Ex-President of Honduras, Ousted in a Coup Supported by President Obama and Hillary Clinton Speaks O
Ex-President of Honduras, Ousted in a Coup Supported by President Obama and Hillary Clinton Speaks Out
Hillary Clinton was secretary of state when Manuel Zelaya was removed as Honduras’s democratically-elected president.
By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now!
July 28, 2015
In Honduras, as many as 25,000 people marched Friday demanding the resignation of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. The protests come six years after a coup ousted Honduras’s democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. In an exclusive interview, Zelaya talks about the new protest movement, the fallout from the 2009 coup, and Hillary Clinton’s role in his ouster. "On the one hand, [the Obama administration] condemned the coup, but on the other hand, they were negotiating with the leaders of the coup," Zelaya said. "And Secretary Clinton lent herself to that, maintaining that ambiguity of U.S. policy to Honduras, which has resulted in a process of distrust and instability of Latin American governments in relation to U.S. foreign policies." While the United States publicly supported Zelaya’s return to power, newly released emails show Clinton was attempting to set up a back channel of communication with Roberto Micheletti, who was installed as Honduran president after the coup. In one email, Clinton referenced lobbyist and former President Clinton adviser Lanny Davis. She wrote, "Can he help me talk w Micheletti?" At the time, Davis was working for the Honduran chapter of the Business Council of Latin America, which supported the coup. In another email, Thomas Shannon, the State Department’s lead negotiator for the Honduras talks, refers to Manuel Zelaya as a "failed" leader.
Below is an interview with Zelaya, followed by a transcript:
- Video at link -
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman. We turn now to Honduras, where as many as 25,000 people marched Friday night to demand the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernández. Thousands carried torches during the protest, which is the latest in a months-long campaign to demand an independent investigation into a $200 million government corruption scandal.
The protests come six years after a coup ousted Honduras’s democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. At the time of the 2009 coup, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was serving as U.S. secretary of state. While the United States publicly supported Zelaya’s return to power, newly released emails show Clinton was attempting to set up a back channel of communication with Roberto Micheletti, who was installed as Honduras president after the coup. In one email, Clinton referenced lobbyist and former President Clinton adviser Lanny Davis. She wrote, quote, "Can he help me talk w Micheletti?" At the time, Davis was working for the Honduran chapter of the Business Council of Latin America, which supported the coup. In another email, Thomas Shannon, the State Department’s lead negotiator for the Honduras talks, refers to Zelaya as a "failed" leader.
Well, Juan González and I recently interviewed Manuel Zelaya from a studio in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I began by asking him about Hillary Clinton’s role in the 2009 coup.
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http://www.alternet.org/world/ex-president-honduras-ousted-coup-supported-president-obama-and-hillary-clinton-speaks-out