[Marxism] Venezuela proposes UN military action in Honduras if diplomacy fails

[Fred Feldman]

Venezuela Proposes United Nations Military Action if Diplomacy Fails in
Honduras Coup
 
July 1st 2009, by James Suggett - Venezuelanalysis.com 
 
 
 
The presidents of Honduras (left), Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Ecuador in
Nicaragua (Minci) 
Mérida, July 1st 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- On Tuesday Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez proposed multi-national military, economic, and legal
measures to restore Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to the presidency and
bring an end to the military coup d'etat that began last Sunday, if planned
diplomatic measures fail.   
 
Zelaya plans to defy the coup and return to Honduras on Saturday along with
a delegation of Latin American leaders, including the presidents of
Argentina and Ecuador. The coup leaders have vowed to arrest Zelaya upon his
return. 
 
"Aggression against the delegation that goes to Honduras would open another
type of door," said Chavez. "Then, we would have to consider, for example, a
military intervention by the United Nations."   
 
Chavez explained his proposal. "I am not a supporter of this measure, but I
throw it out there as a hypothesis: A United Nations or OAS resolution, a
political and diplomatic force with international military backup, this
would have to be considered," he said.   
 
Chavez also urged the Honduran armed forces to oppose the coup. "We call on
the military of Honduras not to attack the people or the president," said
Chavez, who himself was kidnapped in a military coup in 2002 and restored to
power by a counter-coup led by the pro-Chavez ranks within the military. 
 
 
Chavez's proposals came as the United Nations (UN), the Organization of
American States (OAS), and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our
America (ALBA), a Latin American fair trade bloc, condemned the coup and
called for Zelaya's immediate reinstatement. 
 
 
Chavez commended these declarations, but said nations who oppose the coup
should be prepared to back up their words with actions, and force the coup
leaders to turn power over to the legitimate president, Zelaya, "without
conditions." 
 
"We have to put an end to public condemnation followed by silence; this is
complicity. We should not leave these important meetings just with very
important declarations, and then leave Manuel Zelaya as a lost soul," said
Chavez. 
 
Chavez also said he will propose cutting off oil supplies to Honduras during
an emergency meeting of the Caribbean energy integration bloc Petrocaribe,
of which Honduras is a member. Petrocaribe countries receive favorable rates
on Venezuelan oil and loans for energy development, in exchange for goods
and services. 
 
As a legal measure, Chavez urged the Inter-American Court of Human Rights,
an autonomous institution of the OAS, to send a commission to assess the
situation in Honduras. Likewise, Bolivian President Evo Morales sent a
proposal to the OAS for the creation of an ad hoc inter-American tribunal to
"file and process complaints, investigate, and sanction those who have
committed crimes against democracy in Honduras."  
 
Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, have already cut off cross-border
commerce with Honduras. Also, the European Union suspended talks of an
association with Central American nations due to the coup. 
 
Member countries of the ALBA bloc have pulled their ambassadors from
Honduras, which joined the bloc last year to the dismay of the right wing
opposition. On Tuesday, the de facto coup government passed a resolution to
evaluate the "convenience" of Honduras's continued membership in the ALBA. 
 
Meanwhile, coup leaders have violently shut down or taken over most media
outlets by breaking down doors, throwing transmittion equipment on the
floor, detaining reporters in military vehicles, and threatening to shoot
them if they move, according to independent video recordings circulated by
internet. 
 
Military personnel also detained several reporters from the Caracas-based
Telesur television channel, which had provided detailed coverage of the coup
early on. According to Edgardo Castro, a Telesur correspondent in Honduras,
"The coup government has obligated the owners of cable companies to cut off
Telesur's signal and only permit international signals that support the coup
government," such as CNN. 
 
Journalists, activists, and government officials demonstrated in a car
parade through Caracas in defense of Telesur on Tuesday. 
 
The remaining independent media in Honduras have released video recordings
of thousands of anti-coup protestors singing songs, chanting for Zelaya's
return, and blocking off streets by burning tires and throwing rocks at
security forces. Military and riot police have reportedly used rubber
bullets, tear gas, and other unidentified chemicals to break up the protests
outside the presidential palace, causing at least one death and many
injuries. The coup government has continued to arrest pro-Zelaya government
officials. 
 
