...of anything, but were merely being held on charges, I thought of all of the unjust arrests of political protestors and wondered if this was how Honduras' U.S.-supported rightwing coup government was going to eliminate the "problem" of all those unjust arrests.
I don't know for sure what kind of charges these incinerated prisoners were being held on but it surely makes you wonder. A fire in an overcrowded prison can be a random tragedy, of course. But, given the other terrorist acts of the government and its death squads, it could also be yet another effort to terrorize the poor or a specific effort to eliminate certain prisoners who are an embarrassment to the government and/or who may know things about the government and may say them in their trials.
I wouldn't put anything passed Honduras' U.S.-supported fascists. They are as bad as those in Colombia.
I have to say that Honduras' massive arrests and other harassment, threats and murders against political protestors are no problem for the U.S. government, except in a cosmetic sort of way. U.S. actions re the Honduras coup (six months into the Obama administration, but very likely Bush Junta-designed) have caused no end of problems for the Obama administration in its relations with Latin America. The Obama administration reacted very badly, indeed, to the rightwing coup in Honduras, and attempted to pull a veil over the coup, with a very rigged "election," under martial law, overseen by the U.S. State Department. This did not go down well in Latin America, which is now dominated by leftist governments and with even rightwing leaders having to pay at least lip service to Latin American sovereignty.
So, the pressure on Honduras to, a) hold a real election, and b) stop jailing, murdering and threatening labor leaders and other leftists, is coming from Latin America, not Washington. Washington is only interested in the appearance of civil order, as a "selling" point for "free trade for the rich"--a "selling point," for instance, in Brazil (whose leaders were outraged by the Honduran coup and actively tried to overcome it). Washington holds the purse strings in Honduras and has all kinds of other leverage there as well. Honduras is a U.S. client state, where, among other things, more U.S. military bases are being installed. If Washington wanted a real election there, then a real election would occur. If Washington wanted the persecution of labor leaders and other leftists to stop, it might not stop altogether, but there would certainly be consequences for such persecution (either for the perps in a court of law, or in sanctions against the government for failing to create civil order and failing to enforce the law).
LATIN AMERICA has taken "sanction" actions against the Honduran coup government--for instance, voting NOT to allow the coup government back into the OAS. I believe they are currently negotiating a reentry--but the point is that there were serious consequences for Honduras, enforced by other Latin American governments and NOT by Washington, which accepted the phony election (because it engineered it!). Thus, a prison packed with arrestees, some of whom may be political prisoners, would not bother Washington, unless and until those possibly political prisoners came to trial and/or became the focus of grass roots organizing. (Arrests for petty crimes with long detentions before trial, or false arrests, might also spur political activism.) Washington is interested in appearances only and in suppressing the grass roots political movement in Honduras. But IF they put pressure on Honduras' coup government, regarding unjust arrests and detentions and other persecution, in order to achieve other objectives in Latin America (for instance, U.S. corporate deals in Brazil), THAT could have inspired Honduras' fascists to rid themselves of their political prisoners, by any means necessary (such as setting the prison on fire--which has the added "benefit" of terrorizing the poor majority).
The interaction of Washington's hypocrisy and ill motives with Honduras' fascist/militaristic elite could produce such a result. Honduras' fascist/militaristic elite is also capable of its own horrors for no particular reason other than hatred of the poor majority.
Upshot: I don't discount Morazán's theory about the grenades. Fascism (rule from behind closed doors by conscience-less elites) inspires conspiracy theories because it IS a conspiracy--to rob and oppress the poor majority. And there are many sub-conspiracies involved below the level of the Big Conspiracy--all of it generally hard to see through veils of secrecy and propaganda. In addition, in Honduras, as in Colombia--and wherever the U.S. "war on drugs" goes--the cocaine trade thrives, and criminal networks operate parallel to, and interwoven with, the larger fascist conspiracy. If somebody threw grenades to start the fire, there might have been a criminal or mixed criminal/fascist motive behind it. (F.i., a smaller more independent drug network being snuffed by a bigger, more protected drug network, with government involvement).
Needs. More. Investigation.
And my prayers and good wishes go out to those who are trying to find out what happened and, of course, to those who are protesting against the fascist government of Honduras about this horrible result of fascism (overcrowded prison, long detentions without trial) and others.
The members of Honduras' leftist democracy movement are incredibly courageous. Journalists in Honduras who expose wrongs are also especially courageous. Many journalists have been murdered as well. In fact, Honduras, under this U.S.-supported fascist regime, has THE highest rate of the murder of journalists in the world. So I do not say this lightly: "Needs. More. Investigation." Who will do it? And will they live to tell what they know?
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