El CADTM denuncia el apoyo criminal del FMI a la dictadura hondureña
Comunicado de prensa
5 de agosto por CADTM
Un golpe de Estado militar tuvo lugar en Honduras el 28 de junio de este año. El presidente constitucional Manuel Zelaya fue obligado por la fuerza a dejar el país. Tanto la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) como las Naciones Unidas, la Unión Europea y el presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, condenaron firmemente el golpe de Estado orquestado por los sectores reaccionarios de la sociedad: el ejército, la oligarquía, la Iglesia, el poder judicial y los medios de información dominantes.
Sin embargo, el FMI consideró al nuevo y autoproclamado presidente Roberto Micheletti un representante perfectamente válido, a pesar de las violaciones continuas de los derechos humanos y de las libertades fundamentales perpetradas en Honduras desde fines de junio. En efecto, el FMI aprobó el 28 de agosto pasado un préstamo de 150 millones de dólares para el gobierno golpista de Honduras, aportándole de este modo un apoyo financiero que le facilita la continuación en el poder. Un segundo aporte de 13,8 millones de dólares podría ser desbloqueado en las próximas semanas. |1|
El CADTM condena las actuaciones escandalosas del FMI, que una vez más no duda en apoyar a las dictaduras con todo conocimiento de causa, ya que éstas sirven a los intereses de las grandes potencias que controlan la institución. Esto se asemeja curiosamente al golpe de Estado de abril de 2002 en Venezuela, en el que se vio al patrón de patrones Pedro Carmona tomar el poder por la fuerza y recibir rápidamente el sostén del FMI. Con sus manifestaciones en la calle, el pueblo venezolano consiguió provocar la huída de Carmona y el retorno del presidente constitucional, Hugo Chávez. En Honduras como en Venezuela, el FMI no dudó en dar un apoyo oficial a unos regímenes autoritarios e ilegítimos.
En realidad, el respaldo del FMI a regímenes ilegítimos y represivos no se limita a estos dos países. En particular, el FMI brindó apoyo financiero a Augusto Pinochet en Chile, Mohamed Suharto en Indonesia, Joseph Désiré Mobuto en Zaire, Jorge Videla en Argentina, y continúa apoyando a Denis Sassou Nguesso en el Congo Brazzaville, a Idriss Déby en Chad, etc. Desde la crisis de la deuda de comienzos de los años ochenta, el FMI sostiene en forma notoria este tipo de regímenes autoritarios para imponer sus programas de ajuste estructural, con consecuencias dramáticas para los países del Sur: reducción drástica de los presupuestos sociales y de las subvenciones a los productos de primera necesidad, apertura de los mercados y aparición de la desigual competencia de las multinacionales con los pequeños productores, una producción agrícola volcada en la exportación y abandono del principio de soberanía alimentaria, privatizaciones masivas, una fiscalidad que agrava las desigualdades, etc.
El presidente Zelaya, al lanzar la propuesta de una consulta popular para abrir un proceso de Asamblea constituyente, provocó el rechazo de la oligarquía hondureña, que decidió derrocarlo por la fuerza. Con su apoyo financiero, el FMI garantiza este golpe de Estado. Así, a pesar de la condena unánime de la «comunidad internacional» y de la resistencia popular dentro de Honduras, el presidente Zelaya todavía no logró volver a entrar en su país.
Aunque haya suspendido una ayuda militar de 16,5 millones de dólares a Honduras, Estados Unidos organizó la mediación del presidente de Costa Rica Oscar Arias, promovida por la secretaria de Estado, Hillary Clinton. Esta mediación trata de imponer un compromiso inaceptable, que comprende: el retorno del presidente Zelaya pero con los poderes reducidos y compartidos con los golpistas en el marco de un gobierno de «reconciliación y de unión nacional», en espera de las próximas elecciones presidenciales; una amnistía general por los delitos políticos en relación con ese golpe de Estado y la prohibición de cualquier consulta popular sobre la convocatoria de una Asamblea constituyente.
El FMI, dirigido por el socialista francés Dominique Strauss-Khan, financia una dictadura militar que pisotea las normas constitucionales y los derechos humanos fundamentales. Para el CADTM, la dictadura de Honduras debe ser denunciada y combatida, así como el FMI. Y es por eso por lo que el CADTM pide la disolución inmediata del FMI y su reemplazo por una institución radicalmente diferente, transparente y democrática, cuya misión se centre en la garantía de los derechos humanos fundamentales.
Traducido por Griselda Piñero
Contactos: Cécile Lamarque: 00 32 484 99 53 81
Eric Toussaint : 00 32 486 74 47 52
Damien Millet: 00 33 660 54 27 13
Notas
copinh honduras a écrit :
La UE pacta negociaciones comerciales con los golpistas hondureños
Antiglobalización 2 de septiembre
Ecologistas en Acción deplora la actitud de la Unión Europea de mantener a Honduras en la ronda de negociaciones para un Tratado de Libre Comercio entre el bloque europeo y los países centroamericanos. Esto supone un reconocimiento del gobierno golpista, además de una pésima decisión para la población y el entorno hondureño.
Las negociaciones se habían paralizado después del golpe de estado en Honduras, pero la Comisión Europea anunció ayer que se retomarán a final de mes. Según el calendario está previsto que Este Tratado de Libre Comercio entre en funcionamiento en 2010.
Estas negociaciones ya han suscitado importantes rechazos por parte de los movimientos sociales hondureños, que en una gira reciente por la UE, reclamaron una postura contundente por parte de Europa contra el golpe militar. Una postura que en opinión de las fuerzas democráticas de aquél país se debe mantener en el tiempo y debe afectar a todos los ámbitos de relación con los golpistas.
Uno de los aspectos fundamentales que quiere conseguir la UE con este tipo de tratados, es la liberalización de los servicios en los países latinoamericanos, ya que en la actualidad cuenta con el 25% de las exportaciones mundiales de servicios. En el acuerdo que se negocia con Centroamérica, se ha hablado que no habrá privatización de servicios públicos (el resto sí). Pero servicios públicos como el agua, para la UE son “servicios medioambientales” y están por lo tanto ligados a inversiones privadas, como ya está ocurriendo en Costa Rica.
En el caso concreto de Honduras, la pobreza se mantiene en niveles muy elevados con más de cinco millones de personas viviendo actualmente con menos de dos dólares al día. En este país, la malnutrición afecta al 30% de la población y, tras una década de liberalización de sus mercados agrícolas, se ha reducido en un 86% la producción de arroz y el gasto destinado a importarlo se multiplicó por 20. El TLC sólo agravará estas situación.
Por lo tanto, Ecologistas en Acción denuncia que la UE, con la reapertura de negociaciones, está haciendo un reconocimiento internacional del gobierno golpista hondureño, además de sentando las bases para un incremento de la pobreza y de la degradación ambiental en Centroamérica.
http://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/spip.php?article15287
In mid September 1970, conservative National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger and President Richard Nixon concluded Chileans had elected the wrong government; so they decided to alter Chilean destiny by replacing Dr. Salvador Allende's democratic government with 17 years of military fascism, 1973-90.
In the post-Cold War world, such flummery became laughable. Washington could direct policy toward law and human rights or continue collaborating with military thugs. This apparent dilemma got finessed with a blueprint to perpetuate Latin American oligarchs and satisfy US corporations and banks linked to local elites.
In 2002, the US government tested the new plan. US-backed military officers kidnapped Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. But unforeseen opposition arose inside the Venezuelan military; masses of Venezuelans took to the streets. The coup failed.
Washington continued ranting against the "undemocratic" Chavez without mentioning his five successive victories – since 1998 -- in internationally supervised elections. Chavez' government directed its energy toward meeting basic needs, despite middle and upper class opposition.
In 2004, in test two, the State Department “to protect” Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide, helped his kidnappers. Following the Venezuela model, the Haitian plotters fabricated a “resignation letter.”
In June, the third coup test began when military thugs kidnapped President Manuel Zelaya. Then, civilian plotters penned a fake letter of resignation. The legal “reason”: the Honduran Supreme Court ordered Zelaya’s arrest for violating the Constitution. The State Department's 2009 Human Rights Report had already characterized that Court as issuing "politicized rulings" and contributing "to corruption in public and private institutions." (U.S. Department of State, 2008 Human Rights Report: Honduras. February 25, 2009.)
Initially, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton feigned concern about what looked like a coup. She couldn't quite call it a coup. After all, she cooed, Zelaya – whom she still recognized as President -- might have violated the Constitution. No US official or mainstream reporter questioned the “logic” of the Honduran Supreme Court’s postdated ruling that attempting an open and non-binding consultation with the people violated supreme law. In fact, Article 80 of Honduras' constitution specifies that "Toda persona o asociación de personas tiene el derecho de presentar peticiones a las autoridades ya sea por motivos de interés particular o general y de obtener pronta respuesta en el plazo legal."
