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Search words: honduras

honduras: A Coup, not that you would know it!

category international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis author Wednesday December 02, 2009 12:25author by Gerard Horgan - Freelance Report this post to the editors

The political situation in honduras and the lack of coverage in the Irish Media.

Latin America is no stranger to coups; there have been three in this new century alone and too many over the course of the 20th century to document here (for those interested, John Pilger's award-winning documentary The War on Democracy, is a must-see).

The most recent toppling of a democratically elected government in the Western Hemisphere occurred on the night of June 28th in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital. President Manuel Zelaya was dragged from his bed, bungled on a plane and forced to seek refuge in neighbouring Costa Rica. The ignominy and illegality of this brutal act highlighted the continued instability in a region which is grappling with some of the worst levels of inequality and poverty on the planet.

President Zelaya was victim of the usual business elite-military conspiracy, a standard characteristic of Latin America over the last 100 years. The timing was interesting as it co-incided with a vote on the extension of the Presidential term and according to the Guardian's Mark Weisbrot, with the implementation of more socially orientated policies that focused on poverty alleviation. Weisbrot, an experienced analyst of Latin American affairs, commented that the coup "pitted a reform president who is supported by labour unions and social organisations against a mafia-like, drug-ridden, corrupt political elite who is accustomed to choosing not only the supreme court and the Congress, but also the president. It is a recurrent story in Latin America".

The brutality of the coup (killings and beatings of innocent protestors, closure of opposition media) has taken place with barely a word appearing in the Irish media (both print and television). It might be said this is understandable given the sheer range of issues facing the Irish State from NAMA, the banking crisis to the widespread flooding. However, the lack of coverage of major international stories such as the financial meltdown in Dubai, the instability in the Middle East, the growing popular movements in Latin America - raises serious questions about the role of the Irish media, in particular, RTÉ, when it comes to informing the public of our rapidly-changing world.

It can't be a question of limited resources when large sums are spent on 'stars' like Pat Kenny (€750,000), Ryan Tubridy (€350,000) and Gerry Ryan (€500,000) (to name but a few) with additional license fee money thrown at soaps, reality TV shows and house makeover programmes. The overly Western-centric viewpoint (RTÉ has correspondents based full-time in London, Washington and Brussels) slants the "news" in a particular way and rarely do we catch a glimpse of important events outside of this bubble -the coup in honduras is a case in point. RTÉ's correspondent in the US, the veteran reporter Charlie Bird, has rarely left the confines of Washington D.C. to report on events in the 'South' at a time of momentous change, choosing instead to focus on the Obama presidency (providing little ground-breaking insight).

The continued abuse of human rights and killings by the Honduran military in an effort to suppress popular demonstrations continue unabated but it would be difficult to know in Ireland were it not for cable news and alternative news websites. Some of the events in honduras have been highlighted by Al Jazeera, which has been consistent in its coverage of the Honduran coup and Latin America generally. Other sources such as Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman frequently touch on honduras and just this week reported on the "elections":

"Roberto Micheletti, a prominent supporter of the coup has won the nation's presidential election. Porfirio Lobo, a rich landowner, received 55 percent of the vote. The election comes five months after the Honduran military ousted the democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya. The leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other Latin American countries say Sunday's presidential election is invalid because it was backed by the coup leaders and could end any hope of Zelaya returning to power and completing his term, which is due to end in January. But the United States has vowed to recognize the results. No pro-Zelaya candidate ran Sunday due to a boycott of the elections called by Zelaya. Human rights groups reported widespread abuses by the Honduran military and police ahead of Sunday's vote. In the city of San Pedro Sula, soldiers used water cannons and tear gas to break up a march by 500 unarmed protestors".

One wonders if the Irish public is aware that Latin America has been unanimous in its condemnation of the Honduran coup vis-à-vis the Organisation of American States (OAS); that the EU has been unequivocal in its opposition, removing its ambassadors and stating the "deep concern over the political crisis in honduras and the violations of the constitutional order" or that the United Nations moved quickly to condemn the Honduran military for aggressively surrounding the Brazilian Embassy where President Zelaya had taken refuge after a failed effort to return to Tegucigalpa.

We can only hope that greater public awareness and education among our students will lead to demands on our media to provide more extensive analysis of events in the 'South', such as the impact of climate change, the importance of the World Social Forums, the growing move towards global justice, the emergence of greater Latin American integration and the role of India, China and Brazil. These are the events that will shape and determine the course of the 21st century but it would hard to know judging by the Irish media's focus on petty criminality as well as saturation sports coverage at one of the most challenging times in human socio-economic development.

author by Mike Novackpublication date Wed Dec 02, 2009 19:50author address author phone Report this post to the editors

I rather suspect that the Honduran military lept at the opportunity. And Zelaya certainly gave it to them.

Anti "democratic" yes. But that's what a constitution is after all, a limitation on democracy stating that SOME things can't be done just by the will of the majority. You might approve of having a constitution or prefer a truer "democracy" where the momentary will of the majority isn't thwarted by some "silly" rules about rights that take MORE than just a majority to change.

Remember how this all happened. Zelaya ordered something to happen (this referendum) and the supreme court there said "no". He ordered the military to carry out the order in spite of the court ruling and then when the brass refused the order, he sacked them and ordered the next rung down to carry out the referendum. And they refused to step down, "sacking" him instead. I don't like that BUT would also have considered it improper for them to have complied with the order to do something unconstitutional. I would have prefered "passive resistance" on their part, neither carry out the order nor accept their firing, and let "impeachment" procedings according to the consitution begin.

Note that we here in the States once had a similar situation though hadn't gotten as far as the Supreme Court yet (never taken to court). A large number of WW I vets marched on Washington to demand that the promised bonuses (pensions) be paid out early, discounted for the early payment. Now we have it clearly spelled out in the Constitution that "petition forredress of grievances" allowed. President Hoover ordered the army to suppress the "Bonus March" and over the protests of his junior (Eisenhower) the senior commander (McCarther) did just that. To use the army that way a clear violation of our Constitution and Federal Law. As an interesting sidenote, the politically ambitious McCarther did not advance but Ike, who had no political aspirations, ended up as president (Note that US "brass" is presumably well aware of whose careers fared better in the long run).

BTW -- the reason for this desperate order probably that the money had never been properly set aside, wasn't in the till to be paid out (and never was). In other words, a "cover up" for what would have been a serious scandal. Didn't help, the continuing Depression and WW II had the Republicans in the dog house for a generation.

author by Daithipublication date Sat Dec 12, 2009 00:13author address author phone Report this post to the editors

IT is not surprising that we have heard so little of this coup and the the overwhelming silance of the new Nobel Peace price winner is deafening. This coup has always been backed by the USA who are terrified of any left wing governments in their own backyard.

The simple reason for this is that Hounduras contains the world's largest CIA station (Ref Noam Chomsky: Failed States). How could the US do anything but protect this and I think this is the most amazing fact that the Media has missed out on - any simple investigation into this paints a completely different picture on what is presented

 
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