeditiously to agreement."

NOTE: Humanitarian aid from USAID still continues to Honduras - so does the aid to "promote democracy", ie fund political parties, groups and NGOs involved in executing the coup and consolidating the dictatorial regime. So, don't see this as any great advance. The National Endowment for Democracy funds via International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute remain in effect and continue to those political groups that have publicly backed the coup regime. Same goes for the large majority (approximately 80%) of USAID funds to Honduras. So, really the DOS decision does not affect most of the funding to political groups in Honduras that promoted the coup.


Ironically, the US seems to be "coming clean" in its own manipulative way regarding the coup in Honduras. SOUTHCOM Commander, General Douglas Fraser, confirmed today what many of us suspected from day one of the coup, that the airplane that forced President Zelaya into exile after kidnapping him violently on June 28th from his residence, actually took off for Costa Rica from the Soto Cano (Palmerola) military base, which has been occupied and run by the Pentagon since 1954 (actively since the early 1980s). Here is a link to an article translated (not perfectly) into English. Strangely, not much English-language press is reporting this most important detail regarding the Honduran coup, which clearly shows US involvement and lying. Up until now the Pentagon had denied the Honduran president's airplane had landed at the Soto Cano (Palmerola) base...

For those who didn't believe in the beginning that the US had a major hand in the coup against President Zelaya in Honduras, the pieces are coming together now, from the belly of the beast.

Soros's pro-junta "colored revolution" in Honduras

Supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya who have returned to the United States from Honduras report that the country's military-backed junta is supported by throngs of wealthy elites in the streets who have adopted the color white in support of the junta and its acting president Roberto Micheletti.

The selection of the color white is perhaps fitting for a nation where the capitalist elite that supported the coup is practically 100 percent white and of European ancestry. The "white" nature of the coup leaders was best spelled out by the junta's first "Foreign Minister" Enrique Ortez Colindres who said of President Barack Obama: "that little black boy who knows nothing about anything . . . a little black man who doesn’t know where Tegucigalpa is."

The use of white flags in pro-junta demonstrations and the wearing of white shirts by junta supporters is reminiscent of the themed "color revolutions" fomented and financed by global troublemaker and crisis financial speculator George Soros. At the same time white flags and shirts appeared on the streets of Honduras, green flags and clothing were being worn by anti-government demonstrators in Iran. The involvement of the Soros-linked National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has worked with Soros's Open Society Institute (OSI) in organizing opposition movements and demonstrations in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Tibet, Serbia, and Sinkiang province in China, in the street demonstrations in both Honduras and Iran is clear. Soros's Latin American Program, part of OSI, states that it promotes "democratic institutions" in Latin America, which is true if one believes that U.S.-supported oligarchies in Colombia and Panama and the Honduran junta are "democratic institutions."

Soros and NED funds have been intermingled in support of the Honduran junta under the ruse of "preserving the rule of law" in Honduras, which is code for supporting the right-wing junta. One of the cover projects is called Civic Participation and Democratic Planning. In Honduras, OSI is reported to use "local researchers" for its "projects." Similarly, such intermingled funds are used to destabilize Hugo Chavez's government in Venezuela under the guise of combating "anti-Semitism" in that country.

Soros and U.S.-backed themed revolutions:

Honduras (2009)	White Revolution
Iran (2009)	Green Revolution (unsuccessful)
Georgia (2003)	Rose Revolution
Ukraine (2004)	Orange Revolution
Kyrgyzstan (2005)	Tulip or Pink Revolution
Moldova (2009)	Twitter Revolution (partly successful)
Lebanon (2005)	Cedar Revolution
Belarus (2006)	Denim Revolution (unsuccessful)
Myanmar (2007)	Saffron Revolution (unsuccessful)
Tibet (2008)	Crimson Revolution (unsuccessful)
Mongolia (2005)	Yellow Revolution (partly successful)

Last November, Soros gathered a few Latin American leaders together in the Dominican Republic for a typical Soros contrivance called "The Emerging Global Financial Order," a regional economic summit that was, in reality, pushing for final adoption of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).

