The future is bright in Honduras!

A new president-elect, and a disposition regarding the deposed former president Zelaya. The Honduran Congress speaks (Click to read):

Honduras Congress: We have complied with the Accord

National Congress of Honduras rejects the restitution of Sr. José Manuel Zelaya Rosales

The legislative body reaffirms its support for the constitutional succession that brought Roberto Micheletti Bain to the Presidency

Election day in Honduras

Today general elections are being held in Honduras, representing the triumph of constitutional law and democracy over the ambitions of tyrants, and the pressure from international organizations which have long abandoned democratic principles. This included the US for most of the crisis in Honduras, but enough truth has filtered through that the US has agreed to recognize the outcome of elections. Were it not for American expats writting from Honduras, we would be completely in the dark as to what has really been happening there. The article that follows is an example of the abdication of truth by many US news outlets; and this has been the rule, the notable exception has been the column of Mary O'Grady in the Wall Street Journal, and scattered newspapers.

From La Gringa's Blogicito, this election eve analysis of news in the US:

Where does the news come from?

Reader Roy, who I believe is from Venezuela, left this very interesting comment documenting media manipulation and the 'Chávez Media Machine'. It is a perfect example of how you need to you know who wrote your news and where it came from.

Comment from Roy:

Here is another example of media manipulation...

From Yahoo: "CDA to U.S. Policymakers: Don't Ratify Honduras Elections as 'Free and Fair'"

You can find it in this link (currently second from the top) on the Yahoo News search for "Elections Honduras":

Yahoo news search

This article is not "news" in the sense that it is reporting what is happening or has happened in Honduras. What it is reporting is an OPINION issued by an organization called the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA). Yahoo got this piece from PR Newswire. If you go to this organization's website at

PR Newswire

You will see that their business is not reporting news, but in collecting "news" from other organizations and selling the "feed" to other media sources. Following is a quote from their web page: "Leverage our experienced, Washington, D.C.-based Public Interest editorial team that specializes in handling news copy from nonprofit, government, association, advocacy and other Public Interest newsmakers worldwide."

Now, let us look at the original source of the article from the CDA. Go to:

Democracy in Americas

When you look at and read their website, it is an extremely biased mouthpiece for ALBA, Chavez, and his regional political agenda. Note the following quote: "The Center for Democracy in the Americas has country programs for Cuba, Venezuela, and Chile. But its work embraces issues facing U.S. policy toward the region more broadly.

