HONDURAS: Please make two very important phone calls!

Earlier this week, the SOA graduate-backed Honduran military coup regime refused all diplomatic options to return democracy. The U.S. State Department responded by asserting that visas to Hondurans would no longer be granted under the coup. Late yesterday State Department officials made it clear that they are considering legally defining the situation as a "military coup." This would create an automatic cut-off of all remaining aid to Honduras. The coup regime immediately responded by saying that they would allow the rightful President Zelaya to return with amnesty, but not as president. Clearly the coup leaders are caving to the pressure. We need you to act now to return democracy to Honduras. 1.) Call the State Department at 202-647-5171 or 1-800-877-8339 and ask for Secretary Clinton. Deliver the following message: "Legally define the de facto regime in Honduras as a military coup and cut off all aid to Honduras until President Zelaya is unconditionally reinstated." 2.) Call the White House at 202-456-1111 and repeat the same message "Legally define the de facto regime in Honduras as a military coup and cut off all aid to Honduras until President Zelaya is unconditionally reinstated."

HONDURAS: Religious Delegation Statement; State Dept. Interview; Testimony

Statement of Religious Delegation to Honduras*
August 18-25, 2009

We are the sixth international delegation that has come to Honduras since the coup d’etat of June 28, 2009. We have come from Panama and the United States as people of faith – Catholic Christians -- to accompany the pain of the Honduran people and to understand more clearly the reality they are living. We represent the Justice Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and Pax Christi International.

We have been in Honduras from August 18-25, visiting Tegucigalpa, Progreso, San Pedro Sula, Santa Rosa de Copan and Santa Barbara. What we have seen and heard here has broken our hearts and evoked in us deep concern.

It also has given us hope as we met with many sectors of Honduran society that demonstrate amazing courage and capacity to organize a diverse and strong popular resistance to the coup and subsequent repression. Clearly, Hondurans have enduring hope for a country that promotes the common good, justice and human rights.

We have heard first-hand from victims of horrific human rights violations inflicted by Honduran military and police forces upon ordinary people peacefully exercising basic rights guaranteed by the Honduran Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These abuses, including beatings, rape, harassment and intimidation, arbitrary arrest, disappearances and even death, have been well documented by the Honduran Human Rights organization, COFADEH, and in recent reports from Amnesty International and by the InterAmerican Human Rights Commission, also present in Honduras this week.

We are alarmed to see people and patterns of abuse re-emerging from the shadows of repression in earlier decades. Impunity in the past for criminals and violators of human rights has left Hondurans vulnerable to a painful repeat of history. Militarization, disinformation, extreme attempts to control the civilian population and a terrible polarization of the citizenry have far-reaching ramifications for a people yearning for a just end to poverty and exclusion.

We are distressed by the implications for the region and beyond of what we have seen in Honduras. We are convinced that the conflict here is not only about Mel Zelaya, although the return of the legitimate president to office is imperative, but about the abuse of political and military, and especially of economic, power. That does not bode well for the future of the hemisphere or for any country in the world where the basic rights of citizens to a decent life, to a healthy environment, and to participate in important decisions that affect their lives challenge the privileges and power of a few – be they individuals, institutions or business interests.

We are heartened by the strong response of the international community to events on June 28th. The United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union, and many individual countries around the world have denounced the coup and have taken strong measures to isolate the illegitimate government.

We are concerned, however, by what we believe is an inadequate public response of the U.S. government to the coup and to the ensuing repression. We were encouraged by the initial U.S. response, but, caught in the controversy over constitutional technicalities, subsequent actions were neither timely nor sufficiently strong.

We urge the U.S. government
- to be unequivocal and very public in denouncing the brutal human rights violations committed by Honduran military and police forces;
- to cancel diplomatic as well as tourist and business visas for a broader group of those implicated in orchestrating or leading the coup;
- to freeze the accounts in U.S. banks of these same coup leaders; and
- to follow the example of other nations by recalling Ambassador Llorens until the legitimate president of Honduras is restored to office.

Although the process hosted by Nobel laureate Oscar Arias may facilitate the return to Honduras of President Zelaya, long term peace will depend on ensuring that the poor and marginalized sectors of society be included in the economic and political life of the country.

One of our deepest preoccupations, however, is about the profound divisions in and animosity surrounding the vibrant Honduran Catholic community, when the rich resources of our faith tradition should be guiding the nation toward a just resolution to this intolerable situation.

We have heard from many people about the deep hurt, anger and loss of credibility occasioned by the July 3rd statement of the Honduran Bishops’ Conference. Despite our attempts, we were unable to secure a meeting with Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB to hear his perspective on this and try to understand his words and actions that have created such an intense reaction from the Honduran people.

The Gospel and Catholic social teaching clearly articulate the values, principles and priorities that should offer a framework for the Church’s engagement with Honduran society at this painful moment. In particular, the preferential option for the poor, which is one of the distinguishing features of the Latin American and Caribbean church (Aparecida #391), and the virtue of solidarity should place the Church clearly on the side of Hondurans whose basic dignity is now being abused.

We met courageous priests, women religious and lay women and men who accompany people from all walks of life whose human rights are being violated. Many of these pastoral workers have been threatened and attacked as well. We had a long conversation with the bishop of Santa Rosa de Copan and heard clearly his commitment to the poor and his perspectives on the influence of economic interests in facilitating the coup. That analysis we heard repeated many times over in our visits throughout the country. We pray that the official Catholic Church in Honduras will listen with care to the pain of those who feel abandoned and assume a role of speaking out forcefully for an end to the pattern of intimidation and official abuse against those nonviolently expressing their opposition to the coup.

We also urge the Catholic community worldwide and all people of good will to strengthen international solidarity with the Honduran people, accompanying those whose basic human rights are being violated, advocating for a just and enduring resolution to this crisis, and addressing the many ways in which international greed for minerals and markets, wealth, power and control provide fertile ground for the suffering in Honduras. Long-term peace and stability depend on ensuring that the poor and marginalized sectors of society be included in the economic and political life of the country.

We believe that Hondurans – including civil society, the Catholic Church and all communities of faith, the military and police, the private sector, organized labor, politicians, scholars, lawyers – can come together to create a just society and end the crisis they are now living. To move in that direction will require a return to legitimate government of and for ordinary people, an end to the abuse of power that characterizes the Honduras we have visited in these days and a deep commitment to honest and broadly participative dialogue across the differences that now divide Honduran society.

We commit ourselves to supporting this endeavor and to helping to animate action in solidarity with the people of Honduras in the international networks of religious communities and people of faith of which we are a part.

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas-Justice Team:
Sister Diane Guerin, Justice Minister, Mid-Atlantic Community
Sister Edie Lopez, Justice Minister, Central and South America Community
Jean Stokan, Director, Institute Justice Team

Marie Dennis, Co-President, Pax Christi International and Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

*in collaboration with the Quixote Center/Quest for Peace and the Hemisphere Social Alliance

Transcript of State Dept. Press Briefing: Visas, Military Coups and Recognizing the Winner of Next Honduran Election
2009 August 26 by magbana

Yesterday, the State Department held a telephone conference with reporters to give them an opportunity to ask questions about the US decision not to offer any new visas to Hondurans other than those in the immigrant and emergency categories. The visa issue was a minor aspect of the briefing and a few of the reporters decided to put the screws to the State Dept. representative on two issues in particular: Was it or was it not a military coup? and If Zelaya is not returned to the presidency by the time the elections are held, will the US recognize the winner regardless?

The star of the show was Jose Cordoba of the Wall Street Journal who is not at all confused about what is going on in Honduras.

Following is a transcript of the conference call. Oh, the twists and turns and the weaving of the wicked web. It’s fairly long, so get yourself a beer or a cup of coffee and get comfy.

Senior State Department Officials on Honduras

Via Conference Call

Washington, DC

August 25, 2009

OPERATOR: Welcome, and thank you all for standing by. At this time, all participants are on listen-only mode and for the question and answer session. At that time, you may press *1 to ask a question. I’d also like to inform parties that the call is now being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time.

And I’d now like to turn the call over to Mr. Fred Lash. Thank you, sir, you may begin.

MR. LASH: Thank you all for joining us today. We have with us a Senior State Department Official for a on background briefing concerning the situation in Honduras with the recent OAS mission there. I will turn it over to our Senior State Department Official for an opening remark – opening remarks and then we will begin taking calls after that. Please begin.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for calling in. As you know, since yesterday, there has been an OAS delegation in Honduras. They – this is the delegation that the United States was very supportive of and we were happy to see them get started. Their mission was to talk to all sectors in Honduras to try to urge the two relevant parties to come to closure on this crisis and to find the San – what we’re calling the San Jose Accord, that was worked out with President Arias.

The delegation – we’ve been keeping – we’ve been tracking the delegation very closely, have received intermittent reports from them, and we understand that they have spoken with – they’re currently in meetings with president 9 3 the de facto president Mr. Micheletti. We know that they spoke with supporters of President Zelaya, that they spoke with businesspersons and church groups in the country.

What we’ve also learned over the course of these two days is that there still seems to be very strong resistance or reluctance among some members in the de facto government to signing the San Jose Accord. And the United States continues to believe that that accord was very painstakingly worked out, that it is the best way forward for a negotiated solution to this crisis. And because we feel so strongly about that, today the United States did decide to take an additional measure in support – in hoping that this would help advance the process. And the measure, as you read probably on our announcement, is to temporarily suspend the non-immigrant visa services in Honduras, that will be non-emergency, non-immigrant visa services. That will be effective as of tomorrow.

We really believe that this will help and signal how seriously we’re watching the situation there. We believe that this will help advance coming to closure, and we thought it was important to take this step – to take this step – to take this step at this time.

I’m open for – ready for questions.

MR. LASH: Coordinator, can you begin with the first question, please?

OPERATOR: Yes, thank you. We’ll now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press *1. It is required for you to record your name when prompted so that your name may be introduced for a question. Once again, it is *1 to ask a question. One moment, please.

Our first question will come from Arshad Mohammed. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi, it’s Arshad Mohammed of Reuters. Why – you said that this was a signal of how the decision to suspend visa services, except for emergency and immigrant or potential immigrants, why – of how closely you’re watching the situation, what does this – beyond that you’re watching the situation, which we’ve known since June 28th, does this presage or hint at the possibility of greater U.S. sanctions against the de facto government if it fails to accept the San Jose Accords?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you for your question. As you know, we are looking at this situation as it evolves. At this point, we felt like this was an appropriate measure to take. As you20know earlier, we supported when the OAS – we voted with the OAS when they voted to suspend Honduras’ participation in the OAS. We have suspended some of our bilateral – direct bilateral assistance. We suspended certain diplomatic visas of the regime. This is just another measure, one more measure.

Does that mean that there might be other measures that we will consider? Yes. That means that there are others, but we – but what’s in that menu or what those will be yet, it would be premature for me to say.

QUESTION: And is it fair to say that you would consider those other measures, whatever they might be, if the de facto government fails to accept the Arias plan?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I think what I’m trying to say is that we really think that both sides need to accept the plan. And we will consider – we will continue to try to work with both sides that they will reach that same conclusion, and we will do what we think we can to help them move in that direction.

OPERATOR: Our next question will come from Sergio Davila. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi. It9 9s Sergio Davila from Folha de Sao Paulo. I have two questions, actually. Does the State Department consider what happened in Honduras a coup d’état? If not, why not? And also, is there any other country that is under the same visa suspension as Honduras is now?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you also for you question. We have already stated that we do believe that this was a coup against the genuinely elected president. I can’t comment about what’s going on in other parts of the world. Right now, we’re focused right here, right on Honduras.