In addition to Soros and Zelaya, others participating included two of Soros's capitalist right-wing pals, President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador (now replaced by progressive president Mauricio Funes) and Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis of Haiti, where the democratically-elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was, like Zelaya, was forced into exile after a U.S.-sponsored coup ousted him in 2004. The meeting was officially hosted by Dominican President Leonel Fernandez who maintains friendly relations with Latin American progressive leaders. Also present were the general secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Barcena and the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) Jose Miguel Insulza, a supporter of Zelaya.

After Zelaya embraced Chavez's Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), an anti-capitalist Latin American bloc, the heat from the right-wing, as well as faux progressives like Soros and his gang, was turned up on the Honduran president. That pressure culminated in the coup against him and Honduras's "White Revolution."

U.S. policy of political assassination follows Obama into office

WMR has learned from knowledgeable sources inside Honduras that on July 5, as the Venezuelan plane carrying ousted President Manuel Zelaya and United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann to Honduras circled Tegucigalpa International Airport, the Honduran Air Force, with the knowledge of U.S. military personnel at the Soto Cano/Palmerola airbase in Honduras and the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Miami, launched two planes to shoot down the aircraft. The Honduran air force planes were launched from the American base.

The Honduran Air Force commander who ordered the planes to shoot down the Venezuelan aircraft is General Luis Javier Prince Suazo, who is a graduate, along with General Romeo Orlando Vasquez Velasquez, the armed forces commander, of the infamous School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. An emissary of Vasquez Velasquez visited SOUTHCOM headquarters in Miami just days before the coup to coordinate U.S. military involvement with the coup.

Bolivian President Evo Morales recently stated in Montevideo, the Uruguay capital, "I have first-hand information that the empire, through the US Southern Command, made the coup d'etat in Honduras." Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in La Paz, the Bolivian capital, "it [the Honduran coup] was orchestrated by the State Department, you can bet your head on that . . . I believe Obama was not informed of the conspiracy; it was all the workings of the State Department." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently gave a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. In the audience was John Negroponte, the former Deputy Secretary of State under George W. Bush and the U.S. ambassador in Honduras during the reign of U.S.-sponsored death squads. Negroponte has a number of financial and political interests in Honduras and he is close to some of the major Honduran junta members and chief supporters.

In addition to shooting down Zelaya's aircraft, the Honduran fighters also had orders to shoot down two other planes that planned to land at Tegucigalpa International after Zelaya's plane touched down. One of the two planes was carrying Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay. The other plane was carrying Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza from Washington, DC. Zelaya and the other presidents and international organization leaders were forced to land in neighboring El Salvador after Honduran troops parked trucks on the runway as Zelaya's plane circled the airport and opened fire on pro-Zelaya crowds waiting to welcome the president back to Honduras.

The two Honduran fighters also reportedly followed Zelaya's aircraft into El Salvadorean airspace before breaking off pursuit.

Contrary to international news reports, WMR has learned from eyewitnesses to the shooting at the airport that four people were killed and some 30 were wounded by Honduran military gunfire. One of those killed was a 8-year old indigenous native boy. In addition, a 20-year old man was killed, along with two other men in their mid-20s. Eyewitnesses to the massacre report that a CNN crew witnessed the dead boy and young men at a Red Cross facility but declined to film the scene.

Honduran soldiers shot out the tires of buses bringing people from the countryside into the capital to participate in anti-coup demonstrations.

WMR has also learned from Honduran sources that U.S. ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens closely coordinated his activities with the coup leaders. Llorens' car was seen by the public traveling between the U.S. embassy and the government buildings where the coup leaders were consolidating their hold on power. Llorens, a Cuban-born U.S. citizen, was reportedly heavily involved in the 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez while serving in the National Security Council at the White House.

On the eve of the airport protest, Channel 11 News in Tegucigalpa was bombed by pro-junta forces. On board Zelaya's plane was a news crew from Telesur television.