Coup d'etat "interim President" Roberto Micheletti also raged. How dare Zelaya consult the people about changing the document they had little voice in passing! In 1985, however, Micheletti led just such a constitutional change to re-elect then President Roberto Suazo.
Re-election becomes constitutional when aspiring Latin American candidates serve local ruling class and Washington interests. Otherwise, Constitutions stand as sacred, no matter what they actually say about participatory democracy.
Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Connie Mack (R-FL) and other Republicans indignantly defended the kidnapping of Zelaya as "protecting the Constitution and democracy." They cited the Honduran Constitution, but did not refer to any clause allowing military goons to kidnap the elected President in pajamas at dawn, and fly him to Costa Rica in a military plane.
The mind-numbing discussion of "legally authorized behavior" has omitted reference to conditions in Honduras. In 2006, the United Nations Development Program described Honduras as suffering "profound social inequalities, with very high levels of poverty, and with an insufficient economic growth where the population had a relative dissatisfaction with the results of democracy." The Report claimed 15% of rural Hondurans have a 40 years or less life expectancy and 20.4% of the adult population remain illiterate. The UNDP concluded that "the time for change is now. " (p. 5, 21).
A 2003 report showed the richest 10 percent still netted 50 times more than the poorest 10th. 86.3% of the Honduran rural population lived in poverty; 71.3% of urban dwellers qualified as poverty-stricken. 67.2% of the children under the age of 5 were malnourished. (J. MacDonald, Expresión de la pobreza en la ciudad, Reunión Grupo de Expertos sobre Pobreza Urbana en America Latina y el Caribe, 27-28 de Enero 2003, p 4-5,)
In 2006, Manuel Zelaya won the presidency. He made the UNDP Report a central part of his agenda for change. His social program, not an ambiguous Constitutional interpretation, became the root of his "issue" with the governing oligarchy -- a dozen families who control economics and social, cultural and political institutions. They also dominate the media. A 2008 State Department Human Rights Report acknowledged: "A small number of powerful business magnates with intersecting commercial, political, and
family ties owned most of the country's news media. Powerful magnates strongly influenced the news agenda and thereby elections and political decisions." (U.S. Department of State, 2008 Human Rights Report: Honduras. February 25, 2009.)
Until Zelaya tried to bring real democracy into the governing equation, Honduras' elite with US banking and corporate backing had found a seemingly perfect recipe: people vote but don’t change anything. Congress and Courts belong to the educated (rich and powerful) who also control the military in cooperation with the US government. Washington provided aid; the School of the Americas trains Honduran officers in proper conduct -- torturing enemies and making coups. "Since the 1980s, the Honduran army breathes through the noses of its US advisers." (ALAI AMLATINA, July 10, 2009)
For Zelaya, the UNDP Report coincided with a brutal fact. Switzerland and Honduras each have 7 million people. Swiss yearly average income is $53 thousand; Hondurans $2K. This upper class President saw an obligation to meet peoples' needs. Uttering such a subversive thought provoked panic among the rich in Tegucigalpa and the powerful of Washington. They reverted to a historical pattern.
In the 1980s, the CIA and US military used Honduras to attack Nicaragua's leftist government. The CIA had Honduran officers selling drugs -- to support the surrogate Contras, which Congress forbade. In 1988, Rev. Joe Eldridge, the husband of Maria Otero, Obama's Undersecretary of State for Democracy, wrote about this drug link; then the Honduran military issued death threats against the family. The Honduran army also repressed internal opposition. The local elite supplied officers with perks and status, but Central American armies have spent little time defending their country and much time attacking their citizens.
The Honduran invented a “reason” to oust Zelaya: his unconstitutional intent to consult the people in a non-binding vote. Yet, the Constitution allows for referenda and plebiscites. Washington representatives now claim they advised against a coup. But, reasoned the oligarchs and officers, encouraged by some well-known anti-Castro Cuban Americans, how could Washington abandon its friends and clients? So, they kidnapped Zelaya, and flew him to Costa Rica under a justification thinner than the most undernourished model.
One hundred and ninety two countries rejected this equivalent of a political “Brooklyn Bridge for sale.” The coup’s defenders, Canada's conservative government, the US mass media, the Honduran Catholic and Protestant hierarchy and right wing anti-Castroites of Miami, approved of previous Latin American coups, in the name of democracy, anti-communism, or whatever. This time the coup makers were “rescuing Honduras from the claws of Chavism."
The drama descended toward farce, however, when Zelaya's abductors ditched him in Costa Rica. President Oscar Arias received him - and the snatchers. No high official or mainstream reporter has suggested Arias aided and abetted a kidnapping and coup. Shouldn’t he have arrested the kidnappers, impounded their plane and demanded the illegitimate thugs in Tegucigalpa surrender?
Instead, collaborator Arias became mediator Arias. Twenty years ago, Arias refused to allow US bases in Costa Rica for its illicit war against Nicaragua. Today, he stars in the good cop/bad cop show. His one act of "disobedience" won him a Nobel Prize. Since then, he has shown loyalty to Washington's economic consensus, meaning free trade and corporate well being.
After Arias served as President (1986-1990), he changed the constitution in order to run for a second term (2006-2010). In June, another US ally, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe changed his Constitution to allow for his third re-election. Neither Washington nor the mass media objected. Anti-Castro Miami moguls hailed this "democratic" move.
Double standard? No. Arias and Uribe followed US dictates: don't befriend Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro or any serious "change" talker. Zelaya disobedience - to his own class and to Washington – got him kidnapped.
In Washington, the response was “new elections.” US Presidents hail democratic elections -- when they benefit the United States. When elected governments help the poor and reduce US interests, however, Washington officials plot coups, insist on term limits and enforcement of Constitutions they have not read.
Saul Landau is an Institute for Policy Studies fellow whose films are on dvd (roundworldproductions@gmailcom).
Nelson Valdés is Emeritus Professor, Sociology, University of New Mexico
Term Limits Only Apply When Governments Benefit People
Hypocrisy and the Honduran Coup
By SAUL LANDAU and NELSON VALDÉS"Why haven't there been attempted coups in Washington DC? Because there's noIn 1954, conservative Dwight Eisenhower authorized the CIA to overthrow Guatemala’s government, a coup modeled on a 1953 "regime change" in Iran. In 1964-65, liberal Lyndon Johnson authorized coup d'etats in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. When Dominicans revolted, Johnson sent in troops.
US Embassy there."
(Joke told by Chilean journalist to President Obama during President
Michelle Bachelet's White House visit.)
In mid September 1970, conservative National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger and President Richard Nixon concluded Chileans had elected the wrong government; so they decided to alter Chilean destiny by replacing Dr. Salvador Allende's democratic government with 17 years of military fascism, 1973-90.
In the post-Cold War world, such flummery became laughable. Washington could direct policy toward law and human rights or continue collaborating with military thugs. This apparent dilemma got finessed with a blueprint to perpetuate Latin American oligarchs and satisfy US corporations and banks linked to local elites.
In 2002, the US government tested the new plan. US-backed military officers kidnapped Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. But unforeseen opposition arose inside the Venezuelan military; masses of Venezuelans took to the streets. The coup failed.
Washington continued ranting against the "undemocratic" Chavez without mentioning his five successive victories – since 1998 -- in internationally supervised elections. Chavez' government directed its energy toward meeting basic needs, despite middle and upper class opposition.
In 2004, in test two, the State Department “to protect” Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide, helped his kidnappers. Following the Venezuela model, the Haitian plotters fabricated a “resignation letter.”
In June, the third coup test began when military thugs kidnapped President Manuel Zelaya. Then, civilian plotters penned a fake letter of resignation. The legal “reason”: the Honduran Supreme Court ordered Zelaya’s arrest for violating the Constitution. The State Department's 2009 Human Rights Report had already characterized that Court as issuing "politicized rulings" and contributing "to corruption in public and private institutions." (U.S. Department of State, 2008 Human Rights Report: Honduras. February 25, 2009.)
Initially, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton feigned concern about what looked like a coup. She couldn't quite call it a coup. After all, she cooed, Zelaya – whom she still recognized as President -- might have violated the Constitution. No US official or mainstream reporter questioned the “logic” of the Honduran Supreme Court’s postdated ruling that attempting an open and non-binding consultation with the people violated supreme law. In fact, Article 80 of Honduras' constitution specifies that "Toda persona o asociación de personas tiene el derecho de presentar peticiones a las autoridades ya sea por motivos de interés particular o general y de obtener pronta respuesta en el plazo legal."
