COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Zelaya, flying in Venezuelan plane blocked by army. Ortega's Nicaragua sending troops to Honduran border.




Zelaya Blocked From Landing in Honduras After Supporters Shot


By Andres R. Martinez and Steven Bodzin Bloomberg


July 5 (Bloomberg) -- A plane carrying deposed President Manuel Zelaya was blocked from landing in Honduras as he tried to enter the country and resume power. He vowed to return as the jet he was traveling in headed to Nicaragua.

At least one person was killed near the airport in the capital, Tegucigalpa, as security forces blocked the runway with trucks and clashed with demonstrators. Six people were injured, five by gunshots, according to aid workers at the scene. Telesur, a television network owned by Venezuela’s government, reported that at least two Zelaya supporters were killed.

“Stop this massacre in the name of God,” Zelaya said in an interview on Telesur as his plane circled the airport.

Zelaya, 56, will now regroup with supporters as he continues his quest to return to power after being deposed June 28. The Honduran armed forces, lawmakers and courts have rallied behind interim President Roberto Micheletti, who said today: “I won’t be pressured by anyone.”

The acting government put two vehicles on the runway, leaving too little space for the Venezuela-owned jet to land, Zelaya said on Telesur by phone from the plane. He said his plane was landing in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

Zelaya had originally planned to return to Honduras on July 2. He delayed his trip as the Organization of American States and regional leaders tried to reach a compromise that would restore him to office.

OAS Meeting

Micheletti, speaking at a news conference today in Tegucigalpa, said the plane wouldn’t be allowed to land to prevent the dispute from escalating into violence. Micheletti took power when troops ejected Zelaya from the country.

Zelaya flew from Washington where he attended a meeting of the OAS. Shortly before midnight, the group suspended Honduras’s membership from the regional body, paving the way for sanctions.

The Honduran military closed the road in front of the presidential palace as well as the road to the international airport in Tegucigalpa. Venezuelan television showed images of military helicopters taking off and landing from the Tegucigalpa airport and vehicles and people on the runway.

Zelaya told Telesur that Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo and OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza would fly in a separate aircraft to San Salvador, capital of neighboring El Salvador.

The OAS’s reprimand further isolates the transitional government, which has yet to be recognized by any country.

Opposition to Zelaya

While the UN, European Union and OAS condemned the coup, the courts, Congress and business groups in Honduras defended the ouster, saying it was necessary to avoid a shift toward a government similar to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez, who said he would hold the new government responsible for anything that happens to Zelaya, said Venezuela has provided the plane he is flying in.

More than 10,000 people rallied in support of the transitional government July 2, the largest demonstration so far for the new government.

Opposition to Zelaya grew over the past year as he joined an alliance of socialist countries led by Chavez.

Approval for the Zelaya government fell to 30 percent in February from a high of 57 percent in January 2007, according to a nationwide poll by CID-Gallup.

U.S. President Barack Obama has also called for Zelaya’s reinstatement, and the deposed president’s wife and youngest son are being protected at the residence of the U.S. ambassador in Tegucigalpa.

Zelaya may return to Washington as soon as tomorrow should he be barred from landing in the Honduran capital, a U.S. administration official said today on condition of anonymity.


To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Bodzin in Caracas at sbodzin@bloomberg.net; Andres R. Martinez in Tegucigalpa at amartinez28@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 5, 2009 20:40 EDT

Just in case  you needed reminding about who the demonstrators are, check the dude on the right. They are carrying a demonstrator who ran onto the runway and was shot by security forces.


48 comments:

  1. Notice how empowered the socialist thugs feel now that president (for life) obama supports them?

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  2. Since you mentioned it yesterday or so, wi"o", the Hondos do not execute anyone, for anything.

    Honduras No capital punishment for any crimes 1940.

    Much the same as Israel does not, but for 'special' circumstance.

    Israel No capital punishment for ordinary crimes2 1962

    2) Provides for capital punishment only for extraordinary crimes (such as crimes under military law) or crimes committed in exceptional circumstances (such as wartime)
    .

    Seems your solutions are basicly out of step with the laws of the subject countries.

    Not that it makes any real difference.

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  3. DR: Seems your solutions are basicly out of step with the laws of the subject countries.

