zelaya, Manuel pres

<div>DN interview</div><div>militarization  and pvtize eg social sec</div><div>IMF World bank extraction huge debt high interest; Plan Columbia model; berta and murillo coup kia; Lula hydro dam $; pvt mass transit? electricity?</div><div>US train mil and JUDGED OAS MIL-S acronym</div><div>
</div><div>...GOODMAN: President Trump cut off all aid to the Northern Triangle countries, to El Salvador, to Guatemala and to your country, Honduras. This is very interesting, considering he supports Juan Orlando Hernández, the president. Now he’s backed off cutting that aid, but threatens to do so if the immigrant flow continues. Do you think President Hernández would fall without that U.S. aid?</div><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243); letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 30px !important;">MANUEL ZELAYA: [translated] We don’t need the help of the United States. The United States gives very little assistance. What the United States wants is to exercise economic control over the structures of the macroeconomy worldwide. For example, the World Bank gives Honduras some $150 million a year, $150 million. The Inter-American Development Bank, a similar sum. So, all told, we might get about $240 million. And that is controlled by the United States. And it also has a specific weight in our region. The IMF authorizes a letter that is signed every year so that Honduras can go into debt at very high interest rates, because it is a government that is allied with the United States. What that provokes in our region is clear, I think. I think it’s evident, what it causes in our region. I believe that that relationship, where they say they’re going to cut the assistance, has almost no effect.Let me put it in clearer terms. Honduran migrants send to Honduras about $4 billion a year. Let me repeat this, Amy: $4 billion a year. And the United States, together with the World Bank and the IDB, sends $200 million.So, Honduras should be concerned. And the current president has no dignity. We should be able to speak to the Americans on equal conditions, with reciprocity and dignity. But he doesn’t protest, because an immigration treaty we had with the United States was canceled. We had an immigration treaty. It was renewed every year. Indeed, I had good relations with the United States. The U.S. and European oil companies don’t accept competition. But they respected me. And every year, they renewed TPS. Every year, they renewed the Millennium Account. But this year they have not renewed a single penny of the Millennium Account. But, of course, the policy is threatening that aid.</blockquote><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243); letter-spacing: -0.2px; padding-top: 30px !important;">Well, the U.S. aid, from the standpoint of hegemonic control of capitalism through the transnational corporations, through businesses, through the control of the Southern Command over security, and the IMF over the economy, and the OAS—the OAS has supported or made an internal effort on the justice system through the MACCIH. So, if the justice system is controlled by the OAS, and if the U.S. and Monetary Fund and IDB control the economy, and security is controlled by the Southern Command, then—well, then what does Honduras run?<a href="https://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=S-001/16">https://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=S-001/16</a><h4 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0.5em; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">FACT SHEET: What is MACCIH?</h4>  January 14, 2016The Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) aims at improving the quality of services delivered by the justice system of Honduras in the prevention and fight against corruption and impunity in the country, through active cooperation, technical advice, supervision and oversight of the State institutions responsible for preventing, investigating, and punishing acts of corruption.Principles:
Independence, autonomy, professionalism, neutrality, and transparence....</blockquote><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243); letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 30px !important;">It’s all based on U.S. policy and on the interference and meddling of the United States in Honduras. We should simply reach agreement, because the United States is a strong neighbor. It’s the biggest military and technological power in the world. It’s not that we’re going to be the same as the United States, but we should not be a vassal of the United States. We are a small country, but with the same dignity as the Europeans and the U.S. have.</blockquote>AMY GOODMAN: Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. He was ousted in a U.S.-backed coup in 2009. To see the <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/es/2019/7/11/depuesto_presidente_hondureno_zelaya_el_golpe" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; border: 0px;">interview in Spanish</a>, visit democracynow.org/es. To see all our <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/topics/honduras" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; border: 0px;">coverage of Honduras</a>, go to democracynow.org. Special thanks to María Taracena.<div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/12/manuel_zelaya_honduras_coup_immigration_crisis">https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/12/manuel_zelaya_honduras_coup_immigration_crisis</a>
<div><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-us-policy-in-honduras-set-the-stage-for-todays-migration-65935" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://theconversation.com/how-us-policy-in-honduras-set-the-stage-for-todays-migration-65935</a>nevensHondurans fleeing poverty and violence – who make up most of the participants of a “caravan” estimated at between 7,000 and 8,000 people – are slowly moving through Mexico in the hope of reaching the United States and receiving refuge.President Trump has responded by characterizing the caravan as, among other unflattering things, “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/21/migrant-caravan-united-states-increases-despite-donald-trump-threats/1719819002/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">an onslaught</a>” and “<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/10/17/17983362/caravan-honduras-trump-border-illegal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">an assault</a>” on the United States. Trump’s statements, which do not accurately characterize the makeup and motivations of the migrants, have pushed <a href="https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/caravan-trump-immigration.php" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">many media outlets</a> to rebut his false claims.The mainstream narrative of such movements of people often reduces the causes of migration to factors unfolding in migrants’ home countries. In reality, migration is often a manifestation of a profoundly unequal and exploitative relationship between countries from which people emigrate and countries of destination.As I have learned through many years of research on immigration and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Operation-Gatekeeper-and-Beyond-The-War-On-Illegals-and-the-Remaking/Nevins/p/book/9780415996945" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">border policing</a>, the history of relations between Honduras and the United States is a prime example of these dynamics. Understanding this is vital to making immigration policy more effective and ethical.<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">U.S. roots of Honduran emigration</h2>I first visited Honduras in 1987 to do research. As I walked around the city of Comayagua, many thought that I, a white male with short hair in his early 20’s, was a U.S. soldier. This was because hundreds of U.S. soldiers were stationed at the nearby Palmerola Air Base at the time. Until shortly before my arrival, many of them would frequent Comayagua, particularly its <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1987-12-11/news/vw-18900_1_honduran-health" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">“red zone”</a> of female sex workers.U.S. military presence in Honduras and the roots of Honduran migration to the United States are closely linked. It began in the late 1890s, when U.S.-based banana companies first became active there. As historian Walter LaFeber <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=RqMp5TsWCqkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inevitable+revolutions&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu0p6p0KnPAhUk3IMKHbl2DpMQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Cbuilt%20railroads%2C%20established%20their%20own%20banking%20systems%22&f=false" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">writes</a> in “Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America,” American companies “built railroads, established their own banking systems, and bribed government officials at a dizzying pace.” As a result, the Caribbean coast “became a foreign-controlled enclave that systematically swung the whole of Honduras into a one-crop economy whose wealth was carried off to New Orleans, New York, and later Boston.”By 1914, U.S. banana interests owned almost 1 million acres of Honduras’ best land. These holdings grew through the 1920s to such an extent that, as LaFeber asserts, Honduran peasants “had no hope of access to their nation’s good soil.” Over a few decades, U.S. capital also came to dominate the country’s banking and mining sectors, a process facilitated by the weak state of Honduras’ domestic business sector. This was coupled with direct U.S. political and military interventions to protect U.S. interests in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=utC5YT7wFgAC&pg=PA293&lpg=PA293&dq=honduras+1911+military+U.S.