Coup d'etat "interim President" Roberto Micheletti also raged. How dare Zelaya consult the people about changing the document they had little voice in passing! In 1985, however, Micheletti led just such a constitutional change to re-elect then President Roberto Suazo.
Re-election becomes constitutional when aspiring Latin American candidates serve local ruling class and Washington interests. Otherwise, Constitutions stand as sacred, no matter what they actually say about participatory democracy.
Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Connie Mack (R-FL) and other Republicans indignantly defended the kidnapping of Zelaya as "protecting the Constitution and democracy." They cited the Honduran Constitution, but did not refer to any clause allowing military goons to kidnap the elected President in pajamas at dawn, and fly him to Costa Rica in a military plane.
The mind-numbing discussion of "legally authorized behavior" has omitted reference to conditions in Honduras. In 2006, the United Nations Development Program described Honduras as suffering "profound social inequalities, with very high levels of poverty, and with an insufficient economic growth where the population had a relative dissatisfaction with the results of democracy." The Report claimed 15% of rural Hondurans have a 40 years or less life expectancy and 20.4% of the adult population remain illiterate. The UNDP concluded that "the time for change is now. " (p. 5, 21).
A 2003 report showed the richest 10 percent still netted 50 times more than the poorest 10th. 86.3% of the Honduran rural population lived in poverty; 71.3% of urban dwellers qualified as poverty-stricken. 67.2% of the children under the age of 5 were malnourished. (J. MacDonald, Expresión de la pobreza en la ciudad, Reunión Grupo de Expertos sobre Pobreza Urbana en America Latina y el Caribe, 27-28 de Enero 2003, p 4-5,)
In 2006, Manuel Zelaya won the presidency. He made the UNDP Report a central part of his agenda for change. His social program, not an ambiguous Constitutional interpretation, became the root of his "issue" with the governing oligarchy -- a dozen families who control economics and social, cultural and political institutions. They also dominate the media. A 2008 State Department Human Rights Report acknowledged: "A small number of powerful business magnates with intersecting commercial, political, and
family ties owned most of the country's news media. Powerful magnates strongly influenced the news agenda and thereby elections and political decisions." (U.S. Department of State, 2008 Human Rights Report: Honduras. February 25, 2009.)
Until Zelaya tried to bring real democracy into the governing equation, Honduras' elite with US banking and corporate backing had found a seemingly perfect recipe: people vote but don’t change anything. Congress and Courts belong to the educated (rich and powerful) who also control the military in cooperation with the US government. Washington provided aid; the School of the Americas trains Honduran officers in proper conduct -- torturing enemies and making coups. "Since the 1980s, the Honduran army breathes through the noses of its US advisers." (ALAI AMLATINA, July 10, 2009)
For Zelaya, the UNDP Report coincided with a brutal fact. Switzerland and Honduras each have 7 million people. Swiss yearly average income is $53 thousand; Hondurans $2K. This upper class President saw an obligation to meet peoples' needs. Uttering such a subversive thought provoked panic among the rich in Tegucigalpa and the powerful of Washington. They reverted to a historical pattern.
In the 1980s, the CIA and US military used Honduras to attack Nicaragua's leftist government. The CIA had Honduran officers selling drugs -- to support the surrogate Contras, which Congress forbade. In 1988, Rev. Joe Eldridge, the husband of Maria Otero, Obama's Undersecretary of State for Democracy, wrote about this drug link; then the Honduran military issued death threats against the family. The Honduran army also repressed internal opposition. The local elite supplied officers with perks and status, but Central American armies have spent little time defending their country and much time attacking their citizens.
The Honduran invented a “reason” to oust Zelaya: his unconstitutional intent to consult the people in a non-binding vote. Yet, the Constitution allows for referenda and plebiscites. Washington representatives now claim they advised against a coup. But, reasoned the oligarchs and officers, encouraged by some well-known anti-Castro Cuban Americans, how could Washington abandon its friends and clients? So, they kidnapped Zelaya, and flew him to Costa Rica under a justification thinner than the most undernourished model.
One hundred and ninety two countries rejected this equivalent of a political “Brooklyn Bridge for sale.” The coup’s defenders, Canada's conservative government, the US mass media, the Honduran Catholic and Protestant hierarchy and right wing anti-Castroites of Miami, approved of previous Latin American coups, in the name of democracy, anti-communism, or whatever. This time the coup makers were “rescuing Honduras from the claws of Chavism."
The drama descended toward farce, however, when Zelaya's abductors ditched him in Costa Rica. President Oscar Arias received him - and the snatchers. No high official or mainstream reporter has suggested Arias aided and abetted a kidnapping and coup. Shouldn’t he have arrested the kidnappers, impounded their plane and demanded the illegitimate thugs in Tegucigalpa surrender?
Instead, collaborator Arias became mediator Arias. Twenty years ago, Arias refused to allow US bases in Costa Rica for its illicit war against Nicaragua. Today, he stars in the good cop/bad cop show. His one act of "disobedience" won him a Nobel Prize. Since then, he has shown loyalty to Washington's economic consensus, meaning free trade and corporate well being.
After Arias served as President (1986-1990), he changed the constitution in order to run for a second term (2006-2010). In June, another US ally, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe changed his Constitution to allow for his third re-election. Neither Washington nor the mass media objected. Anti-Castro Miami moguls hailed this "democratic" move.
Double standard? No. Arias and Uribe followed US dictates: don't befriend Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro or any serious "change" talker. Zelaya disobedience - to his own class and to Washington – got him kidnapped.
In Washington, the response was “new elections.” US Presidents hail democratic elections -- when they benefit the United States. When elected governments help the poor and reduce US interests, however, Washington officials plot coups, insist on term limits and enforcement of Constitutions they have not read.
Saul Landau is an Institute for Policy Studies fellow whose films are on dvd (roundworldproductions@gmailcom).
Nelson Valdés is Emeritus Professor, Sociology, University of New Mexico
Perhaps this is why nothing is being done in Honduras…
17 August by Bill Conroy and Al Giordano
A taxpayer funded US foreign aid agency, chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, earlier this year inked a multi-million dollar contract with a company controlled by one of the ringleaders of the recent coup d’état against the democratically elected president of Honduras, according to documents obtained by Narco News.
Despite representations to the contrary by the State Department, that foreign-aid agency, called the Millennium Challenge Corp., has continued to funnel money — some $6.5 million in July alone — into Honduras since the coup, money that is going into the coffers of the companies it contracts with in Honduras.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2009 with Honduras Pro-Coup Presidential Candidate Elvin Santos, a Construction Contractor Who Receives $7.5 Million in US Taxpayer Dollars through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, on which Clinton Chairs the Board of Directors
One of those companies, MCC’s own documents confirm, is Santos y Compañia |1|, whose CEO is the former vice president of Honduras, the Honduran Liberal Party’s presidential candidate in the upcoming November elections and a key figure |2| in the putsch that drove Honduran President Manuel Zelaya from power at gunpoint on June 28. In February of this year, MCC’s partner agency in Honduras, a Honduran government-controlled entity called MCC-Honduras, effected a $7.5 million road-improvement contract with Santos y Compañia as part of the U.S. agency’s broader five-year, $215 million aid package to Honduras.
Santos stepped down as vice president of Honduras last December upon winning the Liberal Party nomination for president for the November 2009 elections. In the wake of the June 28 coup, the putsch government of Honduras installed the head of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, also of the Liberal Party, as the regime’s de facto president. Santos, who would end up the next leader of the coup regime if successful in Honduras’ November “election,” has described Zelaya’s pre-coup efforts to explore amending the Honduran constitution, with voter consent, as a path to dictatorship |3|.
Subsequent to the June 28 coup d’etat Santos – who, as a presidential candidate has access to top-shelf public opinion polling data – has attempted to backpedal from his /golpista/ reputation. “I will go to all corners of the country to explain that I was in no way a part of the events of June 28,” Santos told Channel 5’s “Frente a Frente” program on August 5. “The huge mistake was taking him (Zelaya) out of the country and leaving him defenseless.”
But on that same day last week, Santos then went to the national university and upon being booed and cat-called by students, his private bodyguards pulled out pistols – caught on video – to threaten the youths. Students responded to his provocation by blocking a street outside the university, and National Police troops were nearby, ready and waiting with a violent attack that included knocking the university’s rector to the pavement. Santos’ company is not alone in benefiting from U.S. taxpayer funding via MCC. Two other large road-construction contracts awarded as part of MCC’s aid compact with Honduras were snared by multi-national companies — both of which have done their part to advance the great NAFTA highway through the heart of Latin America.
And that’s what the MCC assistance seems, in the main, to be directed at in Honduras — providing millions of dollars for highway improvements that will help speed the delivery of maquiladora-produced goods through the heart of the nation to a port on its northern Caribbean coast.
