BoRev.Net

By Revolter

The coup government of Honduras has killed yet another pro-Zelaya protester, and the most rational reporting on the incident comes from . . the New York Daily News?

Meanwhile, the rest of the U.S. media is kinda reacting to the murder of Roger Vallejo the same way it did the other two known times coup security forces smothered protesters with their love. Either pretending it didn't happen or reporting on the "deaths" without assigning blame, well, to anyone.

This time around, Reuters doesn't even quite believe what it's own journalists witnessed (also reprinted in New York Times):

"A Reuters cameraman at the protest saw police using teargas and bullets to disperse the protesters, but the police said in a statement they did not fire the bullet that hit Vallejo."

Or maybe Reuters just doesn't believe their cameraman because he's an idiot. Apparently he forgot to turn his camera on since there are no videos from that little protest where at least 1 was killed, 72 injured, and over 100 arrested on Reuters' website.

By Revolter

"We've come to this company with one mission from President Manuel Zelaya Rosales: We have to go out and defend this company [from privatization], because they want to eat it like sharks, and that's what we're doing, defending it tooth and nail."

That was what Marcelo Chimirri, head honcho of the state telecom Hondutel, said on September 13, 2007. He was responding to the smear campaign Robert Carmona Borjas had just launched against President Zelaya and his allies. The coup regime has since imprisoned Chimirri "thanks to" Carmona and his Washington D.C. based Arcadia Foundation. With Hondutel unguarded, it's only a matter of time before Moby Reich and his kind go in for the kill.

No need to take my word for it because Part II of Machetera's original coup post is up. She finishes recounting how Carmona utilized his sketchy "nonprofit" Arcadia, of which Otto Reich has absolutely nothing to do with, to drag Zelaya, Chimirri and Hondutel through the mud until the Honduran zombie classes were mumbling "Chavez, Zelaya, corruption" in their sleep.

Unrequited love, burnt corpses, hunger strikes, CAFTA, real corruption and a *special* guest appearance by the Miami DOJ jerks who brought you the suitcase scandal, Machetera's got it all. It's the bestest big picture analysis on the non-coup-plotters out there. Not just saying that because I spent a bunch of time helping her research and edit the story. Nope. Not it at all. Part I; Part II.

Hey look, it's me! The not-Revolter guy that writes for this stupid blog from time to time. I've been gone! And I'm sort of not back yet, lucky you! Bear with us here and I'll post a couple of things today and then maybe disappear again for a day or two and then I'll come back again. WATCH THIS SPACE, is the point. NEVER FORGET, also.

Oh lord did you see this? Those wacky coup generals went on the teevee this week to explain to the Honduran people exactly why they overthrew democracy back in June. Turns out it was all to protect....the United States. From Hugo Chavez or plain old Communism or whatever.

Anyway the takeaway here is that the junta is good for America, and America is good for Honduras, and that Honduras has an awesome new state TV channel, run by military generals. This is even better than the time Omar al-Bashir guest hosted The View.

• The U.S. has unveiled a brand new nuanced policy toward Central American coups: "fuck it, these things happen, whatever".

• No matter how crappy how crappy Venezuela's media climate may be, at least it remains a hundred times better than the U.S.

• Honduran shocker! Mel Zelaya wasn't forced from office because of some fakey "constitutional crisis" after all!

• Evo Morales is so Communist he wants everyone to live in a house.

• Best opening line ever: "A leading anti-Chavez blogger who models himself on the 13th century Mongolian warlord, Genghis Khan, today had his complaint against the British newspaper the Guardian thrown out by the Press Complaints Commission."

America's favorite war-profiteering grifter "Lanny Davis" went on the Amy Goodman program last week to debate whether or not the Hondurans deserve representative democracy (they don't). In order to make his case on behalf of the junta, Davis relied on the public relations tactics that proved so successful with Hillary Clinton's loser campaign: victimization, shamelessness, constant lying, etc.

But haha, Lanny's debate opponent was NYU professor Greg Grandin, a person who had actually heard of Honduras before June, and Grandin has now published a fine list of the most egregious lies Lanny managed to squeeze into one short program. Here's a link to this modern-day Lincoln-Douglas, and Grandin's fact-checking Huffington Post column, enjoy.

Here is a screenshot of Alek Boyd's screenshot that 1000% proves forever that Hugo Chavez has taken over the world wide interwebs and is using them for his own sinister ends. How else to explain how some little-read crazy person's blog doesn't make it into the top search pages. It's a plot.

Another day, another wire story chronicling the noble Hondurans and their brave struggle to take back their country from the illiterate mobs of "voters" and usher in a glorious era of armed governance, just like our founding fathers, in reverse! The latest, from crack McClatchy genius Tyler Bridges, explains how the unwashed masses have taken their anger out on an innocent Dunkin Donuts. These people are monsters who don't deserve a president etc. etc. Also, this from Reuters:

"The June 28 coup was bloodless and since then only two protesters have been killed in demonstrations."

