JOHN NEGROPONTE - A COLD WAR GHOST FROM US
IN HONDURAS VISITED THE COUNTRY EARLIER THIS
YEAR
Negroponte Files National Security Archive (Washington University)
His involvement with Honduran military: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB151/831013.pdf
Negroponte concluye su visita a Honduras y viaja a Guatemala http://gobiernodehonduras.com/2008/06/06/negroponte-concluye-su-visita-a-honduras-y-viaja-a-guatemala-2/
June 6th, 2008 Gobierno de Honduras Posted in Noticias |
Tegucigalpa, 5 jun (EFE).- El subsecretario de Estado de EE.UU., John Negroponte, concluyó hoy una visita a Honduras, donde se reunió con las más altas autoridades del país centroamericano y viajó a Guatemala, informó una fuente oficial.
Related posts:
Donnerstag, 6. August 2009
CHIQUITA, DOLE, DIE CIA UND DER PUTSCH IN HONDURAS
Post von John Perkins
John Perkins, der gerade an seinem neuen Buch Hoodwinked arbeitet , das im November 2009 bei Randome House erscheint, reiste kürzlich nach Zentralamerika. Jeder mit dem er dort sprach war überzeugt davon, dass der Militärputsch gegen den demokratisch gewählten Präsidenten von Honduras, Manuel Zeyla, von 2 Konzernen arrangiert worden war, mit tatkräftiger Unterstützung der CIA. Und dass die USA und ihr neuer Präsident nicht wirklich für Demokratie eintreten.
Ich jedenfalls kaufe keine Chiquita Bananen und auch sonst keine Früchte von Dole. Die FDP wähle ich auch nicht. Und jeder, der sich selbst als Demokrat bezeichnet, dürfte das ähnlich handhaben. Oder täusche ich mich da?
Hier der Newsletter im Original, mit freundlicher Genehmigung des Autors
Dear Friends
Speaking of Democracy, Honduras, and President Obama. . .
In writing my new book, I recently visited Central America. Everyone I talked with there was convinced that the military coup that had overthrown the democratically-elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, had been engineered by two US companies, with CIA support. And that the US and its new president were not standing up for democracy.
Earlier in the year Chiquita Brands International Inc. (formerly United Fruit) and Dole Food Co had severely criticized Zelaya for advocating an increase of 60% in Honduras’s minimum wage, claiming that the policy would cut into corporate profits. They were joined by a coalition of textile manufacturers and exporters, companies that rely on cheap labor to work in their sweatshops.
Memories are short in the US, but not in Central America. I kept hearing people who claimed that it was a matter of record that Chiquita (United Fruit) and the CIA had toppled Guatemala’s democratically-elected president Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 and that International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT), Henry Kissinger, and the CIA had brought down Chile’s Salvador Allende in 1973. These people were certain that Haiti’s president Jean-Bertrand Aristide had been ousted by the CIA in 2004 because he proposed a minimum wage increase, like Zelaya’s.
I was told by a Panamanian bank vice president, “Every multinational knows that if Honduras raises its hourly rate, the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean will have to follow. Haiti and Honduras have always set the bottom line for minimum wages. The big companies are determined to stop what they call a ‘leftist revolt’ in this hemisphere. In throwing out Zelaya they are sending frightening messages to all the other presidents who are trying to raise the living standards of their people.”
It did not take much imagination to envision the turmoil sweeping through every Latin American capital. There had been a collective sign of relief at Barack Obama’s election in the U.S., a sense of hope that the empire in the North would finally exhibit compassion toward its southern neighbors, that the unfair trade agreements, privatizations, draconian IMF Structural Adjustment Programs, and threats of military intervention would slow down and perhaps even fade away. Now, that optimism was turning sour.
The cozy relationship between Honduras’s military coup leaders and the corporatocracy were confirmed a couple of days after my arrival in Panama. England’s The Guardian ran an article announcing that “two of the Honduran coup government's top advisers have close ties to the US secretary of state. One is Lanny Davis, an influential lobbyist who was a personal lawyer for President Bill Clinton and also campaigned for Hillary. . . The other hired gun for the coup government that has deep Clinton ties is (lobbyist) Bennett Ratcliff.” (1)
DemocracyNow! broke the news that Chiquita was represented by a powerful Washington law firm, Covington & Burling LLP, and its consultant, McLarty Associates (2). President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder had been a Covington partner and a defender of Chiquita when the company was accused of hiring “assassination squads” in Colombia (Chiquita was found guilty, admitting that it had paid organizations listed by the US government as terrorist groups “for protection” and agreeing in 2004 to a $25 million fine). (3) George W. Bush’s UN Ambassador, John Bolton, a former Covington lawyer, had fiercely opposed Latin American leaders who fought for their peoples’ rights to larger shares of the profits derived from their resources; after leaving the government in 2006, Bolton became involved with the Project for the New American Century, the Council for National Policy, and a number of other programs that promote corporate hegemony in Honduras and elsewhere. McLarty Vice Chairman John Negroponte was U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from 1981-1985, former Deputy Secretary of State, Director of National Intelligence, and U.S. Representative to the United Nations; he played a major role in the U.S.-backed Contra’s secret war against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and has consistently opposed the policies of the democratically-elected pro-reform Latin American presidents. (4) These three men symbolize the insidious power of the corporatocracy, its bipartisan composition, and the fact that the Obama Administration has been sucked in.
The Los Angeles Times went to the heart of this matter when it concluded:
What happened in Honduras is a classic Latin American coup in another sense: Gen. Romeo Vasquez, who led it, is an alumnus of the United States' School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). The school is best known for producing Latin American officers who have committed major human rights abuses, including military coups. (5)
All of this leads us once again to the inevitable conclusion: you and I must change the system. The president – whether Democrat or Republican – needs us to speak out.
Chiquita, Dole and all your representatives need to hear from you. Zelaya must be reinstated.