QUESTION: And so – sorry, just a follow-up. If this is a coup – the State Department considers this a coup, what’s the next step? And I mean, there is a legal framework on the U.S. laws dealing with countries that are under coup d’état? I mean, what’s holding you guys to take other measures according – the law?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I think what you’re referring to, Mr. Davila, is whether or not this is – has been determined to be a military coup. And you’re correct that there are provisions in our law that have to be applied if it is determined that this is a military coup. And frankly, our lawyers are looking at that exact question. And when we get the answer to that, you are right, there will be things that – if it is determined that this was a military coup, there will be things that will kick in.

As you know, on the ground, there’s a lot of discussion about who did what to whom and what things were constitutional or not, which is why our lawyers are really looking at the event as we understand them in order to come out with the accurate determination.

QUESTION: Thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question will come from Jordi Zamora. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Jordi Zamora from AFP. Thank you. I have a couple of questions. First of all, I’d like to know whether this measure of today about visa, have you taken this measure, as you say that you were in close contact with the delegation in Tegucigalpa, have you taken these measures then – I don’t know, today or tomorrow, according at what you have known from those meetings? Have you taken the decision – I don’t know, today – because of what you have been told by this delegation? And second question, had you warned the regime in Honduras that you were about to take this decision, this measure if nothing20happen at – during this meeting?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you, Mr. Zamora. It’s more in regard to – I think I need to clarify a couple of things. While we are aware and have been trying to track very closely exactly what the delegation in Honduras, I don’t want to give you the impression that we’ve been getting a full debrief from them, because we have not. But if – rather than what we’ve been told by them, it’s what we haven’t been told by them that is leading us to this conclusion. In other words, there has still been no indication, and that much is pretty clear, that the de facto regime is really prepared to embrace the Arias accord. And we do think it was important for the delegation to finish all of its work and to come – and come back to Washington and make some proposals to us perhaps, if they can’t get – I guess, people to sign.

But we think that taking this measure now is very important to signal – we have certain expectations of the two, the two main parties, i.e., the Zelaya – President Zelaya and the de facto regime. So this is our way to say yes, there’s an OAS process that is ongoing, but also we are trying to frame this in such a way to help advance that process.

And you asked something – did we warn the regime. As I think I mentioned earlier, we have had contact with both President Zelaya and his supporters as well as persons who are affiliated with the de facto regime, and they are well aware of our thinking about what’s going on there.

OPERATOR: Our next question will come from Jose. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Yeah, hi. This is Jose De Cordoba from The Wall Street Journal in Mexico City. A couple questions. I’m not quite sure as to what visas are affected. Is it basically tourist visas that are being affected?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Yes.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We’re talking about non-immigrant visas, so that would be tourist visas – non-emergency, non-immigrant visas.

QUESTION: So it’s basically tourist visas. And what – how many would you be putting out? I mean, the tourism season is over, but school is about to begin. So I don’t think that it’s a big impact. I think it’s a minor action to make a lot of noise, but really very little, it seems to me.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Are you asking me how many non-immigrant visas we issue in a year?

QUESTION: Will, you’ll be issuing, say, in the next per month or something.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, in a year, I guess you can do the math, but in a year, we issue about 45,000 roughly.

QUESTION: Tourist season?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, we do – we interview about 45,000 persons who want to come either as – well, whatever their – in a non-immigrant way. And we issue about 30,000 a year.

QUESTION: Yeah.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Now, this could be business visas. It could be people coming on temporary work visas. There’s lots of different categories –

QUESTION: Yeah.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: — besides tourist visas.

QUESTION: Yeah, but I guess most businessmen would probably have multiple entry visas, which I assume would not be affected by this.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: That’s correct.

QUESTION: So we’re talking basically about tourist season, so about 45 – or rather, 30,000 tourist visas a year that you’re talking about. That doesn’t seem very – like a big deal.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: What we have said is that we are temporarily suspending services because we want to do a review.

QUESTION: Yeah.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: And once we do that review, then we’ll see what kinds of changes, if any, we need to make. And therefore, I think it’s a little premature to talk about exactly how many people this is going to affect and how it’s going to affect them.

QUESTION: Okay. And another question, if I may. It seems to me that the Arias agreement is dead. I mean, all Honduras’s institutions – you know, supreme court, the congress, the attorney general’s office – have said that the central tenet of the Arias plan, the return of Zelaya, is nonnegotiable because it’s illegal. So it seems to me, you know, you’ve got to rethink things. Where do you go – where are you going to go from there?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We don’t have that same reading, actually. We don’t think the Arias – we think the Arias plan is the only viable plan at this point. And I think that we are seeing – we are hearing enough even in the various institutions that you mentioned, if you talk to two or three persons from each institution, you get a nuance.

What we’re really looking for is some leadership or people to say, all right, it’s time to bring this to closure, and we can work out the differences. We will agree all on the basic premises that are in the plan and work out the details of the solution and verification as we go forward.

QUESTION: Is the return of Zelaya still the basic fundamental part of the plan, I mean –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: The return of Zelaya as the elected president, and to finish out his term is still a co re tenet in the plan.

QUESTION: Is still what?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Core tenet in the plan, yes.

QUESTION: If — will you recognize the winner of the November election if Zelaya is not allowed to come back as elected president?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I think it –

QUESTION: And if not, why not?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: – that is premature for us to talk about that.

QUESTION: Mm-hmm. Do you have any idea when the – whether – when you will determine whether Zelaya’s coup is a military coup, and is there any other type of coup? Is there a –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Sure, there are – there have been other types of coups, but –

QUESTION: Like what?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, over a decade ago, I was in Panama when they basically had a legislative coup. There are different kinds of coups that you can have. But we are hoping very, very soon to have a readout from our lawyers to get back to today – get back to –

QUESTION: Yeah. Can I have – ask one more question or –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Sure. Yes, you may.

QUESTION: Yeah, okay. What have been the cutoffs in aid? I mean, I know about the $16 million military aid cutoffs. But I – what I understand, the World Bank, the IMF and the IADB had not been able to give any money, any aid to Honduras because Zelaya has not – had not submitted a national budget for a year. So when all these institutions said that they were suspending their aid it was basically an empty gesture. Isn’t it – is that the case?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, I’m speaking for the United States Government today.

QUESTION: Mm-hmm.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: And our gestures=2 0are quite meaningful and quite full.

QUESTION: I’m sorry?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Our gestures were the suspension of all direct assistance to the government and all military assistance.

QUESTION: And the direct assistance to the government, how much did that come to?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I have a chart, but it’s on my computer. Roughly, about $35 million.

QUESTION: Mm-hmm. And that goes to –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: If you don’t mind, we can take the question and get you a figure if – I don’t have it right at my fingertips. I apologize.

QUESTION: The $35 million, that includes the military aid?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yes, it does.

QUESTION: And so roughly $16 million for military and the rest going to what?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I’m – you know what, I don’t want to – can I just get like a fax number from you or something, because I can get –

QUESTION: Yeah, sure.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I can pull it out of my machine, but I can’t do it while I’m talking on the phone.

QUESTION: Sure, no problem.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: So do you want to give me your number or you’re going to give it to the –

QUESTION: Well, I don’t know, it’s – let me see –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Oh, well, people will have it. Our press people say they can take care of it. Okay?

QUESTION: Okay, fine.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We’ll get this to you, okay?

QUESTION: Sure, thanks.

OPERATOR: Our next question will come from Monica Showalter. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi, it’s Monica at Investor’s Business Daily. My question is this: Is there any potential for flexibility or for modification of the San Jose Accords in the things it’s stipulating? It seems to me that if the OAS made an early mistake by marching into Honduras and saying my way or the highway, wouldn’t there be potential to repeat that if the San Jose Accords stay equally inflexible? I just wanted to ask if – you know, is there any potential at all for changing any aspects of that?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Our view is that President Arias has done a tremendous job in trying to pull out – pull together what are the core tenets for a possible agreement. The entire purpose, however, of a negotiation is just that, to have an negotiated agreement. If President Zelaya and de facto – and Mr. Micheletti were to get together with President Arias and work out something that all three of them thought that they could agree with and they thought that represented the best way forward that also held on to the underpinnings of the democratic and constitutional rule, then, of course, the United States would have to look at tha t. What we are trying to do is help Hondurans forward and move out of this impasse. So I think that would be something that the leaders would have to take to Arias.

QUESTION: Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yes.

QUESTION: Can I ask one more?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Sure.

QUESTION: Okay. I found it interesting. There was a letter sent to – sent to the Senate that said that it was unlikely that big trade sanctions would be made on Honduras. I wanted to ask, and this is sort of a technical question, is that due to the structure of CAFTA, which is a six nation treaty? Like for instance, if you cut one off, you’d have to cut all six off? Does it have to do with that or does it have to do with perhaps the interconnectedness of industries through Central America, and if you disrupted one you might disrupt them all?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: It has to do with the provisions in CAFTA.

QUESTION: It does have to do with CAFTA , okay – how it’s structured?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Right.

QUESTION: Okay, thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: The binding agreement with CAFTA.

QUESTION: Exactly. Okay, thanks.

OPERATOR: Our next question comes from Patricia Campos Mello. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi. I would like you elaborate why – because some analysts have been saying that the most effective way to pressure the de facto regime would be to suspend trade preferences. And so I wanted to know why exactly that’s not a possibility? And also, the OAS has indicated that they are not going to recognize the new president, even if it’s democratically elected, if Zelaya has not returned to power before that election, so –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what organization you represented.

QUESTION: It’s Folha de Sao Paulo, Brazilian newspaper.

=0 A

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Okay, thank you. I didn’t hear that, I’m sorry.

QUESTION: Okay.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Maybe – or someone else just asked about the trade preferences question –

QUESTION: Yeah. I just wanted you to elaborate why that’s not a possibility.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We have an agreement called the CAFTA agreement, and apparently provisions in that make it impossible – very difficult, if not impossible, for us to do that, so we can’t – it looks like we cannot go down that route.

We have not made a determination yet. You said the OAS has said that the United States –

QUESTION: They have indicated, not said on the record, but they have signaled to that.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Okay, we’ll we certainly haven’t signaled that.

QUESTION: You have not?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We haven’t made it – we haven’t – we’re not even looking at that point yet, because we are – we are really hoping to get this agreement signed.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question comes from Juan Vasquez. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi. I just wanted to get a clarification on – I’m Juan Vasquez with the Miami Herald – just on a couple of points. On the visas, you are still interviewing people, if you think there’s an emergency, but you are not issuing any new visas at all. Is that correct?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: No that wouldn’t be correct. We’d be interviewing and, if they were eligible, issuing to emergency cases.

QUESTION: Right. Well, obviously, you’re saying non-emergency, so emergency cases. And secondly, are any visas being revoked at all, on the part of those who do have multiple entry visas and who might be connected in some way to the de facto government?

QUESTION: Hello? Hello?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Hello. I didn’t know which one. As part – we were going to be looking – as part of our review, will help us to look at that question.

QUESTION: At the possible revocation of visas?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Correct.

QUESTION: Okay. Now, on the question – I just need a clarification on what it is that the lawyers are looking at involving a military coup. Maybe I missed something there.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: When events evolved about a month ago, we had very conflicting stories as to what exactly occurred. And we have tried very hard to get to the bottom of what has occurred. And we have, to our best ability, put together what we understand to have been the chronology of events — the sequence of events, I should say. And judging from that, our lawyers are looking to say, well, are we going to call — is this a military coup, or was this in fact something that was done by the judiciary, was it done by the legislature, et cetera? There’ s a difference.

QUESTION: Okay, but — still just trying to get a clarification. As I recall, earlier in this same briefing, you said that it — you have called it a military coup.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: No, we’ve called it a coup. He said, “Is this a coup d’état?” I said, “Yeah.”