Technically that's "ten", but who's counting?

• After two months of "governing" (shooting people) the Honduran junta admits that whole coup thing have gone a bit far, but hey what can you do now right?

• The U.S. State Department has taken a firm stand against Venezuela's plans to turn a golf course into public housing, mostly because the State Department spokesman likes golf so voila: policy.

• Some ding dong wrote a poorly researched book on Venezuela, so naturally he's an "expert" now. Here is his radio debate with an informed Venezuelan.

• The Los Angeles Times would like the US government to stop freaking out Latin America. Good luck with that!

• The Honduran coup government's choice for president just got the important Hillary Clinton endorsement/funding package.

By Revolter

Here we have a picture of Pedro Madriel Muñoz Salvador literally being dragged away by the Honduran military on July 24. And here again is the picture of his tortured, mutilated body, left out for all to see less than 12 hours later. The de facto government would try to say that he was arrested and released for smokin' pot, but you can only suppress the truth for so long when you put the most notorious death squad leader eva back in charge of security. No, really.

H/T: Machetera

By Revolter

It took five AP reporters to tell us how right-wing conservatives throughout Latin America are really excited about spreading the new form of democracy* coming from Honduras. Missing from their story is any sense of alarm that wingnuts throughout the continent are no longer worried about removing leftist leaders through "legal means." I'm really confused about the whole thing, so I'll just leave it up to you while I have another swig of whiskey.

By Revolter

The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) claims that it is a "nonpartisan" nonprofit that seeks to "advance the Hispanic community's diversity of thought" by building international alliances with such moderates as former Spanish fascist and Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar. Naturally, they are also boyz with Honduran coup supporters from both the US and Amerrika's backyard, as proven by their 3rd craptastic Future Leaders Conference held last month in Washington, DC.

CHLI brought in the Diaz-Balart brothers, Wal-Mart, Ileana Ros-Lehtninen, Freedom House and Roger Noriega to explains to 200 young latina/o Capitol Hill sexual harassment victims interns about "Democracy in the Americas" which was way better than the original conference title, "Coup or Cool?".

An insider tells us that the kidz applauded when the unbalanced nature of the panels was pointed out, and that the whole thing ended on an awkward note when Roger Noriega denied there were any human rights abuses going on in Honduras and Peter Hakim of the Inter-American Dialogue stepped in to support his little friend in the face of the hostile, reality-based questioners.

Anyway, you should check out CHLI's heelarious 5 minute "highlight" video on their homepage which features this enlightened line from Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) around the halfway mark:

"The question I believe before us at this conference for CHLI, as we discuss democracy in the Americas, ought to be 'What role will the United States play as we struggle to expand the horizon of freedom, most especially in our front yard.'"

By Revolter

Lanny Davis on July 22nd:

>>>"If you can show me facts proving that my clients are involved in violations of civil liberties, I'll resign."

Amnesty International's report on the Honduran coup government issued August 19th:

>>>"Excessive force by police and military has been routine and hundreds of peaceful demonstrators have been subject to arbitrary detention."

>>>"When they were arrested, no one was told where they were being taken, the reasons for their detention or the charges against them."

>>> Student: "The police were throwing stones, they rounded us up, they threw us face down on the ground and they beat us - there are people with fractures, with head wounds, they beat us on the buttocks. They stole our cameras, they beat us if we raised our heads, they beat us when they were getting us into the police cars. They said 'Cry and we'll stop'."

>>>"Amnesty International is also concerned by harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders; limits imposed on freedom of expression and the number of attacks against journalists - including the closure of media outlets, the confiscation of equipment and physical abuse of journalists and camerapersons covering events."

>>>"The human rights situation outside of Tegucigalpa is believed to be equally or even more serious."

>>>"At least two people have died after being shot during protests."

Be a man, Mr. Davis, and resign. You are tainting yourself for the rest of your life. There will be no jokes made about this later on, like when you defended Bill after he got it on with Lewinsky.

I promise the postings will get back to normal "soon" BUT FIRST BREAKING NEWS: Stefania Fernandez has just been named Miss Universe, making this the second year in a row that this beauty prize went to a nice Venezuelan lady. Also this is the first people's revolution that the entire world masturbates to. Viva!

By Revolter

• The Honduran coup government has discovered chapter 1 of the Tyrants' Handbook for Terrorizing the Masses - Systemic rape. 19 reported cases. But brave women and the Feminists of Honduras in Resistance aren't going to suffer in silence. You listening, Lanny?

• The Organization of American State's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) visited Honduras last week. "[T]he Commission confirmed the existence of a pattern of disproportionate use of public force, arbitrary detentions, and the control of information aimed at limiting political participation by a sector of the citizenry." This isn't even the full report. Geez.