It is also reported to WMR that the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa and to Catholic bishops supported the coup against Zelaya with the active involvement of Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City. Archbishop Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga stated: "We must support [junta leader Roberto] Micheletti and the rule of law and the Constitution." The prelate added, "the opposition are communists and socialists." The Catholic Church in San Pedro Sula was so supportive of the coup, the pro-Zelaya forces refer to it as "the Church of the Coup." However, Catholic priests and nuns are almost united in opposition to the coup. Many told parishioners, "We are with the people and opposed to the coup."

Congressman Cesar Ham, the presidential candidate of the progressive Democratic Unification (UD) Party, was originally reported to have been shot and killed by Honduran troops. However, he recently turned up in Nicaragua after fleeing Honduras. WMR has learned from Honduran sources that Honduran troops were aided in locating anti-coup leaders by CIA agents in the country. On the day that Zelaya planned to return to Honduras by plane, CIA agents began questioning Americans in the country who were supporting Zelaya. CIA agents wanted to know where the Americans were staying in Honduras. In addition, WMR learned that the CIA helped Honduran intelligence track down Venezuelan and Nicaraguan journalists. The Honduran security forces had orders to kill the journalists.

WMR has also learned that support for Zelaya is strong among the Honduran police and the lower ranks of the Honduran military. There have been a number of cases where police and military personnel have refused to carry out their orders and aided opponents of the coup. Support for Zelaya is particularly strong in San Pedro Sula, Honduras's second largest city, and along the border with El Salvador. WMR has learned that the El Salvadorean Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front government is providing quiet assistance to Zelaya supporters along the border.

These are videos taken of anti-junta demonstrations by American Neil Brandvold who went to Honduras to support the Honduran people against the coup.

Anti-junta demonstration in Tegucigalpa [photo by Brandvold]

In what may be shallow hope, a number of pro-Zelaya supporters have said, "We have faith that Obama will help us." Based on the Obama administration's support for the coup and junta, those hopes now appear all but dashed.

The Role of the International Republican Institute (IRI) in the Honduran Coup

The International Republican Institute talks of “coup” in Honduras, months before
By Eva Golinger

The International Republican Institute (IRI), considered the international branch of the U.S. Republican Party, and one of the four “core groups” of the congressionally created and funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED), apparently knew of the coup d’etat in Honduras against President Zelaya well in advance. IRI is well known for its role in the April 2002 coup d’etat against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and its funding and strategic advising of the principal organizations involved in the ouster of President Jean Bertrand Aristide of Haiti in 2004. In both cases, IRI funded and/or trained and advised political parties and groups that were implicated in the violent, undemocratic overthrow of democratically elected presidents.

After the 2002 coup d’etat occured in Venezuela, IRI president at the time, George Folsom, sent out a celebratory press release claiming, “The Institute has served as a bridge between the nation’s political parties and all civil society groups to help Venezuelans forge a new democratic future…” Hours later, after the coup failed and the people of Venezuelan rescued their president, who had been kidnapped and imprisoned on a military base, and reinstalled constitutional order, IRI regretted its premature, public applause for the coup. One of its principal funders, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), was furious that IRI had publicly revealed the U.S. government had provided funding and support for the coup leaders. NED President Carl Gershman was so irritated with IRI’s blunder, that he sent out a memo to Folsom, chastising him: “By welcoming [the coup] – indeed, without any apparent reservations – you unnecessarily interjected IRI into the sensitive internal politics o Venezuela”. Gershman would have much prefered that NED and IRI’s role in fomenting and supporting the coup against President Chávez have remained a secret.