FOOTNOTES
(1)
“Who's in charge of US foreign policy? The coup in Honduras has exposed divisions between Barack Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton” by Mark Weisbrot
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jul/16/honduras-coup-obama-clinton (July 23, 2009)
(2) http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/21/from_arbenz_to_zelaya_chiquita_in (July 23, 2009)
(3) “Chiquita admits to paying Colombia terrorists: Banana company agrees to $25 million fine for paying AUC for protection” MSNBC March 15, 2007 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17615143/ (July 24, 2009)
(4) Fore more information: http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2009/07/eric-holder-and-chaquita-covington.html (July 23, 2009)
(5) “The high-powered hidden support for Honduras' coup: The country's rightful president was ousted by a military leadership that takes many of its cues from Washington insiders.” by Mark Weisbrot, Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-weisbrot23-2009jul23,0,7566740.story (July 23, 2009)
john perkins
Other Putschists are:Flores Facussé:Economic sectors: Mining and semi-processing
Economic sectors: Mining and semi-processing $22 Buy now
Date: Aug 31 2003
From: Country Profile Honduras 2003 Main Report
Article size: 137 words
Price: US $22
Mining, mainly for zinc, silver, lead and small quantities of gold, has great potential as Honduras has significant unexploited mineral deposits. In 2002 zinc, gold, silver and lead exports totalled US$117.5m. In 1998 the administration led by the former president, Carlos Flores Facussé, ...
Ricardo Maduro Joest And His USA illegal Concessions:
http://www.globalresponse.org/history.php?record=106
Opposition to mines and concessions has been growing over the past few years. Faced with the annual March for
Life – organized by environmental and community rights organizations from Olancho and around the country to
denounce illegal logging, mining and a host of other grave activities destroying the environment and community
life – and with the official presentation of the Civic Alliance to Reform the Mining Law’s proposal to the National
Congress, current president Ricardo Maduro announced that no new mining concessions would be granted until
communities were consulted. In a public televised address, he promised to reform the General Mining Law (although
the next day he clarified that this would in no way affect the mines currently operating in the country).
The presidential decree temporarily halting the concessions was not passed until weeks after the promises made by
Maduro. In the meantime, 52 new concession applications appeared in the pages of national newspapers, courtesy
of DEFOMIN. Among the metallic mining concessions, Geomaque (subsidiary of Defiance Mining Corporation)
definitely won top prize; the company applied for more than 20,000 hectares (200 square kilometers; 77 square
miles) in mining concessions in the departments of Olancho, Santa Bárbara, Francisco Morazan and Cortés.
http://www.rightsaction.org/Reports/Cuffe%20mining%20report.pdf
Working on the Involuntary Resettlement of Silver Crest Mines!
In Honduras, all four silver mining projects owned by Silver Crest Mines, by way of its subsidiary Maverick, have been the targets of community-based resistance and two have been successfully detained – at least for now. When the population of El Progreso and surrounding communities learned of the concession in Arena Blanca, only 10km south of the city, they began organizing, informing and denouncing, to the point that the company has not since returned. Similarly, residents of communities in La Labor began organizing, concerned about the active exploration activities in the area, including the Güisayote biological reserve established to protect the area’s many water sources. A government commission found the denouncements of the communities to be true: the Silver Crest concession is partially within the boundaries of protected area’s buffer zone, where mining activities are clearly prohibited by Decree 87-87 (‘the Cloudforest Law’).
Despite the findings, the government did not promise to cancel the concession until it was faced with a massive highway blockade by communities in La Labor, closing the main route to country’s main border crossing with Guatemala. After 3 days, President Maduro promised to cancel the concession. The demonstration ended, giving the government 3 months to fulfill its promise. It is unknown, however, whether DEFOMIN ever followed through with the orders of the President and the federal Public Prosecutors’ Office and officially canceled the concession; in July, 2004, Silver Crest denounced the intended ‘expropriation’ and vowed to initiate legal action.
In the community of El Rosario, Comayagua, covered by another Silver Crest concession, the overwhelming majority of the population is organized and opposed to the mining project, including the mayor and the entire municipal government. They have denounced the activities of a dozen local people working for the company (the coordinator reportedly receives a significant salary from the company for his efforts), whose main role is to disturb, confront and challenge all opposition to mining. This ‘clash’ group disrupts events and meetings, travels out to communities in order to distribute company propaganda the day after the local environmental network has held discussions, and has damaged the vehicles of visitors invited to a local forum on mining. [lxxix]
Companies vs. Communities: Conflicting Visions of Development
The employment by companies of local inhabitants for the purposes of disrupting community unity and opposition is widespread. Another tactic increasingly employed by transnational mining companies is the collaboration with ‘NGOs’ for the ‘community development’ projects accompanying the actual mining projects. As is the situation in Guatemala with Glamis Gold’s Marlin project, the company’s Sierra Madre Foundation and the collaboration of organizations that use their NGO status as a disguise for their support of company activities, mining companies in Honduras are also teaming up with organizations of questionable intentions at best in order to promote the benefits they will bring to the affected region. The supposed ‘benefits’ are limited, short-term, do not compare with the long-term negative impacts of metallic mining and, most importantly, are a CONDITION imposed by mining companies interested in profits. Nevertheless, these kinds of company/NGO partnerships for ‘development’ are increasingly being used and socialized by companies in an attempt to clean up their image.
Despite these obstacles, tactics and abuses, many communities have nevertheless struggled to defend their communities and resources. Communities in an area affected by a future metallic mining project in the department of Valle held a demonstration – machetes in hand – against the company’s plans, vowing to put their lives on the line in order to protect their communities. Several concessions and mining projects in central and eastern Honduras have met with similar resistance, due to the legal framework that is completely opposed to community rights and the threat of the negative impacts mining would have on water availability (for domestic use, crops, livestock, etc), the environment, human health...essentially on these communities’ way of life and their possibilities for a community development based on the needs and priorities of the communities themselves. The promise of these communities – BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY – is not an idle threat; thus, the entrance of mining companies has been halted in certain communities and regions, at least for the time being.