&source=bl&ots=t7g2JEjo7k&sig=WrW5KsAFt1ecs50xKBlVzEfyjRQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxkuT-3f3PAhXB2yYKHWurCLoQ6AEIWTAI#v=onepage&q=honduras%201911%20military%20U.S.&f=false" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">1907 and 1911</a>.Such developments made Honduras’ ruling class dependent on Washington for support. A central component of this ruling class was and remains the Honduran military. By the mid-1960s it had become, in LaFeber’s words, the country’s “most developed political institution,” – one that Washington played a key role in shaping.<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">The Reagan era</h2><figure class="align-center zoomable" style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative;"><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 18px; cursor: default;"></figcaption></figure>This was especially the case during the presidency of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. At that time, U.S. political and military policy was so influential that many referred to the Central American country as the “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40208976?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">U.S.S. Honduras</a>” and the <a href="http://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/02/09/Honduran-army-digs-in-to-fight-change/7237666075600/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Pentagon Republic</a>.As part of its effort to overthrow the Sandinista government in neighboring Nicaragua and “<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/deciding-to-intervene" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">roll back</a>” the region’s leftist movements, the Reagan administration “temporarily” stationed several hundred U.S. soldiers in Honduras. Moreover, it trained and sustained Nicaragua’s “contra” rebels on Honduran soil, while greatly increasing military aid and arm sales to the country.The Reagan years also saw the construction of numerous joint Honduran-U.S. military bases and installations. Such moves greatly strengthened the militarization of Honduran society. In turn, political <a href="http://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/researchdigest/latinamerica/honduras.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">repression rose</a>. There was <a href="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/19981023.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">a dramatic increase</a> in the number of political assassinations, “disappearances” and illegal detentions.The Reagan administration also played a big role in <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/2654/499160PUB0Glob101Official0Use0only1.pdf?sequence=1&version=meter+at+null&module=meter-Links&pgtype=Blogs&contentId=&mediaId=&referrer=&priority=true&action=click&contentCollection=meter-links-click#page=194" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">restructuring</a> the Honduran economy. It did so by strongly pushing for internal economic reforms, with a focus on exporting manufactured goods. It also <a href="https://www.academia.edu/8634338/Dying_for_a_Cup_of_Coffee_Migrant_Deaths_in_the_US-Mexico_Border_Region_in_a_Neoliberal_Age_Geopolitics_Vol.12_No.2_2007_228-247" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">helped deregulate</a> and destabilize the global coffee trade, upon which Honduras <a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100986110" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">heavily depended</a>. These changes made Honduras more amenable to the interests of global capital. They disrupted traditional forms of agriculture and undermined an already weak social safety net.These decades of U.S. involvement in Honduras set the stage for Honduran emigration to the United States, which began to markedly increase <a href="http://liberalarts.utexas.edu/etag/files/pdfs/articles/2011/BlanchardEtal_2012_Shifting.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">in the 1990s</a>.In the post-Reagan era, Honduras remained a country scarred by a <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/AMW2-01.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">heavy-handed</a> military, significant <a href="http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa0f34.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">human rights abuses</a> and <a href="http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">pervasive poverty</a>. Still, liberalizing tendencies of successive governments and grassroots pressure provided openings for democratic forces.They <a href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/honduras-the-deep-roots-of-resistance" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">contributed</a>, for example, to the election of Manuel Zelaya, a liberal reformist, as president in 2006. He led on progressive measures such as raising the minimum wage. He also tried to organize <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/23/opinion/oe-weisbrot23" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">a plebiscite</a> to allow for a constituent assembly to replace the country’s constitution, which had been written during a military government. However, these efforts incurred the ire of the country’s oligarchy, leading to his <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/9/hillary-clinton-honduraslatinamericaforeignpolicy.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">overthrow</a> by the military in June 2009.<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Post-coup Honduras</h2></div><div>...</div><div>
<div>wiki</div><div>
</div><div>José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-EB-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a> is a Honduran politician who was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Honduras" title="President of Honduras" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">President of Honduras</a> from 27 January 2006 until 28 June 2009. He is the eldest son of a wealthy businessman, and inherited his father's nickname "Mel". Before entering politics he was involved in his family's logging and timber businesses.Elected as a liberal, Zelaya shifted to the political left during his presidency, forging an alliance with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivarian_Alliance_for_the_Americas" class="mw-redirect" title="Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">ALBA</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[3]</a> On 28 June 2009, during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_constitutional_crisis" title="2009 Honduran constitutional crisis" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">2009 Honduran constitutional crisis</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-ASCOATimeline-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[4]</a> he was seized by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Honduras" title="Military of Honduras" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">military</a> and sent to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica" title="Costa Rica" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Costa Rica</a> in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" title="2009 Honduran coup d'état" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">coup d'état</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-EB-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Americas_group_suspends_Honduras-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a> On 21 September 2009 he returned to Honduras clandestinely and resurfaced in the Brazilian embassy in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tegucigalpa" title="Tegucigalpa" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Tegucigalpa</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a> In 2010 he left Honduras for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic" title="Dominican Republic" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Dominican Republic</a>, an exile that lasted more than a year.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-latimes-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a>He now represents Honduras as a deputy of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_American_Parliament" title="Central American Parliament" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Central American Parliament</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a> Since January 1976 Zelaya has been married to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiomara_Castro_de_Zelaya" class="mw-redirect" title="Xiomara Castro de Zelaya" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Xiomara Castro de Zelaya</a>, who was a presidential candidate in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduran_general_election,2013" class="mw-redirect" title="Honduran general election, 2013" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">2013 general election</a> but lost to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Orlando_Hern%C3%A1ndez" title="Juan Orlando Hernández" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Juan Orlando Hernández</a>.