In the Oven
In September |4|of last year, MCC-Honduras awarded a $48.4 million highway-improvement contract to a consortium formed by Costa Rica-based FCC Construction Central America SA |5| (formerly known as M&S International Corp. CA). FCC describes itself as a pioneer in opening up international markets with a history of success in Central America. Earlier this year, FCC also retained a law firm in-country, Garcia & Bodan Honduras |6|, to advise it on corporate and tax matters. Interestingly, FCC, as part of its global aspirations, also is doing contract roadwork |7| in Nicaragua on MCC’s dime. (Actually, that would be on your dime, if you’re a U.S. citizen, given MCC is funded by taxpayers).
Another big winner in the MCC funding game in Honduras is the Italian construction giant Astaldi |8|, which shows up in the MCC-Honduras contracting records as having been awarded two highway-improvement contracts with a total value of some $40 million — both of which went into effect in July 2008.
In 2007, Astaldi also landed a contract from the government of Honduras to complete the infrastructure work for a huge tourism project (a hotel, condos, retail and eventually a golf course) in Tela Bay on Honduras’ Caribbean coast. The indigenous Garifuna peoples who live in the area oppose the project, fearing it will wreak havoc on their lands and way of life. From a September 2007 report by Chiapas Indymedia |9|:
/In the next few weeks the Atlantic Coast of Honduras will once again be featured in the Italian TV reality show “The Island of the Famous.” This year’s participants will include Astaldi, the second-largest Italian construction company. Astaldi has just won a contract from the government of Honduras to build the basic infrastructure of a mega-tourist resort “Los Micos Beach & Resort Centre” along the coast of Tela Bay, on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. The local Garífuna residents are adamantly opposed to the project, which will have a devastating environmental, social and economic impact on their lands./
So it appears, along with the company run by /golpista/ Santos, MCC also puts its money into some big multi-national players, such as FCC and Astaldi, all in the interest of free trade — a universal trump card that appears to trump even democracy in the MCC playbook.
The highway-improvements project FCC is tackling with MCC funding in Honduras, for example, specifically involves a stretch of road that is used by some 7,000 vehicles daily, a third of which is truck traffic. Arguably, the entire MCC-funded highway-improvements effort in Honduras, including Astaldi and Santos’ parts, is aimed at juicing up the lanes of commerce for free trade.
So this may well be a case where the interests of the Honduran coup leaders, many of them oligarchs of the business class, go hand in hand with the free-trade agenda of the MCC — with all the consequent negative impact on poor populations in terms of displacement and environmental degradation. If so, it certainly seems to be a lucrative business. An audit of MCC’s Honduras program conducted by the Office of Inspector General for USAID and made public in late December 2008 reveals that the $126 million reserved for road work — out of the MCC’s total five-year, $215 million Honduran aid package — was not quite cutting the mustard due to unexpected costs associated with the work. As a result, the OIG reports |10|, the government of Honduras secured an additional $130 million loan from the Central American Bank of Economic Integration |11| to supplement the MCC funding for the planned highway work.
So, when the bank loan money is added to the total MCC kitty, the entire wad in play — and now under the watch of an illegal putsch regime — is some $345 million. To date, only about $80 million of those MCC funds have been disbursed in Honduras, including at least $6.5 million in July alone — post-coup. That means there is a big chunk of change still in the pipeline that by necessity of MCC’s structure will flow through the Honduran government first, a government now run by a criminal enterprise under increasing economic pressure due to worldwide isolation and sanctions. Yet MCC is so far crossing the picket line erected by the Organization of American States (OAS) including the US State Department’s claims that it has put all financial aid “on pause” pending review. There are roads to build, goods to sell and company budgets to meet — including, apparently, the budgets of company’s controlled by coup-plotters like Santos. MCC spokeswoman Sarah Stevenson confirmed to Narco News this week that her agency’s funding pipeline remains open |12| in Honduras. And if it stays open, according to MCC-Honduras’s own records, another $135 million will be disbursed over the course of this year and 2010 to fund the $192 million in contracts |13| already awarded — a figure that is expected to grow.
Stevenson said that Honduras is expected to be on the agenda at MCC’s next board meeting on Sept. 9,: “… While the MCC board [chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton] is concerned with the situation [in Honduras] and is monitoring it closely, we are moving ahead with projects underway in the country,” Stevenson says.
Despite representations to the contrary by the State Department, that foreign-aid agency, called the Millennium Challenge Corp., has continued to funnel money — some $6.5 million in July alone — into Honduras since the coup, money that is going into the coffers of the companies it contracts with in Honduras.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2009 with Honduras Pro-Coup Presidential Candidate Elvin Santos, a Construction Contractor Who Receives $7.5 Million in US Taxpayer Dollars through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, on which Clinton Chairs the Board of Directors
One of those companies, MCC’s own documents confirm, is Santos y Compañia |1|, whose CEO is the former vice president of Honduras, the Honduran Liberal Party’s presidential candidate in the upcoming November elections and a key figure |2| in the putsch that drove Honduran President Manuel Zelaya from power at gunpoint on June 28. In February of this year, MCC’s partner agency in Honduras, a Honduran government-controlled entity called MCC-Honduras, effected a $7.5 million road-improvement contract with Santos y Compañia as part of the U.S. agency’s broader five-year, $215 million aid package to Honduras.
Santos stepped down as vice president of Honduras last December upon winning the Liberal Party nomination for president for the November 2009 elections. In the wake of the June 28 coup, the putsch government of Honduras installed the head of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, also of the Liberal Party, as the regime’s de facto president. Santos, who would end up the next leader of the coup regime if successful in Honduras’ November “election,” has described Zelaya’s pre-coup efforts to explore amending the Honduran constitution, with voter consent, as a path to dictatorship |3|.
Subsequent to the June 28 coup d’etat Santos – who, as a presidential candidate has access to top-shelf public opinion polling data – has attempted to backpedal from his /golpista/ reputation. “I will go to all corners of the country to explain that I was in no way a part of the events of June 28,” Santos told Channel 5’s “Frente a Frente” program on August 5. “The huge mistake was taking him (Zelaya) out of the country and leaving him defenseless.”
But on that same day last week, Santos then went to the national university and upon being booed and cat-called by students, his private bodyguards pulled out pistols – caught on video – to threaten the youths. Students responded to his provocation by blocking a street outside the university, and National Police troops were nearby, ready and waiting with a violent attack that included knocking the university’s rector to the pavement. Santos’ company is not alone in benefiting from U.S. taxpayer funding via MCC. Two other large road-construction contracts awarded as part of MCC’s aid compact with Honduras were snared by multi-national companies — both of which have done their part to advance the great NAFTA highway through the heart of Latin America.
And that’s what the MCC assistance seems, in the main, to be directed at in Honduras — providing millions of dollars for highway improvements that will help speed the delivery of maquiladora-produced goods through the heart of the nation to a port on its northern Caribbean coast.
In the Oven
In September |4|of last year, MCC-Honduras awarded a $48.4 million highway-improvement contract to a consortium formed by Costa Rica-based FCC Construction Central America SA |5| (formerly known as M&S International Corp. CA). FCC describes itself as a pioneer in opening up international markets with a history of success in Central America. Earlier this year, FCC also retained a law firm in-country, Garcia & Bodan Honduras |6|, to advise it on corporate and tax matters. Interestingly, FCC, as part of its global aspirations, also is doing contract roadwork |7| in Nicaragua on MCC’s dime. (Actually, that would be on your dime, if you’re a U.S. citizen, given MCC is funded by taxpayers).
Another big winner in the MCC funding game in Honduras is the Italian construction giant Astaldi |8|, which shows up in the MCC-Honduras contracting records as having been awarded two highway-improvement contracts with a total value of some $40 million — both of which went into effect in July 2008.
In 2007, Astaldi also landed a contract from the government of Honduras to complete the infrastructure work for a huge tourism project (a hotel, condos, retail and eventually a golf course) in Tela Bay on Honduras’ Caribbean coast. The indigenous Garifuna peoples who live in the area oppose the project, fearing it will wreak havoc on their lands and way of life. From a September 2007 report by Chiapas Indymedia |9|:
/In the next few weeks the Atlantic Coast of Honduras will once again be featured in the Italian TV reality show “The Island of the Famous.” This year’s participants will include Astaldi, the second-largest Italian construction company. Astaldi has just won a contract from the government of Honduras to build the basic infrastructure of a mega-tourist resort “Los Micos Beach & Resort Centre” along the coast of Tela Bay, on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. The local Garífuna residents are adamantly opposed to the project, which will have a devastating environmental, social and economic impact on their lands./
So it appears, along with the company run by /golpista/ Santos, MCC also puts its money into some big multi-national players, such as FCC and Astaldi, all in the interest of free trade — a universal trump card that appears to trump even democracy in the MCC playbook.