These actions can be seen as a response to the question of the Communal Assembly in Aquila: To whom can we as citizens turn when the authorities that are supposed to protect our rights are the ones who violate them?
http://www.rightsaction.org/Reports/Cuffe%20mining%20report%202005-03.htm
Indigenous peoples have been disproportionately directly affected by mining activities around the world. Mine-
Watch estimates that since 1940 over half of all uranium has been extracted from indigenous territories and that by
2010, half of all copper and gold mined will be on indigenous lands.24 While many activists see the current global
trend in mining as a manifestation of “the imbalance of power between ordinary people and their advocates and the
relentless expansion of the transnational business agenda,”25 it is importance to recognize that the imbalance of
power between the latter and indigenous peoples is exponentially greater.
http://www.rightsaction.org/Reports/Cuffe%20mining%20report.pdf
Post von John Perkins
John Perkins, der gerade an seinem neuen Buch Hoodwinked arbeitet , das im November 2009 bei Randome House erscheint, reiste kürzlich nach Zentralamerika. Jeder mit dem er dort sprach war überzeugt davon, dass der Militärputsch gegen den demokratisch gewählten Präsidenten von Honduras, Manuel Zeyla, von 2 Konzernen arrangiert worden war, mit tatkräftiger Unterstützung der CIA. Und dass die USA und ihr neuer Präsident nicht wirklich für Demokratie eintreten.
Ich jedenfalls kaufe keine Chiquita Bananen und auch sonst keine Früchte von Dole. Die FDP wähle ich auch nicht. Und jeder, der sich selbst als Demokrat bezeichnet, dürfte das ähnlich handhaben. Oder täusche ich mich da?
Hier der Newsletter im Original, mit freundlicher Genehmigung des Autors
Dear Friends
Speaking of Democracy, Honduras, and President Obama. . .In writing my new book, I recently visited Central America. Everyone I talked with there was convinced that the military coup that had overthrown the democratically-elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, had been engineered by two US companies, with CIA support. And that the US and its new president were not standing up for democracy. Earlier in the year Chiquita Brands International Inc. (formerly United Fruit) and Dole Food Co had severely criticized Zelaya for advocating an increase of 60% in Honduras’s minimum wage, claiming that the policy would cut into corporate profits. They were joined by a coalition of textile manufacturers and exporters, companies that rely on cheap labor to work in their sweatshops. Memories are short in the US, but not in Central America. I kept hearing people who claimed that it was a matter of record that Chiquita (United Fruit) and the CIA had toppled Guatemala’s democratically-elected president Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 and that International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT), Henry Kissinger, and the CIA had brought down Chile’s Salvador Allende in 1973. These people were certain that Haiti’s president Jean-Bertrand Aristide had been ousted by the CIA in 2004 because he proposed a minimum wage increase, like Zelaya’s. I was told by a Panamanian bank vice president, “Every multinational knows that if Honduras raises its hourly rate, the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean will have to follow. Haiti and Honduras have always set the bottom line for minimum wages. The big companies are determined to stop what they call a ‘leftist revolt’ in this hemisphere. In throwing out Zelaya they are sending frightening messages to all the other presidents who are trying to raise the living standards of their people.” It did not take much imagination to envision the turmoil sweeping through every Latin American capital. There had been a collective sign of relief at Barack Obama’s election in the U.S., a sense of hope that the empire in the North would finally exhibit compassion toward its southern neighbors, that the unfair trade agreements, privatizations, draconian IMF Structural Adjustment Programs, and threats of military intervention would slow down and perhaps even fade away. Now, that optimism was turning sour. The cozy relationship between Honduras’s military coup leaders and the corporatocracy were confirmed a couple of days after my arrival in Panama. England’s The Guardian ran an article announcing that “two of the Honduran coup government's top advisers have close ties to the US secretary of state. One is Lanny Davis, an influential lobbyist who was a personal lawyer for President Bill Clinton and also campaigned for Hillary. . . The other hired gun for the coup government that has deep Clinton ties is (lobbyist) Bennett Ratcliff.” (1) DemocracyNow! broke the news that Chiquita was represented by a powerful Washington law firm, Covington & Burling LLP, and its consultant, McLarty Associates (2). President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder had been a Covington partner and a defender of Chiquita when the company was accused of hiring “assassination squads” in Colombia (Chiquita was found guilty, admitting that it had paid organizations listed by the US government as terrorist groups “for protection” and agreeing in 2004 to a $25 million fine). (3) George W. Bush’s UN Ambassador, John Bolton, a former Covington lawyer, had fiercely opposed Latin American leaders who fought for their peoples’ rights to larger shares of the profits derived from their resources; after leaving the government in 2006, Bolton became involved with the Project for the New American Century, the Council for National Policy, and a number of other programs that promote corporate hegemony in Honduras and elsewhere. McLarty Vice Chairman John Negroponte was U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from 1981-1985, former Deputy Secretary of State, Director of National Intelligence, and U.S. Representative to the United Nations; he played a major role in the U.S.-backed Contra’s secret war against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and has consistently opposed the policies of the democratically-elected pro-reform Latin American presidents. (4) These three men symbolize the insidious power of the corporatocracy, its bipartisan composition, and the fact that the Obama Administration has been sucked in. The Los Angeles Times went to the heart of this matter when it concluded: What happened in Honduras is a classic Latin American coup in another sense: Gen. Romeo Vasquez, who led it, is an alumnus of the United States' School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). The school is best known for producing Latin American officers who have committed major human rights abuses, including military coups. (5) All of this leads us once again to the inevitable conclusion: you and I must change the system. The president – whether Democrat or Republican – needs us to speak out. Chiquita, Dole and all your representatives need to hear from you. Zelaya must be reinstated. FOOTNOTES (1) “Who's in charge of US foreign policy? The coup in Honduras has exposed divisions between Barack Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton” by Mark Weisbrot http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jul/16/honduras-coup-obama-clinton (July 23, 2009) (2) http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/21/from_arbenz_to_zelaya_chiquita_in (July 23, 2009) (3) “Chiquita admits to paying Colombia terrorists: Banana company agrees to $25 million fine for paying AUC for protection” MSNBC March 15, 2007 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17615143/ (July 24, 2009) (4) Fore more information: http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2009/07/eric-holder-and-chaquita-covington.html (July 23, 2009) (5) “The high-powered hidden support for Honduras' coup: The country's rightful president was ousted by a military leadership that takes many of its cues from Washington insiders.” by Mark Weisbrot, Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2009 http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-weisbrot23-2009jul23,0,7566740.story (July 23, 2009) john perkins
Economic sectors: Mining and semi-processing
Economic sectors: Mining and semi-processing $22 Buy now
Date: Aug 31 2003 From: Country Profile Honduras 2003 Main Report Article size: 137 words Price: US $22Mining, mainly for zinc, silver, lead and small quantities of gold, has great potential as Honduras has significant unexploited mineral deposits. In 2002 zinc, gold, silver and lead exports totalled US$117.5m. In 1998 the administration led by the former president, Carlos Flores Facussé, ...