QUESTION: Oh, I see.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We have said from the very beginning, what we do know is that the legitimate government, the legitimate president, was taken out of office in a way that was not prescribed, in a way that was unexpected and forced. And we call that a coup, a coup to the head of the government.

There are specific – we have laws – there’s a – I forget the exact section of the law that deals with our – the way we can handle assistance and the way we can handle our relationship with a country if there is a military coup, if the person in charge of, leading, and then taking over the government after the coup are the military. And we are examining to determine whether or not that’s the case here.

QUESTION: Thank you. One last question. Just when would you expect to finish that inquiry?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Immediately.

QUESTION: Thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question comes from Gilberto Scofield. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi, I’m Gilberto Scofield from Globo, Brazil. I just would like to know, can you please tell us at which point inside Mr. Oscar Arias’s plan are facing more resistance from the Honduras de facto government, because you listen to –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Our understanding is – the main point that is facing all the resistance from the de facto government is a sentence that says: The return of President Zelaya to finish out his term.

QUESTION: Okay. And do — and did they propose anything? I mean, did the de facto government say, okay –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: They proposed that he not return. But the – I don ’t know currently if they’re proposing anything to the delegation that’s down there now.

QUESTION: Yeah.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We do understand that the delegation had tried to make earlier appointments in their arrival in Honduras, and those things were put off. But apparently, Mr. Micheletti wanted to say something to them, so I really don’t know what’s going on, what he’s saying now. But that had been the only sticking point.

QUESTION: Yeah, because now we have listened to interpretations of people saying that, for example, that Zelaya could come back, but without any power at all. So that would be unacceptable for the de facto government – and, you know, a lot of suggestions like this. But now you said that the core of the discussions is this – the coming back with full power.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I said that the main sticking point – I don’t know if it’s the core of all their discussions, because as I said, I don’t know the realm of all of their discussions – but the main sticking point had been Zelaya’s return, and return as president to finish his term.

There isn’t any discussion, really, if you look at the Arias accord, that talks about how well he’s endowed upon coming back. I mean, he comes back as president, he comes back to finish out his term. But part of the verification commission and the ideas of the truth commission had to do with how both sides were going to feel comfortable in this small interim period before they got to elections.

So I – had there been some creativity or had there been an ability for both sides to understand that, we might have already had a signature to this accord already and be working on those kinds of details. But right now, the sticking point is Zelaya’s return as president just for the remainder of his term. Other conditions, it would seem to me, would be with Arias and the group to work out.

QUESTION: And – okay. And since the elections are just around the corner, do you work – you, United States – work with a reasonable deadline, you know, for a result or, I don’t know, any kind of signal from an agreement or whatever? Do you think that it’s reasonable – say, okay, in one month, if that’s not decided, then –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I ll be honest with you. Yes, we love timelines, but the beauty of them ends when the ink dries up off the page. So we are looking to try to find this – to bring this to closure as quickly as possible, the sooner the better, but we have not put a date certain on – we have not drawn a line in the sand as to – well, okay, that’s all – do you understand what I’m saying? Sorry.

QUESTION: Yeah. (Inaudible.)

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I’m kind of mumbling. I’m sorry.

QUESTION: Yeah. Okay, thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question comes from Celine. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Yes, hi, Celine Aemisegger with EFE News Service. Actually, the other colleagues have already asked for – a few of my questions. It’s just that it seems that this could go forever on, because today, Roberto Micheletti said to the OAS delegation that he will hold the elections on November 29th, either way, if the world recognizes them or not. So actually I don’t see any other possibility the OAS or the international community could have, other than step up with other measures, mor e sanctions. Or I don’t know – how do you see that?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I’m pausing because I – you’re right. These things look difficult, but the job of the diplomat is to never say that things look impossible. And we have a very good group of diplomats from the OAS who are – and from the various countries of the OAS – who are in country now.

Mr. Micheletti has said a number of things. So we are hoping that we will be able to induce him and his supporters to come to a more reasonable conclusion than the one you just suggested. But I will tell you this: The United States will not think that this thing will go on forever.

QUESTION: Yeah. Thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question comes from Tim Padgett. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi. Tim Padgett from Time Magazine. I just wanted to follow up on Jose de Cordoba’s question regarding whether or not we would recognize the winner of the election in November, if this were – situation were still going on. Wouldn’t that, in and of itself, become a mechanism of pressure, to get the Micheletti govern ment to agree to the San Jose accord? That threat of not recognizing the winner of that election and the subsequent government, wouldn’t that, in and of itself, be a useful form of leverage?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We are looking at all these questions. I’m not – clearly you’re – we’re thinking about the same questions that you’re thinking about. We haven’t made a determination about that. There are – it’s possible that it would be perceived that way. It’s possible that it wouldn’t be. I mean, certainly, we’ve told the Micheletti organization that we don’t recognize them now, and that doesn’t seem to have much of an effect.

QUESTION: Right.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: So we’re – we are – we understand that the elections loom in the not-distant future. We certainly want this resolved before then. But you’re right; we are looking at all facets of the prism to figure out the clearest light.

QUESTION: And then just one other quick question, following up on Juan Vasquez’s* question about what constitutes a military coup. Are we to understand, then, that when civilian institutio ns use the military to perform a coup, that then is not designated a military coup?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: No, we’re not necessarily to understand that. We’re waiting for our lawyers to help us to understand what we’re supposed to understand.

QUESTION: Okay. Okay. Thank you.

MR. LASH: We have time for one more question.

OPERATOR: Thank you. Our next question will come from Celia. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi. Good afternoon. My name is Celia (inaudible) from the German Press Agency, the Spanish wire. My question would be, apparently Roberto Micheletti is proposing an alternative way – a third way, let’s say – that would be neither him nor Zelaya taking power. It would be a third person that would assume the presidency until Zelaya’s time runs out. And my question would be, would the U.S., if nothing else works, be comfortable with this solution? Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I suspect not. You’re making news now, because I haven’t really heard this. So – well, we havenE2t really looked at this, and I don’t –

QUESTION: Apparently –

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I mean, I don’t see the difference at this point. Now I’m really just speaking from my own perspective. I don’t see what changing the body in the chair does if there isn’t any acknowledgment that the legitimately elected president has still not returned. But it would be premature for me to make any kind of comment about this, because it really hasn’t been assessed. I haven’t looked at it.

MR. LASH: I’d like to close the session here today. Thank you very much for the Senior State Department Officials. This is, again, a reminder, an on-background briefing today on the situation in Honduras. We thank you for your questions and hope it’s been useful for you. Again, thank you for the participants as well. Thank you all very much.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/aug/128373.htm

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
More...

COLOMBIA: Updates on Herbicides and Awa massacre in Narino

NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2002 (with update from August 9, 2009 following)

60 Minutes: Herbicide Problems Says Practice Is A Health Hazard And Waste Of Tax-Payers’ Money

(CBS) Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) tells CBS "60 Minutes" Correspondent Steve Kroft that spraying herbicide on Colombian coca plants not only fails to curb cocaine production, but it may also pose a health hazard to thousands of innocent people living near the fields.

The spraying program has destroyed hundreds of square miles of coca fields, yet production continues to rise. "Once a field is destroyed, they just go deeper into the forest and they start all over again," says McGovern. "We are not stopping the production…and to me that’s a colossal waste of money."

On his visit to Colombia, Kroft found people suffering from rashes that a Colombian health department worker believes were caused by the spraying. The worker, Nancy Sanchez, also says illnesses like fever, diarrhea and allergies were up 100 percent in the spraying areas and that 2,300 families have complained of sicknesses.

A recent U.S. State Department report said that the main ingredient in the herbicide, glyphosate, was no more irritating than baby shampoo or salt. Rand Beers, the State Department official in charge of the spraying, admits that the herbicide, brand named Roundup in the U.S., can be harmful to humans in high concentrations, but said his program uses concentrations well within safety levels.

Scientists working for the State Department could find no link between the spraying and illnesses. They attributed symptoms to unsanitary conditions, common infections in the region and to chemicals used in the cultivation and processing of coca.

Elsa Nivia, a Colombian agronomist who opposes spraying, tells Kroft her research indicates a much more dangerous concentration of Roundup. "They are applying concentrations up to 26 times higher than what is recommended for agricultural use," she tells Kroft. "Also, they are applying Cosmo-Flux, which quadruples the biological action." Cosmo-flux makes the herbicide more effective by increasing its sticking and penetration power. It is known as a surfactant, something Roundup’s producer, Monsanto, specifically warns its customers against using. Cosmo-flux has never been approved by the EPA for use in the U.S. and its ingredients are a trade secret of its Colombian manufacturer.

Says McGovern, "[The herbicide] is powerful stuff and I think it’s ridiculous to say that we shouldn’t worry about the health impacts…Nobody really can tell me…what the health effects of this spray might be."

This is one of two 60 MINUTES reports this week that is of special interest to the Hispanic community in the U.S.

In the other, Ed Bradley reports on Cuban assets in the U.S. that were frozen for more than 40 years for national security reasons until President Clinton released most of them the night before he left office. The released money went to the families of Cuban-American "Brothers to the Rescue" pilots who won a lawsuit against Cuba for killing the pilots when they shot heir planes down.


The Price Of Bananas
May 13, 2008 5:33 AM
A lawyer says Chiquita Brands International has "blood on their hands" for paying money to Colombian paramilitaries; but the company's CEO argues the payments were made due to extortion.
60Minutes
Aug. 9, 2009
The Price Of Bananas
Steve Kroft On How Colombian Paramilitaries Landed A U.S. Corporation In Hot Water
(CBS) This story was first published on May 11, 2008. It was updated on Aug. 9, 2009.

For American corporations, the rewards of doing business abroad are enormous, but so are the risks. And over the past 25 years no place has been more perilous than Colombia, a country that is just beginning to emerge from the throes of civil war and narco-terrorism.

Chiquita Brands International of Cincinnati, Ohio, found out the hard way. It made millions growing bananas there, only to emerge with its reputation splattered in blood after acknowledging it had paid nearly $2 million in protection money to a murderous paramilitary group that has killed or massacred thousands of people.

As correspondent Steve Kroft reported last year, the victims' families are now suing Chiquita in an American court, and investigators in Bogota and on Capitol Hill are looking at other U.S. companies that may have done the same thing.

From the air, the plains of the Uraba region are carpeted with lush foliage of banana plantations, which have long provided a livelihood for the people of northern Colombia. And for the better part of century, its best known product has been the Chiquita banana.

But since the 1980's, the business of bananas there has been punctuated with gunfire. First, the area was taken over by Marxist guerillas called the "FARC," whose ruthlessness at killing and kidnapping was exceeded only by the private paramilitary army that rose up to fight them. Chiquita found itself trying to grow bananas in the middle of a war, in which the Colombian government and its army were of no help.

"These lands were lands where there was no law. It was impossible for the government to protect employees," says Fernando Aguirre, who became Chiquita's CEO long after all this happened.

Aguirre says the company was forced to pay taxes to the guerillas when they controlled the territory in the late 1980s and early 90s. When the paramilitaries, known as the "AUC," moved in in 1997 they demanded the same thing.

"Did the paramilitaries state, specifically to you, that if you didn't make the payments, your people would be killed?" Kroft asks.

"There was a very, very strong signal that if the company would not make payments, that things would happen. And since they had already killed at least 50 people, employees of the company, it was clear to everyone there that these guys meant business," Aguirre says.

Chiquita only had a couple of options and none of them were particularly good. It could refuse to pay the paramilitaries and run the risk that its employees could be killed or kidnapped, it could pack up and leave the country all together and abandon its most profitable enterprise, or it could stay and pay protection, and in the process, help finance the atrocities that were being committed all across the countryside.