    Yes I am out of step...

    But so what?

    How many will be murdered by Chavez and Ortega in Honduras?

    It would be simpler to just shoot Zelaya's plan down, after all it's INVADING Honduran airspace...

    After all did CUBA do that to unarmed Cubans flying from america just about 10 years ago?

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  4. How many will they kill in Honduras?

    Depends on how radical Mannie's supporters are, more than on how radical Hugo or Danny are.

    But, truth be known, if Hugo and Danny want to create havoc in Hondoland, Mannie the Martyr would be as good, if not better, for them as Mannie the Mastro.

    But maybe Mannie's cult of personality is such in Honduras and across the wide whirled that he is the 'real' menance, but I doubt it.

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  5. The Cubans forced down US registered planes, flown by Cuban Americans or Cuban nationals, not 100% sure which.

    Did it a couple of times, if I recall.

    Looking for moral equivalence, you will not find it between Hondurans and Cubans, this time.

    The Hondos have and retain the moral high ground. It is their country, let them deal with their politicos. To advise they wallow deeper than Hugo, in pre-emption, may or may not really be required.
    They know Mannie beter than US, if Mannie is the threat, which I doubt, again.

    Is he the rally point or is the ideology?

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  6. Should really have said "deeper than Fidel" not Hugo.

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  7. Will the US leave that Honduran military base that we stage the Southern Command operations out of?

    If we do, where will we go, insead?

    If we do not leave, the Hondurans won.

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  8. If we do leave, the Hondurans won, too.

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  9. From the Hondo perspective Mannie is unimportant, or they'd not have released him.

    He poses no observable threat. Well, no threat that cannot be met with two parked trucks at the airport and a Company of Military Police.

    The real threat levels from Hugo and Danny have not increased, even while their rhetoric may be escalated for a while.

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  10. The Hondurans seemingly not afraid to tell Uncle Sugar to go piss up a stick

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  11. I'd say the threat levels have increased since Obama made public his assurances that he's on Hugo's Castro's and the Castrati Choir of Dictators that he's on THEIR Side.

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  12. Time to Get Mad as Hell

    It’s amazing, if you stop and think about it, that George H.W. Bush lost his bid for re-election because he was goofy enough to say, “Read my lips…no new taxes,” but Obama does his level best to bankrupt America and destroy the middle class, and yet continues to ride nearly as high in the popularity polls as Michael Jackson. Imagine if the man could moonwalk.

    But, I guess a lot of us who find ourselves going down the financial drain don’t really mind so long as we can watch Prince Obama and his princess holding hands on their $250,000 date night in New York City.

    It’s almost enough to make a person pity Bernard Madoff. That poor shmuck got a 150-year prison sentence, and he only screwed Americans out of about 65 billion dollars.

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  13. Some Hondurans expect cross border problems from Nicaragua. Rabble rousers. Community Organizers.

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  14. doug:

    I'd say the threat levels have increased since Obama made public his assurances that he's on Hugo's Castro's and the Castrati Choir of Dictators that he's on THEIR Side.

    Yep that's my point...

    How many in Iran died once the Mullah's understood NOTHING they did would stop B Hussein's re-approachment ?

    B Hussein has thrown our allies to the wolves...

    His statement of 7 missiles fired on July 4th by Nkor? "not helpful"

    Yep, giving aid and comfort to our enemies, that's his plan for peace in our time...

    N Chamberlain lives....

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  15. So who and where is Hunter Thomspon, Linear?

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  16. Hey WIO, give the guy a break:

    He hasn't done anything to any of our allies that he wouldn't do to his own (white) Grandmother!

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  17. Sunday, July 5, 2009

    Manipulation by the Media

    I was texting and calling my father while at the protest today, and I gave him an update to post on the blog:

    "He did see an older man in a white shirt reach down into the blood pool and cover his hands. He then wiped them on his shirt to make it look like his blood or that he had been involved. Hunter saw what he thought was an AP photographer take the man's picture. Hunter said if you see it on the web, don't believe it. It was faked. "

    L. Douglas Garret found the picture ran by Reuters and Legal Insurrection has already posted on this topic. The elderly gentleman reached down and wiped the blood on his shirt on his own accord, Reuters just happened to capitalize on his actions.