IRI, chaired by Senator John McCain, was created in 1983 as part of the National Endowment for Democracy’s mission to “promote democracy around the world”, a mandate from President Ronald Reagan. In reality, one of NED’s founders, Allen Weinstein, put it this way in a 1991 interview with the Washington Post, "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." IRI’s own history, according to its website (www.iri.org) also explains that its original work was in Latin America, at a time when the Reagan administration was under heavy scrutiny and pressure from the U.S. Congress for funding paramilitary groups, dictatorships and death squads in Central and South America to install U.S.-friendly regimes and supress leftist movements. “Congress responded to President Reagan’s call in 1983 when it created the National Endowment for Democracy to support aspiring democrats worldwide. Four nonprofit, nonpartisan democracy institutes were formed to carry out this work – IRI, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS).”“In its infancy, IRI focused on planting the seeds of democracy in Latin America. Since the end of the Cold War, IRI has broadened its reach to support democracy and freedom around the globe. IRI has conducted programs in more than 100 countries.”

In its initial days, IRI, along with the other coup groups of the NED, funded organizations in Nicaragua to foment the destabilization of the Sandinista government. Journalist Jeremy Bigwood explained part of this role in his article, “No Strings Attached?”, "’When the rhetoric of democracy is put aside, NED is a specialized tool for penetrating civil society in other countries down to the grassroots level’ to achieve U.S. foreign policy goals, writes University of California-Santa Barbara professor William Robinson in his book, A Faustian Bargain. Robinson was in Nicaragua during the late ‘80s and watched NED work with the U.S.-backed Nicaraguan opposition to remove the leftist Sandinistas from power during the 1990 elections.”

The evidence of IRI’s role in the 2002 coup d’etat in Venezuela has been well documented and investigated. Proof of such involvement, which is still ongoing in terms of IRI’s work, funding, strategic advising and training of opposition political parties in Venezuela, is available through documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act posted here: , and also available in my book, The Chávez Code: Cracking U.S. Intervention in Venezuela (Olive Branch Press 2006). None of the claims or evidence regarding IRI’s role in fomenting and supporting the April 2002 in Venezuela and its ongoing support of the Venezuelan opposition has ever been disclaimed by the institution, primarily because all evidence cited comes from IRI and NED’s own internal documentation obtained under FOIA.

Hence, when the recent coup d’etat occured in Honduras, against democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya, there was little doubt of U.S. fingerprints. IRI’s name appeared as a recipient of a $700,000 Latin American Regional Grant in 2008-2009 from NED to promote “good governance” programs in countries including Honduras. An additional grant of $550,000 to work with “think tanks” and “pressure groups” in Honduras to influence political parties was also given by the NED to IRI in 2008-2009, specifically stating, IRI will support initiatives to implement [political] positions into the 2009 campaigns. IRI will place special emphasis on Honduras, which has scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections in November 2009.” That is clear direct intervention in internal politics in Honduras.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also provides approximately $49 million annually to Honduras, a large part of which is directed towards “democracy promotion” programs. The majority of the recipients of this aid in Honduras, which comes in the form of funding, training, resources, strategic advice, communications counseling, political party strengthening and leadership training, are organizations directly linked to the recent coup d’etat, such as the Consejo Nacional Anticorrupción, the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran Private Enterprise Council (COHEP), the Council of University Deans, the Confederation of Honduran Workers (CTH), the National Convergence Forum, the Chamber of Commerce (FEDECAMARA), the Association of Private Media (AMC), the Group Paz y Democracia and the student group Generación X Cambio. These organizations form part of a coalition self-titled “Unión Cívica Democrática de Honduras” (Civil Democratic Union of Honduras) that has publicly backed the coup against President Zelaya.

