Honduras Coup, Act VI, Day 27

Update: Brother John on the difference between reconciliation and amnesia.
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In La Jornada, Zelaya says that discoveries of petroleum in the Caribbean, which he had agreed to partner with Venezuela in exploring, were one of the causes of the coup.

Nicholas Kristof discovers poor people in Honduras.

Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyabué, president of the EU, says that Spain won’t recognize Honduras if Micheletti passes the sash to Lobo. Otherwise, no problem. Chispas, que hipócrita. (Added: HondurasCoup2009 links this article to propose that actually the Spanish government is taking a hard line, demanding that all traces of the coup be erased and Zelaya allowed an honorable exit. But it’s anonymously sourced, so it’s much more likely to be posturing).

The socialists are trying to imagine that Zelaya could have played his hand better, and that if only the resistance had relied on the proletariat they would have triumphed.

Wow, Whouda Thunk It?

The Pentagon is finally allowed to say out loud what we’ve all known for years: Actual soldiers and actual bureaucrats do the job better and cheaper than do mercenaries — erm, “security contractors”:

The Defense Department estimates it will save an average of $44,000 a year for every contractor it replaces with full-time federal personnel to perform critical defense jobs, according to the House-Senate conference report on the fiscal 2010 defense appropriation bill.

The measure, which passed Congress on Saturday, contains $5 billion to hire replacements for contractors currently performing what have been termed “inherently government functions” both at home and abroad. Those functions include a wide range of activities, from supervising other contractors who provide guard services at forward operating bases, to providing oversight of aid projects overseas.