Ricardo Maduro Joest And His USA illegal Concessions:
http://www.globalresponse.org/history.php?record=106
Opposition to mines and concessions has been growing over the past few years. Faced with the annual March for
Life – organized by environmental and community rights organizations from Olancho and around the country to
denounce illegal logging, mining and a host of other grave activities destroying the environment and community
life – and with the official presentation of the Civic Alliance to Reform the Mining Law’s proposal to the National
Congress, current president Ricardo Maduro announced that no new mining concessions would be granted until
communities were consulted. In a public televised address, he promised to reform the General Mining Law (although
the next day he clarified that this would in no way affect the mines currently operating in the country).
The presidential decree temporarily halting the concessions was not passed until weeks after the promises made by
Maduro. In the meantime, 52 new concession applications appeared in the pages of national newspapers, courtesy
of DEFOMIN. Among the metallic mining concessions, Geomaque (subsidiary of Defiance Mining Corporation)
definitely won top prize; the company applied for more than 20,000 hectares (200 square kilometers; 77 square
miles) in mining concessions in the departments of Olancho, Santa Bárbara, Francisco Morazan and Cortés.
http://www.rightsaction.org/Reports/Cuffe%20mining%20report.pdf
Working on the Involuntary Resettlement of Silver Crest Mines!
In Honduras, all four silver mining projects owned by Silver Crest Mines, by way of its subsidiary Maverick, have been the targets of community-based resistance and two have been successfully detained – at least for now. When the population of El Progreso and surrounding communities learned of the concession in Arena Blanca, only 10km south of the city, they began organizing, informing and denouncing, to the point that the company has not since returned. Similarly, residents of communities in La Labor began organizing, concerned about the active exploration activities in the area, including the Güisayote biological reserve established to protect the area’s many water sources. A government commission found the denouncements of the communities to be true: the Silver Crest concession is partially within the boundaries of protected area’s buffer zone, where mining activities are clearly prohibited by Decree 87-87 (‘the Cloudforest Law’).
Despite the findings, the government did not promise to cancel the concession until it was faced with a massive highway blockade by communities in La Labor, closing the main route to country’s main border crossing with Guatemala. After 3 days, President Maduro promised to cancel the concession. The demonstration ended, giving the government 3 months to fulfill its promise. It is unknown, however, whether DEFOMIN ever followed through with the orders of the President and the federal Public Prosecutors’ Office and officially canceled the concession; in July, 2004, Silver Crest denounced the intended ‘expropriation’ and vowed to initiate legal action.
In the community of El Rosario, Comayagua, covered by another Silver Crest concession, the overwhelming majority of the population is organized and opposed to the mining project, including the mayor and the entire municipal government. They have denounced the activities of a dozen local people working for the company (the coordinator reportedly receives a significant salary from the company for his efforts), whose main role is to disturb, confront and challenge all opposition to mining. This ‘clash’ group disrupts events and meetings, travels out to communities in order to distribute company propaganda the day after the local environmental network has held discussions, and has damaged the vehicles of visitors invited to a local forum on mining. [lxxix]
Companies vs. Communities: Conflicting Visions of Development
The employment by companies of local inhabitants for the purposes of disrupting community unity and opposition is widespread. Another tactic increasingly employed by transnational mining companies is the collaboration with ‘NGOs’ for the ‘community development’ projects accompanying the actual mining projects. As is the situation in Guatemala with Glamis Gold’s Marlin project, the company’s Sierra Madre Foundation and the collaboration of organizations that use their NGO status as a disguise for their support of company activities, mining companies in Honduras are also teaming up with organizations of questionable intentions at best in order to promote the benefits they will bring to the affected region. The supposed ‘benefits’ are limited, short-term, do not compare with the long-term negative impacts of metallic mining and, most importantly, are a CONDITION imposed by mining companies interested in profits. Nevertheless, these kinds of company/NGO partnerships for ‘development’ are increasingly being used and socialized by companies in an attempt to clean up their image.
Despite these obstacles, tactics and abuses, many communities have nevertheless struggled to defend their communities and resources. Communities in an area affected by a future metallic mining project in the department of Valle held a demonstration – machetes in hand – against the company’s plans, vowing to put their lives on the line in order to protect their communities. Several concessions and mining projects in central and eastern Honduras have met with similar resistance, due to the legal framework that is completely opposed to community rights and the threat of the negative impacts mining would have on water availability (for domestic use, crops, livestock, etc), the environment, human health...essentially on these communities’ way of life and their possibilities for a community development based on the needs and priorities of the communities themselves. The promise of these communities – BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY – is not an idle threat; thus, the entrance of mining companies has been halted in certain communities and regions, at least for the time being.