The United States government tentatively acknowledged that an "illegal" coup
occurred in Honduras, but has not called for Zelaya's reinstatement. On
Wednesday, the U.S. embassy in Honduras cut off travel and business visas
for those involved in the coup. One of the coup leaders, General Romeo
Vásquez, was trained in the U.S. School of the Americas between 1976 and
1984, according to School of the Americas Watch. 
 
After Vasquez disobeyed Zelaya's orders to distribute electoral material for
a non-binding national poll on whether to hold a referendum to re-write the
nation's constitution last week, Zelaya fired Vasquez. The Honduran Supreme
court ordered Vasquez's reinstatement, and the Congress declared Zelaya's
electoral initiative illegal. On Sunday morning, military personnel
kidnapped Zelaya at his home and left him in Costa Rica. 
 
See also:
30/06/2009: Telesur Reporters Beaten in Honduras 
29/06/2009: Venezuela: Chavez Calls for Continent-Wide Protests against
Honduran Coup 
28/06/2009: Venezuelan Foreign Minister: Latin America has to Guarantee the
Defeat of the Coup in Honduras
-----------------
 
Honduras: Congress suspends constitutional rights 
This is Honduras (photo taken today)



The new blog out of Honduras is called "Honduras Frente Al Golpe De Estado"
(Honduras Confronts the Coup D'Etat...more or less). Make it part of your
RSS feed as there are already 13 posts and a lot of information and photos
available at the site For example this post entitled "Individual Guarantees
(rights) Suspended".
 


The following is spine-chilling for anyone who knows their LatAm history. I
wrote when all this started on Sunday "welcome to the 1980's"...well forget
that, we're now in the 1970's of dictatorship, Dirty War Argentina. Remember
that this usurper Micheletti has illegally seized power by claiming some
sort of technical infringement of the constitution on the part of Zelaya.
But as soon as he has control he simply suspends six fundamental articles of
the very same constitution that pertain to public freedom. This is nothing
short of outrageous. This is the direct road to secret police, disappeared
people and every other Latin American nightmare of the last century. Do you
support what you're about to read "in the name of freedom and democracy?"
Shame on anyone with a word to defend this scum. Shame on you.


The following constitutional rights have been suspended by the Honduran
congress under the de facto command of Roberto Micheletti between the hours
of 9pm and 5am Also, congress has given the right to hold a person without
arrest or allowing contact with the outside world for 24 hours (renewable,
of course, which means they can be held indefinitely without trial or
disclosure). My translation.


SUSPENDED, Article 71: No person can be detained for more than 24 hours
without being presented to the orders of the competent authority for
judgment. Judicial inquiry detention cannot exceed six days from the moment
of detention.


SUSPENDED, Article 78: Freedom of association and reunion is guaranteed as
long as it does not contravene public order and good custom.


SUSPENDED, Article 81: All persons have the right of free passage, to leave
enter and stay in national territory. No person can be forced to move from
their domicile or residence, except in special circumstances and when the
requisits of law allow.


SUSPENDED, Article 84: No person can be arrest or detained without the
virtue of a written mandate of the competent authority, expidited with legal
formalities and for a motive previously established by law. However,
in-fragranti criminals may be apprehended by any person in order to deliver
them to authorities. The arrested or detained must be informed in the act
and with total clarity of their rights and the reasons for the arrest; also,
the authority must communicate theri detention to a family member of choice.


SUSPENDED, Article 88: No class of violence or coercion may be exercised on
persons to force or make them declare. In a penal, disciplinary or police
issue, nobody can be made to declare against themself, against a spouse or
living companion, or against family members inside fourth grade of bloodline
or second of affinity. Only in front of a competent judge make statements be
taken. Any decalration obtained by infringement of these dispositions is
null and void.


SUSPENDED, Article 99: The domicile cannot be violated. No entry or register
can take place without the consent of the person who resides in the domicile
or without a resolution from acompentent authority. However, the domicile
may be searched in the case of emergency to impede the commission or the
impunity of a crime or to avoid serious harm to person or property.