Honduran coup leaders, Manuel Zelaya agree to talk next week: OAS

[L. Coyote]

Source: The Times of India

3 October 2009, 02:21am IST

TEGUCIGALPA: Honduras' de facto government and ousted President Manuel Zelaya agreed on Friday to open talks next week on resolving the political
crisis triggered by a June coup, an OAS envoy said.

"There is going to be a call to dialogue," John Biehl, an envoy for the Organization of American States, told reporters. "The current government will make it, and the other party will accept. That has been agreed."

"For now, there will not be a direct meeting" between Zelaya and the de facto president Roberto Micheletti, he said.

Biehl said talks could begin before the arrival here on October 7 of a delegation of regional foreign ministers and OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, who would be invited to attend a follow-up session.

Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/rest-of-world/Honduran-coup-leaders-Manuel-Zelaya-agree-to-talk-next-week-OAS/articleshow/5082251.cms

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Previous Latest NEWS and VIDEOS:

Honduran De Facto President Says He’d Go If Told To
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4087063

[EFerrari]

1. Makes you wonder if Pinocheti is going to frame this as a result

of DeMint's trip.

[L. Coyote]

3. I wonder if DeNewlyMinted Fascist was given a heads up on what hour of the day to arrive

so as to give his base a falcist impression of his credentials.

These guys are just trying to say, "Now that we have a Black Liberal President, fascist coups are a good thing!"

On edit, didn't they DO nearly the same thing about Gore in 2000!!

[Judi Lynn]

2. Members of U.S. Congress Warn Hondurans New Elections Won't Be Recognized Unless Conflict is Resolve

Members of U.S. Congress Warn Hondurans New Elections Won't Be Recognized Unless Conflict is Resolved
20 mins ago

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA) praised six senior Members of the U.S. Congress for their open letter to the Honduran Congress reminding Honduran authorities that without political progress in ending the crisis caused by the coup against President Zelaya the U.S. will not recognize the winner of that country's upcoming presidential elections.

"This timely letter speaks in clear and compelling language to the coup government and its supporters in the Honduran Congress," Sarah Stephens, executive director of the CDA said. "Unless the coup is ended, President Zelaya is restored, and violations of democracy and human rights are halted, no presidential election conducted in that environment will be recognized as free or fair or legitimate by the United States government and its senior leaders.

The letter signed by Representatives James McGovern, Bill Delahunt, Sam Farr, Gregory Meeks, Janice Schakowsky, and Xavier Becerra was sent to Honduras as four Republican Members of the Congress visited interim President Micheletti and communicated their support for the coup.

"Honduras's interim government should pay attention not to rump groups seeking publicity, but to senior Members of the Congress who stand with the Obama administration on behalf of democracy, diplomacy, and dialogue. We believe Honduras should act quickly and decisively to end this crisis and avoid entering a new presidency with this odious cloud hanging over its government."

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20091002/pl_usnw/members_of_u_s__congress_warn_hondurans_new_elections_won_t_be_recognized_unless_conflict_is_resolved

[L. Coyote]

4. Obama and DeMint locked in proxy fight over Hugo Chavez By Alexander Bolton

Everything is entered on Hugo Chavez, the center of our solar system :rofl:

And, the coup that suspends the Constitution and human rights, the coup with death squads, the coup that silences political opposition literally, in DeNewlyMinted fascist's mind, is the opposite of "those who trample freedom." The Republican Lie Machine is working overtime on counter-reality and DeMint is either a victim of its brain damage or a leading up-is-down delusionist.

===================
Obama and DeMint locked in proxy fight over Hugo Chavez
By Alexander Bolton - 09/20/09 02:01 PM ET

The Obama administration and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) are squaring off in a foreign policy dispute that has stymied the nominations of two senior diplomatic officials.

Foreign policy experts see the standoff as a proxy fight between conservative Republicans and the Obama administration on how to deal with Hugo Chavez ...

DeMint has blocked the nominations of Thomas Shannon, President Barack Obama’s pick to serve as ambassador to Brazil, and Arturo Valenzuela, the choice for the post of assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.