These actions can be seen as a response to the question of the Communal Assembly in Aquila: To whom can we as citizens turn when the authorities that are supposed to protect our rights are the ones who violate them?
http://www.rightsaction.org/Reports/Cuffe%20mining%20report%202005-03.htm
Indigenous peoples have been disproportionately directly affected by mining activities around the world. Mine-
Watch estimates that since 1940 over half of all uranium has been extracted from indigenous territories and that by
2010, half of all copper and gold mined will be on indigenous lands.24 While many activists see the current global
trend in mining as a manifestation of “the imbalance of power between ordinary people and their advocates and the
relentless expansion of the transnational business agenda,”25 it is importance to recognize that the imbalance of
power between the latter and indigenous peoples is exponentially greater.
http://www.rightsaction.org/Reports/Cuffe%20mining%20report.pdf
New York Times (June 29, 2009) coup plotters discussed with Ambassador Llorens and likely Thomas Shannon the ways they might arrest President Zelaya and remove him from office well before the coup.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/world/americas/30honduras.html?_r=1 With a straight face, the Times reports, "administration officials said that they did not expect that the military would go so far as to carry out a coup."
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/28/world/honduran-army-backing-dismantling-of-contras.html
U.S. Cautious on Calling Honduras a "Coup"
In a Coup in Honduras, Ghosts of Past U.S. Policies
5/6/2008
Repudio y manifestaciones en Honduras por la llegada de John Negroponte
x Dick Emanuelsson :: Más articulos de esta autora/or: 
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB151/ -John Negroponte Files(WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVES)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/30/politics/washingtonpost/main5125109.shtml
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j8ypSuxw28USLCbS1BLqogyC6ouA
BBC on Honduras: Military rule, corruption, a huge wealth gap, crime and natural disasters have rendered Honduras one of the least developed and least secure countries in Central America. Until the mid-1980s Honduras was dominated by the military, which enthusiastically supported US efforts to stem revolutionary movements in the region.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2005/04/10/lesson-honduras
When John D. Negroponte goes before the Senate Intelligence Committee today for hearings on his nomination to be the first Director of National Intelligence, he should face rigorous questioning regarding his experience as ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s. These questions are needed, not to relive past policy debates, but rather to determine how ready he is to handle one of the most pressing challenges he’ll confront as national intelligence director.
Negroponte served in Honduras from 1981 to 1985, when the Honduran security forces were implicated in the abduction, torture, and murder of scores of people. Despite these abuses, the country was receiving millions of dollars of U.S. military aid, training and operational support, and glowing reports on its commitment to the rule of law from the U.S. government. The State Department reported in 1983, for example, that the "Honduran government neither condones nor knowingly permits killings of a political or nonpolitical nature." And Negroponte himself wrote in a 1982 letter to The Economist that “it is simply untrue to state that death squads have made their appearance in Honduras," while omitting any mention of the abuses that were in fact taking place.
Asked about these statements at his 2001 confirmation hearing for the U.N. ambassadorship, Negroponte insisted they were literally true—the abuses did not fit his definition of “death squad activity” and were not “part of a deliberate government policy.” What he chose not to acknowledge was the fact that the CIA, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the Honduran Human Rights Ombudsman have all concluded that the Honduran security forces either carried out or condoned these abductions and killings. Does that mean he thinks the CIA, the court, and the ombudsman all got it wrong?
Negroponte also insisted in 2001 that his embassy had been entirely forthcoming about the human rights situation in Honduras. He conceded, however, that they had lacked extensive information on abuses, not because of intentional neglect, but because investigating them “was not one of the intelligence reporting priorities” at the time. In retrospect, doesn’t he think it should have been a top priority?
Finally, Negroponte responded to questions about human rights in Honduras by drawing attention to the national security threats that the country had faced at the time. He had done the same in the 1980s when human rights violators in Honduras, and throughout the region, were using national security threats to justify the most egregious forms of repression. Does that mean that he too thinks that those threats made the abuses less reprehensible?
These questions are not merely academic. Today the United States is once again collaborating with foreign intelligence and security agencies that engage in torture and other abuses. Where in the past, the United States trained and funded abusive security forces, now it has been actively transferring, or “rendering,” terrorist suspects to countries, such as Syria and Saudi Arabia, where torture is commonplace.
Today, moreover, the United States has once again failed to investigate alleged abuses in a thorough and timely fashion. The incidents of torture at Abu Ghraib could have been avoided if the administration had carried out serious investigations into the prisoner abuse allegations that arose in Afghanistan in 2002, and later in Iraq. Even after ordering multiple investigations of what went wrong there, the administration has failed to give investigators the mandate or independence necessary to determine how decisions made at the top contributed to those abuses—and could contribute to future ones.
And today, serious abuses are once again being justified on national security grounds—in some cases by US officials. While the administration has publicly repudiated torture since the Abu Ghraib scandal, it continues to assert its right to engage in forms of prisoner abuse that violate established U.S. military regulations, as well as international law.
The inhumane treatment of detainees—caught on film at Abu Ghraib—has dealt a major blow to American credibility worldwide. And the willingness to tolerate abusive practices in the name of national security has set a dangerous example for repressive regimes around the globe. As we saw in Honduras twenty years ago, when it comes to torture, murder and other egregious abuses, anything less than zero tolerance sends the wrong message.
For the United States to restore its credibility on human rights today, it needs a national intelligence director who will set a new course. To be confirmed, Negroponte should show that he’s learned the lesson of Honduras.
Daniel Wilkinson is counsel for the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch.