IRI’s press secretary, Lisa Gates, responded to claims that IRI funded or aided (which also involves non-monetary aid, such as training, advising and providing resources) groups involved in the Honduran coup as “false reports”. However, there are several interesting links between the republican organization and the violent coup d’etat against President Zelaya that do indicate the institute’s involvement, as well as to the above mentioned funding that exceeds $1 million during just this year. In addition to its presence on the ground in Honduras as part of its “good governance” and “political influence” programs, IRI Regional Program Director, Latin America and the Carribean, Alex Sutton, has recently been closely involved with many of the organizations in the region that have backed the Honduran coup. Sutton was a featured speaker at a recent 3-day conference held in Venezuela by the U.S.-funded ultraconservative Venezuelan organization CEDICE (Centro para la Divulgación de Conocimiento Económico). CEDICE’s director, Rocío Guijarra, was one of the principal executors of the 2002 coup d’etat against President Hugo Chávez, and Guijarra personally signed a decree installing a dictatorship in the country, which led to the coup’s overthrow by the people and loyal armed forces of Venezuela. The conference Sutton participated in, held from May 28-29 in Venezuela was attended by leaders of Latin America’s ultra-conservative movement, ranging from Bolivian ex president Jorge Quiroga, who has called for President Evo Morales of Bolivia’s overthrow on several occasions, Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa and his son Alvaro, both of whom have publicly expressed support for the coup against President Zelaya in Honduras, and numerous leaders of the Venezuelan opposition, the majority of whom are well known for their involvement in the April 2002 coup and subsequent destabilization attempts. The majority of those present at the CEDICE conference in May 2009, have publicly expressed support for the recent coup against President Zelaya.

But a more damning piece of evidence linking IRI to the Honduran coup, is a video clip posted on the institute’s website at http://www.iri.org/multimedia.asp. The clip or podcast, features a slideshow presentation given by Susan Zelaya-Fenner, assistant program officer at IRI, on March 20, 2009, discussing the “good governance” program in Honduras. Curiously, at the beginning of the presentation, Zelaya-Fenner explains what she considers “a couple of interesting facts about Honduras.” These include, “Honduras is a very overlooked country in a small region. Honduras has had more military coups than years of independence, it has been said. However, parodoxically, more recently it has been called a pillar of stability in the region, even being called the U.S.S. Honduras, as it avoided all of the crisis that its neighbors went through during the civil wars in the 1980s.”

Important to note is that what Zelaya-Fenner refers to as “U.S.S. Honduras” and “avoid[ing] all of the crisis that its neighbords went through during the civil wars in the 1980s” was because the U.S. government, CIA and Pentagon utilized Honduras as the launching pad for the attacks on Honduras’ neighbors. U.S. Ambassador at the time, John Negroponte, and Colonel Oliver North, trained, funded and planned the paramilitary missions of the death squads that were used to assassinate, torture, persecute, disappear and neutralize tens of thousands of farmers and “suspected” leftists in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Zelaya-Fenner continues, “Thus, Honduras has been more recently stable, and it’s always been poor, which means that it’s below the radar, and gets little attention. The current president, Manuel Zelaya and his buddies, the leftists in the Latin American region have caused a lot of political destabilization recently in the country. He is a would-be emulator of Hugo Chavez and Hugo Chavez' social revolution. He has spent the better part of this administration trying to convince the Honduran people, who tend to be very practical and very 'center' that the Venezuelan route is the way to go. Zelaya's leftist leanings further exarcerbate an already troubled state. Corruption is rampant, crime is at all time highs. Drug trafficking and related violence have begun to spill over from Mexico. And there's a very real sense that the country is being purposefully destabilized from within, which is very new in recent Honduran history. Coups are thought to be so three decades ago until now (laughs, audience laughs), again.”

Did she really say that? Yes, you can hear it yourself on the podcast. Is it merely a coincidence that the coup against President Zelaya occured just three months after this presentation? State Department officials have admitted that they knew the coup was in the works for the past few months. Sub-secretary of State Thomas Shannon was in Honduras the week before the coup, apparently trying to broker some kind of deal with the coup planners to find another “solution” to the “problem”. Nevertheless, they continued funding via NED and USAID to those very same groups and military sectors involved in the coup. It is not a hidden fact that Washington was unhappy with President Zelaya’s alliances in the region, principally with countries such as Venezuela and Nicaragua. It is also public knowledge that President Zelaya was in the process of removing the U.S. military presence from the Soto Cano airbase, using a fund from the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA – Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua, St. Kitts, Antigua & Barbados and Venezuela) to convert the strategically important Pentagon base into a commercial airport.