"These were extortion payments," Aguirre says. “Either you pay or your people get killed.”

"And you decided to pay," Kroft remarks.

"And the company decided to pay, absolutely," Aguirre says.

There was no doubt in the company's mind that the paramilitaries were very bad people, Aguirre says.

Just how bad was already becoming evident. The paramilitaries, who were funded initially by large landowners, and later by the cocaine trade, not only drove the Marxist guerillas from the area, they tried to eliminate anyone who might have leftist sympathies, from labor leaders to school teachers. Sometimes entire villages were wiped out in the most grisly fashion. Gloria Cuartes was the mayor of Apartado, and witnessed much of it with her own eyes.

"I was a mayor whose job was just to gather the dead," Cuartes says.

In 1996 she went to a school to talk to the children about the violence that surrounded them. While she was there, the paramilitaries arrived and murdered a 12-year-old boy, whose only crime had been to announce their presence.

"They cut off his head, and they threw the head at us," Cuartes remembers. "I went into a state of panic. They were there for four hours, with their weapons, firing shots toward the ceiling. One hundred girls and boys were with me. The children did not scream. They were in shock."

Asked if they said anything to her, Cuartes says, "No. Their language was death. Their message was that if they could do this to children, they could do it to me."

As the atrocities piled up all across the country, Chiquita continued to make the payments to the paramilitaries, viewing itself as a victim of the violence, not a facilitator.
But all of that changed in 2001, when the U.S. government designated the paramilitaries a terrorist organization, making any kind of financial assistance to the group, coerced or otherwise, a felony. Yet Chiquita continued to make the payments for another two years, claiming it missed the government's announcement.

"It was in the newspapers. It was in the Cincinnati Enquirer, which is where your company headquarters is. It was in the New York Times," Kroft points out. "I mean, this is a big part of your business, doing business in Colombia. I mean, how did you miss it?"

"Well, again, I don't know what happened during that time frame, frankly. What I know is, all the data shows that the company, the moment it learned that these payments were illegal in the United States, that's when they decided to self-disclose to the Department of Justice," Aguirre says.

By "self-disclose," he means Chiquita, on the advice of its attorneys, turned itself in to the Justice Department. One of the first things Aguirre did when he became CEO was to stop the payments and sell the company's Colombian subsidiary. The company pled guilty to a felony and agreed to pay a $25 million fine, but that wasn't the end of its legal problems.

"This company has blood on its hands," says attorney Terry Collingsworth, who has filed one of five lawsuits that have been brought against Chiquita, seeking money for the families of Colombians killed by the paramilitaries.

Collingsworth says the money Chiquita paid for seven years may have kept its employees safe, but it also helped buy weapons and ammunition that were killing other people.

"Are you saying that Chiquita was complicit in these massacres that took place down there?" Kroft asks.

"Absolutely. If you provide knowing substantial assistance to someone who then goes out and kills someone, or terrorizes, or tortures someone, you're also guilty," Collingsworth says.

Asked if he believes that Chiquita knew this money was being used to go into the villages and massacre people, Collingsworth says, "If they didn't, they would be the only ones in the whole country of Colombia who didn't think that."

"You're not saying that Chiquita wanted these people to be killed?" Kroft asks.

"No, they were indifferent to it," Collingsworth says. "…they were willing to accept that those people would be dead, in order to keep their banana operation running profitably, and making all the money that they did in Colombia."

Collingsworth says he thinks the company should have just picked up and left.

"It's easy for a lawyer to give that type of advice, after the fact," Aguirre argues. "When you have more than 3,500 workers, their lives depend on you. When you've been making payments to save their lives, you just can't pick up and go."

"What did the company think this money was gonna be used for?" Kroft asks.

"Well, clearly to save lives," Aguirre says.

"The lives of your employees?" Kroft asks.

"Absolutely," Aguirre says.

"It was also being used to kill other people," Kroft says.

"Well, these groups were funded with hundreds of millions of dollars. They had the guns," Aguirre says. "They had the bullets. So I don't know who in their right mind would say, 'Well, if Chiquita would have stopped, these killers would have stopped.' I just don't see that happening."

"Do you feel that the company has any responsibility to compensate the victims of the paramilitaries in Colombia?" Kroft asks.

"The responsibility of any murders are the responsibility of the people that made the killings, of the people who pulled the trigger," Aguirre says.
The Justice Department decided not to prosecute any corporate officers at Chiquita, which included prominent businessmen such as former CEO Cyrus Freidheim Jr., who later led the Sun-Times Media Group, and board member Roderick Hills, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The decision created a furor in Colombia. The country's prosecutor general said he would begin his own investigation, and has threatened to extradite some of Chiquita’s executives to stand trial in Colombia.

There's also a Congressional investigation, led by Representative William Delahunt of Massachusetts, who chairs a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.

Rep. Delahunt has been quoted as saying that Chiquita is the tip of the iceberg.

Asked what he means by that, Delahunt tells Kroft, "Well, I think that there are other American companies that have conducted themselves the same way that Chiquita has, except they haven't been caught."

How many companies?

"Well, there are several," Delahunt says.

Delahunt says he doesn't want to share more information "because I want to give those companies an opportunity to come before the committee."

60 Minutes did find one person who was willing to name names inside a maximum security prison outside Medellin: Salvatore Mancuso was once the leader of the paramilitaries.

"Chiquita says the reason they paid the money was because your people would kill them if they didn't. Is that true?" Kroft asks.

"No it is not true," Mancuso says. "They paid taxes because we were like a state in the area, and because we were providing them with protection which enabled them to continue making investments and a financial profit."

"What would have happened to Chiquita and its employees if they had not paid you?" Kroft asks.

"The truth is, we never thought about what would happen because they did so willingly," Mancuso says.

Asked if the company had a choice, Mancuso says, "Yes, they had a choice. They could go to the local police or army for protection from the guerillas, but the army and police at that time were barely able to protect themselves."

Mancuso helped negotiate a deal with the Colombian government that allowed more than 30,000 paramilitaries to give up their arms and demobilize in return for reduced prison sentences. As part of the deal, the paramilitaries must truthfully confess to all crimes, or face much harsher penalties.

"Was Chiquita the only American company that paid you?" Kroft asks Mancuso.

"All companies in the banana region paid. For instance, there was Dole and Del Monte, which I believe are U.S. companies," Mancuso claims.

Both Dole Food Company and Fresh Del Monte Produce, which is not affiliated with Del Monte Foods, have issued statements strongly denying that they made payments to the paramilitaries. Fresh Del Monte Produce said its Colombian operation is "limited to a sales office which purchases bananas from independent growers."
"Dole and Del Monte say they never paid you any money," Kroft tells Mancuso.

"Chiquita has been honest by acknowledging the reality of the conflict and the payments that it made; the others also made payments, not only international companies, but also the national companies in the region," Mancuso says.

"So you're saying Dole and Del Monte are lying?" Kroft asks.

"I'm saying they all paid," Mancuso says.

Mancuso has been indicted in the U.S. for smuggling 17 tons of cocaine into the country. He said he was more than willing to tell U.S prosecutors anything they want to know.

"Has anyone come down here from the United States to talk to you about Dole, or to talk to you about Del Monte or any other companies?" Kroft asks.

"No one has come from the Department of Justice of the United States to talk to us," Mancuso says. "I am taking the opportunity to invite the Department of State and the Department of Justice, so that they can come and so I can tell them all that they want to know from us."

"And you would name names?" Kroft asks.

"Certainly, I would do so," Mancuso says.

So far, the only company that has been charged with paying money to terrorists in Colombia is the one that turned itself in.

"Do you think if you hadn't gone to the Justice Department and disclosed the situation, that anything would've happened to you?" Kroft asks.

"Well, Mr. Kroft, if we hadn't gone to the Justice Department, we probably would not be here talking about this whole issue. No one would know about this," Aguirre says.

Since our story aired, Salvatore Mancuso has been extradited to the U.S. to face drug charges, and the Colombian government has stepped up its investigation of Dole. Two jailed paramilitary leaders have corroborated Mancuso's claims that they received protection money from the company.
More...

PERU: Peru must pick job losses or pollution at smelter

By Terry Wade http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE57Q4K620090827

LA OROYA, Peru (Reuters) - Thousands of workers are demanding Peru's government save their jobs at a shuttered metals smelter high in the Andes, even if it means delaying a cleanup at the plant that has turned their town into one of the most polluted places on earth.

"We don't want the plant to close, it should stay open, but we also don't want pollution," said Monica Ayala, 40, who lives in front of the smelter and says her three children cough up dark soot.

Union members from Doe Run Peru's La Oroya factory say they will block highways in central Peru starting on Monday unless President Alan Garcia acts decisively to end a months-long crisis at the world's most diversified metals smelter.

The future of the smelter and about 20,000 local jobs that depend on it hinges on a tussle between Garcia and Ira Rennert, the New York billionaire who owns the plant, over a contentious environmental cleanup.

The controversy could play into the hands of opposition candidates from the left and right ahead of Peru's elections in 2011, when Garcia cannot run.

Doe Run, which says it has spent $307 million scrubbing the smelter and may need to spend $150 million more, blames the government for going too slowly with its share of environmental work.

The president, whose popularity is below 30 percent and faces a sharp economic slowdown, would anger environmentalists if he were to allow more delays on the cleanup of the plant, which they have complained about for years.

Operations at Doe Run Peru began unraveling late last year after metals prices dropped by half on the global economic crisis and banks canceled its credit lines. Its furnaces were shut by June and last month it filed for creditor protection.

Workers and many La Oroya residents want Garcia to extend a deadline requiring the company to finish cleaning up its smelter by October. That would help Doe Run regain access to financing.

"We are asking for a reasonable extension," said Nazario Flores, a lawyer for the Comite de Defensa de La Oroya, a community group. "If the plant is permanently paralyzed, there will be chaos here.

The plant opened in 1922, and Doe Run bought it from Peru's government in 1997. The smelter has been the main source of pollution in a town ranked as one of the 10 most contaminated on earth, according to the Blacksmith Institute, an environmental organization.

Many townspeople have high levels of lead and arsenic in their blood.

"Obviously, so long as the cleanup that we are committed to isn't complete, we share some responsibility. But this has to be seen in light of all the work we have already done," said Jose Bengoa, vice president of operations for Doe Run Peru."

"Things have gotten better in the last 12 years, and nothing was done during the preceding seven decades."

HISTORY OF DISTRUST
In a bid to save cash, the company halted spending in December on the last phase of its environmental cleanup program, which aims to further cut smokestack emissions.

Its smelter eventually ground to a halt after $110 million it owes to mining companies piled up and it ran out of cash to buy mineral concentrates for its refinery.

To start producing again, it needs a cash infusion from its owner or a loan from a bank, but neither will put up money until the government extends the cleanup deadline.

Garcia's government says it would only give Doe Run more time if Rennert puts 100 percent of its shares in escrow as a guarantee that he will finish the job.

That has created a stalemate, with the company and workers pushing the government to ease up. Even local activists who have complained about pollution for years say their town's economic engine must restart. Some call it "a necessary evil."

Doe Run says it needs a 30-month extension to build and pay for a sulfur dioxide capture system for its copper refinery, or half that time if it gets a bank loan.

Since buying the plant, Doe Run Peru says it has slashed lead and arsenic emissions into the air, and industrial water discharges into a nearby river, by about 80 percent.

Still, after decades of pollution, residents are distrustful.

"We're considered a problem because we complain," said Meliton Rivera, 42, who lives across the river from the plant. "The lead comes straight from the smokestack."