Military coup that ousted president didn't stop U.S. engagement in Honduras A day after an SOA-trained army general ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint, President Barack Obama stated that "the coup was not legal" and that Zelaya remained "the democratically elected president." The Foreign Operations Appropriations Act requires that U.S. military aid and training be suspended when a country undergoes a military coup, and the Obama administration has indicated those steps have been taken. "Yes, they're in class now," Rials said. Asked about the Obama administration's suspension of aid and training to Honduras, Rials said,"Well, all I know is they're here, and they're in class." The decision to continue training the Hondurans is "purely government policy," he said, adding that it's possible that other U.S. military schools are training them, too. "We're not the only place." Rials did not know exactly how many Hondurans were currently enrolled, but he said at least two officers are currently in the school's Command and General Staff course, its premier year-long program. "I don't know the exact number because we've had some classes just completed and some more starting," he said. "There's no more plans for anybody to come. Everything that was in place already is still in place. Nobody's directed that they go home or that anything cease." The school trained 431 Honduran officers from 2001 to 2008, and some 88 were projected for this year, said Rials, who couldn't provide their names. Since 2005, the Department of Defense has barred the release of their names after it was revealed that the school had enrolled well-known human rights abusers. The general who overthrew Zelaya -- Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez -- is a two-time graduate of SOA, which critics have nicknamed the "School of Coups" because it trained so many coup leaders, including two other Honduran graduates, General Juan Melgar Castro and General Policarpo Paz Garcia. Vásquez is not the only SOA graduate linked to the current coup or employed by the de facto government. Others are: The ongoing training of Hondurans at Ft. Benning is not the only evidence of unbroken U.S.-Honduran military ties since the coup. Another piece was discovered by Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois, the founder of SOA Watch, while on fact-finding mission to Honduras last week. Bourgeois -- accompanied by two lawyers, Kent Spriggs and Dan Kovalik -- visited the Soto Cano/Palmerola Air Base northwest of Tegucigalpa, where the U.S. Southern Command's Joint Task Force-Bravo is stationed. "Helicopters were flying all around, and we spoke with the U.S. official on duty, a Sgt. Reyes"about the U.S.-Honduran relationship, Bourgeois said. "We asked him if anything had changed since the coup and he said no, nothing." The group later met with U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens, who claimed that he had no knowledge of ongoing U.S. military activity with the Hondurans, Bourgeois said. The ambassador also said that he himself has had no contact with the de facto government. That has apparently changed. Christopher Webster, the director of the State Department's Office of Central American Affairs, said Monday that Llorens has in fact been in touch with the current coup government, according to Eric LeCompte, the national organizer for SOA Watch. LeCompte met with Webster Monday along with other representatives of human rights groups and three Hondurans -- Marvin Ponce Sauceda, a member of the Honduran National Congress, Jari Dixon Herrera Hernández, a lawyer with the Honduran attorney general's office, and Dr. Juan Almendares Bonilla, director of the Center for the Prevention, Rehabilitation and Treatment of Victims of Torture. Webster told the group that Llorens and the State Department are engaging the coup government to the extent necessary to bring about a solution to the crisis. Webster "told us that military aid had been cut off, and that the return of Zelaya as president is non-negotiable although the conditions under which he returns are negotiable," LeCompte said. Herrera Hernández, the lawyer with the Honduran attorney general's office, told Webster that the coup government has disseminated misinformation by claiming the coup was legal because the court had issued an arrest warrant for Zelaya for pushing ahead with a non-binding referendum on whether to change the Honduran constitution. However, the order to arrest Zelaya came a day after the coup, he said. And contrary to coup propaganda, Zelaya never sought to extend his term in office, and even if the survey had been held, changing the constitution would have required action by the legislature, he said. Whatever legal argument the coup leaders had against Zelaya, it fell apart when they flew him into exile rather than prosecuting him, the attorney said. The legal system has broken down, he added, for if this can happen to the president, who can't it happen to? Linda Cooper and James Hodge are the authors of Disturbing the Peace: The Story of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of the Americas. U.S. continues to train Honduran soldiers
http://www.soaw.org/presente/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=225&Itemid=74 
Written by James Hodge and Linda Cooper, National Catholic Reporter 
A controversial facility at Ft. Benning, Ga. -- formerly known as the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas -- is still training Honduran officers despite claims by the Obama administration that it cut military ties to Honduras after its president was overthrown June 28, NCR has learned.
The Coup and the U.S. Airbase in HondurasZelaya, Negroponte and the Controversy at Soto Cano
The mainstream media has once again dropped the ball on a key aspect of the ongoing story in Honduras: the U.S. airbase at Soto Cano, also known as Palmerola. Prior to the recent military coup d’etat President Manuel Zelaya declared that he would turn the base into a civilian airport, a move opposed by the former U.S. ambassador. What’s more Zelaya intended to carry out his project with Venezuelan financing.
WASHINGTON — The Honduran armed forces issued acommuniqué on Saturday indicating that they would not stand in the way of an agreement to return Manuel Zelaya, the country’s ousted president, to power.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/world/americas/26honduras.html?scp=19&sq=micheletti&st=cse
Maduro asks Chávez to consider regional oil financing scheme - Central America, Venezuela
why would it be different this time? USA always denied their interference, it's no different now.
Carmona-Borjas was Pedro Carmona's lawyer during the Venezuelan Coup d'ètat back in 2002 contra Hugo Chávez. Now he has his company -- Arcadia-- manufacturing anti-corruption propaganda against anything that threatens US corporate abuses to the countries.
Micheletti afirma que el Ejército hondureño no detuvo a Zelaya para no provocar un conflicto internacional
Confirmed: SouthCom organized the overthrow of Honduras President Zelaya
CIA: in Germany and in Tegucigalpa - http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/787/484226/text/
Maduro asks Chávez to consider regional oil financing scheme - Central America, Venezuela
Honduras' President Ricardo Maduro has asked his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez to consider selling oil products under preferential payment terms to Central American countries to mitigate the economic impact of high oil prices, the Honduran presidential news service reported.
Maduro and Chávez spoke privately during the 15th Iberoamerican summit in Salamanca, Spain from October 14-15.
Under the PetroCaribe regional energy cooperation scheme, Venezuela plans to sell some 300,000 barrels a day (b/d) of crude and oil derivatives to 14 countries in the Caribbean area under special financing conditions.
The conditions include deferring up to 50% of the oil bill for 25 years at interest rates of 1-2% with a two-year grace period. The remaining portion of the bill must be paid within 90 days and payments can even be made with local products instead of cash.
According to Maduro, Chávez confirmed his interest in helping Central American countries under a similar scheme and is planning to call a meeting with the region's respective economy ministers to discuss the subject, the statement said.