IRI’s Zelaya-Fenner explains the strategic importance of Honduras in her presentation, "Why does Honduras matter? A lot of people ask this question, even Honduran historians and experts. Some might argue that it doesn't and globally it might be hard to counter. However, the country is strategic to regional stability and this is an election year in Honduras. It's a strategic time to help democrats with a small “d”, at a time when democracy is increasingly coming under attack in the region.”

There is no doubt that the coup against President Zelaya is an effort to undermine regional governments implementing alternative models to capitalism that challenge U.S. concepts of representative democracy as “the best model”. Countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, are building successful models based on participatory democracy that ensure economic and social justice, and prioritize collective social prosperity and human needs over market economics. These are the countries, together now with Honduras, that have been victims of NED, USAID, IRI and other agencies’ interventions to subvert their prospering democracies.

Obama officials supported Honduras coup

WMR has learned from well-informed sources in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, that the June 28 coup d'etat against President Manuel Zelaya had the support of key officials of the Obama administration supported by right-wing political interests in the United States, multinational companies with interests in Honduras, and right-wing governments in other countries, including Colombia and Israel.

WMR has also learned that the top hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in Honduras, including Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez, actively encouraged and supported the military coup plotters. In addition, the leadership of a number of Protestant fundamentalist churches in Honduras, many with links to right-wing parent bodies in the United States, also support the coup leaders.

However, WMR has been informed that a number of Catholic priests and nuns, as well as Protestant lay members, are supporting ousted President Zelaya, especially in the western part of Honduras.

Although Honduran junta propaganda, aided and abetted by corporate-controlled media in the United States and other countries, is claiming that the ouster of Zelaya was "constitutional" because it was sanctioned by the country's Supreme Court and Congress, WMR has been informed by a top former official in Honduras that the Honduran Constitution, cited by newly-installed junta leader Roberto Micheletti in legitimizing the coup, has been suspended. A curfew has also been opposed by the junta.

Our Honduran sources report that some 200 opponents of the junta have been detained and that some were badly wounded in attacks by police and military units.

Nevertheless, WMR is informed that a popular mobilization against the junta is taking place across Honduras and that throngs of supporters of Zelaya are expected to turn out on July 5 at the Tegucigalpa international airport to welcome him back from forced exile. Zelaya is flying back to Honduras from Washington, DC.

As far as "demonstrators" reported by the corporate media as turning out to support the junta, WMR has been told they are armed by the government and have no problem using their guns on those who support Zelaya.

WMR has been informed that key coup leaders were supported by elements of the Obama administration, including U.S. ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens, a Cuban-American career diplomat with close links to the right-wing elements of the Cuban community in southern Florida.

Supporting the coup were multinational banana and mining companies that feared Zelaya's support for improving the working conditions of workers in both industries. One of the junta's first moves was to cancel plans by the Zelaya administration to change the mining laws in Honduras to give Hondurans greater control over mining operations and restrict open pit gold mining. Mining companies active in Honduras and supported the coup include those based in Canada.

Peter Kent, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for the Americas in the mining interests-beholden Tory government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has been less than enthusiastic about Zelaya's return to Honduras. Kent, who represents a heavily-Jewish Toronto constituency, is a major backer of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) (Canada's version of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC). Many of Canada's mining companies in Honduras, especially those involved in gold mining, are linked to Israeli investors.

Contrary to Obama administration statements that the United States was not involved in any way with the coup, WMR has been told by those close to the ousted Zelaya administration that the U.S. military in Honduras, which is headquartered at the Soto Cano air base, also known as the Palmerola base, 60 miles from Tegucigalpa, oversees a virtual U.S. military occupation of the country. The virtual occupation enabled the Honduran military, many of whose top officers were trained at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly the School of the Americas) in Fort Benning, Georgia, to successfully carry out the coup against Zelaya.

