Zelaya at the gates
Ex-president Zelaya appears to be on his way to the Honduran border.
Here’s what our country has to say about it:
When asked about Zelaya’s stated return, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley called it “unwise.”
“Any step that would add to the risk of violence in Honduras or in the area, we think would be unwise,” Crowley said.
Boy, if I were Zelaya, that would certainly have me shaking in my shoes.
Some violence seems to have already begun, with Zelaya supporters massing at the border as their hero edges closer, and Honduran police using riot control:
Zelaya arrived at Las Manos, on Nicaragua’s border with Honduras, at around midday (1800 GMT) as anti-riot police fired tear gas on hundreds of his supporters massed on the other side.
Zelaya supporters, including some armed with stones, faced off with hundreds of soldiers and anti-riot police, while the Honduran government imposed an 18-hour curfew in border areas.
The Honduran army earlier closed the border with Nicaragua and said it would not guarantee Zelaya’s safety.
First Obama encouraged Zelaya’s claims to legitimacy and therefore egged him on to this sort of action. Now he thinks a few words can stop him. And does he even want to? Who knows.
We do know that Obama’s attempt to curry favor with the far Left of Latin America hasn’t earned him the kudos he might have hoped:
Zelaya was traveling in a 50-vehicle caravan alongside his Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas; Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ricardo Maduro, and Nicaraguan former rebel leader Eden Pastora.
Leaders across the region were meanwhile in rhetorical high gear, with the leftist alliance of Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador generally blaming the United States for the deadlock.
[Update.]
I fully suspect that’s a planned and paid for massing of Zelaya supporters, and is not spontaneous.
What many do not know is that – over the last 4 years or so – Cuba and Venezuela have sent 900 teachers into Honduras, ostensibly to “teach the poor”. These “teachers”, upon arrival, immediately began political organizing, and began going on well-publicized strikes (at a high rate – maybe 20 teacher strikes per schoolyear – they go on strike for all kinds of reasons). The teachers have been a solid political force in favor of Zelaya’s “poll”, and in favor of Zelaya’s return to power. The teachers have been a legitimizing presence in pro-Zelaya protests. They are teachers, after all. They are smart people who are interested in justice.
People were infiltrated in more than a week ago. it was confirmed by the feeble protests and the sudden micro favor of Zelaya.
right now the best i can find that isnt here, is that they expelled chavez’s diplomats.
the labor unions staged a strike in favor of Z
uribe has some in on the side of Micheletti
Obama may be in the open siding with chavez (so far), but he has not withdrawn US troops stationed there, AND US troops in columbia number is being increased under cover of the drug war.
chavez is responding by doubling the number of t-90 battle tanks (The T-90S is the latest development in the T-series of Russian tanks and represents an increase in firepower, mobility and protection. It is manufactured by Uralvagonzavod in Nizhnyi Tagil, Russia. chavez doesnt get the full versions). while he is at it he is slaming isreal for the claiming he has hezbollar camps near columbia.
there is a lot of stuff for me to run dig through..
planes have been landing since 28th (which i think is why they can pretend to up the troop number as these are the planes that run drugs to and from venezeula), they give numbers i dont trust numbers in a situation like this. lets just say their airspace is porous.
will put more in another post..
Zelaya is making a lot of claims (at least to chinese press), that the Honduran general wants to kill him. they have a sniper, etc.. (the generals name is Romeo, which makes the reports kind of funny in a twisted way).
an interesting piece over at the examiner:
http://www.examiner.com/x-7812-DC-SCOTUS-Examiner%7Ey2009m7d22-Corrupt-bullying-Nicaraguan-ruler-emboldened-by-Obama-demand-that-Honduras-reinstate-bullying-ruler
The fact that soldiers removed him on orders from the supreme court does not make it a “coup” anymore than the English Parliament’s use of soldiers to replace and exile King James II made that a coup. The use of soldiers to enforce court orders is not unknown even in the U.S., where troops were used to enforce a court’s desegregation order in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, against the state’s governor. In Honduras, troops perform many functions performed by civil police in the U.S., like safeguarding the polls. And Honduras does not have the kind of court police who might carry out court orders in the U.S., like U.S. Marshalls. (Even in the U.S., if a president were impeached and refused to leave office, the military would probably be needed to dislodge him. The only way to remove a would-be dictator is through military force. The more powerful the official, the more powerful the force needed to remove him, and it is absurd to expect a president’s removal to be enforced by a couple of pot-bellied U.S. marshalls). (thats for the coupe trolls).
there is some serious stuff going on in south america and our press has not been reporting it so its been very effective, compared to past years, in turning the states to marxism.
Farc is still attacking towns, ELN still bombs and there is lots of stuff that if the news was normal, they would be reporting it.
for instance a bomb goes of in london, we know. a bomb goes off even in indonesia, we know. a bomb attempt is made in turkey, we know.
guerrillas attack a border town for the fourth time kill two injur twenty, we know nothing.
heads are rolling in mexico, literally… as decapitations seem to be a favorite for a long time. we dont know.
chavez is stocking up on modern tanks and such.
why does south american countries need tanks? (tanks were not so useful in vietnam, where they?)
i mean these tanks are not as crappy as the general idea of things people have.
Honduras cant buy weapons and defend itself and such till some country recognizes it (now you know the key reason why thats a big thing on one level).
right now chavez has 80 french AMX-30
24 AMX13C light tanks. though the factories he licensed tech to make Aks grenade launchers and dragunov sniper rifles actually is more of a concern on a inter country tactical level… they are recorded to have more than 100k AK103s. there are not good security with them.
as of july 13, FARC has been seeking to acquire s24 gta missles through venezuela. (see luciano marin aka ivan marquez).
Chavez has now informed us that columbia is the israel of latin america..
oy carumba?
Why he wasn’t arrested is beyond me. That’s a bad omen.
We always get blamed. Was that what Obama was trying to avoid by coming down on Zelaya’s side?
Didn’t work. Neither in this case nor in the case of Iran.
Will President Stupidly learn?
Hong, he wasn’t arrested because the authorities feared he’d be a stimulus to violence if he were imprisoned in country, so they exiled him. It’s hard to say it would have been better had they imprisoned him.
“Hong, he wasn’t arrested because the authorities feared he’d be a stimulus to violence if he were imprisoned in country, so they exiled him. It’s hard to say it would have been better had they imprisoned him.”
That was then. Now Zelaya’s raised the bar to the point where violence will inevitably follow. Arrests under such conditions may be the only necessary tool now to stem the violence.
Oh never mind. Apparantly he beat a hasty retreat after posing for the cameras inside Honduras proper for a few minutes. Sounds unlikely he’ll be slithering home anytime soon.
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Think the Great Game referred specifically to the three-way jockeying for position in Afghanistan and the the surrounding areas of Central Asia, among China, UK, and Russia. That doesn’t make your statement inaccurate, just over-general.