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</div><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Background" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Background</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Political_career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Political career</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Presidency(2006-2009)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Presidency (2006-2009)</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Alliance_with_ALBA" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.1Alliance with ALBA</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Conflict_with_media" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.2Conflict with media</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Corruption_investigations_of_Hondutel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.3Corruption investigations of Hondutel</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Attempts_to_modify_the_constitution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.4Attempts to modify the constitution</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Referendum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.4.1Referendum</a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Violation_of_Supreme_Court_rulings" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.4.2Violation of Supreme Court rulings</a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Constitutional_crisis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Constitutional crisis</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Coup" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.1Coup</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Return_to_Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.2Return to Honduras</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Presidential_election_of_29_November_2009" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.3Presidential election of 29 November 2009</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Exile" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.4Exile</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#Return_from_exile" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.5Return from exile</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#United_States_role" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.6United States role</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Background[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manuel_Zelaya&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Background" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>The surname 'Zelaya' is a word from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_language" title="Basque language" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Basque language</a>, which means 'field'.Zelaya was born the eldest of four children in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juticalpa" class="mw-redirect" title="Juticalpa" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Juticalpa</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olancho" class="mw-redirect" title="Olancho" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Olancho</a>.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>] Two of his brothers remain alive. Zelaya's mother, Ortensia Rosales de Zelaya, has been described as his best campaigner. His family first lived in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cop%C3%A1n" title="Copán" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Copán</a>, then they moved east to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacamas" title="Catacamas" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Catacamas</a>, Olancho.He attended Niño Jesús de Praga y Luis Landa elementary school and the Instituto Salesiano San Miguel. He began his university studies in civil engineering, but left in 1976 with 11 courses completed, for agriculture and the forestry sector.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-abc.es-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a> He was forced to take over the family business by the arrest of his father José Manuel Zelaya Ordoñez, implicated in the murders known as "Slaughter of the Horcones."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> These murders also involved Mayor José Enrique Chinchilla, Sub-Lieutenant Benjamín Plata, José Manuel Zelaya Ordoñez (property owner) and Carlos Bhar. They were charged and taken to the Central Prison; after four years in prison, they were favored with a pardon from the head of state, General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policarpo_Paz_Garc%C3%ADa" title="Policarpo Paz García" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Policarpo Paz García</a>, in 1979.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a> He has engaged in business activities that including timber and cattle, handed down to him by his late father. He is now a landowner in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olancho" class="mw-redirect" title="Olancho" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Olancho</a>. In 1987, Zelaya became manager of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduran_Council_of_Private_Enterprise" title="Honduran Council of Private Enterprise" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Honduran Council of Private Enterprise</a> (COHEP), as well as of the National Association of Wood Processing Enterprises.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a> The COHEP occupies a particularly important role in Honduran politics, as the Constitution delineates that the organization elects one of the seven members of the Nominating Board that proposes nominees to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Honduras" title="Supreme Court of Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Supreme Court of Honduras</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a>Zelaya's father got a 20-year prison sentence for his role in the 1975 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Horcones_massacre" title="Los Horcones massacre" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Los Horcones massacre</a>, which took place on the Zelaya family ranch, Los Horcones. As a result of an amnesty, he served less than two.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Political career[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manuel_Zelaya&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Political career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Zelaya joined the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Party_of_Honduras" title="Liberal Party of Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Liberal Party of Honduras</a>, Partido Liberal de Honduras, (PLH) in 1970 and became active a decade later. He was a deputy in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Congress_of_Honduras" title="National Congress of Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">National Congress</a> for three consecutive times between 1985 and 1998. He held many positions within the PLH and was Minister for Investment in charge of the Honduran Social Investment Fund (FHIS) in a previous PLH government. Under the administration of Zelaya the FHIS lost $40 million. Zelaya was accused of embezzlement but escaped prosecution.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a> In the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduran_general_election,2005" class="mw-redirect" title="Honduran general election, 2005" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2005 presidential primaries</a>, his faction was called Movimiento Esperanza Liberal (MEL). He received 52% of the 289,300 Liberal votes, vs. 17% for Jaime Rosenthal Oliva and 12% for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriela_Nunez" class="mw-redirect" title="Gabriela Nunez" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Gabriela Núñez</a>, the candidate of the Nueva Mayoría faction.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Presidency (2006-2009)</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zelaya_en_Cumbre_Iberoamericana_2007.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zelaya_en_Cumbre_Iberoamericana_2007.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Manuel Zelaya in 2007</a></div></div></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zelaya_en_Cumbre_Iberoamericana_2007.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">During Zelaya's time in office Honduras became a member of </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivarian_Alliance_for_the_Americas" class="mw-redirect" title="Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">ALBA</a>, an international cooperation organization based on the idea of social, political, and economic integration between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It marked his turning to a left-of-center politics, the first such case of right to left <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policy_switch" title="Policy switch" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">policy switch</a> as he had been elected in on a conservative <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_platform" title="Party platform" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">platform</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-18" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">[18</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-18" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">]</a> Political opponents, particularly business elites, opposed his foreign policy, including his alliance with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez" title="Hugo Chávez" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Hugo Chávez</a> in Venezuela, and friendship with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Cuba</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Castro" title="Raúl Castro" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Raúl Castro</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a>In spite of a number of economic problems, there were a number of significant achievements under Zelaya's presidency. Under his government, free education for all children was introduced,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[20]</a> subsidies to small farmers were provided, bank interest rates were reduced,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[21]</a> the minimum wage was increased by 80%, school meals were guaranteed for more than 1.6 million children from poor families, domestic employees were integrated into the social security system, poverty was reduced by almost 10% during two years of government, and direct state help was provided for 200,000 families in extreme poverty, with free electricity supplied to those Hondurans most in need.