Geography Archives: Americas

Caracas, 5 July 2009, ABN — The legitimate president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, said this Sunday from El Salvador that the repression that the de facto government of Honduras carried out against demonstrators, who were peacefully calling for the return of the constitutional president, is a criminal act. “The acts of violence committed on Sunday […]

The putschist foreign minister of Honduras, Enrique Ortez Colindres, in the midst of negotiations to restore the legitimate president, Manuel Zelaya, to the government, fulminated on television against virtually the entire world. Ortez Colindres referred to US President Barack Obama as “that Black boy who doesn’t know anything about anything.”  Asked about the international condemnation […]

Perhaps the most significant feature of the recent Indian election is the loss suffered by the Left.  The BJP’s defeat was more or less anticipated, except by the psephologists, as was some loss by the Left; but the actual extent of the Left’s loss has been quite staggering.  True, its vote share has fallen only […]

Questionnaire/Methodology (PDF) When President Obama arrives in Russia for the Moscow summit he may face a cool reception.  A new poll of Russians, conducted by the Levada Center as part of a larger WorldPublicOpinion.org poll, finds that just 23 percent of Russians have confidence in Obama to do the right thing in international affairs, while […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

  The curfew is not the only means of population control — now the de facto government is bent on suppressing the visibly identifiable sectors, in this case the indigenous population of the Central American country. Antonio Martínez, an indigenous leader, via TeleSur, reported on Wednesday that the international agencies that talk so much about […]

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 […]

  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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Three days ago, in the evening of Thursday 25th, I wrote in my Reflections: “We do not know what will happen tonight or tomorrow in Honduras, but the courageous behavior adopted by Zelaya will go down in history.”

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 […]

With mass rallies for government accountability dominating the news from Iran since June 12, Western audiences are missing the underlying controversy that polarizes the country’s electorate.  We hear much about the boastful social conservatism of president Ahmadinejad, whose contested re-election on June 12 fueled days of bloody protests led by his moderate challengers.  But the […]

Iran does not just have an authoritarian system of government, it has a totalitarian one.  It is powerful, highly centralised, with sophisticated administrative and control systems, and it applies an ideology that claims to have answers for everything and that seeks to permeate all aspects of life.  Instead of a political party and youth organisations, […]

I am halting for a moment the work on a historic episode that I have been writing for the last two weeks to express my solidarity with the constitutionally-elected president of Honduras, José Manuel Zelaya.