THIS is the original source of what appears to be a legitimate news article published by Yahoo. This is the power of the Chavez Media Machine. It can utilize the mechanisms of the media business to create such an avalanche of "news" and opinion favorable to his agenda that people read it and simply assume that since "everyone" thinks that way, they should as well. This is a highly advanced version of Goebbels "Big Lie" propaganda tool.

~~~~~~~~~

I know that some may think that we are conspiracy theorists and that the news that they read is 'pure' and that CNN is (as they tell us) the most unbiased place to get your news. I think that most who have been in Honduras or have contacts here on the ground have had their beliefs about the media rocked to core. We've not only seen the bias or spin in major media sources but we've seen outright false information reported as fact.

Part of the misinformation may be laziness and the fact that initially and through much of the past 5 months, most news sources did not have anyone on the ground here in Honduras. CNN (Español) cannot claim that excuse as they did have someone on the ground − interestingly a reporter with Sandista and Daniel Ortega ties. Most of the other Honduran coverage came from Telesur, a Venezuelan television station completely controlled by Hugo Chávez. Telesur was caught staging a video of "military repression". CNN did their share of staging and misrepresenting protests, including not covering the much larger pro-government protests.

People need to know where their news is coming from to understand what is going on. I've looked up some of the AP and Reuters "journalists" and in some cases found that they have written other strongly pro-Chavez articles. I've written articles dissecting Ginger Thompson's NY Times articles and the some of the information that she has written was just false, even if you disregard her personal spin. Let me add that I had nothing against the author or the NY Times. It is just one example of many. It is scary and those who believe that we are conspiracy theorists are naive.

US support for the "upside down world"

Go figure

Seeking truth

In Honduras, President Micheletti speaks to the OAS:

“First, I wish to express unending thanks for the good will that you are showing . . . but we must speak out about something: the truth. You do not know the whole truth and, at times it appears that you do not want to hear it. Why don’t we begin to investigate what happened before the 28th of June? We are being asked to reconsider certain things and we are willing, but I believe we have a right that the truth be heard. . . .
“I made a comment to some friends that we are not afraid of the United States, its State Department, of Brazil, of Mexico, but we are afraid of Mel Zelaya. Very afraid of his return. Because another thing I like to mention is how other countries point at small countries such as ours and say: corruption, corruption, corruption. . . . But now that we stop acts of corruption, we are singled out by you. Today we show the world what kind of government we had under Zelaya and you are angry at us.
“Today we have the evidence. This is not just talk. Where Mr. Zelaya was feeding his horses with government money, where he paid the man who kept it with the State’s funds; twenty-seven thousand lempiras per month for the keeper and 20 thousand for the horses’ feed. Jewels purchased with government money, charged to the treasury of the Republic. But no one wants to see any of that. I would like you to investigate what has happened with the Treasury of Honduras in the past three months since we have been in charge.
“We were accused and sentenced in the 20 minutes that the OAS meeting lasted, where it was presumed we had staged a coup d’état. Unfortunately, in this country, some people read our constitution and say it’s a monstrosity; but that monstrosity has kept order, quiet and peace in this country for 29 years under a democratic regime in which nobody had attempted to breach the constitutional order in our country by trying to set up a Constitutional convention.
“This is the way I am: I express myself in strong terms, but without the slightest desire to hurt your feelings. If I do, please, accept my apologies. What I have is the greatest desire that you understand that we, in Honduras, with that constitution, have tried to keep order, peace and tranquility. It took a group of citizens two years – myself included, because I was a member of the convention – to make it how it is, to protect it from an extraordinary man with foreign influences inside his head who tried to change it.
“We only want the truth to be known. I have said it before and I repeat it today . . . if I am an obstacle, I will step aside, but I demand that this man who has caused the worst disasters to the economy and the morale of the country to step aside, as well.
“. . . . There will be elections on November 29, unless we are invaded, that is the only way to stop them. Not because of a personal whim, but because they were already scheduled. Primary elections were held and candidates chosen in 2008 and they have been campaigning. I ask myself: If Zelaya had no intentions to stay in power [beyond his term of office] why didn’t he fund the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which is in charge of running elections in our country? They are not carried out by the President or the National Congress. It is the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which was elected one and a half years ago. Why hadn’t he given it one single penny to begin organizing the programs on the corresponding dates, as required by law? A week after we took office we provided the Tribunal with the necessary funds.
“This was the only country in the world where the government was being conducted without a budget. For the last nine months we had no budget and the current Minister of Finances tells us that there are 5.6 billion lempiras that no one knows where they went or how they were spent because there are no supporting documents.