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Alliance with ALBA</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivarian_Alliance_for_the_Americas" class="mw-redirect" title="Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas</a></div>On 22 July 2008, Zelaya sought to incorporate Honduras into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivarian_Alliance_for_the_Americas" class="mw-redirect" title="Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">ALBA</a>, an international cooperation organization based on the idea of social, political, and economic integration in Latin America and the Caribbean.<h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Conflict with media</h3>Zelaya said that the main media outlets in Honduras, owned by wealthy conservatives, were biased against him and did not cover what his government was doing: "No one publishes anything about me. . . . what prevails here is censorship of my government by the mass media." Inter Press Service says that the vast majority of radio and TV stations and print publications are owned by just six families.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[23]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-ips_octob_2008-24" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[24]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[25]</a>According to a paper written by Manuel Orozco and Rebecca Rouse for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Dialogue" title="Inter-American Dialogue" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Inter-American Dialogue</a> think tank in the United States, the Honduran media operate as arms of political parties.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-miami_1_jul-26" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[26]</a> Honduran journalists say that most of the news media in Honduras are unabashedly partisan, allied with political parties and local power brokers.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-27" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[27]</a>On 24 May 2007, Zelaya ordered ten two-hour cadenas (mandatory government broadcasts) on all <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_in_Honduras" title="Television in Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">television</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_in_Honduras" title="Radio in Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">radio</a> stations, "to counteract the misinformation of the news media".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-NotiCen-28" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[28]</a> The move, while legal, was fiercely criticized by the country's main journalists' union, and Zelaya was dubbed "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarian" class="mw-redirect" title="Authoritarian" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">authoritarian</a>" by his opposition.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-29" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[29]</a> Ultimately, the broadcasts were scaled back to a one-hour program on the government's plans to expand telephone service, a half-hour on new electrical power plants and a half-hour about government revenues.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-NotiCen-28" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[28]</a>An unknown gunman in 2007 murdered a journalist who often criticized Zelaya.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-30" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[30]</a> The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Press_Association" class="mw-redirect" title="Inter-American Press Association" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Inter-American Press Association</a> (IAPA) and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">United Nations</a> criticized threats against journalists in Honduras.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-cidob-31" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[31]</a> Other critical journalists, such as Dagoberto Rodriguez and Hector Geovanny Garcia, fled into exile because of constant murder threats.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-32" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[32]</a>The Associated Press, citing Manuel Orozco of the Inter American Dialogue, said that "His [Zelaya's] campaign for changing the constitution has energized his support base of labour groups, farmers and civil organisations who have long felt marginalized in a country where a wealthy elite controls the media and much of politics."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-33" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[33]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Corruption investigations of Hondutel</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_irregularities_during_the_Manuel_Zelaya_administration" title="Financial irregularities during the Manuel Zelaya administration" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Financial irregularities during the Manuel Zelaya administration</a></div>Manuel Zelaya appointed his nephew <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelo_Chimirri" title="Marcelo Chimirri" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Marcelo Chimirri</a> as General Manager of the state-owned telecom <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondutel" title="Hondutel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hondutel</a>.According to the Mexican newspaper <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Universal(Mexico_City)" title="El Universal (Mexico City)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">El Universal</a>, relying on information supplied by the Arcadia Foundation, Hondutel's revenue decreased 47% between 2005 and 2006, the first year of President Manuel Zelaya's administration, despite Hondutel's monopoly on international calls<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-34" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[34]</a> In April 2009, Latin Node Inc., an American company, pleaded guilty to making improper payments to Hondutel, "knowing that some, or all of those funds, would be passed on as bribes to officials of Hondutel".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-35" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[35]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-36" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[36]</a> Chimirri resigned in 2007, and was arrested following the coup. He remains in prison on charges of abuse of authority and embezzlement, charges he denies. Apart from Chimirri, Oscar Danilo Santos (the former manager of Hondutel), Jorge Rosa, and James Lagos are all charged in connection with allegedly committing crimes of abuse of authority, fraud and bribery having received bribes of $1.09 million U.S. from an international carrier in exchange for Hondutel providing that carrier lower rates than other firms. Auditor Julio Daniel Flores was charged for the lesser crime of violation of duties of officers.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-37" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[37]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Attempts to modify the constitution[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manuel_Zelaya&action=edit&section=7&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Attempts to modify the constitution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>President Zelaya came to international attention in June 2009 when he was overthrown in a military coup and forced into exile. The crisis that led to his removal from office centered around the question of whether changes would be made to the 1982 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Honduras" title="Constitution of Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Honduran Constitution</a>. Zelaya proposed a national poll to gauge interest in constitutional change, which provoked a fierce reaction from opposition parties. Those responsible for the coup justified their actions on the grounds that Zelaya's interest in potentially convening a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution was illegal, and alleged that his real motive was to increase his time in office. Zelaya denied that his motive was to stay in office, stating that he intended to step down in January 2010 as scheduled, noting that his successor would be elected at the same time the vote on whether to convene a constituent assembly would occur.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-coa_jun-38" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[38]</a>Under constitutional law, the President of Honduras can amend the constitution without a referendum if a congressional majority exists. However, eight articles cannot be amended, including those related to term limits, the permitted system of government, and the process of presidential succession.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-coha-39" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[39]</a>Because the president can amend 368 of the 375 articles in the Honduran constitution without calling a constituent assembly, some suspected that Zelaya's true intention was to extend his rule.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-coha-39" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[39]</a> One-time Christian Democrat presidential candidate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ramon_Martinez(politician)" title="Juan Ramon Martinez (politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Juan Ramon Martinez</a> argued that Zelaya was attempting to discredit parliamentary democracy, saying, "There appears to be a set of tactics aimed at discrediting institutions... he has repeated on several occasions that democratic institutions are worthless and that democracy has not helped at all".