There was also a flurry of joint Honduran-U.S. military activity prior to and shortly after the coup. The coup leader, General Romeo Orlando Vasquez Velasquez, had been invited to the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) change of command ceremony at its Miami headquarters in the days prior to the coup, but abruptly changed his plans, sending a signal to top Pentagon commanders that a move was afoot to oust Zelaya and his government. Vasquez and Honduran Air Force commander General Luis Javier Prince Suazo, also a coup leader, both attended the School of the Americas in Fort Benning.

Instead of traveling to Miami for the SOUTHCOM ceremony, Vasquez sent a subordinate, Brigadier General José Gerardo Fuentes, to represent him. In Miami, Fuentes, met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps General James Cartright; outgoing SOUTHCOM commander Admiral James Stavridis, who is taking up the post as NATO Commander; and Stavridis's successor as SOUTHCOM chief, Air Force Gen. Douglas ''Skeet'' Fraser. WMR was informed by knowledgeable Honduran sources that the top Pentagon and SOUTHCOM leadership was aware of and supported the plans for the coup against Zelaya.

In fact, it is being reported by some Latin American media sources that Zelaya was taken to the U.S. Soto Cano/Palmerola air base after he was arrested at his home by Honduran troops. Once at the American base, Zelaya was guarded by Honduran and American troops before being put on a plane to Costa Rica and forced exile. Soto Cano base commander, U.S. Army Colonel Richard Juergens, closed off access to the base and restricted U.S. personnel from leaving the base following the coup and the detention of Zelaya at what has been termed by one former U.S. Army intelligence source who served at the base as a "U.S. aircraft carrier" in Central America.

In 2002, Chavez was arrested and taken to La Orchila island off the Venezuelan coast where he saw a U.S. registered aircraft on the runway that was to have flown him into forced exile. However, the U.S.-backed coup against Chavez failed when loyal Venezuelan military forces turned the tables on the coup leaders. In 2004, Haitian President Aristide was overthrown and flown into forced exile to Africa by a U.S. aircraft.

Zelaya announced plans, before his ouster, to move Tegucigalpa's commercial international airport from Toncontin, considered to be a dangerous airport, to Palmerola. The decision did not sit well with the Honduran military or SOUTHCOM and the Pentagon.

Current Obama administration plans are to use the models for the abortive coup and planned exile of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2002 and the successful coups and exiling of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004 and Zelaya in Honduras as ways to rid Latin America of other progressive presidents, including Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Fernando Lugo in Paraguay, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, as well as Chavez in Venezuela. The plans coincide with Israel's plans to stop Iran's growing influence in Latin America.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has refused to cut off financial assistance to the Honduran junta. The Pentagon insists it has severed military cooperation with Honduras, but the junta's military leaders are considered by the Honduran popular masses to be mere subservients of the Pentagon and that their country has, for a number of years, been under de facto U.S. "military occupation."

Wall Street interests also want to curtail the growing power of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), a competitor to the Free Trade Area of the Americas dominated by the United States. ALBA was started as a Venezuelan-Cuban initiative and Zelaya is an active participant, along with other progressive Latin American governments.

Just a few days before Stavridis turned over command of SOUTHCOM to Fraser, the Miami-based command dispatched a KC-135 Stratotanker, two F-16 Fighting Falcons, an F-16, and a team of Air Force support personnel to Armando Escalon Air Base near San Pedro Sula, a stronghold of Zelaya support, to participate in an "airshow" to raise money for a local hospital.

In addition to U.S. military support, WMR has learned that Israeli intelligence and security advisers worked closely with the coup leaders prior to, during, and after the coup against Zelaya.

Honduran army had orders to assassinate Manuel Zelaya, Cristina Kirchner, Rafael Correa, Fernando Lugo, and Miguel d"Escoto

WMR has learned from its sources in Honduras that Honduran army troops were under orders to assassinate the exiled legitimate President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya and Miguel d"Escoto, the President of the UN General Assembly, if their plane managed to land at Tegucigalpa airport. However, Honduran troops loyal to the junta that has taken over the country with the support of U.S. Southern Command (USOUTHCOM) personnel on permanent duty at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa and the Soto Cano airbase, which is Washington's largest military base in Central America, blocked the airport runway with trucks preventing the landing of the airplane carrying Zelaya and d"Escoto.