“. . . . I did not fight for this job. I was President of the National Congress and am here by virtue of the rules of succession. I will never again be able to run for the Presidency of Honduras because the laws forbid it. But I entreat you from the bottom of my heart . . . not to leave our country without the possibility that the elections be recognized, without the possibility of an opening so you will understand that ours is a good country, a noble country, of people who want to move forward and who deserve a better future.
“Our Constitution may be the ugliest in the world, but it is anchored in the thinking of men and women who sought to sustain democracy. We would like any dialogue to be based on our Constitution, our statutes and the rule of law.”

from: Honduras President Roberto Micheletti blasted OAS in new round of crisis talks

Change: and how!

update:


hat tip to My Roatan

From Honduras

An open letter from the Honduran Foreign Minister

The following open letter was printed in the Honduran newspapers yesterday, in Spanish, of course. It is from Carlos López Contreras, Foreign Minister of Honduras, addressed to the Citizens of World.Happily, a translation to English was also performed. You can read the original letter in Spanish in the newspapers [I haven't been able to find it online yet], or the English translation here. I'm including the letter in full here because I want everyone to read it and I know that some won't click links or don't have the ability to open PDF files.

SECRETARIA DE RELACIONES EXTERIORESDE LA REPUBLICA DE HONDURAS

An Open Letter to the Citizens of the World

from Carlos López Contreras, Foreign Minister of Honduras

As citizens of an increasingly smaller and interconnected global community, we are all responsible for respecting one other and for creating a better world together. Our diverse cultures, religions, and forms of government must continually search for ways to understand one another and work together.

In Honduras, we have always worked diligently to uphold this responsibility as inhabitants of a global village. We have always remained steadfast in our commitment, and this past month is no exception. In fact, it is an example of what we must all vow to do from time to time: hold true to the principals of democracy and the rule of law while protecting the human and civil rights of our fellow citizens in the face of criticism and misunderstanding by certain sectors of the international community.

Let me be clear about what we as Hondurans believe. We believe in the rights of every person to freely express themselves and their beliefs so long as it is done in accordance with the rule of law. We encourage full and equal participation in political discourse and believe that a free and unfettered press is a valuable part of that discourse. We believe that the Honduran government must act in accordance with the Constitution that establishes and limits its power to govern.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I am charged with representing the Honduran government and its people before the world. Now more than ever, my job is to bring an understanding to our shared global community of our dedication to uphold these beliefs, and ask each of you to consider our views as we consider yours.

Yes, Manuel Zelaya was democratically elected as the Honduran President. We cherish democracy.

Yes, as President, he did abuse his power and violate the Constitution. We respect our Constitution.

Yes, his powers as President were automatically forfeited after our Attorney General investigated the violation and our Supreme Court ruled that the violation had occurred. We respect the rule of law.

Yes, the military was ordered to arrest him as part of their Constitutional duty. We know this appearance might seem troubling to some, but it is clearly written in our Constitution -and has always been a part of our Constitution.

Yes, it was a mistake to remove Manuel Zelaya, a Honduran national, from the country. We admit the error and are aware that there are consequences.

Those consequences are that the Constitution and rule of law must be upheld. And so, the Attorney General opened an investigation into the expatriation of Manuel Zelaya on July 4th, and we await the findings of this investigation.

We, the Honduran people, firmly believe that those consequences are not any of the following:

• The restitution of the Presidential powers of Manuel Zelaya. This is not an option the Honduran Constitution grants to the government. In fact, it is clear that the exact opposite must take place. No powers under any circumstances.

• The granting of amnesty to Manuel Zelaya by the executive branch. This is a proscribed duty of the Congress. and the Congress alone. This is their power, and theirs alone.

• The unilateral decision to negotiate breaking articles of the Constitution in order to satisfy some members of the international community. Popular opinion by powerful nations does not rule our nation, and should not rule any country.

Please consider what is being asked of our country: Break the Constitution. Ignore the rule of law.

We simply can not do this because of a mistake in expatriating a Honduran national who had been Constitutionally stripped of the powers that democracy provided to him only to have him abuse them.

We would never ask another nation to ignore its Constitution and trample on the rule of law much less purposely violate its Constitution to please our opinion.

Each day, our citizens wake up and hope that through our insistence and dedication that we can bring understanding to others. We are thankful to friends who have courageously spoken up on our behalf. We are grateful for their support, and are humbled that they have chosen to work selflessly alongside us to bring other nations to understanding our commitment to democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law.