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-coha-39" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[39]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Referendum[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manuel_Zelaya&action=edit&section=8&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Referendum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h4><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduran_fourth_ballot_box_referendum" title="Honduran fourth ballot box referendum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Honduran fourth ballot box referendum</a></div>On 11 November 2008, following requests from many Honduran groups for the convening of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_assembly" title="Constituent assembly" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">constituent assembly</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-BDangl_cassembly_broadsupport-40" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[40]</a> Zelaya issued a decree organizing a poll to decide whether the electorate wanted a fourth ballot box installed at polling places for the upcoming 29 November 2009 General Election – an addition to the usual three for Presidential, Congressional, and municipal candidates. The fourth ballot would ask voters whether to convene a National Constituent Assembly for the purpose of writing a new constitution. In March 2009, Zelaya announced that he first wanted to have a preliminary poll – he suggested 28 June 2009 as a date – to ask voters whether they wanted the fourth ballot to be included in the November 2009 election.There has been considerable debate as to whether Zelaya's call for a poll about whether to organize a constituent assembly was legally valid according to the 1982 Constitution. Article 373 of the Constitution states that the Constitution can be amended by a two-thirds majority of the normal National Congress. Only eight articles cannot be amended in this fashion; they are specified in Article 374 of the Constitution and include term limits, system of government that is permitted, and process of presidential succession.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-41" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[41]</a> Because the congress can amend 368 of 375 articles without any constituent assembly, some observers charged that Zelaya's true intention of holding a referendum on convening a constitutional convention on the same date as his successor's election was to extend his term of rule.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-42" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[42]</a> In a newspaper interview shortly before his removal from office, Zelaya stated that he had every intention of stepping down when his term ends in January 2010.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-coa_jun-38" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[38]</a><h4 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Violation of Supreme Court rulings</h4>The Supreme Court, without deciding on the constitutionality of the poll, ruled that a lower court ruling blocking the referendum was lawful<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Cuevas-1-43" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[43]</a>The Supreme Court's ruling was supported by Congress, the country's attorney general, top electoral body, and the country's human rights ombudsman, who all said that Zelaya violated the law.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-wsj1-44" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[44]</a> Despite the opposition of the other branches of the government, Zelaya moved forward with his plan to hold the poll on 28 June 2009. In Honduras the military assist with election logistics; So in late May 2009, Zelaya requested military help to distribute ballot boxes and other materials for the poll. The chief of the military, General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_V%C3%A1squez_Vel%C3%A1squez" title="Romeo Vásquez Velásquez" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Romeo Vásquez Velásquez</a>, refused to carry this order out. In response, Zelaya dismissed Vásquez on 24 May. Subsequently, defense minister Edmundo Orellana and several other military commanders resigned in support of Vásquez. Both the Honduran Supreme Court and the Honduran Congress deemed the dismissal of Velásquez unlawful.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Cuevas-1-43" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[43]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-BBC-26-45" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[45]</a>By 25 June, the newspaper La Tribuna reported that the military had deployed hundreds of troops around Tegucigalpa, to prevent possible disturbances by organisations that support Zelaya and with the exception of leftist organizations, "all sectors are publicly opposed to the consultation, which has been declared illegal by the Prosecutor and the Supreme Court". The troops were deployed from the First Infantry Battalion, located 5 km East of the city, to the vicinity of the presidential residence in the West, and the airport, in the South.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-46" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[46]</a>There is some doubt, however, that Zelaya ever actually fired Vásquez. CNN news on 27 June reported that Zelaya on 24 June had said that he would fire Vásquez; but that on 26 June Zelaya said that he had never carried out his threat and the general had not been fired. "I didn't do it", he told CNN.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-cnn_27_jun-47" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[47]</a>The Congress, the attorney general, and the top electoral tribunal declared Zelaya's proposed referendum illegal.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-wsj1-44" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[44]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-alba-48" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[48]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-wsj2-49" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[49]</a> Congress began to discuss impeaching Zelaya.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-wsj3-50" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[50]</a> On 27 June and again on 30 June 2009, thousands of protesters opposed to Zelaya's marched through the capital city.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-wsj3-50" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[50]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Constitutional crisis</h2><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_constitutional_crisis" title="2009 Honduran constitutional crisis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2009 Honduran constitutional crisis</a></div><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Coup</h3>On 28 June 2009, the Supreme Court issued an order to detain President Zelaya, who was subsequently captured by the military.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-courtorder-51" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[51]</a> He was then brought to the air force base Hernan Acosta Mejia,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-elheraldocostarica-52" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[52]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-53" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[53]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-54" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[54]</a> and taken into exile in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica" title="Costa Rica" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Costa Rica</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-55" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[55]</a> precipitating the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_constitutional_crisis" title="2009 Honduran constitutional crisis" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">2009 Honduran constitutional crisis</a>.The reason given for the arrest order were charges brought by the Attorney General. The rationale of the order was to enable a statement before the Supreme Court. The decision to expatriate Zelaya was however taken by the military themselves, knowing full well that expatriation violated the constitution. The military offered as justification that they exiled Zelaya "to avoid mob violence".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-elfaro_military_decided-56" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[56]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-miamiherald_military_decision-57" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[57]</a> Following the coup, Zelaya spoke to the media from his forced exile in San José. He identified the events as a coup and a kidnapping. Soldiers pulled him from his bed, he said, and assaulted his guards. Zelaya announced that he would not recognize anyone named as his successor, and that he wanted to finish his term in office.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-58" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[58]</a> He also stated that he would begin to meet with diplomats,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-59" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[59]</a> and attended the Summit of Central American presidents held in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managua" title="Managua" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Managua</a>, Nicaragua, two days later (30 June 2009).The National Congress voted unanimously to accept what they said was Zelaya's letter of resignation. Zelaya said he did not write the letter.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-60" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[60]</a>National Congress President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Micheletti" title="Roberto Micheletti" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Roberto Micheletti</a>, the next person in the presidential line of succession and a centre-Right,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-61" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[61]</a> assumed the presidency following Zelaya's removal from office.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Reuters-62" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[62]</a> The event was greeted with applause in the national Congress.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-63" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[63]</a>International bodies like the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the European Union publicly condemned the events. U.S. President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Barack Obama</a> said, "We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the President of Honduras."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Reuters-2009-06-29-64" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[64]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-ABC-2009-06-29-65" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[65]</a> Hugo Chávez threatened to invade Honduras if the Venezuelan embassy or ambassador were attacked.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-66" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[66]</a> Venezuela has said it would suspend oil shipments, and Honduras's neighbors—El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua—suspended overland trade, and lifted the ban after two days.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-WP-2009-06-30-67" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[67]</a> A one-page United Nations resolution, passed by acclamation in the then 192-member body, condemned the events and demanded Zelaya's "immediate and unconditional restoration" as president.