Two of his four children have elevated levels of lead and arsenic in their blood and are slow learners. Thin air and toxic fumes make breathing a chore in the town 12,300 feet in the Andes.

GARCIA CAUGHT IN A JAM

For miles around the plant, high levels of lead can be found 4-5 inches into the topsoil, the company said citing government studies. Children are exposed to it when they play in the dirt, while chickens and lambs people raise in their backyards ingest it, health officials say.

The company says the government is responsible for cleaning up contamination that was emitted before Doe Run bought the plant. Pollution has accumulated since early in the last century on the canyon walls surrounding the town.

As the impasse over the extension drags on, Garcia has faced muted calls to nationalize the company, though doing so would clash with his pro-market policies.

He has criticized left-wing leaders in Venezuela and Bolivia for taking over private companies. Nationalizing Doe Run would saddle his government with more environmental liabilities.

Granting Doe Run a financial bailout would invite criticism that he is pampering Rennert, whose 66,000 thousand square foot mansion in the Hamptons is one of the largest houses in the United States. Rennert's holding company has rebuffed requests to inject more money into Doe Run Peru.

After Rennert bought the plant, Peru prohibited him from taking profits out of it until all environmental compliance rules were met. Doe Run officials say the smelter lost money for years before the boom times of 2006 and 2007, as archaic equipment was updated.

Rennert's holding company Renco declined to comment.

Even after Doe Run does finish its smelter cleanup, residents fear La Oroya's hills will still be contaminated.

One pessimist is Sofia Eunicia Quinta, 32, a mother of four. One of her children has 43 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, four times the level considered safe.

"The truth is there is no solution here," she said. (Additional reporting by Patricia Velez and Teresa Cespedes in Lima; Editing by Kieran Murray and David Gregorio)

GUATEMALA: Update on Xalala, CAFTA and Labor, Justice & Accountability

1. JUSTICE & ACCOUNTABILITY
Forced Disappearance Cases Move Forward

Through recent rulings, Guatemalan courts have given the green light for two forced disappearance trials to move forward. Although over 45,000 people were disappeared during the war in Guatemala, no prosecution for any of these crimes has reached a verdict in the court system. Many hope the courts’ latest decisions will set the precedent for future cases.

Choatalum (Choatalun)– On July 7, 2009, the Constitutional Court ruled that the crime of forced disappearance constitutes an ongoing crime until the victims reappear. With this dramatic decision, the court rejected the defense’s argument that the crime of forced disappearance cannot be tried retroactively, allowing the hearings to continue. Read CALDH’s communiqué in Spanish here.
http://nisgua.org/themes_campaigns/index.asp?id=3491

El Jute – On June 26, 2009, at a closed hearing in a military hospital, the judge set a September date for the first public hearing in the case of El Jute, a community in the eastern department of Chiquimula. Family members of eight people forcibly disappeared in 1981 filed charges against military officials currently held in pre-trial detention: four former commissioners (one deceased) and a colonel - the highest-ranking member of the military to be imprisoned in relation to a crime committed during the war. [Note: The judge has not accepted the charge of forced disappearance in this case, so the official charge is currently abduction]

2. TRADE & GLOBALIZATION
Gold-Mining Company Under Fire for Use of Dangerous Chemicals
The Peace and Ecology Pastoral Commission (COPAE) found concerning levels of potentially harmful metals at a number of water monitoring sites near the Canadian-owned Marlin Mine in the western department of San Marcos. Also, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) prohibited further cyanide importation by Montana Exploradora for the Marlin Mine, citing a lack of environmental license to do so. MARN has also fined the company Q12.3 million for having already imported more than three million kilos of cyanide in the past few years.

Mass Protests Organized against Mega-projects
July 13, 2009, marked the first day of a series of massive protests across the country organized by rural communities and campesino (farmworker) organizations calling for respect for natural resources and the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as the release of prisoners linked to their movements. Among others, thousands from the communities of San Juan Sacatepequez marched over 21 miles to protest a cement plant in the area, which they fear will cause general environmental damage and, more specifically, harm the flowers they grow and sell for a living. Since the week of protests, many groups have negotiated agreements with the government, others reported retaliation for their participation in public resistance.

Ixcan Update: Read more in Spanish about an event organized by affected communities for International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
Xalala Dam

Comunidades amenazadas por megaproyectos exigen informacion y participacion
CEG
8/10/2009

Guatemala, 10.08.2009 (AC).- Representantes de comunidades indigenas de Ixcan, Uspantan, Coban, Chisec, La Libertad, Peten y San Juan Sacatepequez, exigieron mas participacion e informacion sobre los planes de desarrollo y explotacion de recursos a realizarse en sus territorios.

En un encuentro realizado en Ixcan, Quiche, con motivo de la conmemoracion del Dia Internacional de los Pueblos Indigenas y para compartir experiencias y fortalecer sus luchas, varios lideres indicaron que las comunidades estan en desventaja ante el poder economico y politico de las grandes empresas.

El peligro mas grave para los pueblos mayas es "el tercer despojo" de nuestras tierras y recursos naturales, de las cuales las grandes empresas quieren aduenarse, senalaron en un comunicado.

Los lideres tambien identificaron como un obstaculo para los pueblos indigenas que otros han tomado decisiones y como resultado viven en una situacion de pobreza, violencia y discriminacion.

Ahora es tiempo de la participacion comunitaria y que las decisiones se tomen democraticamente, en consulta con las comunidades y autoridades indigenas, que tienen el derecho a ser informados, consultados y a decidir sobre los planes de desarrollo a realizarse en sus territorios, manifestaron en el documento.

Los representantes acordaron tomar acciones locales en torno al rescate de la identidad, el fortalecimiento de la organizacion, la promocion de la participacion de hombres y mujeres en reuniones y asambleas, la denuncia de las amenazas que reciben por defender su tierra, detener la violencia contra las mujeres, y apoyar la lucha de estas para que puedan acceder a titulos de propiedad de terrenos, entre otras medidas.

Los participantes tambien expresaron su satisfaccion por la realizacion de mas de 30 consultas comunitarias realizadas en el pais por la defensa de la vida, y su solidaridad con el pueblo de San Juan Sacatepequez, en su lucha contra la instalacion de una fabrica cementera.

U.S. Congress Urges Guatemala to Uphold Labor Rights under CAFTA

In a letter directed to President Alvaro Colom, 40 U.S. congressional representatives called on the Guatemalan government to meaningfully address workers’ rights violations and violence against trade unionists, as stipulated in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). The letter follows up on a U.S. Department of Labor report issued in January of this year, which largely supports the claims of six Guatemalan unions regarding labor rights violations against their members. Visit USLEAP for more information. http://usleap.org/congressional-letter-addressing-worker-rights-violations-and-violence-guatemala-needs-support

Did your representative sign the letter? NOT in Missouri. We have work to do! More...

HONDURAS: Global Day of Action for Honduras August 11 11:30-1:00 outside Bread Co. west end of Delmar Loop

Tuesday night, 28 July 2009

Today marks the month since the coup. Congress keeps delaying on the Arias plan. I think the most significant thing that happened today politically was that Washington cancelled the diplomatic visas of several of the coup members. A symbolic step by Washington, I think, but it may be the signal of the screw tightening.

Mel continues in Ocotal. The full-time curfews (universal house arrest) continue in the border areas; it’s hard to tell what is happening in those areas.

The guy in our house who was in a meeting in Managua got through today on TicaBus (an international bus line from Costa Rica); the buses go by the Pacific route and therefore go through a different crossing. He said the border was heavily militarized, but they let the international traffic through, it seems – at THAT crossing, which is not where Mel is.

Thursday night, 30 July 2009

A day of pro-Zelaya demonstrations all over the country. At least in Tegucigalpa it seems like the police or the army (I’m not sure which or both) have decided to crack down. If you read that article from the Nation linked about, the person who is chief of security for Micheletti is one Billy Joya, major participant in the death squads of the ‘80’s. One protester in Tegucigalpa was shot in the head (it’s unclear whether mortally or not)[editor's note: the teacher died and another teacher was fatally stabbed 25 times after the funeral], there are some 150 jailed and an undetermined number who suffered wounds from beatings (like broken arms). FrancePress reports that they attacked reporters and confiscated or smashed cameras.

Mel met with the U.S. ambassador (to Honduras) in Managua. They didn’t reveal anything afterwards about content, as far as I can find.

The Congress has shelved “discussion” of the Arias peace plan until Monday. (They think they can do business as usual and just delay as long as they want).

There is a high-level (planned before the coup) pow-wow of presidents of the “Mezo-American” countries – Central America plus Mexico and Colombia – in Costa Rica. CNN says that Insulza of the OAS is with them (probably somebody from the UN too) and that our situation took over the agenda; they remain unanimous in their non-recognition of the coup government and say they are going to get tough to demand that. They say. They all know that they can’t really impose any kind of sanctions without hurting themselves: the Central American economies are so inter-linked – and all so weak, even in the strongest, Costa Rica. Everybody is worried about the danger that our destroyed economy will be at least extremely taxing to all the other economies of the region. And the figures so far published of losses to the economy here are frightening.

Saturday morning, 1 agosto 2009

There was a Times article published on Thursday which says that Micheletti has accepted the possibility of the return of Mel – Tiempo of San Pedro Sula reproduced this Friday (in translation), but I haven’t seen a confirmation of it from any other source. It may have something to do with the meeting of Mel and the U.S. Ambassador the other day.

Demonstrations continue in force throughout the country. The teacher who was shot in the head on Thursday died early this morning. My guess is that the golpistas (coup d’etat in Spanish is a direct translation of the French: golpe de estado.) are trying to keep the repression under wraps while the international spotlight remains here – with the intention of letting loose once the attention of the international community has gone elsewhere). The very presence of Billy Joya (and what we know of Micheletti) make it clear that serious repression is in the plans.

Sunday night, 2 agosto 2009

Seems to have been a fairly quiet Sunday – I suspect, a day of a lot of dealing behind the scenes.

Mel has gone (or is going soon) to Managua, so he can go to Mexico on Tuesday to meet with Pres. Felipe Calderón. I suspect Mexico is going to take a harder line with the golpistas (the coup leaders). Micheletti is crowing about how he can stand up to the U.S. when they try to pressure him – which I suspect means that he begins to feel more pressure behind the scenes. He is reacting strongly to the meeting the U.S. Ambassador in Tegucigalpa had with Mel in Managua this past week – Micheletti was furious.

According to La Jornada of Mexico City, most of the Zelaya supporters who were in Ocotal have drifted back home. I imagine most of the people on the Honduran side have managed the same thing, and this second act of “Mel Returns” may be in its final measures. I think Mel will go back to the diplomatic circuit – at least, that is what I think would be the smart thing to do at this point.

The golpistas are pulling pure delaying tactics; they feel they can sit it out until the time of elections in November (which they will of course control completely), and once there is a newly elected president the world will recognize him as legitimate and problem solved. Word is that Spain is now leading the movement to make it clear way beforehand that the UN and the OAS and all will not recognize elections held by the golpistas.

Monday night, 3 agosto 2009

Today it looks even clearer that the golpistas (the coup leaders) are simply stalling. I think emphasis will go back on the diplomatic side, which was fairly low-key during the second installment of the on-going soap opera “Mel’s Return”.

There has been a flurry of diplomatic things, including some sort of high-level OAS commission some day this week; today two high-level Spaniards (from Spain, that is) met with Arias in San José. I haven’t heard of any declaration from any of them about what went on.

It looks like this week Micheletti will take over from Mel the role of Bombastic Cock, strutting and preening and crowing.

La Jornada carries a FrancePress dispatch that cites rumors of the formation of Death squads: I hope that’s wrong.