Richard Verma, the State Department’s assistant secretary of legislative affairs, approached DeMint this past week about releasing the holds but the South Carolina senator is standing firm.

"Both of these nominees rushed to oppose the rule of law in Honduras and want to force a Chavez-style dictator back into power,” DeMint told The Hill. “They exemplify this administration's misguided and heavy-handed tactics against the Honduran people and side with those who trample freedom."

====================
On edit: Should I be saying NewlyDeMented instead of DeNewlyMinted? :rofl:

[boppers]

5. Death Squads?

How many have been killed?

[L. Coyote]

6. President Zelaya -100 assassinated by Micheletti dictatorship

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x380290

Of course, to really want to know what is happening in Latin America, you need to understand Spanish!

Thanks for a reminder to kick that video up. More people likely missed it too.

[EFerrari]

8. Oh, no. Thanks, L. Coyote. These updates are not the good kind.

:(

[roody]

13. And how many are locked up?

And how many were raped? We are only 20 some years from the Contra War based in Honduras.

[boppers]

14. It's such a freaking mess.

From what I've read since asking, Zelaya was claiming that his own staff had revived the death squads, that he was under a chemical weapon (?) gas attack, that radiation weapons (?) were being used, and that Israeli commandos were after him...

Obviously, either something is being lost in translation, or Zelaya has gone as batty as Chavez, or South America has really gotten so bizarre as to be unbelievable.

[EFerrari]

7. The SOA Watch group reported at least one active death squad

the first week of the golpe. 15 activists have been killed but I don't know about the circumstances of those deaths. I got those two facts separately and haven't updated for a few days. I don't know how many are being held at the stadium or in prisons either. Have to catch up over the weekend.

[rabs]

9. A teacher was shot to death this morning at his home.

He is the fourth that I know of who have been slain because they were activists in the resistance.

Radio Globo reported that a note had been found on his body saying that the same fate awaited other teachers. Globo said teachers who support the golpistas are pointing out those in the resistance to the killers.

So yes, there is a death squad after teachers.

[EFerrari]

11. Earlier this week, two journalists were tortured with cigarettes

and dumped on the highway as a "message" to the resistance and two other ones from Guatemala were stomped when the thugs shut down Radio Globo's studio.

Add journalists to the list.

[rabs]

12. Add a Lenca campesino activist to the list

He was killed either yesterday or today, according to Radio Globo. He had been with Zelaya on the Nicaraguan side when Mel tried to enter the country a few weeks ago.

[L. Coyote]

17. A political candidate was murdered.

[Vidar]

10. Viva Zelaya!

[L. Coyote]

15. HONDURAS: Anti-Coup Resistance Movement

HONDURAS: Anti-Coup Resistance Movement
Written by Juan Ramón Durán - http://www.australia.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14741:honduras-anti-coup-resistance-movement&catid=80:news-1


"This broad range of organisations, with a total combined membership of around 100,000 people, have come together in the FNR "

ZelayaTEGUCIGALPA, Oct 2 (IPS) - The National Resistance Front Against the Coup d'Etat (FRN) in Honduras is carrying out a nationwide consultation among its members to establish its position with respect to the expected talks between ousted President Manuel Zelaya and the de facto government, the movement's leaders said. Although face to face talks between Zelaya and de facto President Roberto Micheletti have been ruled out for now, a dialogue to come up with a solution to the political crisis will begin next week, John Biehl, an adviser to Organisation of American States (OAS) secretary general José Miguel Insulza, said Friday.

Marvín Ponce, a lawmaker of the left-wing Democratic Unification (UD) party, said the FNR is ”firmly united,” despite the diversity of social, labour and political sectors represented by the movement that began to take shape and hold protests immediately after Zelaya was removed from his house at gunpoint by the military and put on a plane to Costa Rica on Jun. 28.

”We are carrying out a consultation process to decide how and with what position we will participate, with regard to the different proposals to solve the conflict,” Ponce told IPS Thursday, under the close watch of a squad of policemen who just a few minutes earlier had violently broken up a protest by some 300 members of the FNR outside the U.S. embassy.

..........