The highway-improvements project FCC is tackling with MCC funding in Honduras, for example, specifically involves a stretch of road that is used by some 7,000 vehicles daily, a third of which is truck traffic. Arguably, the entire MCC-funded highway-improvements effort in Honduras, including Astaldi and Santos’ parts, is aimed at juicing up the lanes of commerce for free trade.
So this may well be a case where the interests of the Honduran coup leaders, many of them oligarchs of the business class, go hand in hand with the free-trade agenda of the MCC — with all the consequent negative impact on poor populations in terms of displacement and environmental degradation. If so, it certainly seems to be a lucrative business. An audit of MCC’s Honduras program conducted by the Office of Inspector General for USAID and made public in late December 2008 reveals that the $126 million reserved for road work — out of the MCC’s total five-year, $215 million Honduran aid package — was not quite cutting the mustard due to unexpected costs associated with the work. As a result, the OIG reports |10|, the government of Honduras secured an additional $130 million loan from the Central American Bank of Economic Integration |11| to supplement the MCC funding for the planned highway work.
So, when the bank loan money is added to the total MCC kitty, the entire wad in play — and now under the watch of an illegal putsch regime — is some $345 million. To date, only about $80 million of those MCC funds have been disbursed in Honduras, including at least $6.5 million in July alone — post-coup. That means there is a big chunk of change still in the pipeline that by necessity of MCC’s structure will flow through the Honduran government first, a government now run by a criminal enterprise under increasing economic pressure due to worldwide isolation and sanctions. Yet MCC is so far crossing the picket line erected by the Organization of American States (OAS) including the US State Department’s claims that it has put all financial aid “on pause” pending review. There are roads to build, goods to sell and company budgets to meet — including, apparently, the budgets of company’s controlled by coup-plotters like Santos. MCC spokeswoman Sarah Stevenson confirmed to Narco News this week that her agency’s funding pipeline remains open |12| in Honduras. And if it stays open, according to MCC-Honduras’s own records, another $135 million will be disbursed over the course of this year and 2010 to fund the $192 million in contracts |13| already awarded — a figure that is expected to grow.
Stevenson said that Honduras is expected to be on the agenda at MCC’s next board meeting on Sept. 9,: “… While the MCC board [chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton] is concerned with the situation [in Honduras] and is monitoring it closely, we are moving ahead with projects underway in the country,” Stevenson says.
Footnotes
|1| http://www.juventudliberalhn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=4|2| http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2009/07/these-are-coup-leaders-they-will-be-judged
|3| http://www.coha.org/2009/07/no-retreat-political-squabbles-continue
|4| http://www.mcahonduras.hn/?n=08092501%20%20&i=2
|5| http://myscr.com
|6| http://www.latincounsel.com/eng/noticiaampliada.php?nid=7106
|7| http://www.cuentadelmilenio.org.ni/Comunicacion/La%20cuenta%20informa%2011_Ingles.pdf
|8| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astaldi
|9| http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=149279
|10| http://www.usaid.gov/oig/public/mcc/m-000-09-001-p.pdf
|11| http://www.bcie.org/english/bcie/index.php
|12| http://narconews.com/Issue59/article3764.html
|13| http://www.mcc.gov/mcc/bm.doc/qsr-imp-honduras.pdf
Criminalisation of social movements and poverty: a feminist outlook
21 July by Tárzia Medeiros The headway made by globalised capitalism, especially in Latin America, has set this region in the eye of the hurricane of social protest and the convergence of different anticapitalist struggles. A few years ago, sectors of the anticapitalist feminist movement joined in with this convergence, thereby contributing the transversal nature of feminist analysis in many debates and articles. The convergence of these forms of popular resistance has been fundamental to break through the blinders portraying “savage capitalism” as the only alternative. As Claudio Katz says, “the workers, the exploited and the oppressed of the entire planet are the antagonists of 21st-Century imperialism”. However the repeated attempts to criminalise social movements and poverty via State apparatus (police, sectors of the judicial power, etc.) and the major communications media, as well as jailing and killing activists, place us up against several crossroads. In a world where there is more and more exclusion and violence, where 70% of poor people are females, the role of women in anticapitalist movements and the repercussions of criminalisation on their lives warrant a brief reflection.
Women against privatisation and destruction of natural resources
The macabre combination of production restructuring, suspension of rights, military intervention in countries of the periphery and takeover of natural resources, overseen by patriarchal capitalism has a harsh impact on women. This is why the struggle against “green deserts”, against agribusiness transnationals and against privatisation of water have a women’s face, as women are the people who also ensure food sovereignty through their subsistence activities; and it is women who walk for many kilometres in the heat of the Nordeste region’s semi-arid earth in search of the water their families will use. The action by Via Campesina women in Brazil, who destroyed the Aracruz Celulosa substitution for eucalyptus, was a victorious example of women playing a leading role. The struggle for the preservation of forests and rivers resulted in the sentencing of the “women burners of coco and women living along riverbanks, whose sustainable way of life based on fishing and extractive activities assures their survival and the survival of our Amazonia. In all the corners of “Our America”, in Oaxaca or Ciudad Juárez, in Caracas neighbourhoods or Quito streets, women’s participation can be perceived, along with their determination not to submit to the imperialist neocolonisation of our continent, also speaking out against Latin-American pro-imperialist governments complicit with these aims.
The struggle for legalised abortion is the focus of criminalisation
Despite various initiatives by the Latin-American movement and some important victories – such as the decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico until the twelfth week of gestation – we are being subjected to a strong offensive by religious and conservative sectors who, putting into practice the “Campaigns for Life”, are implementing a strong lobby campaign to get laws criminalising abortion tightened up further still. This is what happened in Nicaragua slightly more than one year ago when criminalisation of therapeutic abortion was voted. Here in Brazil, women are harassed by the three State powers. President Lula continues to compromise with the Vatican, sending signals, including about the possibility of putting religious education on the school curriculum. At the end of 2008, Congress chairman MP Arlindo Chinaglia brought in the creation of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI, for the initials in Portuguese) of abortion, with as a mandate lo less than the institutionalisation of criminalisation of women who defend legalisation of abortion and those who are obliged to carry it out. Moreover, we were recently surprised by an arbitrary action by the Judiciary of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the town of Campo Grande, which cited more than ten thousand women for practising abortion, using as proof the medical records requisitioned in a clandestine clinic. Out of these women, some 1,200 are facing trial, reliving their personal dramas, cruelly exposed.
Thus, if we analyse the way capitalism commoditises and controls basic aspects of women’s lives, using them as instruments and exploiting them on the basis of the foundations of patriarchy, then we can understand why the active part taken by women has become so noteworthy in anticapitalist movements. In consequence, it can be taken for granted that they are in the sights of criminalisation due to their participation in these movements.
Women against privatisation and destruction of natural resources
The macabre combination of production restructuring, suspension of rights, military intervention in countries of the periphery and takeover of natural resources, overseen by patriarchal capitalism has a harsh impact on women. This is why the struggle against “green deserts”, against agribusiness transnationals and against privatisation of water have a women’s face, as women are the people who also ensure food sovereignty through their subsistence activities; and it is women who walk for many kilometres in the heat of the Nordeste region’s semi-arid earth in search of the water their families will use. The action by Via Campesina women in Brazil, who destroyed the Aracruz Celulosa substitution for eucalyptus, was a victorious example of women playing a leading role. The struggle for the preservation of forests and rivers resulted in the sentencing of the “women burners of coco and women living along riverbanks, whose sustainable way of life based on fishing and extractive activities assures their survival and the survival of our Amazonia. In all the corners of “Our America”, in Oaxaca or Ciudad Juárez, in Caracas neighbourhoods or Quito streets, women’s participation can be perceived, along with their determination not to submit to the imperialist neocolonisation of our continent, also speaking out against Latin-American pro-imperialist governments complicit with these aims.
The struggle for legalised abortion is the focus of criminalisation
Despite various initiatives by the Latin-American movement and some important victories – such as the decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico until the twelfth week of gestation – we are being subjected to a strong offensive by religious and conservative sectors who, putting into practice the “Campaigns for Life”, are implementing a strong lobby campaign to get laws criminalising abortion tightened up further still. This is what happened in Nicaragua slightly more than one year ago when criminalisation of therapeutic abortion was voted. Here in Brazil, women are harassed by the three State powers. President Lula continues to compromise with the Vatican, sending signals, including about the possibility of putting religious education on the school curriculum. At the end of 2008, Congress chairman MP Arlindo Chinaglia brought in the creation of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI, for the initials in Portuguese) of abortion, with as a mandate lo less than the institutionalisation of criminalisation of women who defend legalisation of abortion and those who are obliged to carry it out. Moreover, we were recently surprised by an arbitrary action by the Judiciary of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the town of Campo Grande, which cited more than ten thousand women for practising abortion, using as proof the medical records requisitioned in a clandestine clinic. Out of these women, some 1,200 are facing trial, reliving their personal dramas, cruelly exposed.