A strange and frightening thing has passed: the last two Sundays (yesterday and Sunday a week ago) there have been fans shot by the other team’s fans after the afternoon (professional) soccer game. Last week it was outside the national stadium in Tegucigalpa (2 dead, several wounded); and then yesterday in San Pedro Sula (1 dead). It is a sign of the generalized tension and fear.

Tuesday night, 4 agosto 2009
Mel was received in Mexico today with all the honors (and press) of a head of state, and he and Felipe Calderón, the president of Mexico, gave a joint press conference. Here’s a good thing in Spanish (from La Jornada):
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2009/08/04/

Next week Mel goes to Brazil. Brazil announced publicly today that it will not recognize elections held under the auspices of the golpistas (the coup personnel). The diplomacy is clear: the two most powerful nations of Latin America (Mexico and Brazil) are taking the lead to tighten the screws a bit more, and making it extremely plain they will not recognize a coup government and period. In the case of Mexico this is in part clear self-interest: the last thing Mexico needs at the moment is Central America in turmoil.

Mel also re-iterated his acceptance of the Arias peace plan.

Here’s a little thing from Le Monde Diplomatique (in English) that looks at all the diplomacy from a somewhat different angle: http://mondediplo.com/2009/08/01honduras

Demonstrations continue, and there are more reports of the police and army getting seriously out of hand. The de facto government closed Radio Globo, a station in Tegucigalpa with national reach which had been one of the few independents – I think the only one in Tegus. There is more talk of Death Squads being re-organized.

Wednesday night, 5 agosto Day 37.

Ugly things went on in the National University this morning. I haven’t gotten it all straight yet, but basically the army entered into the campus of the University and there was a considerable amount of tear-gas and beatings. Latin American universities have a considerable tradition of being “autonomous” – that is, the army is not allowed to enter the campus. (Recall that the National University in Mexico is UNAM -- the “A” standing for “autonomous”. Likewise, our national university is UNAH). So the army having entered the campus at all is a considerable affront to tradition. At one point a vice-rector of the university – the highest authority present at that moment – tried to talk to the soldiers to point out the fact that they should leave the campus, and she was greeted with a beating.

Mel continued in Mexico today, continuing to be treated as the head of state. The OAS confirmed that it will send a high-level commission – of ministers from five or six countries – to try to strong-arm the Micheletti faction.

It’s curious that, even with all the time that has passed, we remain the lead story on CNN en español.

There is a new tactic that the resistance is trying this week: peaceful long marches from various points in the country to the two largest cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. Tela is one of the points from which they set out thismorning (people from Ceiba and the Aguan assembled in Tela yesterday, it seems), and the word is that they walked 28 kilometres today (Tela to San Pedro Sula is about 90 kilometres). I don’t understand what they do for the night. There is another group for San Pedro Sula coming from the west (Tela is to the east); these set out from Santa Rosa de Copán. There is a group from Olancho (Mel’s home state) marching to Tegucigalpa, and there must be others that I haven’t yet heard of. They say they are walking on the shoulder and are not blocking traffic; they are planning to converge on the cities on Sunday.

I’m re-reading Asturias’ El Señor Presidente. I remember many of the details, but it reads like a new book. Although this story in many ways is more like the politics in O. Henry’s Cabbages and Kings. If you don’t know Cabbages and Kings, get it and read it. O. Henry was in Honduras, on the run from the law in the States, in the 1890’s, and these stories are inspired by his experiences here. Among other things, he coined the term “banana republic” (his time here was the time when the traffickers in precious wood still reigned supreme, and the banana companies were just beginning to move in. Read them if you don’t know them; he was a fabulous observer of detail. I discovered him only in the last few years, but I now see why the critics/historians pay so much attention to him. In a certain sense he’s the link between Mark Twain and Hemingway.

++++++++++++++++++++
Saturday, August 1, 2009
ESTA ES SU CASA--AUGUST 2009

My City in Ruins

What a mess! If I smiled at the coup in Honduras, world reaction was hysterical. Suddenly, Honduran “democracy” had been violated, the “legitimately elected” president must be immediately “reinstated” to his “rightful position.” It’s like Honduras was Athens and Mel Zelaya our Pericles. News to me. This is the first time I remember human rights activists so respectful of Honduran institutions rather than demanding their immediate and radical reform.

Nobody’s smiling now.

I’ve been trying for years to get some attention for Honduras. Finally everybody notices us, and world opinion is unanimous: Honduras is a joke. We’re a throwback, an anomaly, a banana republic in the 21st century, a toxic backwater. We’re Sarah Palin.

Coup, shmoo, they lanced a boil! Now they’re telling us we have to put the pus back in its sac. But I guess even when your president is behaving like Captain Queeg--”Cuarta Urna, Cuarta Urna, that’s the ticket”--Micheletti’s little mutiny is an affront; you can’t just bundle the President up and cart him off to Costa Rica in his Spiderman pajamas and not expect to pay a price. And oh man, we are paying a price! The country is split like a watermelon dropped off the roof. And lookit, the coup was to stop Mel from electing himself president-for-life, but Micheletti has been in Congress 30 years, a diputado-for-life.

I am physically sick with fear at my country in ruins, though, like the father in “Life Is Beautiful,” I assure my son Chemo that it’s all a game, so he does not see how scared I really am. Most offended are countries that already have a “president-for-life,” like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who was orchestrating Mel’s deconstruction of whatever bits of democracy Honduras did have. He is playing for keeps, but he is frustrated, too, even falling back to his default position: the CIA is behind the coup.

Oh, I hate this! I swear I cannot talk politics in these updates! I didn’t come here to be CNN. I’m just here because some first-century rabbi said sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and then come follow me. Now I’m so confused. Just because every year since then has been numbered from his birth, that doesn’t necessarily mean he was right, does it? But where is his love? Where is his love of neighbor? Where is his love of enemies? Where is his shrinking from self-interest? I need you more than ever. My little robbery, the murder of Dr. Nelson--these local events have jumped up to a national scale. That is, if you can find them in the news anymore. When Michael Jackson died, Honduras was buried. Judging by the news coverage, Jesus is so over; the millennia will now be numbered BeforeMJ and AfterMJ....

Anyone who writes me, I try to agree with, and that’s because I’d rather have a friend than a fight. Let’s not even talk about the news media here--newspapers, TV, radio. Sold! A fog of disinformation thicker than soup. I thought I was misinformed till I saw the coverage you’re getting, including one account that referred to “ousted President Manuel Zelda.” Oy vay! I created my own fantasy world bigger than Battlestar Galactica, imagining that my friend in the State Department, Robert Schwartz, was forwarding my frantic pleas for help directly to Hillary Clinton. But, you know what, she did more for us than anyone else when she got Mel Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti, the “interim” president, to agree to talks moderated by Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias, president of Costa Rica. Of course, they didn’t even sit down together--damn that macho culture!--handing over the negotiations to “commissions” they formed, but it gave us a little hope, enough to sleep some nights, looking at our children, like Chemo, wondering if they’d ever forgive us for our “principles.”

Speaking of principals, that was the gut-wrencher for us parents: no classes. This burned my blisters. Holding kids hostage. The teachers unions--a Hydra with six heads--declared a national strike till Mel be restored. This is so ironic. We lost fifty days last year with strikes when the unions HATED Mel because thousands of teachers were unpaid. He threatened to fire them all two or three times They wanted him OUT then; now they want him back. The media are reporting helatious pay-offs to “persuade” the unions to see Mel’s point of view. I believe everything and nothing at this point. Whatever, the unions demand full compliance. In Las Vegas, where the teachers, God bless ‘em, have often quietly ignored national strikes, they’re scared to resist this “perfect storm.” Nevertheless, classes did resume here after two weeks, and they are trying to keep going, despite intense pressure to shut down. Everybody’s got a union--except kids. If we lose this school year with 4 months still to go, well, in Chemo’s case, it’ll just be about the 10th year of school he’s lost in his lifetime, since he never went to school till I adopted him.

When Mel attempted a re-entry a week after the coup with a plane and pilot borrowed from Hugo Chavez, the crowd at the airport was a powder-keg, pro and con, and Mel urged his partisans, “Please practice what I have always preached: non-violence.” (Gag me!) When he couldn’t land--the airstrip was dotted with army vehicles--he eventually buzzed off to Nicaragua, though not before at least one young protester was shot dead., Now he’s trying to Che his way back in, inciting violence and revolution, reminding us of our “constitutional right” to insurrection against an “usurper” government. That’ll work, teachers with yardsticks (and rocks) vs. the Army. Meanwhile, the “new” government is daily finding more evidence of Mel’s corruption, including unsealing indictments from a Florida court of a shake-down scheme for cellular phone rights involving millions of dollars in bribes; all the names were cronies of Mel. Mel’s chief of staff practically emptied the vaults at the national bank the day after the coup--40 million Lempiras--to spread the wealth around among any likely defectors. They caught that on tape! Then they noticed that no drug planes had been crashing since Mel left; these little prop planes, mostly from Venezuela--Hugo Chavez again!--were crashing at the rate of about one a week, overloaded with drugs or cash, leading to calculations that for every one that crashed--and I saw one myself, still smoldering, right by the side of the road when I last went to San Pedro Sula before the present crisis--at least a dozen were getting through, sailing the trade winds from south to north and right into your neighborhood. Now, such corruption could no doubt be found with any Honduran president--including the present one! (After all, SOMEBODY is paying for the tens of thousands of white tee-shirts that the marchers for “Peace and Democracy” are wearing. And I just found out that Micheletti owns all the Burger Kings in Honduras.) It’s just that this time the “authorities” have the leisure of unimpeded investigation.

On Friday, June 24, Mel thought he was Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon, as he stepped into Honduras across the Nicaragua border. More like Sid Caesar in a pratfall--or Frank Burns in that “MASH” episode, taunting Hawkeye: “See, I can step in, I can step out, nyaah, nyaah.” The poor guy, he just wants to see his family, who have been under watch ever since his ouster. He supposed the Army would run to embrace him as their Fearless Leader, but the troops just stayed put. In fact, they even stepped back some 50 yards, under orders to avoid any confrontation. Some rumors say their loyalty is also being purchased at a pretty price. It is a special disgrace to test the conscience of a soldier. Even John the Baptist was gentle: “Just don’t scare people, and be content with your pay.” Both “presidents” have much to answer for.

Oscar Arias presented a beautiful Peace Plan of 12 points (sort of a 12-step recovery program for those drunk on power), and the world is praying for its acceptance. It would return Mel to the presidency but with his...wings clipped. The same Head of State, but in a smaller hat. As of this writing, Mel’s border pantomime continues; now he’s talking about forming “militias” and hiding in the hills to plan raids like Tom Sawyer’s Gang. He’s managed to insult Hillary Clinton, who wants to see him in Washington: “If she wants to talk to me, she can send someone here.” Used to be when someone offends a lady, you’d punch them in the nose. Let’s see if Obama in his “mom jeans” steps up to the plate. Meanwhile, the State Department is upping the pressure on Micheletti, cutting millions in aid, shutting down the U.S. military base here, and revoking diplomatic visas. Micheletti says, “That’s fine, we’re not going to Disney World anyway.” (I’m paraphrasing.) As my friend Elvis says, “Like talking to a rock.” Yet, Obama’s celebrated “cool” may save the day--nothing extreme, just playing out the line till the big fish bites. I hope it’s soon.

When Norman Mailer searched for a metaphor to describe the Vietnam war, he turned to the strongest language he could find: “We are burning the body of Christ in Vietnam.” Today, may I say, Honduras is crucified between two thieves. Pray for our rising.

There are signs of hope. As poet Anne Sexton once wrote, “I eat it like bread.”