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-NYT-UN-06-30-2009-68" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[68]</a> The resolution calls "firmly and categorically on all states to recognise no government other than that" of Mr. Zelaya.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-BBC-2009-06-30-69" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[69]</a>During the first five days out of country, Zelaya spent 80,000 dollars of Honduran public money on goods including hotels, food and clothing, continuing to spend on his expenses as the president of the country.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-70" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[70]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-71" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[71]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-72" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">[72]</a>Zelaya's wife, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiomara_de_Zelaya" class="mw-redirect" title="Xiomara de Zelaya" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Xiomara Castro de Zelaya</a>, charged that the exiling of her husband was a violation of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduran_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="Honduran Constitution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Honduran Constitution</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-73" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[73]</a> Article 102 of the Honduran Constitution forbids expatriating or handing over of Hondurans to foreign countries.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-georgetown_const_82-05_art102-74" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[74]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-75" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[75]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-76" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[76]</a>Following the coup trends of decreasing poverty and extreme poverty were reversed. The nation saw a poverty increase of 13.2 percent and in extreme poverty of 26.3 percent in just 3 years.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-elcorreo.eu.org-77" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[77]</a> Furthermore, unemployment grew between 2008 and 2012 from 6.8 percent to 14.1 percent.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-elcorreo.eu.org-77" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[77]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Return to Honduras[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manuel_Zelaya&action=edit&section=12&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Return to Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>On 21 September 2009, Zelaya and his wife arrived at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. Zelaya said that to reach the embassy he travelled through mountains for fifteen hours, and took back roads to avoid checkpoints. Zelaya did not state from which country he entered Honduras. Hundreds of Zelaya's supporters surrounded the Brazilian embassy. Zelaya chanted "Restitution, Fatherland or Death!" to his supporters, raising fears[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">who?</a>] that Zelaya was attempting a violent confrontation.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Ycoup-78" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[78]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-GHost-79" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[79]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-NYT22-80" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[80]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-81" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[81]</a>Michelletti initially denied that Zelaya had returned, but later admitted he had. Michelletti added that the return "changes nothing of our reality". Michelletti later issued a state of emergency with a curfew and asked the Brazilian government to put Zelaya in Honduran custody for trial. Brazilian foreign minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celso_Amorim" title="Celso Amorim" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Celso Amorim</a> stated that Brazil did not aid Zelaya's return. Security Vice-Minister Mario Perdomo ordered checkpoints on the highways leading to Tegucigalpa, to "stop those people coming to start trouble".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-82" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[82]</a> Defense Minister Lionel Sevilla also suspended all air flights to Tegucigalpa.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Ycoup-78" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[78]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-GHost-79" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[79]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-NYT22-80" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[80]</a>Costa Rican President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Arias" title="Óscar Arias" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Óscar Arias</a> and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged both sides to begin a dialogue toward a peaceful solution<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Ycoup-78" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[78]</a> and Eulogio Chavez, leader of a 60,000-member teachers union, announced that his organization would go on strike to back Zelaya.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Ycoup-78" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[78]</a> Shortly thereafter, Zelaya claimed that Israeli mercenaries had installed a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_jammer" title="Mobile phone jammer" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">mobile phone jammer</a>.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions(geographic_names)" title="Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">where?</a>]<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-elpais_il_merc-83" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[83]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-84" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[84]</a>On 27 September 2009 Honduras gave Brazil a ten-day deadline. Brazilian President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luiz_In%C3%A1cio_Lula_da_Silva" title="Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva</a> replied that he would ignore the deadline. "Brazil will not comply with an ultimatum from a government of coup-mongers".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-reuters-85" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[85]</a> Lula said. Honduran interim president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Micheletti" title="Roberto Micheletti" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Roberto Micheletti</a> warned that his government would take action if Brazil did not determine Zelaya's status soon. President Lula requested an apology.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-reuters-85" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[85]</a>Hundreds of Honduran soldiers and Police Officers surrounded the Brazilian embassy, where protests against the coup continued.On 29 October 2009, the government of "de facto" president Roberto Micheletti signed what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_State" title="United States Secretary of State" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">United States Secretary of State</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton" title="Hillary Clinton" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Hillary Clinton</a> called a "historic agreement" to let Manuel Zelaya serve the remaining three months of his term. "If Congress agrees", according to Elisabeth Malkin of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">The New York Times</a>, "control of the army would shift to the electoral court, and the presidential election set for 29 Nov. would be recognized by both sides. Neither Mr. Zelaya nor Mr. Micheletti will be candidates".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-86" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[86]</a>When Micheletti announced he had, unilaterally, formed the unity government without input from Zelaya, Zelaya declared the agreement "dead" early on 6 November.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Deal_dead-87" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[87]</a> The United States sent diplomats to help to resurrect the pact,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-US_diplomat_in_Honduras_trying_to_revive_pact-88" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[88]</a> but Zelaya insisted that he would not accept any deal to restore him to office if it meant he must recognize the elections of 29 November.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Ousted_Honduran_president_won't_recognize_vote-89" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[89]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Presidential election of 29 November 2009</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduran_general_election,2009" class="mw-redirect" title="Honduran general election, 2009" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Honduran general election, 2009</a></div>On 29 November 2009, a presidential election was held under a state of emergency declared in Decree PCM-M-030-2009.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-state_emergency-90" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[90]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-LAWG_state_emergency-91" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[91]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-AlG_state_emergency-92" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[92]</a> According to the decree, the Secretary of State of the 'de facto' government was expected to participate in the military command for this state of emergency.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-state_emergency-90" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[90]</a> Five of the six presidential candidates retained their candidacies, while <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Humberto_Reyes" title="Carlos Humberto Reyes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Carlos H. Reyes</a> had withdrawn his candidacy on 9 November in protest at what he perceived as illegitimacy of the election.