• Why has Human Rights Watch remained silent on HUMAN RIGHTS in Honduras, especially given the recent reports by Amnesty International and the OAS's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights? 93 Latin American scholars and activists want an answer.

• Fidel Castro thinks it's pretty pathetic that his lil' ol' blockaded island has a better health care system than the richest country in the world. He then proves it. Collective groan/lots of replaced bets in Miami.

• After Juanes realized the coup government in Honduras is batshit crazy, he moved his Peace Without Borders concert to Cuba. The "exiles" in Miami are reacting to his hippieness in their usual manner (threatening to kill him). Seriously, can we just give Miami back to Spain or something?

By Revolter

On Monday, Jackson Diehl and the rest of the Washington Post editorial board took a "there's nothing to see here folks, move along" stance in regards to the US/Colombia base deal. Because, hey, it's only Hugo Chavez and other leftist dead-enders who are freaking out about the benign purposes the US has for the 7 military bases throughout Narcolandia, right?

Guess the WaPo didn't hear about Lula inviting Obama to explain US intentions during this week's emergency UNASUR conference on the US/Colombian military bases. Forget about how all South American countries (except Peru) intend on voicing their alarm over the deal at the summit. Never mind that 69% of Latin Americans no likey the plan.

But maybe that's not good enough for you either, dear reader. Perhaps you need to be convinced by the world's top intellectual? Well, you're in luck, because Noam Chomsky was in Caracas for the first time eva to show support for Venezuela, as well as UNASUR's unified (almost) stance against the new US taxpayer-funded War on Drugs fiasco.

UPDATE: Hugo means business. Venezuela intends to cut off all ties with Colombia over the US base deal.

By Revolter

Well this is quite a little conundrum for the right-wing, itn't? Looks like Alvaro Uribe's plan for four more years is moving along just fine, term limit controversies be damned.

Wouldn't it be funny if Uribe got caught trying to buy the congressional votes necessary to change the Colombian constitution, like he did the first time? Nah, there's no way he and his party have the cojones to do that again. Oh God, they do.

UPDATE: Realized hadn't put last Spanish language link in correctly. To make up for the error, I translated the article:

Uribe Accused of Buying Representatives

Bogotá .- A leader of the opposition Liberal Party accused the government of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, of buying representatives (Lower House) so that they vote in favor of a referendum that seeks to enable the popular president to run for a second reelection.

The accusation, denied by the Government, was made a few hours after the Lower House vote on the text of the referendum bill that would allow Uribe to be a candidate in 2010 and seek his third consecutive term in office, Reuters reported.

The accusation recalled the case of two former representatives who were convicted a few months ago by the Supreme Court for having received favors from the government in exchange for voting in favor of a constitutional reform that allowed Uribe's first reelection in 2006. (continued)

By Revolter

Looks like some big Western banks think Venezuela's a good long-term economic bet, even though it's economy's forever imminent collapse is just about to happen. When? Soon. It's always going to happen. . soon.

H/T: Otto

By Revolter

So far, the US has responded to the many domestic and international calls to increase pressure on the coup government of Honduras with stonewalling and condescension. Crazy for people to think that the US can actually use its economic, military, political, social, etc. clout in the country some (a-holes) refer to as the U.S.S. Honduras. The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) points out that, for starters, the US should suspend $190 million in Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) funds, as the US has done in similar or less serious cases. Central America is doing what it can, but the US keeps the $$ flowing?

But maybe things are about to change. State Department lawyers are recommending that President (of the State Department) Hillary Clinton officially declare the military coup a military coup - which seems simple enough, except if you understand what Hillary's "smart power" (distract and play both sides) has brought us in Latin America.

By Revolter

Apparently, increased international pressure is making Micheletti and the rest of the illegal coup government reconsider their "intransigence". But they really think proposing the same conditions they offered a month ago, which don't include the return of Manuel Zelaya to the presidency, is somehow compromise?!?

Zelaya goes back, dumbasses.

By Revolter

Busy week for Alvaro Uribe. Before he left for the UNASUR summit to get his ass handed to him by the rest of the continent, Uribe was trying to wrap up that pesky constitutional amendment needed to keep his narcocratic regime in power throughout the US occupation of Colombia.

An El Espectador cameraman captured this image of the Blackberry of Uribe's Secretary, Bernardo Moreno, during the House's debate on the presidential term limits referendum. Moreno is having some evil crypto text gchat with another one of Uribe's favorite pet politicians, Andres "Uribito" Arias.

Bernardo M: Why?
Arias: They don't want to tell me
Bernardo M: You are happy there. Get the vote from them
Bernardo M: I will have to resort to shady strategies for Uribe

Either Hugo Chavez is funneling billions of dollars to underground networks of well-connected leftist pigs or this God person has a wicked sense of humor. "Get well soon" Alvaro Uribe!