Thus, if we analyse the way capitalism commoditises and controls basic aspects of women’s lives, using them as instruments and exploiting them on the basis of the foundations of patriarchy, then we can understand why the active part taken by women has become so noteworthy in anticapitalist movements. In consequence, it can be taken for granted that they are in the sights of criminalisation due to their participation in these movements.
P.S.
Tárzia Medeiros is a brazilian feminist activist with the World March of Women and a national leader of the Partido Socialismo y Libertad (PSOL – Socialism and Freedom Party) in Brazil.
By the same author
Tárzia Medeiros
Tárzia Medeiros
Honduras: Golpistas en campaña electoral
1ro de septiembre por Ricardo Arturo Salgado Arrancó la campaña electoral con el régimen de facto en problemas y los candidatos lanzando campañas desde lugares alejados del electorado: ¿y ahora que?
El Tribunal Supremo Electoral hizo un inusual llamado a elecciones donde declara inaugurada la campaña electoral, en la que se prohíben insultos de un grupo a cualquier candidato; se obliga a justificar fondos para campaña de más de 120,000 dólares, y otra serie de limitaciones que llevan dedicatoria clara a la resistencia.
El proceso en si no tiene muchas opciones de ser transparente, ya que es manejado en su totalidad por los golpistas. Ellos cuentan con que la maquinaria publicitaria bastará para llevar un número suficiente de electores para dar la impresión de legitimidad. Sin embargo, el candidato del partido nacional, Porfirio Lobo Sosa se cura en salud, y dice que “...con cien personas que voten se elige un presidente...”.
Por otro lado, Elvin Santos Ordoñez, candidato del Partido Liberal, mas por la ausencia de liderazgo en el partido, que por sus méritos propios, lanzó su campaña este domingo desde un custodiado hotel capitalino rodeado de los candidatos que aun le acompañan y algunos seguidores de su candidato a la alcaldía municipal, Eliseo Castro Pavón. Mientras tanto, en las afueras del hotel enardecidos y frustrados miembros liberales de la resistencia, abucheaban y llenaban de huevos, tomates y otras legumbres a las personas que acudían al evento.
Por si sus vínculos con el golpe no fueran suficientes, Santos Ordoñez debe responder por los proyectos que su compañía constructora, Santos y Cía., que suman valor por unos 300 millones de dólares, ha incumplido durante muchos años, algunos de los cuales le fueron adjudicados después del golpe sin licitación alguna por unos 20 millones de dólares.
Los candidatos de los partidos tradicionales están directamente vinculados al golpe de estado, y, hasta la fecha, nunca pudieron adoptar una posición pública sobre los eventos del 28 de junio. Ambos insisten en mensajes huecos de ayuda a los pobres, incremento de la seguridad, y otros trillados discursos.
Al tiempo que se lanzaba la campaña, un grupo liberal perteneciente al frente nacional de resistencia que incluía alcaldes, diputados, candidatos a diputados, ex candidatos presidenciales, y a misma primera dama, doña Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, lanzaba una proclama desconociendo el proceso electoral si no se restituye el sistema democrático, exigiendo la reposición del tiempo arrebatado a la presidencia de José Manuel Zelaya Rosales por el golpe (65 días que Zelaya debería cumplir mas allá del 27 de enero) y un compromiso firme con el llamado a una Asamblea Nacional Constituyente.
Por otro lado la asamblea del frente de resistencia declaraba su firme rechazo al proceso electoral golpista, su disposición de continuar la lucha hasta conseguir la constituyente, y una asamblea obrera para definir la conveniencia de un llamado a huelga general.
No se conoce la actividad del partido demócrata cristiana, que hoy día presenta de candidato a un ex dirigente obrero desclasado, que representa a un partido manejado como hacienda personal por el siniestro Arturo Corrales Álvarez, representante del régimen fascista en el dialogo de San José y dueño (con otros socios) de la empresa privada que factura la energía eléctrica en el país conocida como SEMEH.
Complementando este sombrío ambiente electoral, el gobierno de Micheletti sigue en caída libre en su lucha por “estabilizar” el país. Ha comenzado un vertiginoso gasto de las reservas internacionales, ya que sus “programas” de desarrollo turístico, y readecuación financiera, no son solo idioteces sin ninguna planificación, sino que han fracasado por carecer del aspecto fundamental: el apoyo popular.
Según Gabriela Núñez, ex candidata a vicepresidente de Micheletti, y actualmente a cargo de la Secretaria de Finanzas, ha dicho que se están perdiendo muchos millones de dólares al día, por lo que las reservas son
la única salida. Reporta disminuciones drásticas en las exportaciones y en las importaciones. Sumado a esto se presenta la falta de efectividad en la recolección de impuestos.
Después de dilapidar los fondos encontrados en el banco Central de Honduras (incluyendo fondos del ALBA y de Petrocaribe), ahora despilfarran las reservas internacionales a un promedio de 50 millones de dólares semanales.
El pago de salarios de los empleados públicos este mes se ha producido de forma irregular y aun permanecen amplios sectores de este grupo sin recibir la cancelación de sus salarios.
Según la empresa privada, se han perdido 50,000 empleos durante el mes de julio, y varios miles de empresas han presentado solicitudes para suspensión de actividades a la Secretaria de Trabajo y Previsión Social.
El sector salud está contra la pared debido a la falta de medicamentos y
la educación esta virtualmente parada, a pesar del esfuerzo que ha hecho
el gobierno espurio por dividir al magisterio nacional.
El sensible sector agrario esta completamente paralizado, ya que las instalaciones del instituto Nacional Agrario a nivel nacional están tomadas por campesinos desde el día del golpe. Estos compañeros reciben amenazas de desalojo a diario, pero su determinación ha evitado que la represión se desate contra ellos.
El problema de tenencia de la tierra en Honduras ha sido históricamente un problema mayor, y hoy todos los expedientes de conflictos entre terratenientes y campesinos están bajo custodia de los compañeros de las centrales campesinas. Micheletti ha nombrado a un ministro que no ha podido ingresar a sus oficinas.
La gran pregunta que surge es como mantienen el flujo de combustible, que durante la administración del presidente Zelaya siempre fue un problema, y la escasez era siempre un fantasma amenazando el funcionamiento productivo del país, aun después de la adhesión a Petrocaribe. Llama la atención el gran despliegue de las fuerzas militares y policiales durante todo el mes de julio (despliegue que se redujo considerablemente hacia finales de agosto).
Las condiciones que rodean al régimen parecen indicar que el impacto recibido del movimiento de resistencia es mucho mayor del que admite, y está muy lejos de tener el nivel de consolidación que proclama tener, y que muchos le adjudican en el exterior. Hay algo muy claro, en Honduras el régimen actual no puede mantener la gobernabilidad que siempre dijeron seria imposible si Zelaya regresaba.
Hace falta ver por cuanto tiempo la empresa privada seguirá apoyando el golpe, y perdiendo dinero en sus operaciones. Lo bueno, como dice un miembro de la resistencia, es que todos estos individuos tienen precio y por dinero traicionan a quien sea.
Naturalmente falta valorar la actividad de los Estados Unidos en el soporte financiero al golpe, por ahora parecen estar tratando de revertir el monstruo que ello mismos crearon.
Lo único cierto es que la lucha del pueblo hondureño sigue hacia delante, y no se detendrá hasta conseguir la redefinición del sistema político del país. No cabe duda que nuestro pueblo es parte de la gran patria latinoamericana, y cumple con el deber de defender lo que se nos quiere arrebatar por la fuerza de las armas, el cinismo del imperio, el pensamiento cavernario de la derecha y la complicidad malinchista de unos cuantos.
El Tribunal Supremo Electoral hizo un inusual llamado a elecciones donde declara inaugurada la campaña electoral, en la que se prohíben insultos de un grupo a cualquier candidato; se obliga a justificar fondos para campaña de más de 120,000 dólares, y otra serie de limitaciones que llevan dedicatoria clara a la resistencia.
El proceso en si no tiene muchas opciones de ser transparente, ya que es manejado en su totalidad por los golpistas. Ellos cuentan con que la maquinaria publicitaria bastará para llevar un número suficiente de electores para dar la impresión de legitimidad. Sin embargo, el candidato del partido nacional, Porfirio Lobo Sosa se cura en salud, y dice que “...con cien personas que voten se elige un presidente...”.
