Comments on: And now for a central American coup!

By: warwick fry

warwick fry — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:49:54 +0000

The blood is just the end product. It’s wasted ink that gets me going. Media people should recognise a media war, mis and dis information and be ready to nail it.

By: Liz45

Liz45 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:18:12 +0000

“There hands are bloodied already, this smacks of US interference also! They’ve invaded or interfered in about 50 countries since the end of WW2!”
What I meant was, “THEIR hands are bloodied already…”. Sorry!

By: warwick fry

warwick fry — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:01:38 +0000

I guess it must be the flippant trop and tail, in the context of some of Guy’s other writings on matters Latin American, and his stereotyping of the ‘hard left’ (I noticed that he put them on the same bench in hell, as the ‘hard right’ in an earlier article).

Apart from the fact that his analysis is not particularly profound, it irks me that he is feeding the media misinformation we are seeing and hearing, not only in the US media, but the ABC. CNN and ABC (Australia) are claiming the coup was triggered by Zelaya wishing to change the constitution to extend his term as President!

This may be at the back of Zelaya’s mind, but constitional reform was long overdue, and Zelaya was setting up four layers of review to put it in place.
1) The poll (that was aborted by the military)
2) Contingent on the results of the poll, the inclusion in the voting options in the elections of next November, whether or not to establish an elected body to review constitutional reform .
3) Contingent on the result of *that* vote, the establishment of a Constituent Assembly to draft the reforms.
4) A referendum on whether those reforms should be accepted once the final draft has been prepared for the people.

Hardly a grab to extend his term in office, as the poll is represented in the anglo media, don’t you think? Guy, if he is as perspicacious as he presents himself, should know better.

When he was working with Arena I used to enjoy Guy’s writing. I would be very interested to hear his analysis of the US establishment’s likely reaction to developments in Latin America. He is on home ground there, and his point of view could be useful, intelligent and amusing.

But as far as Latin American politics are concerned he has demonstrated that he is way out of his depth. I have reacted as I have because Rundle’s flippant approach comes close to stereotyping Latin American political actors.

Finally, and at the risk of sounding ‘drippy’ I feel strongly about these issues at the moment because I have just returned from three months in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and apart from being gobsmacked at the ignorance, and lack of serious media coverage of Latin America by the Australian media, am feeling concerned about a number of Honduran ‘activists’ and Salvadorans I met, who are working in Honduras at the moment.

I ‘experienced’ Central America over a period of five years during the 1980s, and my ‘nostalgia’ for those years does not extend to seeing a return of the death squads and their US coup masters, so flippancy is not going over too well with me, at the moment.

Guy could do a lot better.

Warwick Fry

By: Kim Serca

Kim Serca — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:08:11 +0000

i don’t know what article you’re reading Warwick Fry, but I don’t see Rundle trivialising the coup, despite the flippant top and tail. He noted that the coup was illegitimite, that it had been condemned, that the Honduran military was trained at the school of the americas, and that there was shady US involvement. why don’t you get off the prolier-than-thou rhetoric, you sound like some drippy DSPer

By: Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:01:34 +0000

Looks like lots of writers are aware of what is going on here. That is great. Pity the controlled media doesn’t have the the intestinal fortitude to cover it. Do you remember when they pulled this stunt with Chavez in 2002 and the people took to the streets and the rank and file army would not go along with it? Honduras being smaller may have been more easily “compromised”. I hope the South Americans do something about this! It looks like the “1910 Fruitgum Company” will be back in power in Honduras as quick as you can say Jack Robinson and the people will be driven back into slavery unless they take to the streets, again! Who now has suffered this fate in South America? Allende, Arbenz, Goulat, Torrijos, Roldos and on and on and. When is this going to stop? Pity the spirit of change in America doesn’t extend to foreign policy.