[L. Coyote]

16. Dems target DeMint's trip = mere members of the “minority party.”

Dems target DeMint's Honduras trip
Carol E. Lee
Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:43:44 EST - http://fredericksburg.com/News/Web/politico?p_id=1035


Six House members on Friday sent a letter to the president of the Honduran Congress warning that the Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and his travel delegation to Honduras do not represent the views of the White House or Congress, but are mere members of the “minority party.”

“We understand that you received visitors from our Congress who represent the minority party, the Republican Party, who have expressed views that differ markedly from those of President Obama’s administration and the Democratic Majority in the U.S. Congress,” they wrote.

....

The Obama administration considers the military’s ousting of President Manuel Zelaya in June unconstitutional and has supported his return to power. DeMint has been critical of Zelaya and supports the current government’s plans to hold elections next month. DeMint has insisted that his trip is just a fact-finding mission. It is official business and will be paid for with government funds.

Underlining the word “one,” the letter states, “The United States government has one position.”

“We know full well the weight of your task in this fast-moving scenario, as your Constitutional responsibilities are very similar to ours,” they wrote. “We thought it important that you be aware of our views on these critical issues since you are the authors of the laws that govern your country and guardians of the rule of law in Honduras. Count on us to assist in any way we can.”

[L. Coyote]

18. Letter: U.S. should intervene in Honduras Chico Enterprise-Record Posted: 10/03/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT

Letter: U.S. should intervene in Honduras
Chico Enterprise-Record
Posted: 10/03/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT - http://www.chicoer.com/opinion/ci_13475955

Latin America in recent years has emerged from a dark era when power was often seized, not transferred. If the June 28 Honduran coup-plotters remain in power, it will send a clear signal to would-be coup plotters throughout the hemisphere that military coups are now once again a viable means of attaining power. Such a regression would jeopardize democracy and human rights not just in Honduras, but throughout Latin America.

The coup regime seems to have as much regard for human rights as it does for democracy. One week after the coup, the military fired 160 rounds of live ammo into a nonviolent crowd, killing a teenager. Since then, the coup regime has overseen nine politically motivated murders, countless military attacks on peaceful protesters, the arbitrary arrest of over 1,300 people, and the systematic military occupation and shutdown of most independent media outlets.

President Manuel Zelaya and his supporters are showing the model democratic, nonviolent, persistent resistance to the unlawful military coup in our neighbor, Honduras. What better example can the United States offer?

The U.S. is powerfully influential in Honduras and needs to move swiftly to more meaningful responses. To levy the sort of pressure that could actually hasten the coup's end, the U.S. should revoke more than four diplomatic visas and freeze U.S.-held assets for the full list of coup-plotters and cease all operations at the Palmerola U.S. military base.

— Cathy Webster, Chico

[L. Coyote]

19. UN expresses concerns over crackdown on freedoms in Honduras

UN expresses concerns over crackdown on freedoms in Honduras
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Posted on: 2nd October 2009
http://thegovmonitor.com/world_news/international/un-expresses-concerns-over-crackdown-on-freedoms-in-honduras-8048.html


The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding the freedom of expression today led a chorus of UN voices expressing concern over the suppression of civil liberties in Honduras following a coup d’état in the Central American country in June.

Since the return of ousted President José Manuel Zelaya to Honduras on 21 September, authorities have declared a state of emergency, suspending freedom of opinion and expression, movement and association.

“I am deeply concerned about the situation in Honduras,” said UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura.

“Freedom of expression is a particularly important human right that must be preserved if a durable solution, acceptable to all, is to be found to the crisis,” stressed Mr. Matsuura.

The authorities who took power in June have issued a decree sanctioning the suspension of any media outlet that “attacks peace or public order,” or that broadcasts messages that “offend human dignity, officials, threatens the law or government resolutions”

..............

[L. Coyote]

20. A Promise to Restore Civil Liberties Is Slow to Become Reality in Honduras

A Promise to Restore Civil Liberties Is Slow to Become Reality in Honduras
By ELISABETH MALKIN - October 2, 2009 - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/world/americas/03honduras.html


MEXICO CITY — The de facto president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, appeared to have bowed to pressure at home and from abroad on Monday, saying that he would lift his order suspending civil liberties.