Our neighbor Marito returned after nine months in San Felipe Hospital in Tegucigalpa, recovering from some weird stroke that turned his muscles to jelly. His homecoming--along with his mother Ana, who stayed with him the entire time--was treated like a re-brith. He still does physical therapy, but it is a miracle to see him walking and talking like a kid again.

We celebrated the “regular” birthdays I guess you could call them of little Miguel Angel and his big brother Juan Jose, sons of Maricela and Juan Blas. Their birthdays fall in the same week, so one year we celebrate one, the next year the other. So far, they have not gone on strike protesting a “birthday-cake gap.”

Everyday on my way to Jacinto’s store to get the day’s “menu” for our spaghetti dinners, I pass the house of one of the poorest ladies in town, Ines, who’s taking care of two tiny grandkids, Jefferson and Helen. I thought they were twins for the longest time. They’re not even siblings! Anyway, I get them a little treat at Jacinto’s every day--a juice, some rolls, a bag of chips, cookies--and drop it off as I walk back. Very soon we are going to give them a birthday party, another twofer, OK? but one of Carolina’s enormous cakes is bigger than both of them.

When Pablo Medina, 50, suddenly died--and he died during an operation in El Progreso, another sign of how fortunate Chemo was to get world-class doctors for his open-heart surgery--we of course were stunned and saddened. But his funeral gave our community an opportunity to gather as one, forgetting any divisions between “Melistas” and “Michelettistas.” Pablo was the sweetest guy, just as humble as milk; a delegado (lay minister), he dedicated his life to the education of the poorest of the poor, the remnants of Indian tribes scattered in the mountains. One of his friends called him the “Apostle to the Poor.” That’s a title even his namesake, the apostle St. Paul, would have coveted.

When I heard that Mel’s partisans were blocking access to hospitals in Tegucigalpa--that’s a winning tactic, huh? sacrificing the sick on the altar of your arrogance--I called Ron Roll of Helping Hands because I knew another Brigada of heart surgeons was supposed to be in town, and he had urged Chemo and me to come for a little show-and-tell. I guess even these protesters’ conscience was pricked, because, said Ron, “Oh, it’s nothing, we just walked right in.” So I said to Chemo, “We’re going to Tegus!” I figured if these wonderful doctors and nurses could brave the crisis, leaving behind their own families, their own children, in the United States, to come for the poor kids of Honduras, we could be brave, too. Lord knows, I would never endanger Chemo, but it seemed somehow reasonable. He’d miss school, but we had to go.

And we went, Monday, July 27, our first venture into the belly of the beast since the crisis began. It was an ugly arriving--burning tires, hateful graffiti, crowds of marchers, streets blocked. I thought, O my God, what have I done? We entrusted ourselves to our favorite taxi driver, Roberto, who always meets the bus from Victoria; it took him an hour and a half (for a trip that usually takes twenty minutes), but he got us to the Nanking Hotel, weaving his way through every back street and cut-off and alley to Angelica’s waiting arms by her candy stand in front of the Hotel. I gave Roberto more than twice what he asked for, acknowledging that no one else would have risked so much for us.

When I called Elio and Mema, another blessed surprise. They invited us to the Catholic Women’s League meeting that evening at the Maya Hotel, just a few blocks from the Nanking. These monthly meetings are open to the public, and they get the best speakers around, this time Jorge Prado from Guatemala. His theme, tempered for the times, was reconciliation and it had us all in tears--even Chemo, who, incredibly, paid attention to every word, and clapped along with the songs (and made short work of the snacks provided as well!). He had all these very proper ladies--and their husbands--holding hands, holding shoulders, and praying deep for peace, our eyes closed and hearts poured out.

You see? There was the love we were looking for. And it primed the pump for the next day, when we went to Seguros Hospital to meet the Brigada. You know what? There IS a union for kids, and his name is Ron Roll. In his unique and altogether lovable blend of English and Spanish, Ron bursts out as soon as he sees Chemo. “Chemo! [mis-pronounced like chemo-therapy] Estás great, honey!” His wife Alba was even more excited, she grabbed everyone around and told them, “This is Chemo [she’s native Honduran, so “Shay-mo”], he was one of our first.” And you know, it struck me--he WAS a pioneer, the very first Brigada back in September. And what’s more, I realized just how special was Ron and Alba’s love; you see, Ron had told us to come about 2 in the afternoon, after the surgeons were finished for the day. Well, back in September, Chemo’s operation did not start till 2, and he was the very last child operated on. I’m thinking he was a very special add-on, as it were, thanks to Ron’s persistence. I wanted to call Ron “Honey,” too! And Dr. Karla, Chemo’s original doctor, gave him his checkup, including a fresh echocardiogram. There’s the love! There’s the kind of love that will save this country yet. And to highlight its gift even more, at least 6 other brigadas (for plastic surgery, cleft palates, burn victims, ear problems, etc.) that come every year have canceled their annual visits, thanks to the dancing monkey in a mustache (Mel) and the “Gorilla” (Micheletti), whose only surgical skills are cutting themselves a bigger piece of the pie.

I mentioned to Alba that it looks like Chemo’s sister Goya (or Rosa), 22, has the same heart ailment as Chemo, but there are no brigadas for adults; she says, “Wait right here.” She comes back with Dr. Christian (!) Gilbert, from Memphis. He says they are returning in November, and “We’ll fit her in.” Can you believe it? Matching scars!

In fact, Rosa (let me just call her Rosa from now on) was our next stop, because we had been telling Chemo’s mother Rufina for months that we would come for her birthday July 30--and we would pick up Rosa and brother Marcos on the way, in Tocoa.

On the way? Omigod! It took us eleven hours on the “express” bus, just to get to Rosa’s, where we spent the night. It’s a big, comfortable bus, but even so, I’m surprised we didn’t meet the Space Shuttle coming the other way. It’s convenient because it’s one bus all the way, and all on paved highways, but that means it’s the long way, cutting a big half-circle from Tegucigalpa and around the country, passing through virtually every major city. And that was the fear--would there be marchers blocking the roads? There were blockages, but it was for construction, though the running joke was, at every sudden stop, “Oh, no, it’s a strike!” That got old real fast....

Rosa looks sick, that sort of “traviata” look, flushed and fatal. I think in her we can see what Chemo might have looked like if he had reached her age without his operation. She was scheduled for an echocardiogram a couple times already--at a clinic two hours away in La Ceiba--but the doctor, apparently the only cardiologist within a thousand square miles, could not get there from San Pedro Sula due to strikes and marches, and he only comes on Saturdays. Do you see, dear friends, how maybe having two competing presidents is not necessarily our biggest concern here, even though it’s got the rest of the world throwing hissy fits?

The next day, Thursday, July 30, we all went to Bonito Oriental for Rufina’s birthday, that is, Chemo, his sister Rosa and her 16-month old baby Tonio, and Chemo’s little brother Marcos. Now, Marcos is still taller than Chemo, but Chemo is catching up. Since his operation, Chemo has grown a lot. Once a head taller, Marcos, 12, is just an inch or so beyond Chemo, about to turn 15.

Fidel, Rufina’s husband, was waiting for us in town. First thing we did was buy a birthday cake, and Fidel even got us a ride to the house. Now, in previous visits, we had to climb a mountain for an hour and a half to reach our destination; but they’ve moved! They live on the flat earth now, just outside of town. It’s a lovely little house, of solid concrete block, right by the river, breezy, shady, and lots of water pressure. (I took a shower--outside, mind you--that I never wanted to end.) But it doesn’t have lights--yet. Fidel’s patron, Don Cruz, 91 years old, basically got his sons to build it for them, and it’s his home, too. Two of the sons dropped by, and they are very loyal to dad. I gave Fidel some cash to expedite the installation of the electricity. But it really wasn’t much of a problem, except for going to bed at 7:30....

Rufina enjoyed her party, though she had to cook her own birthday dinner, with Rosa’s help, and Marcos and Chemo played in the river. I chatted with Don Cruz; this guy has personally lived through about half of Honduras’s history, so I asked him about the present crisis. He starts, “When I was about 14, in 1932”--Good night nurse! the man’s a Wikipedia!--”all I remember is war...and now we’re there again.” Will this ancient Moses ever get to the Promised Land?

Let’s back up. Before Chemo and I started this country-crossing crusade, there was just enough time to keep another promise I had made, to Pablito and Chepito, to visit their dad Leon again, still serving time in the Yoro Penitentiary, a year and a half after hacking at Nazario with a machete in a drunken brawl. So we went, with Irene their mom, on a Saturday. Leon seems more “at home” now, as if maybe he is actually a little reformed. He did not harp on his innocence and the injustice of it all. (Though it surely is unjust--Madoff will be out before Leon, wanna bet?) He and Irene snuck off for a conjugal visit, at least I assume it was conjugal, since they came back so fast--a conversation would have lasted longer. And then appeared the boys’ true motive for the trip; Leon gave each of them a weighted fishing net that the prisoners make to sell. It’s sad to think he bribes his own kids, though I have to say the distance between dad and sons has been good for the boys. And of course, I gave him money, more than he even asked for. I had to do that, too. You know, think of Jesus Christ, the original Half-Blood Prince--a villain to some, a sacrifice for all--so who am I to call a man a prisoner, just because he’s in a jail?

I’ll tell you who SHOULD be in jail, Levi Selly, and I don’t even know him! But I was checking my banking online one day and I saw that ol’ Levi had transferred himself almost a thousand dollars of my money! Identity theft! Can you believe it? My sister Barb always warned me, if you’re on wireless, anyone (anyone with a heart of stone) can access all your stuff. After about five hours on the phone, most of it on hold, passed from one “associate” to another till I made it all the way into the Deathly Hallows, I actually got the money back. How about that! I got a bailout! I just hope Levi Selly gave his ill-gotten gains to the poor of Honduras, because that’s where my money--which is mostly YOUR money--is supposed to go. I apologize for almost losing your donations.

I’ve had to pause my reading of the Interlinear Greek New Testament. I lost the book! I left it at a bus stop in Tocoa. Now, who’s gonna read it? I was up to Ephesians. I had just 300 more pages to go. But don’t worry, I’ve already ordered another one from Amazon.com, and it’s “New!” Even more Greek! Even more Interlinear! I guess I’ll have to internalize it till then.

Well, Rosa just got her echo--she needs a pace-maker! There was that scary word again that marked Chemo’s first report, “severa.” severe. In her case, a severe dilation of the valvular ring “mitral,” which I’ll have to look up. She looked a little scared when I told her it meant surgery, but it’s a heck of a lot easier than Chemo’s full open-heart excavation, right? I will share the results with Dr. Christian Gilbert from the Brigada, and see what he says. I don’t think any of the kids got pace-makers...he’ll have to pick one up at Radio Shack, I guess!

Rosa headed back to Tocoa, along with her husband Tonio and Marcos, who had come along to La Ceiba, and Chemo and I are on a bus to Progreso. We’ll keep a-goin’ till we finally get back home to Las Vegas....

But wherever we are, I know where the love is now--wherever YOU are.
Love, Miguel

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This analysis of U.S. policy on the Honduran coup appeared in the Huffington Post.


The relationship between the actions of the Obama Administration and the actions of the coup government in Honduras is starting to look like those children's games where you follow the order of the leader, but only if he says the special phrase. The Obama Administration says it wants to see President Zelaya restored. When the Administration appears to mean business, the coup regime appears to move towards compromise. When the Administration signals that its words are not to be heeded, the coup regime reasserts its intransigence.

Wednesday afternoon, it was reported that the leader installed by the coup had told Costa Rican mediators he personally accepted a compromise that would allow President Zelaya to return, but needed help in convincing the Honduran business elite to go along. This followed by one day the U.S. announcement that it had suspended the U.S. diplomatic visas of four leaders of the coup government. Initial press reports of the U.S. action indicated it was an escalation of U.S. pressure.