Central American countries have called on Mexico to supply oil under special financing conditions but energy secretary Fernando Canales has said the San José scheme already exists to help these countries and Mexico will not offer them preferential financing terms.
Maduro plans to meet with Mexico's President Vicente Fox on October 22 to further discussions.
In light of increases in international oil prices, Honduras' government declared a state of national energy emergency in September and has since frozen fuel prices through end-November. This measure will cost the government some 300mn lempiras (US$15.9mn), while importers will pay about 80mn lempiras.
Una reflexiones sobre la entrevista a Micheletti
Interesante escuchar a Roberto Micheletti en la entrevista que le hizo Renato Álvarez decir, que no le importa que Honduras no tenga relaciones con América Latina. Renato le preguntaba justamente eso. Y la razón por la posición de Micheletti es que Honduras tiene la gran mayoría de su exportación e importación de Estados Unidos.
Creo que es importante analizar el contenido de esa entrevista, igual como los comunicadores, historiadores, investigadores hemos estudiado escritos, documentos y hasta libros de personajes como Pinochet (como por ejemplo su libro; "11 de septiembre, Día decisivo", muy interesante) para entender como funciona y argumenta el poder y el personaje.
Me llamó la atención que Micheletti, así tan seguro, se expresa que el resto del mundo puede ir a la mie-a pero no nos preocupamos. Puede ser porque se siente seguro por que tiene el respaldo del Pentágono y el Departamento de Estado, aunque éste último dice lo contrario.
Pero puede ser también, que Micheletti realmente cree en sus propias palabras, es decir; que Honduras si tiene relaciones comerciales y eso son lo que importa al país y el poder económico&oligarcas que son los responsables intelectuales detrás el golpe. Honduras rompió las relaciones diplomáticas con Argentina pero las relaciones comerciales siguen.
De todas maneras es notorio que Micheletti y el grupo que lo rodea están convencidos que Estados Unidos es el baluarte y asegurador para el proyecto político de los golpistas.
Y me acordé el escritor Juan Arancibia que en su libro "Honduras un Estado Nacional", consideraba queAPROH era más gringo que los gringos y:
"habría sugerido a la Comisión Kissinger de convertir a Honduras en Protectorado o en Estado Libre Asociado. Aunque señalaba que ello no era compatible con la idiosincrasia hondureña, se proponía como una posibilidad extrema para salvar el sistema. En el fondo, se sugería que era preferible la desaparición de Honduras como país independiente, antes que la ocurrencia de una transformación revolucionaría", escribía Arancibia.
Algo de eso respiraba Micheletti en la entrevista con Renato Alvarez, que prefiere entregar Honduras a los norteamericanos ante de que Mel Zelaya y el ALBA convierta a Honduras de un estado con justicia social, con derechos humanos como educación, salud, trabajo, una casa digna sin techo de cartón sino un techo que resiste los huracanes, en donde el pueblo puede ir a las urnas para consultas populares cuando el pueblo lo considera, es decir; una democracia participativa.
El golpe frenó totalmente ese proceso, por el momento. . . .
Los gringos están en la ofensiva en América Latina y la derecha latinoamericana esta reagrupándose. El golpe de estado en Honduras es un grave revés para las fuerzas progresistas y democráticas en América Latina y una advertencia a los pueblos de este continente. Las siete bases militares bajo control de Estados Unidos, la 4ª Flota patrullando desde Alaska hasta la Patagonia en combinación de las bases en Honduras, constituye un peligro muy grande y un nuevo paso a la recolonización de este continente.
Dick Emanuelsson
Micheletti: "Podemos subsistir sin Mercosur, pero no sin Estados Unidos"La Jornada 19/08/0919 de agosto 2009. -Honduras podrá "subsistir totalmente" sin relaciones diplomáticas con los países que conforman la Unión de Naciones Sudamericanas (Unasur), afirmó hoy Micheletti, en respuesta a la serie de expulsiones de diplomáticos hondureños que han sido desconocidos y expulsados por las naciones sudamericanas por responder a su gobierno y no a Zelaya. "No nos preocupa que en un momento determinado ellos no reconozcan nuestro gobierno, porque no tenemos una razón que nos motive a buscar una relación" con la Unasur, "pero sí con Estados Unidos, que es nuestro mayor importador de productos", afirmó el mandatario de facto. En cuanto al no reconocimiento a su gestión de parte de la comunidad internacional, Micheletti dijo que es una "posición temporal", pues los gobernantes actuales de Sudamérica van a concluir sus mandatos y sus sucesores pueden tener una opinión diferente. La Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) confirmó la semana pasada su disposición a enviar a Honduras una misión de cancilleres para conversar con el régimen golpista, visita que se realizaría a finales de esta semana o la próxima. La misión la integrarán los cancilleres de Argentina, México, Canadá, Costa Rica, República Dominicana y Jamaica, pero su viaje se retrasó pues inicialmente el régimen de facto objetó que fuera con ellos el secretario general de la OEA, José Miguel Insulza, a quien acusa de "falta de imparcialidad". Los países más influyentes, como Estados Unidos, "pueden hacer un poco más" para restablecer la democracia en Honduras, en opinión de Taiana, quien formará parte de la comitiva de la OEA. Agregó que no se reconocerá a gobierno alguno en Honduras que surja de las elecciones previstas para el 29 de noviembre a través de un proceso conducido por el gobierno golpista. Taiana señaló que el objetivo de la misión de la OEA es que se cumpla la resolución del organismo continental que pide el pleno restablecimiento de la democracia en Honduras y de Zelaya en el gobierno y el cumplimiento del calendario electoral "bajo una presidencia constitucional".
Latin Leftists Fear a Honduras Coup Domino Effect
Filed at 12:06 p.m. ET
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- Manuel Zelaya's chances of getting restored to the Honduran presidency become more distant with each passing week. Across Latin America, his allies and foes alike see a precedent being set.
