Archive | Commentary

  Iranian Documentary Filmmakers’ Declaration Déclaration des documentaristes du cinéma iranien بیانیه جمعی از مستندسازان سینمای ایران درباره ایران امروز We say this as a warning: depriving citizens of peaceful and respectful communication in the midst of the tense circumstances of the present time can lead to a violent reaction on the part of society, […]

Manuel “Mel” Zelaya is a rancher and business owner who wears large cowboy hats and, in November 2005, was elected president of Honduras, an impoverished Central American country with a population of 7.5 million.  On June 28 of this year the Honduran military, backed by the country’s elite, removed Zelaya from power.  He instantly became […]

Thursday, July 2, 2009 DAY 5: MASS PROTESTS IN HONDURAS AGAINST COUP; TENS OF THOUSANDS MARCHING ON THE CAPITAL TO AWAIT PRESIDENT ZELAYA’S RETURN Despite the suspension of constitutional rights in place as of yesterday, per a decree by the Honduran congress in support of the coup government, tens of thousands of Hondurans are mobilizing […]

Tegucigalpa, 3 July 2009, ABN — Thousands of Hondurans who marched this Friday from the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University, at the heart of the city of Tegucigalpa, to the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the Central American nation of Honduras are waiting for the meeting of José Miguel Insulza and […]

  “The Desert Is Covered with Fog,” based on Ahmad Shamlou’s poem “Fog,” performed by Mohsen Namjoo: vimeo.com/5429764. This video clip is a work of Mostafa Heravi in collaboration with Radio Zamaneh.  It is dedicated by Mohsen Namjoo, Mostafa Heravi, Kaveh Modiri, Sina Karim Khani, Sohrab Bayat, and Aboozar Amini to all the Iranians who […]

There is a difference between the outlook of a secular generation of Iranian youth, yearning for a life in which religion (in the form of a clergy directing a theological state) refrains from meddling in their personal lives and individual fates as citizens, and the foreign and domestic policy considerations of the reformist trend.  A […]

Unemployment among men is near its all-time high on record. The economy shed another 467,000 jobs in June, as the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent.  The rise in unemployment would have been higher except 155,000 people left the workforce, pushing down the employed percentage of the population (EPOP) by 0.2 percentage points to […]

The director of “Llaguno Bridge, Keys to a Massacre,” Angel Palacios, is in Tegucigalpa, from where he sent this video. Angel Palacios, the director of “Llaguno Bridge, Keys to a Massacre,” is in Honduras, recording repression during the coup d’état.  Uploaded to YouTube on 30 June 2009.  Published by Radio Nacional de Venezuela and YVKE […]

Honduran women and men were called upon by President Manuel Zelaya Rosales to participate in a popular referendum on 28 June 2009 in order to convene a National Constituent Assembly. In the morning of the day of the referendum, the president was abducted and removed from the country by a coup d’état. Diverse Hondurans headed […]

“About 4 kilometers behind me, there is a square in Tehran called Enqelab Square, which means revolution.  A couple of hundreds of meters that way is the famous monument of Azadi Square, which means freedom.  The road between Revolution and Freedom Squares has been the scene of some of the greatest rallies in Iran.  Freedom […]

Tegucigalpa, 1 July, ABN — The mobilization of Hondurans against the coup d’état, which started this morning from the vicinity of the government palace, overflowed Plaza Morazán, in the central park of Tegucigalpa, where on Tuesday a small number of coup supporters rallied. The demonstration in which the principal social groupings of Honduras participated traveled […]

  Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review.  Its June 2009 issue features the following editorial. — Ed. The dire consequences of human induced climate change are now most often presented as facing us in the near future.  We suggest that the future, as far as […]

June 29, 2009 The military coup d’état in Honduras is a dangerous step backward for Honduras and threatens democracy across Central America. Democracies thrive only when democratic institutions operate peacefully and under the rule of law.  The military coup against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya brings back terrible memories of the 1980s when the Honduran military […]

Ya Hossein, Mir-Hossein Karrubi Present in Protest in front of Ghoba Mosque Long Live Karrubi, Long Live Mousavi Cf. Farid Marjai, “Green, But Not Velvet” (CounterPunch, 26-28 June 2009).

Since the Iranian presidential election of June 12, allegations that the announced winner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory was stolen have played an important role in the demonstrations, political conflict, and media reporting on events there.  Some say that it does not matter whether the elections were stolen or not, since the government has responded to peaceful […]

A New York Times article has just confirmed that the US Government has been “working for several days” with the coup planners in Honduras to halt the illegal overthrow of President Zelaya.  While this may indicate nobility on behalf of the Obama Administration, had they merely told the coupsters that the US Government would CUT […]

The global recession is still very much with us, despite the recent attempts by media and some policy makers especially in the North to dismiss it as almost over, and to find some indications of the “green shoots” of recovery in almost each item of economic and financial news.  But even as the downturn continues […]

In my reflection written last Thursday night, June 25, I said: “We do not know what will happen tonight or tomorrow in Honduras, but the brave conduct of Zelaya will go down in history.” Two paragraphs before I noted: “What is happening there will be a test for the OAS and for the current United […]

  There was a curfew until 6 AM.  The city is militarized.  Hondurans remain in the streets, demanding the return of their president, Manuel Zelaya, keeping a vigil all night. This Monday morning began in Honduras with people demanding the return of democracy, ready for struggle.  There was a curfew until 6 AM.  The city […]

The Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs issued a communiqué condemning the coup d’état that the Honduran oligarchy seeks to impose, against the constitutional government of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales and against the people of Honduras. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs Communiqué The government of the Bolivarian Republic […]