By: michael crook

michael crook — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:55:32 +0000

Those of us who are familiar with the incredible social advances in the ALBA countries are in shock at another attempt by the US to do a “back door” coup in South America. The leader of the coup and military leader Romeo Vasquez is yet another graduate of the “school of the americas” torture training school, along with 11 other previous South American dictators.
Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is in a real bind, he has even refused to use the army against opposition and Columbian paramilitaries operating in his own country due not only to a strong desire not to give the USA an excuse (any excuse) but also because he knows that escalation of conflict never stops until a lot of innocents are dead. So he tries, moderately successfully so far, to use civil remedies to enforce his country’s laws.
How will he deal with Honduras, I dont know, I only hope that if there is an intervention by ALBA that the US keep their grubby little mitts out of it, If I wasn’t an atheist I would be praying for South America right now. Unlike the ABC , Crikey have been willing to report news of South America, no doubt taking a lead from Green Left Weekly, please keep giving South America Prominence.

By: Liz45

Liz45 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:36:19 +0000

Warwick Fry - Good for you! No doubt the US, Britain, Europe and Australian governments will speak out loudly about the rights of a democratically elected government etc. It’s annoying enough when the media insist on referring to Hugo Chavez and the govt owned media etc; (when there’s at least 70 media outlets that are privately owned, and openly against him, even to the point of supporting the coup against him - criminal acts in most countries - certainly here under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005?.) The hypocrisy re Iran will be compounded by their silence, as it was when HAMAS was elected in Gaza - so much for democratic principles. I hope that the people in Central America take the necessary action to stop this coup before those responsible think they can bring about the 1970’s-80’s and the associated deaths, tortures and misery in many countries, including El Salvador, Chile, Venezuela, and others.

John Pilger’s “War on Democracy” is an educational and chilling documentation of the role of the US in these countries. It’s also interesting to note, that the US Military person ?? responsible for the murders etc in El Salvador was sent to Iraq prior to the commencement of the ‘civil unrest’ after the initial invasion. That’s when there were disappearances on both sides - Shia and Shi-ite. It’s just one of the many lessons taught at the “School of the Americas”. Many dictators in Central America proudly displayed their diplomas from this “school” during the years of the so-called civil unrest?(An experienced ex-CIA operative stated this.)There’s a good book called “American Torture” that charts the US torture program/s from the end of WW2 until a year or two ago. It’s chilling too - most informative - I doubt that the US will forgo torture under Obama - they’ve been ‘doing it’ for decades, probably longer!There hands are bloodied already, this smacks of US interference also! They’ve invaded or interfered in about 50 countries since the end of WW2!

By: warwick fry

warwick fry — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:24:48 +0000

Correction - there is now some question as to whether Cesar Ham was actually assassinated, or whether he is in hiding in a safe house with other ‘targeted’ leaders of the social movements in Honduras. The report of his assassination came from NotiMex (a Mexican news agency) on the basis of information from the Honduran police.

Also Colombia *has* condemned the coup - no doubt following the lead of Hillary Clinton.

Nevertheless it is a fact that the Foreign Minister has been abducted, as well as another member of Zelaya’s cabinet, and a list of leaders of the ‘social movements’ is circulating among the ‘special forces’.

I met a number of Honduran unionists who were in El Salvador for the inauguration of President Mauricio Funes there. I doubt that what they would be feeling at the moment is ‘nostalgia’

By: warwick fry

warwick fry — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:50:28 +0000

Just like Guy to trivialise matters that are outside his experience. What Zelaya was proposing last weekend was a poll for voters to decide if they wanted to make a non binding vote to a constituent Assembly to review constitutional reform which they could then vote on whether to accept or not. (Honduras current constitution was written in 1982 under another a US backed military regime that came to power by coup). A better analogy would be of the Australian Armed forces deposing a PM for proposing a referendum on making Australia a Republic.

Meanwhile, the leader of the only left of centre party has been assassinated in his home, the Mayor of San Pedro de Sula (2nd largest city) kidnapped, several of Zelaya’s Ministers detained, and a list is circulating of community leaders and unionists regarded as ‘leftist’.

Perhaps Guy should spend a few months on the ground in a country that has been on the receiving end of US foreign policy (The leader of the coup is a graduate of the notorious US “School of the Americas” military training college).

Could someone pleasse give him a copy of Eduardo Galeano’s “Open Veins of Latin America” to read?