    Posted by Hunter Smith at 9:04 PM
    .

    That forewarning is available at Honduras Abandoned:

    Posted by Hunter Smith at 5:52 PM

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  18. Hunter Thomspon = Hunter Smith?

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  19. linearthinker said...
    Hunter Thompson, Late Sunday afternoon.
    :-)

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  20. I've been thinking Hunter Thompson was your friend, Doug. Don't you keep his ashes in an urn bedside?

    For full disclosure and a belated h/t, I found the link to Hunter Smith at BC last night. His dad is making the updates in his name through phone calls when he's out and about. He's either from Oregon or Ohio, I gather. Dad said he was to start school at OU in September.
    Oklahoma? I doubt it. Too literate to be an Okie.

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  21. It was noted by Aldous Huxley that when Spain controled Central America, there was peace, when the idividual countries were formed, some immediately went to war with one another. That's what countries do, form armies, go to war.

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  22. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the crude oil options pit. The extreme volatility has perplexed those who follow oil prices.

    Published: July 5, 2009
    The extreme volatility that has gripped oil markets for the last 18 months has shown no signs of slowing down, with oil prices more than doubling since the beginning of the year despite an exceptionally weak economy.


    The instability of oil and gas prices is puzzling government officials and policy analysts, who fear it could jeopardize a global recovery. It is also hobbling businesses and consumers, who are already facing the effects of a stinging recession, as they try in vain to guess where prices will be a year from now — or even next month.

    A wild run on the oil markets has occurred in the last 12 months. Last summer, prices surged to a record high above $145 a barrel, driving up gasoline prices to well over $4 a gallon. As the global economy faltered, oil tumbled to $33 a barrel in December. But oil has risen 55 percent since the beginning of the year, to $70 a barrel, pushing gas prices up again to $2.60 a gallon, according to AAA, the automobile club.


    You can buy a Hyundai, and make a contract for gas at a buck 59($1.59) I was reading last night. The costs to you being hidden in the contract somewhere. Sounds good, though. If we go to five you might come out.

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  23. We could send Michael Jackson's body to Central America for a touring wake through the concerned countries. Maybe that would calm them down for a while.

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  24. I put up the latest video from al jazeera on Honduras.

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  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  26. The crowds obey the curfew and go home, ready to return on the morrow.

    All done for the benefit of the cameras, unlike the Iranian demonstrations.
    Though someone in that crowd is dead as Neda. Let's hope they are not as fetching.

    Unless there has been some kind of a major sea-change in the last twenty years, I'd bet on the Hondos over Dannys' boys men in uniform.

    The Hondos have a lot of Scotch Irish blood in their ranks. More than a few red heads and blondies, to boot. Recalling, if you will, that Belize was once called British Honduras.

    It was sometimes hard to tell them from US, except they didn't speak much English.
    One of the earlier moments of cultural awakening

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  27. ‎44 minutes ago‎
    (CNN) -- Top clerics and seminary students in Iran's holy city of Qom have come out against the results of the disputed June Iranian presidential election, which was declared a landslide victory for the hard-line incumbent
    .

    See, there are more and more of the Islami joining the ranks of liberty!

    Just like Mr Bush promised.

    To bad it's just a couple years behind his schedule.

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  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  29. Fuckin' Indians, too.
    Should have whipped on them when the ignited their first nuke, but no ...

    Now we're going to proliferate better nuclear technologies to them.

    July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Russia and India said the world economy is too reliant on the U.S. dollar and called for changes in how $6.5 trillion in currency reserves are managed, as Group of Eight leaders prepare to meet this week.

    “The dollar system or the system based on the dollar and euro have shown that they are flawed,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Corriere della Sera, repeating his proposal for a new international reserve currency.

    Suresh Tendulkar, an economic adviser to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said in a July 3 interview that he is urging his nation to diversify its foreign holdings away from the dollar
    .

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  30. 12. Boludo Tejano:


    Not many are aware of what Miguel Descoto has said . Consider what he said upon receiving the Lenin Peace Prize in 1987, while the USSR was warring in Afghanistan.