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-bbc_reyes_withdraws-93" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[93]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-tiempo_reyes_withdraws-94" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[94]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-tribuna_reyes_withdraws-95" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[95]</a> Zelaya called for a boycott of the poll. Some Hondurans interviewed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press" title="Associated Press" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Associated Press</a> said that they "sought to move past the crisis with the elections", which had been scheduled previous to Zelaya's removal.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Honduras_hopes_to_move_past_coup_with_election(Version_1)-96" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[96]</a> Early returns indicated that conservative <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porfirio_Lobo" class="mw-redirect" title="Porfirio Lobo" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Porfirio Lobo</a> was elected with around 55% of the votes.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-97" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[97]</a> Official numbers for the turnout of the election falsely placed it at around 60%,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-98" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[98]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Honduras_hopes_to_move_past_coup_with_election(Version_2)-99" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[99]</a> but subsequently revised the numbers to 49% turnout.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-100" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[100]</a>Organisations and individuals in Honduras, including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Resistance_Front(Honduras)" class="mw-redirect" title="National Resistance Front (Honduras)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">National Resistance Front against the coup d'état in Honduras</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-xinhua_Frente_opposes20091129-101" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[101]</a> Marvin Ponce of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Unification_Party" title="Democratic Unification Party" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Democratic Unification Party</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-xinhua_Frente_opposes20091129-101" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[101]</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Oliva" title="Bertha Oliva" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bertha Oliva</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Relatives_of_the_Disappeared_in_Honduras" title="Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">COFADEH</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-BOliva_3monthdelay-102" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[102]</a>and internationally, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercosur" title="Mercosur" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mercosur</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-mercopress_electioninvalid-103" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[103]</a> President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_Kirchner" title="Cristina Fernández de Kirchner" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cristina Kirchner</a> of Argentina<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-mercopress_electioninvalid-103" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[103]</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_South_American_Nations" title="Union of South American Nations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Union of South American Nations</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-AP_brief_UNASUR-104" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[104]</a> said that elections held on 29 November under Micheletti would not be legitimate.On 2 December, the National Congress began debate regarding the possible reinstatement of Zelaya to the presidency.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Honduran_lawmakers_debate_ousted_leader's_future-105" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[105]</a>On 4 December, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Barahona" title="Juan Barahona" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Juan Barahona</a>-led activists ended five months of daily protests demanding the reinstatement of Zelaya, saying they were moving on now that Congress has voted to keep Manuel Zelaya out of office. Juan Barahona, who had been leading protests since late June when Zelaya was forced out of the country, said that his supporters are "closing that chapter" of their struggle. Barahona said it was time for Hondurans who support policies in favor of the poor and other themes that Zelaya espoused to shift their focus to the 2014 elections.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-Zelaya_supporters_say_it's_time_to_move_on-106" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[106]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Exile</h3>On 20 January 2010, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic" title="Dominican Republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dominican Republic</a> and Honduran President-elect Lobo agreed to a deal that would allow Zelaya to be transported safely from the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa where he had been, to the Dominican Republic upon Lobo taking office on 27 January. Lobo stated that he would ensure Zelaya would leave safely and "with dignity."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-107" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[107]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-108" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[108]</a> Lobo negotiated with Dominican President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonel_Fern%C3%A1ndez" title="Leonel Fernández" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Leonel Fernández</a>. Lobo also discussed the situation with former <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduran_general_election,2009" class="mw-redirect" title="Honduran general election, 2009" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">presidential candidates</a>, who signed onto a joint statement on the agreement, which also requested that sanctions against Honduras as a result of the coup be lifted.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-109" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[109]</a> The next day, Zelaya agreed to the deal. A close advisor said Zelaya would remain politically active and hoped to later return to political activity.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-110" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[110]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-111" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[111]</a>Zelaya left Honduras on January 27, 2010 for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic" title="Dominican Republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dominican Republic</a>, along with his wife, two children, and President Fernández of the Dominican Republic.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-latimes-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> Zelaya and his family lived in the Dominican Republic until his return in 2011.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-112" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[112]</a> Several countries in the region continued to see Zelaya as the legitimate Honduran head of state.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-113" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[113]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Return from exile</h3>Honduran President Porforio Lobo met with Zelaya in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartagena,Colombia" title="Cartagena, Colombia" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Cartagena, Colombia</a> on 22 May 2011. They both signed an agreement that allowed Zelaya to return to Honduras from exile.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-114" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[114]</a> Six days later, on 28 May, Zelaya flew back to Honduras aboard a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conviasa" title="Conviasa" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Conviasa</a> jet and was greeted by thousands of his supporters at the airport.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-hwend-115" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[115]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-116" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[116]</a> He gave a conciliatory speech that called for political reconciliation and increased democracy in the country.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-hwend-115" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[115]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">United States role</h3>In 2015 and 2016, emails by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were released subsequent to disputes over the Secretary's use of private email accounts for government communications. Some critics, who are not named in this article, have argued that, despite President Obama's public support for Zelaya and condemnation of the coup, these communications suggest that the Secretary seemed more interested in ensuring that previously scheduled elections for the new president proceeded in November, rather than taking a strong stand insisting that Zelaya be restored in the meantime. And Zelaya himself has criticized both Clinton and the Obama administration saying, "On the one hand, they condemned the coup, but on the other hand, they were negotiating with the leaders of the coup."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-117" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[117]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-118" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[118]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya#cite_note-119" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[119]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">References</h2></div><div>
