Honduras, the shifting sands of reality– and more Wikipedia ratf–king

Ah, legality. Now it appears that the session of the Honduran Congress in which the Congress supposedly voted unanimously– unanimously!– to strip Zelaya of his powers may have been illegal. Six deputies of the Liberal Party say that they rejected the temporary constitutional rupture advanced in the June 25th parliamentary session. So, they weren’t invited to the session three days later when Micheletti was placed in power. Nor were they alone. They estimated that about 20 legislators of various parties, out of 128, opposed military intervention. (via a commenter at Narconews).

Now, here’s the Wikipedia part. The Wikipedia entry reads:

Manuel Zelaya – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
…
The National Congress unanimously voted to accept what they said is Zelaya’s letter of resignation, but Zelaya said he did not write the letter.[49]

National Congress President Roberto Micheletti, the next person in the presidential line of succession, assumed the presidency following Zelaya’s removal from office.[50] National Congress supported unanimously Micheletti.
…

(where I have inserted the actual live links rather than links to the end of the Wikipedia article)

But amazingly neither the Reuters nor the AP articles say anything about unanimity (one does find that characterization in some Spanish language versions, such as this one from Costa Rica’s La Nacion). That was just another lie concocted by the coupistas… and they got it into Wikipedia.

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Mexico, July 5th 2009

Mexico has been awash in violence, nominally drug-related, but more accurately related to the militarization of the drug war. I have seen almost no other news of interest. Today’s violence includes election-related violence. Today, El Universal reports that 100 federal police confronted the vendors’ union in Ecatepec. The remains of bloody clothes and a shoe from a mayoral candidate were found. El Universal also reports that there have been dozens of other electoral incidents, though how serious they are is unclear. The Pentagon is pushing a report by Hal Brands on “Third Generation Crime,” claiming that the narcotraffickers have become insurgents and terrorists. The claim is, paradoxically, that the narcotraffickers have hired a private army. You can read this happy horsemanure (*) in English at Small Wars Journal.

Mexico’s off-year elections are being met with apathy. All members of the Deputy’s Chamber (House) face re-election and eleven localities have elections. There are 77,481,874 registered voters and 139,181 precincts. There will be 418 foreign election observers. “None of the above” may be the big winner.

Here’s a bad joke: Mitofsky Consulting is doing exit polls for the Mexican election. If you believe that, either thePRI candidate won in Nuevo Leon
or George Bush did.

Update: It looks as if PRI, Mexico’s original corrupt party, has regained a plurality in the Deputy’s. Participation was a miserable 43%. With 20% counted,
“None of the above”….. 6.5%
PRI……………………….35%
PAN………………………27%
PRD………………………12%
PVEM…………………….7%
PT………………………..4%
Convergencia……………2%
Nueva Alianza…………..4%
PSD………………………1%

An oldie goldie from the Manual of Coups

I recently watched a (left) documentary called The Panama Deception that is very much worth watching regarding the US coup in Panama under Bush the Slightly Greater. While some of the sources, like Ramsey Clark, are of the kind I would call tendentious, there is no denying the scale of destruction shown by aerial footage of the torched slums of Panama City or the video evidence of civilians crushed by tanks. There are also many other unimpeachable sources on the video, including US Admiral Eugene Carroll and Peter Kornbluh of the National Archive.

The documentary makes some interesting specific claims. First, that the US systematically provoked the confrontation, first promising elements of the Panamanian Defense Force (PDF) assistance in overthrowing Noriega, then allowing Noriega to crush them. Having destroyed Noriega’s opponents in the military, Bush I used Marines and Delta Force to harass the Panamanian military. The first US military death was, according to the documentary, from a Marine who attempted to run a roadblock into the PDF. The goal of destroying the PDF was to ensure a continued US military presence in the Canal Zone.

Second, that the civilian death toll may have been as high as 4,000 and that 20,000 were made homeless. Third, that the US military engaged in assassinations of captive civilians, and that these were confirmed by the unearthing of mass graves with people with their hands tied behind them with the familiar plastic cuffs and a bullet in the back of the head. Fourth, that the US military engaged in systematic harassment of labor leaders and leaders of the poor after the invasion, using tactics that made the US so popular in Iraq in the recent unpleasantness.

The film also reinforces the claims that US gun runners to the Contras were engaged in drug running. This has been confirmed more recently by the Inspector General of the CIA, Frederick Hitz.

Honduras airport, July 5th/Updated

TeleSurTV is covering the welcoming party at the airport. The stream is too weak to get video, but it sounds like thousands of people. More to come.

Radio EsdelosMenos is also struggling. They say that thousands have walked to Tegucigalpa, up to three days.

Al Giordano says that the head of the UN, Miguel de Escoto, will accompany Zelaya. A second plane, carrying “Presidents Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Kristina Kirchner of Argentina, and OAS chairman Jose Miguel Insulza” will stop in El Salvador. The Honduran FAA has apparently said that Zelaya will not be allowed to land… this could get ticklish if he’s traveling in a UN aircraft. Giordano says that Channel 36 is broadcasting. I can’t get the video to come up, presumably meaning the site is slammed… but also that video will be archived and available for viewing.

Update1: Say what you will, it sounds to me that Telesur (audio) is being very fair in giving the coupistas airtime. Granted, I’m listening with half an ear while trying to do other work, but I don’t think I’m wrong.

Telesur says that there is a “flood” of pro-Zelaya demonstrators surrounding the airport, and that the police are blocking them from getting there. There are snipers at the airport and helicopters overhead. Kristin Bricker says that Radio Globo says there are 500,000 marchers.