Honduran Leader's Populism Is What Provoked Military Violence

By Benjamin Dangl, AlterNet. Posted July 1, 2009.

Almendares reported that in spite of massive repression on the part of the military leaders, "We have almost a national strike for workers, people, students and intellectuals, and they are organized in a popular resistance-run pacific movement against this violation of the democracy. … There are many sectors involved in this movement trying to restitute the constitutional rights, the human rights."

Rafael Alegría, a leader of Via Campesina in Honduras, told Telesur, "The resistance of the people continues and is growing; already in the western part of the country, campesinos are taking over highways, and the military troops are impeding bus travel, which is why many people have decided to travel to Tegucigalpa on foot. The resistance continues in spite of the hostility of the military patrols."

A general strike was also organized by various social and labor sectors in the country. Regarding the strike, Alegría said it is happening across state institutions and "progressively in the private sector."

The 4th Army Battalion from the Atlántida Department in Honduras has declared that it will not respect orders from the Micheletti government, and the major highways of the country are blocked by protesters, according to a radio interview with Alegría.

The COPINH condemned the coup, media crackdowns and repression, saying in a statement: "[T]he Honduran people are carrying out large demonstrations, actions in their communities, in the municipalities; there are occupations of bridges, and a protest in front of the presidential residence, among others. From the lands of Lempira, Morazán and Visitación Padilla, we call on the Honduran people in general to demonstrate in defense of their rights and of real and direct democracy for the people, to the fascists we say that they will not silence us, that this cowardly act will turn back on them, with great force."

Washington Responds

On Sunday, President Barack Obama spoke of the events in Honduras: "I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya. As the Organization of American States did on Friday, I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully, through dialogue free from any outside interference."

But the U.S. hasn’t actually called what’s happened in Honduras a coup. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, "We are withholding any formal legal determination." And regarding whether the U.S. is calling for Zelaya’s return, Clinton said, "We haven't laid out any demands that we're insisting on, because we're working with others on behalf of our ultimate objectives."

If the White House declares that what’s happening in Honduras is a coup, it would have to block aid to the rogue Honduran government. A provision of U.S. law regarding funds directed by the U.S. Congress says, "None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available ... shall be obligated or expended to finance directly any assistance to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree."

According to Reuters, "The State Department has requested $68.2 million in aid for fiscal year 2010 [for Honduras], which begins on Oct. 1, up from $43.2 million in the current fiscal year and $40.5 million a year earlier." 

The U.S. has a military base in Soto Cano, Honduras, which, according to investigative journalist Eva Golinger, is home to 500 troops and a number of Air Force planes and helicopters.

Regarding U.S. relations with the Honduran military, Latin American history professor and journalist Greg Grandin said on Democracy Now: "The Honduran military is effectively a subsidiary of the United States government. Honduras, as a whole, if any Latin American country is fully owned by the United States, it’s Honduras. Its economy is wholly based on trade, foreign aid and remittances. So if the U.S. is opposed to this coup going forward, it won’t go forward. Zelaya will return..."

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Benjamin Dangl is the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia (AK Press, 2007). He is also the editor of Toward Freedom, a progressive perspective on world events, and Upside Down World, a news Web site uncovering activism and politics in Latin America. E-mail him at BenDangl@gmail.com.

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