Since then, he has been in no hurry to keep his promise.

Mr. Micheletti spent the week consulting with the Supreme Court and other parts of the government about the decree, which his government announced on Sunday night. But while he has been discussing lifting the order, his security forces have been busy enforcing it.

.....

Mr. Zelaya’s allies accused Mr. Micheletti of stalling on lifting the decree as he tries to dismantle the network of Zelaya supporters.

“He has in his hands a repressive weapon to try to demobilize the resistance,” Rafael Alegría, the leader of the farmworkers’ union, said of Mr. Micheletti in an interview with Radio Globo on Friday. Radio Globo, which was closed and taken off the air on Monday, is broadcasting over the Internet.

..............

[L. Coyote]

21. Honduras deal for Zelaya's return to presidency may be near

CAUTION: McClatchy in the Miami Herald!

==================
Honduras deal for Zelaya's return to presidency may be near
By TYLER BRIDGES - McClatchy Newspapers - http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1264040.html


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- An international plan to return deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to power suddenly gained new life Friday after de facto President Roberto Micheletti reversed course and moved close to accepting the deal, the chief intermediary between the two sides said.

"I think both are willing to solve this without violence," John Biehl, a diplomat representing the Organization for American States, told McClatchy Newspapers. "Things are looking very good, completely different than before."

Biehl has been echoing the warnings of others that failure to end the three-month-old power struggle could unleash a wave of bloodshed and doom the Nov. 29 presidential elections that are seen as key to returning politics to normal.

In a sign of the improving climate, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza confirmed plans to come to Honduras on Wednesday along with 10 regional foreign ministers.

............

[L. Coyote]

22. VIDEO: Women Targeted for Resisting Coup

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x382178

[L. Coyote]

23. Zelaya's Supporters Protest Martial Law, Reject Dialogue Under Current

Zelaya's Supporters Protest Martial Law, Reject Dialogue Under Current
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2009/october/03/centralamerica-091003-02.htm


Tegucigalpa - At least 500 supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Thursday protested the martial law imposed by the post-coup government in this Honduran capital.

The demonstration, gathering members of the union and peasants' groups, was staged outside the U.S. embassy, also calling for Zelaya's reinstatement.

Participants told local media that the protest would continue until the martial law and curfew was lifted.

There were also demonstrations outside the capital city. .......

Meanwhile in Nicaragua, Zelaya's followers Thursday issued a statement, rejecting any kind of dialogue and the presidential election in November under the current political situation in Honduras.

They accused the de facto government of creating a political climate of persecution, violent dislodges and killings in the country.

..............

[L. Coyote]

24. Jailed Honduran farmers on hunger strike for Zelaya

Jailed Honduran farmers on hunger strike for Zelaya
By Noe Leiva and Maria Isabel Sanchez (AFP) – 4 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5izd2pecqwu1x-mt3C5eJiUf-VP5A


TEGUCIGALPA — Thirty-eight farmers imprisoned by the military-supported interim Honduran regime began a hunger strike Saturday demanding the reinstatement of deposed President Manuel Zelaya.

....

"We're being charged with sedition because we are calling for the return of our president to end all this," said Ramon Diaz, 43, one of the hunger strikers being held at the National Penitentiary in Tegucigalpa.

"The lawyers have said that they want to lock us up for the maximum term, 10 years," Diaz told AFP ...

Diaz and 54 other Zeyala sympathizers were arrested Wednesday after police and soldiers violently ousted protesters from government offices they had taken over. Some of the protesters, including women and children, were released.

The farmer-protesters say they took over the office in an attempt to have their land rights respected: as president, Zelaya moved towards granting land to some 300,000 farmers that have been demanding plots for some 40 years.

"We are starting a hunger strike to demand a just trial, the restitution of president Zelaya, and respect for our right to the land," said Benedicto Flores, 48, another jailed farmer.

The prison was built for 1,500 inmates, but currently has a population of 2,655, including the farmers, according to prison data.

The farmers "were charged with sedition and will go for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday," prison warden Miguel Alberto Ponce told AFP. .....