It's a glimmer of hope for the region's conservative elite, which has watched with dismay over the past decade as a wave of leftist presidents has risen to power, promising to topple the establishment and give greater power to the poor.
When the once-moderate Zelaya started down that path, Honduras' military, Congress and Supreme Court teamed up to oust him, and despite protests from across the hemisphere the coup-installed government remains in place. Could this be the model Latin America's conservatives were desperately seeking?
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who was briefly ousted in a 2002 coup himself, said Cuba's Fidel Castro told him the situation in Honduras will ''open the door to the wave of coups coming in Latin America.''
''Fidel says something that is very true,'' he said.
Added Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, a close ally of Chavez and Zelaya: ''We have intelligence reports that say that after Zelaya, I'm next.''
Across the region, conservatives who long ruled Latin America -- and still own much of it -- are showing signs of unrest, with armed uprisings in Bolivia and marches in Guatemala where tens of thousands of protesters have demanded the president resign.
But the most extreme case came in Honduras, a country with three decades of political stability and seven consecutive democratically elected presidents.
''This coup really surprised us,'' said Jorge Acevedo, deputy director of a Honduran human rights group. ''We thought the issue of civilian rule was something we had resolved a long time ago.''
Soldiers arrested Zelaya on June 28 and flew him into exile, and within hours Congress swore in the next-in-line to the presidency, Roberto Micheletti. In the six weeks since, demonstrations by Zelaya supporters and diplomatic efforts by countries ranging from the United States to Venezuela have been unsuccessful in orchestrating Zelaya's return.
Argentina's Cristina Fernandez, whose popularity has plummeted, said allowing Honduras' interim government to remain in power until Nov. 29 presidential elections would undermine democracy across the region.
''It would be enough for someone to stage a civilian coup, backed by the armed forces, or simply a civilian one and later justify it by convoking elections,'' Fernandez told South American leaders. ''And then democratic guarantees would truly be fiction.''
Honduras responded Tuesday by giving Argentina's diplomatic mission 72 hours to leave the country.
Those who have stirred turmoil in left-led countries insist they are the ones defending democracy.
Many of the so-called ''revolutionary'' governments that have been voted into power from Nicaragua to Bolivia have not only tried to redistribute wealth but also remove limits on their time in power. Many have reduced the powers of opponents in ways that have made traditional elites feel their private holdings, investments and democratic freedoms are under attack.
''I think Zelaya gave enough reasons to be removed from government -- reasons that exist in abundance in Venezuela,'' said Venezuelan opposition leader Jose Luis Farias. ''Chavez has violated the constitution a lot more than Zelaya did.''
In Bolivia, opposition Gov. Ruben Costas called Zelaya's ouster a logical reaction to ''a process that follows the same book as Chavez, which only seeks constitutional changes to perpetuate strongmen.''
''There is a limit in countries where we are suffering abuses,'' he told radio Erbol.
Of course, the Honduras precedent goes only so far.
No other leader in the region faces the utter political isolation that drove Zelaya from power so swiftly and efficiently: The military, the Supreme Court and even Zelaya's own political party turned against him when he deepened his allegiance with Chavez and pursued constitutional changes in defiance of court rulings.
Elsewhere in the region, many of the leaders have already solidified their hold on power, in part through referendums and new constitutions overwhelmingly approved by voters. In Venezuela, other branches of government including congress and the judiciary are stacked with Chavez allies, leaving his opponents with few options for getting back into power.
''Removing Chavez through legal means -- that is, through institutions -- is very difficult because he has absolute control over all the institutions of the country,'' Farias said.
Leftist leaders are taking no chances.
Ecuador has announced plans to create citizens committees to defend against Honduras-style coups. Correa has not provided details of how the groups will work, but critics fear they could become something akin to Cuba's Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, used to monitor ''counterrevolutionary'' activities.
Bolivian President Evo Morales, who calls two weeks of deadly protests in the eastern lowlands last year a ''civilian coup,'' recently announced that three men killed by police had been planning to assassinate him in a plot backed by opposition leaders.
Guatemala's Alvaro Colom said he was being targeted by elites angry about his attempts to eliminate corporate tax loopholes when thousands took to the streets in May. They were demanding his resignation after a videotape by a prominent lawyer foretold his own murder, claiming Colom was to blame.
And for any Latin American leader who feels confident of their hold on power, Honduras offers a sobering lesson in how quickly a president can lose control.
Luis Vicente Leon, an analyst with Venezuela's Datanalisis polling firm, said all of Latin America's leftist leaders ''have a lot of enemies.''
''No one,'' he said, ''is immune.''
------
Associated Press writers contributing to this report included Christopher Toothaker in Caracas, Venezuela; Jeanneth Valdivieso in Quito, Ecuador; Carlos Valdez in La Paz, Bolivia; Michael Warren in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Juan Carlos Llorca in Guatemala City.
In his article of June, 29, 2009, Thierry Meyssan submitted that the overthrow of President Zelaya in Honduras [1] had been orchestrated by SouthCom. Moreover, the French edition of his article (through the caption of a photograph which was unfortunately not reproduced in a certain number of foreign sites) underscored the fact that the commander of the US military base at Soto Cano is none other than Colonel Richard A. Juergens, who had already supervised the "kidnapping" of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide according to a similar scenario.
Despite widespread media coverage, this information was rebuffed by the State Department which denied any US interference in the military coup d’état.
As it turns out, the flight path followed by the aircraft involved in President Zelaya’s expulsion was rendered public on August 14, 2009, by Daniel Ortega, the President of Nicaragua. It reveals that the flight took off from the US military base of Soto Cano (formerly known as Palmerola Air Base).
==
[1]
In French: Le SouthCom prend le pouvoir dans un État membre de l’ALBA, par Thierry Meyssan, Réseau Voltaire; 29 juin 2009;
In Spanish: El SouthCom toma el poder en un Estado del ALBA, por Thierry Meyssan, Red Voltaire; 3 de julio 2009.
[Translation: SouthCom power takeover in an ALBA member state]
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