Zelaya's and d"Escoto's plane was diverted to Nicaragua but the Obama administration, which WMR has previously reported supported the military coup against Zelaya via the Pentagon, USSOUTHCOM, and U.S. ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens, ordered Zelaya to return to Washington to enter into "negotiations" with the Organization of American States (OAS). Llorens is a career diplomat but is also a Cuban-American activist who has been linked to right-wing Cuban exile groups in Florida and the CIA.

WMR has also been informed by our Honduran sources that the Honduran military, with the knowledge of U.S. military and Israeli security advisers, planned to assassinate three Latin American presidents traveling with Zelaya and d:Escoto to Tegucigalpa in a show of support for Zelaya. The three Latin American presidents targeted for assassination at Tegucigalpa airport by the Honduran fascist junta and its American and Israeli advisers were Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo. The plane carrying the three presidents was diverted to El Salvador after the threat was received from the Honduran junta.

Pope Benedict XVI was also personally supportive of the Roman Catholic top hierarchy in Honduras supporting the coup and the military junta, according to our sources in Honduras. Paraguay's President Lugo, a former renegade Catholic "liberation theology" bishop, was a favored assassination "target of opportunity" for the Pope and his Honduran top prelates had his plane touched down in Tegucigalpa. An overwhelming majority of Honduras's priests and nuns have rejected the support of the Pope and Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez for the junta and are supporting the popular uprising against the junta. Many Zelaya supporters, awaiting the arrival of Zelaya, were shot and killed by Honduran troops at Tegucigalpa airport.

Long live the Cold War by William Blum

President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was overthrown in a military coup June 28 because he was about to conduct a non-binding survey of the population, asking the question: "Do you agree that, during the general elections of November 2009 there should be a fourth ballot to decide whether to hold a Constituent National Assembly that will approve a new political constitution?" One of the issues that Zelaya hoped a new constitution would deal with is the limiting of the presidency to one four-year term. He also expressed the need for other constitutional changes to make it possible for him to carry out policies to improve the life of the poor; in countries like Honduras, the law is not generally crafted for that end.

At this writing it's not clear how matters will turn out in Honduras, but the following should be noted: the United States, by its own admission, was fully aware for weeks of the Honduran military's plan to overthrow Zelaya. Washington says it tried its best to change the mind of the plotters. It's difficult to believe that this proved impossible. During the Cold War it was said, with much justification, that the United States could discourage a coup in Latin America with "a frown". The Honduran and American military establishments have long been on very fraternal terms. And it must be asked: In what way and to what extent did the United States warn Zelaya of the impending coup? And what protection did it offer him? The response to the coup from the Obama administration can be described with adjectives such as lukewarm, proper but belated, and mixed. It is not unthinkable that the United States gave the military plotters the go-ahead, telling them to keep the traditional "golpe" bloodiness to a minimum. Zelaya was elected to office as the candidate of a conservative party; he then, surprisingly, moved to the left and became a strong critic of a number of Washington policies, and an ally of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia, both of whom the Bush administration tried to overthrow and assassinate.

Following the coup, National Public Radio (NPR) showed once again why progressives refer to it as National Pentagon Radio. The station's leading news anchor, Robert Siegel, interviewed Johanna Mendelson Forman, of the conservative think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies:

Siegel: "There hasn't been a coup in Latin America for quite a while."

Forman: "I think the last one was in 1983"

Siegel did not correct her.¹⁴

This is ignorance of considerable degree. There was a coup in Venezuela in 2002 that briefly overthrew Hugo Chavez, a coup in Haiti in 2004 that permanently overthrew Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and a coup in Panama in 1989 that permanently overthrew Manuel Noriega. Is it because the US was closely involved in all three coups that they have been thrown down the Orwellian Memory Hole?

1. NPR, All Things Considered, June 29, 2009 ^↩