We are a little country among the community of nations but our nation's larger mission is to protect human rights, democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law. We are confident that these are values worth standing firmly in order to uphold. We invite the world to examine our true intentions and decide for themselves. As we prepare to hold free and fair elections this coming November, our faith in these principles could not be more clear.

---

and this is interesting:

These 10 questions were prepared by the UCD for the OAS (Organization of American States). Unión Cívica Democrática is a large group of Honduran civic groups working to ensure the truth about what happened in Honduras gets published.

I do not believe that you can read these questions without seeing the glaring hypocrisy of the OAS.


Ten questions for the foreign ministers’ commission that visits Honduras on behalf of the Organization of American States

Why is the OAS.......?

REJECTING constitutional succession in Honduras,
but VOUCHING for the electoral fraud in Nicaragua and for the indefinite reelection of Hugo Chávez?

PREACHING non-intervention in the internal affairs of nations,
while INTERFERING in the constitutional and democratic processes of Honduras?

CRITICIZING Honduran law-enforcement efforts,
but IGNORING fierce repression of the Venezuelan opposition’s protesters?

PRETENDING to be a champion of the rule of law,
but IGNORING the Honduran Constitution, which was repeatedly violated by Zelaya?

CRITICIZING the alleged repression of news media in Honduras,
but KEEPING QUIET in light of the arbitrary closing of dozens of radio stations in Venezuela?
And KEEPING QUIET in light of the government in Ecuador threatening to do the same?

PREACHING about the defense of democracy,
while ALLOWING governments that are allegedly democratic to support the drug trade, which is so harmful for true democracies?

CONDEMNING Operation Phoenix, which was carried out by the Colombian government against a terrorist organization,
but FAILING TO CONDEMN the fact that rocket launchers sold to Venezuela landed in the hands of the FARC guerrillas?

PRETENDING to support a mediated solution to the Honduran crisis,
but PRESSURING for the acceptance of imposed, rather than negotiated, terms?

QUESTIONING the security measures taken by the Honduran government,
but IGNORING repeated calls by Zelaya for mobs to rise up and engage in the kind of violence that has already resulted in the loss of life?

PROCLAIMING solidarity with the Honduran people,
but REFUSING TO HEAR OUT the overwhelming number of members of Honduran society who categorically reject a corrupt and failed leader, who repeatedly demonstrated that he values his personal interests above those of his people?

On behalf of Honduran civil society, UNION CIVICA DEMOCRATICA requests that the honorable foreign ministers who visit us tomorrow give the Honduran people a public answer for each of these questions.

May these answers enable the citizens of the entire American continent to understand the motivations of the organization that represents them.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Centroamérica, August 23, 2009.

hat tip to La Gringa's Blogicito, an excellent place to keep up with events in Honduras.

Honduras - the rest of the story...

This is an interesting explanation of "Why Honduras?"

The Fall of Chavez Has Begun


What Hugo Chávez lost in Honduras was "the most important DRUG ROUTE in the Americas" with earnings of more than $100 million monthly.

This flow of drugs is the financial arm of ALBA. So, at this time, Chavez has no source of income to finance ALBA. It's that simple, and thus his BRUTAL ATTACK on Honduras.

May the world know.

Excellent blogs commenting on the Honduran situation:

La Gringa's Blogicito
World 4 Houduras

Scandalous fraud by removed Honduran President? - Pray for Honduras II

Fr. Powell's blog reports:

a Catalan language newspaper in Spain is reporting that police in Honduras have seized 45 computers from Zelaya's Presidential House that contain pre-programmed referendum results. The computers were programmed to indicate that by an 80-20 percent margin, Hondurans favored calling a convention to amend their constitution to allow Zelaya a second term as President.

here's the item:

Several computers containing the results of the referendum Zelaya wanted to conduct are seized at the Presidential Palace

A page out of the Chavez (leftist, in other words) Playbook
By Alberto de la Cruz, on July 18, 2009

The National Directors of Criminal Investigation seized various computers from the Presidential Palace that had recorded the supposed results of the referendum to reform the constitution that the deposed leader, Manuel Zelaya, was planning to conduct on July 28, the day he was removed from office.

The official investigation now deals with the possible crime of fraud and falsification of documents due to the fact that some of the certified voting results had been filled with the personal information of individuals that supposedly participated in the failed referendum that did not take place because of the coup.

One of the district attorneys that participated in the operation that took place this Friday showed reporters an official voting result from the Technical Institute Luis Bogran, of Tegucigalpa, in which the specific number of people that participated in table 345, where there were 550 ballots, 450 of which were votes in favor of Zelaya's proposal and 30 were against, in addition to 20 blank ballots and 30 ballots, which were nullified.