Por otro lado, Elvin Santos Ordoñez, candidato del Partido Liberal, mas por la ausencia de liderazgo en el partido, que por sus méritos propios, lanzó su campaña este domingo desde un custodiado hotel capitalino rodeado de los candidatos que aun le acompañan y algunos seguidores de su candidato a la alcaldía municipal, Eliseo Castro Pavón. Mientras tanto, en las afueras del hotel enardecidos y frustrados miembros liberales de la resistencia, abucheaban y llenaban de huevos, tomates y otras legumbres a las personas que acudían al evento.
Por si sus vínculos con el golpe no fueran suficientes, Santos Ordoñez debe responder por los proyectos que su compañía constructora, Santos y Cía., que suman valor por unos 300 millones de dólares, ha incumplido durante muchos años, algunos de los cuales le fueron adjudicados después del golpe sin licitación alguna por unos 20 millones de dólares.
Los candidatos de los partidos tradicionales están directamente vinculados al golpe de estado, y, hasta la fecha, nunca pudieron adoptar una posición pública sobre los eventos del 28 de junio. Ambos insisten en mensajes huecos de ayuda a los pobres, incremento de la seguridad, y otros trillados discursos.
Al tiempo que se lanzaba la campaña, un grupo liberal perteneciente al frente nacional de resistencia que incluía alcaldes, diputados, candidatos a diputados, ex candidatos presidenciales, y a misma primera dama, doña Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, lanzaba una proclama desconociendo el proceso electoral si no se restituye el sistema democrático, exigiendo la reposición del tiempo arrebatado a la presidencia de José Manuel Zelaya Rosales por el golpe (65 días que Zelaya debería cumplir mas allá del 27 de enero) y un compromiso firme con el llamado a una Asamblea Nacional Constituyente.
Por otro lado la asamblea del frente de resistencia declaraba su firme rechazo al proceso electoral golpista, su disposición de continuar la lucha hasta conseguir la constituyente, y una asamblea obrera para definir la conveniencia de un llamado a huelga general.
No se conoce la actividad del partido demócrata cristiana, que hoy día presenta de candidato a un ex dirigente obrero desclasado, que representa a un partido manejado como hacienda personal por el siniestro Arturo Corrales Álvarez, representante del régimen fascista en el dialogo de San José y dueño (con otros socios) de la empresa privada que factura la energía eléctrica en el país conocida como SEMEH.
Complementando este sombrío ambiente electoral, el gobierno de Micheletti sigue en caída libre en su lucha por “estabilizar” el país. Ha comenzado un vertiginoso gasto de las reservas internacionales, ya que sus “programas” de desarrollo turístico, y readecuación financiera, no son solo idioteces sin ninguna planificación, sino que han fracasado por carecer del aspecto fundamental: el apoyo popular.
Según Gabriela Núñez, ex candidata a vicepresidente de Micheletti, y actualmente a cargo de la Secretaria de Finanzas, ha dicho que se están perdiendo muchos millones de dólares al día, por lo que las reservas son
la única salida. Reporta disminuciones drásticas en las exportaciones y en las importaciones. Sumado a esto se presenta la falta de efectividad en la recolección de impuestos.
Después de dilapidar los fondos encontrados en el banco Central de Honduras (incluyendo fondos del ALBA y de Petrocaribe), ahora despilfarran las reservas internacionales a un promedio de 50 millones de dólares semanales.
El pago de salarios de los empleados públicos este mes se ha producido de forma irregular y aun permanecen amplios sectores de este grupo sin recibir la cancelación de sus salarios.
Según la empresa privada, se han perdido 50,000 empleos durante el mes de julio, y varios miles de empresas han presentado solicitudes para suspensión de actividades a la Secretaria de Trabajo y Previsión Social.
El sector salud está contra la pared debido a la falta de medicamentos y
la educación esta virtualmente parada, a pesar del esfuerzo que ha hecho
el gobierno espurio por dividir al magisterio nacional.
El sensible sector agrario esta completamente paralizado, ya que las instalaciones del instituto Nacional Agrario a nivel nacional están tomadas por campesinos desde el día del golpe. Estos compañeros reciben amenazas de desalojo a diario, pero su determinación ha evitado que la represión se desate contra ellos.
El problema de tenencia de la tierra en Honduras ha sido históricamente un problema mayor, y hoy todos los expedientes de conflictos entre terratenientes y campesinos están bajo custodia de los compañeros de las centrales campesinas. Micheletti ha nombrado a un ministro que no ha podido ingresar a sus oficinas.
La gran pregunta que surge es como mantienen el flujo de combustible, que durante la administración del presidente Zelaya siempre fue un problema, y la escasez era siempre un fantasma amenazando el funcionamiento productivo del país, aun después de la adhesión a Petrocaribe. Llama la atención el gran despliegue de las fuerzas militares y policiales durante todo el mes de julio (despliegue que se redujo considerablemente hacia finales de agosto).
Las condiciones que rodean al régimen parecen indicar que el impacto recibido del movimiento de resistencia es mucho mayor del que admite, y está muy lejos de tener el nivel de consolidación que proclama tener, y que muchos le adjudican en el exterior. Hay algo muy claro, en Honduras el régimen actual no puede mantener la gobernabilidad que siempre dijeron seria imposible si Zelaya regresaba.
Hace falta ver por cuanto tiempo la empresa privada seguirá apoyando el golpe, y perdiendo dinero en sus operaciones. Lo bueno, como dice un miembro de la resistencia, es que todos estos individuos tienen precio y por dinero traicionan a quien sea.
Naturalmente falta valorar la actividad de los Estados Unidos en el soporte financiero al golpe, por ahora parecen estar tratando de revertir el monstruo que ello mismos crearon.
Lo único cierto es que la lucha del pueblo hondureño sigue hacia delante, y no se detendrá hasta conseguir la redefinición del sistema político del país. No cabe duda que nuestro pueblo es parte de la gran patria latinoamericana, y cumple con el deber de defender lo que se nos quiere arrebatar por la fuerza de las armas, el cinismo del imperio, el pensamiento cavernario de la derecha y la complicidad malinchista de unos cuantos.
http://www.cadtm.org/Honduras-Golpistas-en-campana
Honduras: Ni campaña, ni elecciones en el marco del golpe
Candidatura Independiente y Resistencia desafían la campaña mediática de Micheletti
3 de septiembre por Giorgio Trucchi La maquinaria golpista se niega tozudamente a parar sus motores: el Tribunal Supremo Electoral de Honduras (TSE) dio luz verde para el arranque de la campaña electoral en vista de las muy cuestionadas elecciones del 29 de noviembre. Sin embargo, la Candidatura Independiente Popular, los partidos políticos que se han opuesto al golpe y las organizaciones sociales, populares y sindicales en resistencia se preparan a dar batalla en contra de un proceso que pretende legitimar la ruptura del orden democrático.
En un comunicado dado a conocer en los días pasados a las miles de personas que siguen recorriendo las calles del país pidiendo la restauración de la democracia, las organizaciones en resistencia han informado que “Las elecciones generales sin restitución del orden constitucional serían la legalización de la violencia militar contra el Estado, por tanto, inaceptables.
En consecuencia –continúa el comunicado– el Frente Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado declara desconocer la campaña, el proceso y los resultados electorales, si no es restituido el orden constitucional, cuyo fundamento básico es reinstalar en el cargo al legítimo presidente constitucional José Manuel Zelaya Rosales”.
La nota exhorta también a todas las fuerzas políticas no golpistas a expresar su posición política con respecto al proceso electoral en el país, y condena la militarización de la sociedad y del llamado “proceso electoral” por los golpistas, que con su presencia armada introducen un elemento adicional de violencia política partidaria y agudizan las condiciones de exclusión, opacidad y represión en perjuicio de las y los participantes.
“Lo hemos dicho muy claramente durante todos estos días de resistencia: si los golpistas dirigen el proceso electoral ningún partido o candidato independiente que han luchado contra el golpe va a participar en estas elecciones”, explicó Juan Barahona, líder sindical y miembro de la conducción colegiada del Frente Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado.
La Candidatura Independiente toma posición
Ante la cercanía de la que debería ser una verdadera fiesta cívica para los hondureños, la Candidatura Independiente Popular, con su candidato presidencial, Carlos H. Reyes, y sus Designados, Bertha Cáceres, Maribel Hernández y Carlos Amaya, tomó posición ante el pueblo y dio a conocer un comunicado.
“Con esta situación de crisis que hay en el país no existen las garantías para un proceso electoral transparente, independiente, con autonomía, porque de hecho el TSE es una institución golpista –declaró a Sirel la Designada de la Candidatura Independiente Popular y directiva del Consejo de Poblaciones Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH), Bertha Cáceres–.