    “This prize makes us Nicaraguans come into even closer contact with Lenin, that great personality of your state and of all mankind who is the passionate champion of peace.

    I believe that the Soviet Union is a great torch which emits hope for the
    preservation of peace on our planet. Always in the vanguard of the overall
    struggle for peace, the Soviet Union has become the personification of ethical and moral norms in international relations. I admire the revolutionary principles and consistency of the foreign policy of the Communist Party of the fraternal Soviet Union.”

    Descoto said this about the USSR, seven years into the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. By this time and estimated 600 thousand to a million Afghanis had lost their lives. This is the “prince of peace” who was headed to Honduras, before the plane was turned back.

    While Chavez is bad news, many realize who he is. Few realize who Descoto is.
    --
    -/

    Descoto, the U.N. guy. They're all flying around in Chavez' plane together, I think the article said.

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  31. Miguel Descoto

    When Oliver Stone gets around to making the movie Honduras, Wilford Brimley will play Descoto.

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  32. I keep urns of Okie Ashes in my bedroom.
    Different Strokes.

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  33. They quit makin Descotos years ago, al-Bob.

    Just another one of your late-nite conspiracies.

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  34. Insult Generator

    Input: (India/NPT)

    Output:

    Fuckin' Indians, too.
    Should have whipped on them when the ignited their first nuke, but no ...

    Now we're going to proliferate better nuclear technologies to them
    .

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  35. A Convertible?
    With the (biggest and best ever) Fins?

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  36. What's the White Dude with glasses on the left got in his hand?

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  37. My first ride over 100 was a red 55 T Bird.

    I sat on the consol with dad on the right and his friend driving.
    Little Doug woulda never stopped rollin if there'd been an "incident."

    First car I drove over 100 (mighta been the last) was the folks Pontiac.

    Fastest I ever got to 80 was the kid's STI Subie.

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  38. "An Awakening Council member manned a checkpoint.
    Iraqi police officials attributed the recent violence not to a lack of Marines, but to the Americans' accelerated release of detainees from the Bucca prison camp, wihch will be handed over to the Iraqis soon. "
    ---
    We figured Saddam did it,
    why can't we?

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  39. CODEPINK to the Rescue!

    Hondurans Call Out for Help from the International Community

    Our emergency international delegation to Honduras, organized from the United States by CODEPINK, Global Exchange and Non-Violence International, began its fact-finding mission in the wake of the June 28 coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya.

    We started out with a briefing by the Network of Sustainable Development (Red de Desarrollo Sostenible) a 15-year-old organization devoted to the exchange of information about sustainable development. It has now become a center for exchanging information about the coup. Using blogspot, facebook, twitter, myspace, flickr and youtube, the Network’s network is abuzz with hour-by-hour accounts of political developments. Their communication system has become a critical way for Hondurans to get information, since the coup leaders have muzzled the press.

    The Network has a history of being objective and staying above politics, but the staff is outraged by the coup. “This was just over the top,” said National Coordinator Raquel Isaura, who is being targeted by the right for some anti-coup internet messages posted under her name. “A military coup in this day and age must be condemned by all sectors of civil society.”

    Like many Hondurans, Network Director Candalario Reyes Garcia is deeply worried about the future. “In the 80s we were terrorized by the death squads called Batallion 316. These same death squad leaders are still in the military today and if they take control of this country, we’re in for some truly dark days ahead.”

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  40. deuce said,

    "I put up the latest video from al jazeera on Honduras."

    I was going to point out that this has that PA propaganda look; and that whole "stop the massacre" business after one fatality, well...Pahlees

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  41. Honduras and the Bolivarian Revolution
    By Douglas Farah

    http://counterterrorismblog.org/


    this is a must read..........

    ReplyDelete
  42. what's the White Dude with glasses on the left got in his hand?--
    -0/

    He looks to me to be press credentialed - he's got a name tag - and is carrying a camer? Tape recorder? Two in one?

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  43. Vell, looking a leettle beet closer, and enlarging the photo, I don't know what that is. Kinda looks like a hammer--or a microphone? I thought he had a camera by his waist, but now it looks like one of those waist packs, or a shadow. And, wouldn't that be his right hand? We need a superduper image enhancer.

    ReplyDelete