But subsequent statements by U.S. officials downplayed the idea that it was an escalation of U.S. pressure, asserting that it was just a continuation of the existing policy of not recognizing the coup government.

Predictably, then, the reports of movement in the coup government's position were followed by reassertions by the coup government that there was no change: President Zelaya could not return.

The State Department said it wants to restore democracy. But apparently the State Department didn't say "Simon Says."

When the mediation by Costa Rican President Arias was announced, there was much fanfare about what a clever diplomatic stroke it was by the State Department, taking the issue out of the hands of the South Americans.

But unless the goal was to delay the restoration of democracy as long as possible, it can't be judged a success if there is no settlement of the conflict. The South Americans initially deferred to the Obama Administration, on the grounds of 1) give the new guy a chance and 2) Honduras is clearly in the U.S. "sphere of influence" (for example, the only country in Central America that hosts a U.S. military base.)

Soon, that deference to the Obama Administration will likely end, and the region will likely take matters into its own hands, as it did in resolving the crises during the Bush Administration when Colombia invaded Ecuador and when violent separatists tried to destabilize the government of Bolivia. What is to be gained for the U.S. in further delay?

The coup in Honduras is a bellwether event for Latin America and its relationship with the U.S. in the Obama Administration. It will shape perceptions in the region for years to come of what the boundaries are for the Obama Administration for permitted popular political and social reform in the region - just as the successful U.S.-supported coup in Chile and the unsuccessful U.S.-supported coup in Venezuela shaped perceptions in the region of what was permitted and not permitted. Obama promised a new relationship with Latin America. So far, it looks more like continuity than change.

But the Obama Administration still has the means at its disposal to make this right. People tend to remember the last thing that happened. If President Zelaya is restored, and people see that political space for democratic reform in Honduras is being preserved, the overall story in the region will be that the Obama Administration took the side of democracy.

Congress plays a key role here. Rep. Raul Grijalva is urging President Obama to enact real measures to pressure the coup leaders, including suspending their U.S. visas and freezing their U.S. bank accounts. He's been joined by Reps. McGovern, Serrano, Conyers, Fattah, Honda, Barbara Lee., Jesse Jackson, and Oberstar. Ask your Representative to support Rep. Grijalva in urging Obama to say "Simon Says."

Nikhil Aziz, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Grassroots International
179 Boylston St, 4th Flr.
Boston, MA 02130
Tel: 617-524-1400
Fax: 617-524-5525
Email: nikhilaziz@GrassrootsOnline.org
URL: www.GrassrootsOnline.org
Building the Global Movement for Social Justice

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ More...

COLOMBIA: First Hand Accounts of the Effects of War on Women

MEXICO: JULY 2009 Chiapas/Zapatista News Summary

1. 5 Chiapas Political Prisoners are Free! - Five of the seven political prisoners from San Sebastian Bachajon were released from prison on July 6. Judicial authorities terminated all criminal charges against them after hearing their appeal. Two Other Campaign members from San Sebastian still remain in prison. The five who were released thanked national and international civil society for all our support. The Chiapas Support Committee sends out muchos thank yous to all of you who signed the petition to free the 7 political prisoners from Bachajón. We sent it to Calderón and Sabines while the prisoners' appeals were pending and we also gave Frayba a hard copy when we were in Chiapas during July.

2. Washington Post Says that the Mexican Army Uses Torture! - The Washington Post published an article on July 10 detailling allegations of torture against the Mexican Army in its war against drugs. It linked this to the $1.4 billion approved by the U.S. Congress to assist the Mexican Army and other Mexican security forces. Mexican human rights groups have reported this for years. In fact, 70 civil organizations signed a letter asking Congress not to approve additional funding for the Merida Initiative because of human rights abuses by the soldiers and repression against the civilian population. Now that the Post has published the ugly truth, the State Department is required to look into the matter and give a report to Congress in order to release the Merida Initiative (Plan Mexico) funding. The State Department has requested a report from Mexico.

3. Other Campaign Member Killed in Mitzitón - On July 21, Aurelio Díaz Hernández was run over by a truck and killed in the community of Mitziton, in the rural part of San Cristóbal de las Casas municipality, Chiapas, Mexico. Eye witnesses say it was intentional. The truck driver's gang says it was an accident. The government says it is investigating. However, local newspapers quote government officials as saying that the problem in Mitziton is because of religious differences. While there are religious differences, the essence of the dispute in Mitziton is the new super-highway (toll road) to Palenque, a political dispute. A group of evangelicals belonging to the Alas de Aguila (Wings of the Eagle) Church is in favor of the toll road and supports the PRD state government. The majority of ejido members (500) belong to the Other Campaign and are in resistance to the toll road. The toll road is slated to start its trajectory towards Palenque on Mitzitón's land, dividing the ejido in half. Several days after the killing the ejidal assembly withdrew recognition of the agrarian rights of the 98 evangelicals for refusing to cooperate in community work and for provoking discord.

4. Five Other Campaign Members Jailed in Campeche - On July 10, 5 activists from Candelaria, Campeche were detained and imprisoned. They are members of the Other Campaign and part of the Candelaria civil movement in resistance to paying high electric rates. They are accused of kidnapping an official of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). They initiated a hunger strike the day after they arrived at the prison. The movement against paying high electricity rates has spread to many Mexican states and has active members in Chiapas, especially on the Pacific Coast and in the Northern Zone.

5. Santa María Ostula "Recuperates" Communal Land Amid Bullets - On June 29, mercenaries (hired guns) fired on indigenous Nahua men and women who were recuperating communal land on the Pacific Coast of Michoacán from small property owners who had appropriated it over a 40-year period. The piece of land is named La Canahuancera and is part of Santa María Ostula's communal lands. Santa María Ostula is part of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI, its initials in Spanish) and the Other Campaign. Solidarity caravans are setting up "observation camps" and the Ostula community police have the situation under control now. Both the Mexican Army and Navy have stationed troops there and Ostula's representatives are talking to state authorities. The Nahuas are building a new community on the site and have renamed it Xayakalan. Santa María Ostula was the site of a recent assembly of the CNI's Pacific Region out of which came a declaration proclaiming the right to indigenous self defense in accordance with traditional indigenous justice; for example, the community police.

6. Mexican Economy Suffers from World Recession - In our recent visit to Chiapas, we talked to taxi drivers and farmers about the economy. They told us it was very difficult because people couldn't sell their products. An economist interviewed by La Jornada said that 75% of the Mexican population now lives in poverty. That's 80 million people! This is caused, in part, by loss of remittances from those Mexicans working outside the country. Also, Mexico has lost 735,000 formal jobs. Meanwhile, food prices have risen sharply. Those factors have driven many people into poverty.

7. PRI Makes Big Gains in Mid-term elections for Congressional Delegates - Mexico held mid-term elections for Congressional delegates and several governorships on July 5. Final results show that the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) gained an important percentage of seats and almost a majority of congressional seats. Apparently, 44.6% of eligible voters participated. Both the PAN and the PRD lost badly. The PRI also won several governorships. ____________________________________________
Compiled monthly by the Chiapas Support Committee.

The primary sources for our information are: La Jornada, Enlace Zapatista and the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba).

We encourage folks to distribute this information widely, but please include our name and contact information in the distribution. Gracias/Thanks. News Summaries from previous months will be posted on our web page once it is moved to a secure site. http://www.chiapas-support.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Chiapas Support Committee is a grass roots all-volunteer human rights organization in Oakland, California. We work with indigenous and campesino organizations in Mexico. We participate in an hermanamiento (partnership) with San Manuel autonomous Zapatista municipality in order to support San Manuel's construction of autonomy. In the Bay Area we provide public information about Chiapas through community events, our newsletter (Chiapas Update), our listserv and website. We organize delegations to Chiapas and also recruit and certify human rights observers and volunteers. We participate in the Other Campaign and the International Campaign. Our contact information is below! _______________________________________________________
Chiapas Support Committee
P.O. Box 3421
Oakland, CA 94609
Tel: (510) 654-9587
Email: cezmat@igc.org
http://www.chiapas-support.org

COLOMBIA: New Military Bases Planned by US

Write to President Obama:

I write to you as a citizen of the world to voice my concern regarding the establishment of U.S. military bases in Colombia. I believe that if democracy still exists in Colombia, it is in a state of crisis, and that U.S. foreign policy toward such a State must be changed. U.S. investment in this war cannot continue under the pretense of promoting security and peace. I urge you to consider the creation of a high-level U.S. commission that will engage in dialogue with members of Colombian civil society. The purpose of this commission would be to give people of Colombia a chance to voice opinions that diverge from those of the Colombian government, its economic groups, its embassy in Washington, and the Pentagon. The commission would make an effort to understand the Colombian people’s point of view and the reasons for their opposition of the US military bases in Colombia.

Your Signature

Please send the above letter to President Obama via info@barackobama.com and/or www.whitehouse.gov/contact


AND Please write to Senator John Kerry (D) Massachusetts, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asking him to hold a public hearing regarding the negotiations between the Pentagon and the Colombian government.

Senator Kerry can be contacted via Emily_barnes@foreign.senate.gov

Write to Representative David Obey (D) Wisconsin, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, urging him to evaluate the decision to continue financing the war in Colombia.
========================
SPANISH / EN ESPANOL

Apreciado Presidente Obama :


Le escribo como ciudadano del mundo para hacerle llegar mi preocupacion con respecto al establecimiento de bases militares de Estados Unidos en Colombia. Creo que si todavia existe democracia en Colombia, esta en estado de crisis, y por lo tanto la politica externa de los Estados Unidos hacia ese pais debe cambiar. La inversion de los Estados Unidos en esta guerra no puede seguirse haciendo bajo la excusa de promover paz y seguridad. Lo urjo para que establezca una comision de alto nivel de los Estados Unidos que hable con miembros de la sociedad civil colombiana. Esto daria la oportunidad al pueblo de Colombia para expresar su opinion la cual difiere considerablemente de la del gobierno colombiano, sus grupos economicos, su embajada en Washington y el Pentagono. La comision haria un esfuerzo para entender las razones por las cuales el pueblo se opone a la presencia de bases militares de EEUU en Colombia.

Su firma

Por favor envie su carta a las siguientes direcciones info@barackobama.com and/or www.whitehouse.gov/contact



Acciones relacionadas :

Por favor escribale al Senador John Kerry (D) de Massachusetts, Presidente del Comite de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado y pidale que se haga una audiencia publica sobre las negociaciones entre el Pentagono y el gobierno de Colombia. Escribale a Emily_barnes@foreign.senate.gov
More...

COMMENTARY: The Obama Style and Latin America, Written by Raúl Zibechi

Six months have passed since Barack Obama was installed in the White House. Not much time, but enough to observe changes and continuities in the United States relationship with Latin America. Prominent analysts have emphasized the changes. In his Le Monde Diplomatique column entitled "Positive Balance", Ignacio Ramonet argues that Obama has not made serious mistakes, maintains a high level of popularity and has fulfilled his main promises, including beginning a new era in relations with Latin America.
Clearly, the above-mentioned opinion is the predominant one, even after Obama’s wavering in relation to the coup d ' état in Honduras, an event that has led other analysts to emphasize the continuities in U.S. foreign policy. It would be too simplistic to conclude that there have been no changes. Obama displays a new discourse with more refined style, as evidenced in his meeting with the Presidents of Latin America, including his friendly gestures towards Hugo Chavez, and he appears intent on understanding the rest of the world, as was seen in his June 4th speech in Cairo. Very different, to be certain, from the arrogance of George W. Bush.

Read full article here: http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1633/1/