The seizure took place on the third floor of the building attached to the Ministry of the Presidency that had been rented to the ex-minister of the Interior, Enrique Flores Lanza. The deputy district attorney, Roberto Ramirez, declared this area as a "crime scene" and, although he did not want to provide further details, said that further evidence had been found that could be categorized as crimes of fraud, embezzlement of funds, falsification of documents, and abuse of authority.

credit: Babalú

So far it appears only USA Today has picked this up in the US press, but one wonders why a near world-wide news blackout on this?

Honduras: computers seized with 'election results' pre-loaded Tegucigalpa -- The National Direction of Criminal Investigation confiscated computers in the Presidential House in which were registered the supposed results of the referendum on the reform of the Constitution that was planned by former President

Here's more English information:

More corruption: The ballot counts are in! (La Gringa's Blogicito)

Computers that already collected and tallied the votes
Photo: La Prensa, Honduras

"You won't be surprised to learn that Zelaya's proposal won heartily with approximately 80% affirmative votes."

BTW, there is an excellent tag run at the blog La Gringa's Blogicito, the best I've seen so far; nice work; you rock, girl! this is an excellent find:

I enjoyed this comment on a liberal forum and asked the author to let me share it with you:


How did defending Zelaya become an important aspect of being on the American left? None of us had ever heard of Zelaya last week. Does a couple days of defending Zelaya mean a left person must defend Zelaya forever? irregardless of the emerging evidence of his guilt? Are you guys so threatened, so fragile, so insecure, that you cannot change an opinion you just formed on Monday? Can you not be flexible as damning evidence appears? Are you that brittle? that fixated? that much in denial? Come ON! COME ON! Think like a shrewd human being, and not like a petulant child. The evidence of Zeyala’s guilt is plain to see, for those who have eyes. Come ON!

And, for goodness sake: think, for once, of the Honduran people. Do you want the people living under the thumb of Zelaya? as the Venezuelan people live under the thumb of Chavez? Standing up for the Honduran Government is standing up for the rule of law, for human rights, for freedom and democracy for the Honduran people. Come ON! Are you more interested in pounding the American right with false charges about spin; or are you more interested in standing for what is right, and in standing for human beings in Honduras whose freedom is imperiled?

Greg Cotharn
The End Zone

-Chavez marionetas-

further links to the constitional events unfolding are here: Pray for Honduras

"Honduras is an example for the world.
We don't have oil nor dollars,
but we have balls!

Pray for Honduras

From Mike Turner:

As forces of evil descend upon the nation of Honduras, let us join Honduran Catholics in our prayer to the Virgin of Suyapa:


Our Lady of Suyapa, bring the peace of your Son upon your land.

______________________________

Last Friday evening, Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, read the message signed by all eleven Honduran Bishops on the current situation. Excerpts:
To the Organization of American States we ask that it pay attention to all that had been taking place outside the law in Honduras, and not only to what occurred after the past June 28 [date of the removal of the president by the military, following a court order].


The Honduran people wonders why the warmongering threats against our country [by Venezuela and other nations] were not condemned.
If the Inter-American system limits itself to protecting democracy in the ballot boxes, but does follow this by [the observance of] good governance, the prevention of political, economic, and social crises, reacting belatedly to them will serve to nothing.
...
To the international community, we express the right that we have to define our own destiny, without unilateral pressures of any kind, searching for solutions which promote the welfare of all.
...
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, Lord Jesus tells us. Not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let there be in you no anguish, nor fear.


Tegucigalpa, MDC, July 3, 2009.


[Signed by Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga and the other ten Bishops of Honduras]
After reading the full message on Honduran television, the Cardinal added the following personal message:

"An appeal to my friend, José Manuel Zelaya [the deposed President:] on the day on which you took office, you mentioned three commandments of the holy law of God: not lying, not stealing, not killing.


"Let us consider if a precipitate act, a return to the country, at this moment, could initiate a bloodbath.


"I know that you love life, I know that you respect life; up to this day [July 3], there has not been a single death of a single Honduran; please, ponder [this], because afterwards it could be too late."

As Zelaya announces his return, news agencies report tonight [July 3] two deaths near the Tegucigalpa airport as Leftist groups clash with police forces.

---

The following links are articles which should clarify why the US should not be standing with the dictators to the south, but with the constitional government of Honduras:

Honduras Defends Its Democracy, Fidel Castro and Hillary Clinton object. (June 29, Wall Street Journal)

A 'coup' in Honduras? Nonsense.
Don't believe the myth. The arrest of President Zelaya represents the triumph of the rule of law. (July 2, Christian Science Monitor)

Honduras' non-coup (July 10, LA Times)

Why Honduras Sent Zelaya Away The former president threatened to use force against the Congress and other institutions.(July 13, Wall Street Journal)


The Honduran coup that wasn't (July 18, LA Times)


It appears to me that the reports of a "coup" are incorrect, and that what happened is in reality the prevention of an attempted coup. I am willing to examine evidence to the contrary.