Otro elemento que nos preocupa es que en el Acuerdo de San José se les da a las Fuerzas Armadas más poder y control sobre el proceso electoral y su logística. Por lo tanto –sentenció Cáceres– sin la restauración previa del orden democrático no podemos aceptar un proceso que legitimaría a la misma dictadura que nos está reprimiendo con violencia, y esto tendrían que hacerlo también las otras fuerzas políticas que están contra el golpe”.
En su comunicado, la Candidatura Independiente Popular señaló que en este momento su prioridad es la lucha contra los golpistas y el esfuerzo para que el Frente Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado mantenga su naturaleza de movimiento social, evitando que se transforme en un espacio político electoral.
“El Frente Nacional contra el Golpe de Estado es producto de la lucha del pueblo hondureño y no debe perder su carácter de lucha para derrotar a la dictadura e instalar una Asamblea Constituyente. Es un movimiento social amplio –explicó Cáceres–, incluyente, que no se limita al posicionamiento político electoral.
Seguramente va a orientar a sus bases ante un posible proceso electoral, pero limitarlo a una simple función de tratar de ganar una elección reduciría y castraría esta iniciativa de insurrección popular pacífica del pueblo hondureño. Habrá que escuchar al pueblo, profundizar la lucha y promover sus demandas históricas”.
Para Cáceres es importante también que la comunidad internacional rechace el proceso electoral como una maniobra del gobierno de facto para salir de su crisis y de la falta de credibilidad ante los ojos del mundo. Aunque aclaró que la solución final está en manos del pueblo hondureño.
“Hay un fenómeno en Honduras, cada vez más radicado: la gente que va a votar se ha reducido de forma progresiva. Cada vez hay menos votantes y esta es una señal que nos indica que existe un rechazo de parte de la población hacia esta clase política corrupta, oligárquica y golpista.
El pueblo hondureño está harto de estos partidos tradicionales que han sacado sus garras contra el pueblo. La Candidatura Independiente Popular ha surgido con el propósito de abrir una puerta para una nueva experiencia en Honduras, y vamos a ser consecuentes con la posición de lucha del pueblo”, concluyó.
OEA desconocerá proceso electoral
En su cuarta visita en Washington, donde se reunió con el secretario general de la OEA, José Miguel Insulza, el presidente legítimo de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya Rosales, informó que los países miembros de este organismo “no están dispuestos a reconocer ni el proceso de las elecciones, ni los resultados, ni quien las gane.
¿Qué credibilidad puede tener una persona como Roberto Micheletti? Ese secuestrador de la democracia que está cometiendo crímenes para mantenerse con la fuerza de las bayonetas en el poder?
Lo quiera o no el régimen golpista –concluyó Zelaya–, nosotros no nos vamos a rendir hasta que consigamos mi restitución porque yo soy el legítimo representante del pueblo y de la nación”.
En un comunicado dado a conocer en los días pasados a las miles de personas que siguen recorriendo las calles del país pidiendo la restauración de la democracia, las organizaciones en resistencia han informado que “Las elecciones generales sin restitución del orden constitucional serían la legalización de la violencia militar contra el Estado, por tanto, inaceptables.
En consecuencia –continúa el comunicado– el Frente Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado declara desconocer la campaña, el proceso y los resultados electorales, si no es restituido el orden constitucional, cuyo fundamento básico es reinstalar en el cargo al legítimo presidente constitucional José Manuel Zelaya Rosales”.
La nota exhorta también a todas las fuerzas políticas no golpistas a expresar su posición política con respecto al proceso electoral en el país, y condena la militarización de la sociedad y del llamado “proceso electoral” por los golpistas, que con su presencia armada introducen un elemento adicional de violencia política partidaria y agudizan las condiciones de exclusión, opacidad y represión en perjuicio de las y los participantes.
“Lo hemos dicho muy claramente durante todos estos días de resistencia: si los golpistas dirigen el proceso electoral ningún partido o candidato independiente que han luchado contra el golpe va a participar en estas elecciones”, explicó Juan Barahona, líder sindical y miembro de la conducción colegiada del Frente Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado.
La Candidatura Independiente toma posición
Ante la cercanía de la que debería ser una verdadera fiesta cívica para los hondureños, la Candidatura Independiente Popular, con su candidato presidencial, Carlos H. Reyes, y sus Designados, Bertha Cáceres, Maribel Hernández y Carlos Amaya, tomó posición ante el pueblo y dio a conocer un comunicado.
“Con esta situación de crisis que hay en el país no existen las garantías para un proceso electoral transparente, independiente, con autonomía, porque de hecho el TSE es una institución golpista –declaró a Sirel la Designada de la Candidatura Independiente Popular y directiva del Consejo de Poblaciones Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH), Bertha Cáceres–.
Otro elemento que nos preocupa es que en el Acuerdo de San José se les da a las Fuerzas Armadas más poder y control sobre el proceso electoral y su logística. Por lo tanto –sentenció Cáceres– sin la restauración previa del orden democrático no podemos aceptar un proceso que legitimaría a la misma dictadura que nos está reprimiendo con violencia, y esto tendrían que hacerlo también las otras fuerzas políticas que están contra el golpe”.
En su comunicado, la Candidatura Independiente Popular señaló que en este momento su prioridad es la lucha contra los golpistas y el esfuerzo para que el Frente Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado mantenga su naturaleza de movimiento social, evitando que se transforme en un espacio político electoral.
“El Frente Nacional contra el Golpe de Estado es producto de la lucha del pueblo hondureño y no debe perder su carácter de lucha para derrotar a la dictadura e instalar una Asamblea Constituyente. Es un movimiento social amplio –explicó Cáceres–, incluyente, que no se limita al posicionamiento político electoral.
Seguramente va a orientar a sus bases ante un posible proceso electoral, pero limitarlo a una simple función de tratar de ganar una elección reduciría y castraría esta iniciativa de insurrección popular pacífica del pueblo hondureño. Habrá que escuchar al pueblo, profundizar la lucha y promover sus demandas históricas”.
Para Cáceres es importante también que la comunidad internacional rechace el proceso electoral como una maniobra del gobierno de facto para salir de su crisis y de la falta de credibilidad ante los ojos del mundo. Aunque aclaró que la solución final está en manos del pueblo hondureño.
“Hay un fenómeno en Honduras, cada vez más radicado: la gente que va a votar se ha reducido de forma progresiva. Cada vez hay menos votantes y esta es una señal que nos indica que existe un rechazo de parte de la población hacia esta clase política corrupta, oligárquica y golpista.
El pueblo hondureño está harto de estos partidos tradicionales que han sacado sus garras contra el pueblo. La Candidatura Independiente Popular ha surgido con el propósito de abrir una puerta para una nueva experiencia en Honduras, y vamos a ser consecuentes con la posición de lucha del pueblo”, concluyó.
OEA desconocerá proceso electoral
En su cuarta visita en Washington, donde se reunió con el secretario general de la OEA, José Miguel Insulza, el presidente legítimo de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya Rosales, informó que los países miembros de este organismo “no están dispuestos a reconocer ni el proceso de las elecciones, ni los resultados, ni quien las gane.
¿Qué credibilidad puede tener una persona como Roberto Micheletti? Ese secuestrador de la democracia que está cometiendo crímenes para mantenerse con la fuerza de las bayonetas en el poder?
Lo quiera o no el régimen golpista –concluyó Zelaya–, nosotros no nos vamos a rendir hasta que consigamos mi restitución porque yo soy el legítimo representante del pueblo y de la nación”.
P.-S.
Del mismo autor
Giorgio Trucchi
Giorgio Trucchi
HONDURAS: JOÃO FERREIRA, MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (GUE/NGL), HANDS OVER A DECLARATION SIGNED BY 90 MEPS TO PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA The delegation of the GUE/NGL group, travelling to Honduras, stopped over in Managua to hand to President Manuel Zelaya a copy of the declaration signed by 90 MEPs, representing various political groups in the European Parliament, who condemn the coup d'état, request the reinstatement of the President and call on the European Union to cut cooperation with the de facto government and to suspend the commercial facilities which Honduran contractors exporting to Europe benefit from. "Please accept the expression of our full solidarity with you and the people of Honduras and our complete opposition to this coup d'état which has been committed not only against Honduras but against all the people of Latin America and all those who are committed to democracy and world peace," said GUE/NGL MEP João Ferreira, "and you can be assured that the European Parliament and the democratic forces of our respective countries will continue to exert the greatest possible pressure to restore the state of law and the return to Honduras of your government, which is the only legitimate government". The President warmly thanked members of the European Parliament for their initiative which he said was timely and called on the international community to continue to support the people of Honduras in their struggle against a dictatorial government which opposes any redistribution of national wealth. 
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