<div>backgd from honduras page </div><div>...</div><div>US Fuels Violence, Demonizes RefugeesThe problems experienced by Flor Del Campo are widespread in Honduras. In the last decade—ever since a Washington-backed <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-us-role-in-the-honduras-coup-and-subsequent-violence_us_5766c7ebe4b0092652d7a138" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">coup</a> in <a href="https://nacla.org/news/honduras-and-political-uses-drug-war" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">2009</a>—the whole country has been consumed by <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2018/february/honduras-gang-violence-migration-corruption-boys/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">apocalyptic violence</a>. The government claims that the murder rate has declined in the last years, to 42.8 per 100,000 people in 2017, though I was constantly told there that officials lie about these figures and ignore growing violence against women.<div class="p7_26" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Due to insecurity, lack of jobs, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-honduran-coca-raid-signals-shift-to-cocaine-production-authorities-say-2018-4" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">violence</a> fueled by gangs, the drug trade and associated crackdowns, large numbers of citizens are fleeing and heading towards a better life in the US. The exact number of Hondurans fleeing the country is difficult to determine but in September 2018, US Border Patrol agents <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/honduran-migrant-caravan-grows-4000-amid-spike-u-s-border-n921286" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">apprehended</a> more than 41,000 unauthorised migrants, many of whom came from Honduras.<div class="p8_26" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">President Trump and his administration demonize these refugees—most recently at a February 11 “Make America Great Again” <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-rally-today-watch-live-stream-speech-el-paso-texas-border-wall-2019-02-11/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">rally</a> in El Paso, Texas—as economic migrants who bring violence to the US. In fact, it is US policies in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras over the last 40 years that have <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-migrant-caravan-where-mexico-honduras-guatemala-central-america-a8597741.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">generated</a> waves of poor men, women and children who can’t safely prosper in their own countries.<div class="p9_26" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was re-elected in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/22/us-recognizes-re-election-of-honduras-president-despite-calls-for-a-new-vote" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">fraudulent</a> election in 2017 but receives full backing from the White House. Protestors and critics are routinely harassed and imprisoned. One Honduran artist expressed the feeling of many locals by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_72f0u6jOo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">burning</a> gunpowder-stuffed puppets of Trump and Honduran President Hernandez on New Year’s Day in Tegucigalpa.<div class="p10_26" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Drug trafficking is a major factor behind the crisis. Although Honduras has been one of the main cocaine <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-drugs-are-getting-smuggled-from-south-america-to-the-us-2017-9" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">smuggling routes</a> from South America to the US in recent years, nations in Central America are increasingly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-centralamerica-drugs/drug-cartels-test-central-america-for-cocaine-production-idUSKCN1N64GA" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">producing</a> the drug on home soil. Corruption is rife: The Honduran political establishment is filled with politicians, police and military who sell and traffic drugs on an industrial scale.<div class="p11_26" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/how-washington-created-a-honduran-nightmare-on-its-doorstep/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">traveled across</a> the entire country and saw many areas where Colombian and Venezuelan traffickers landed planes on isolated airstrips; cocaine was then transported by local gangs on its way towards the US. Cocaine use is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/04/colombias-coca-boom-is-showing-up-on-u-s-streets/?utm_term=.a5379a9b3bd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">rising</a> across the US at a time when Colombia has never been growing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/19/colombia-cocaine-production-breaks-record" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">more</a> coca crops. This is also true in other parts of the world: Italian police recently <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20190131/italy-thwarts-colombian-cartel-with-massive-cocaine-haul" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">seized</a> two tonnes of cocaine at a Genoa port, destined for Barcelona, that had originated in Honduras.<div class="p12_26" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Honduran President’s brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, was recently arrested and charged in Miami for trying to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/27/671339362/honduran-presidents-brother-arrested-in-miami-on-drug-trafficking-charges" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">smuggle</a> tons of cocaine into the US. [and again 619?)Countless other high-level Honduran officials have been found guilty in US courts on drug offenses, though the vast majority of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3990452/honduras-police-chief-drug-cartel-cocaine/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">participants</a> in the drug trade are left unmolested to pursue their activities. Washington has been willing to turn a blind eye to this situation for years, happy to maintain close relations with an authoritarian and compliant nation on its doorstep.<div class="p13_26" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Opposition lawmaker and Libre party member Maria Luisa Borjas, the former head of internal affairs of the Honduran national police who was found guilty in early 2019 of <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/International/wireStory/judge-finds-honduras-lawmaker-guilty-defamation-case-60709843" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">defaming</a> a powerful banker, told me in her office in Tegucigalpa that the country was collapsing under the weight of injustice. “Thirty thousand businesses have closed in Tegucigalpa because of the gang-driven ‘war tax,’” she said. “Gang extortion is a huge problem.”<div class="p14_26" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The country was struggling to cope with the dead bodies, Borjas said. “In the major’s office, we give out caskets for the dead but we’ve run out of them [due to so many murders]. A woman recently came for a casket for her granddaughter who had been killed and soon enough her grandson was murdered. There were no more caskets to give her.”...</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div>
</div><div></div><div>...Reliable reporting on the current outpouring of protest in Honduras is hard to come by, but it’s rooted in the Honduran presidential election in November. The incumbent Honduran president, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Orlando_Hern%C3%A1ndez" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Juan Orlando Hernandez</a>, 49, of the National Party, is a direct beneficiary of the 2009 coup, which elevated him to the leadership of the National Congress. He is a businessman (coffee, hotels, media) with a master’s degree in public administration from the State University of New York. He was first elected president in 2013 (with 34% of the vote) in a corrupt process during which at least 18 opposition-party candidates and supporters were murdered. Additionally, charges of fraudulent voting and corrupt campaign contributions were ignored by authorities, to the benefit of Hernandez. Once he was president, he was barred by the Honduran constitution from running for a second term. This obstacle was removed by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which is controlled by the president. Hernandez has a long personal relationship with Gen. John Kelly. Going into the election, Hernandez was considered the favorite.</div>Opposing Hernandez was democratic socialist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Nasralla" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">Salvador Nasralla</a>, 64, of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_and_Refoundation" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">Libre-PINU</a> Party (the Opposition Alliance against Dictatorship), the party of the coup-deposed President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Manuel Zelaya</a>. Nasralla graduated with honors from the Catholic University of Chile as a civil engineer and later earned an NBA. He was CEO of Pepsi Honduras before starting a television career in 1981. Since then, he has been harshly critical of chronic corruption in Honduras, founding the Anti-Corruption Party in 2013, when he won 13% of the vote for president. He was not expected to win the 2017 election.As it stands now, the winner may never be known, but more than likely Nasralla won the popular vote. Among election monitors, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Organization of American States</a> (OAS) and the European Union (EU) have rejected the results, while the US Embassy has said everything is hunky-dory. Meanwhile, the US and other anti-democratic forces are on the verge of installing their puppet Hernandez as the re-elected president of Honduras. The timeline of this stolen election illustrates just how secure the dictatorship and its allies in the US feel in their brazen criminality:November 26. Apparently, something like 57% of Hondurans vote for a field of nine candidates. The Supreme Electoral Council, controlled by Hernandez, closes the polls an hour earlier than in the past, likely suppressing the vote. At first the Electoral Council releases vote totals as they come in, as is customary. Then, with Nasralla surprisingly leading, the Electoral Council suspends the count for seven hours.November 27. With 57% of the votes counted, the Election Council reports that Nasralla is leading Hernandez by 5 points, roughly 45-40. These totals apparently represent mostly voting machine votes and not paper ballots. The Election Council then suspends the count again, for another 36 hours, telling the public there might be no final results until November 30.November 28. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signs off on State Dept. certification that <a href="https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN1DY2K7-OCATP" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Honduras has been improving</a> on fighting corruption and supporting human rights, clearing the way for $644 million in US aid....<div></div><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya</a></div><div>
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