The Bloodbath Belongs to the Thugs of Tegucigalpa

Any bloodshed in Honduras has been, and continues to be, shed by the illegal Micheletti (Pinochetti) government, aided and abetted by the Obama administration. Any further bloodshed will also be at the hands rocking the Latin American cradle, not the poor bugger trying to climb back into it.

Are we seriously expected to buy this US State Department-brokered “negotiated, peaceful solution to the integrity of Honduran democracy and the safety and well-being of the Honduran people”?

Puhlease! That is exactly what they had until 29 June, when their peacefully-elected president, who had been safeguarding and progressing the safety and the well-being of ALL of the Honduran people, was abducted and illegally bundled out of the country. What's to negotiate?

Zelaya was conducting an openly democratic government, in accord with the Honduran Constitution, democratic precepts, and international law. There was freedom of assembly, open media, free transit within and across Honduran borders, open free and fair elections, and even if the rule of law did not operate perfectly, at least it demonstrably existed. The “integrity of Honduran democracy” and “the safety and well-being of the Honduran people” was there for all to see under his presidency.

Pinochetti, by contrast, not only illegally occupies the seat of government, but participated in the self-confessed illegal abduction and removal of the legitimate president from Honduras. Pinochetti has overseen the suspension of almost all civil and political rights in Honduras, evidenced by curfews, censorship of the media, ejection of numerous foreign media and observers from the country, prevention of free transit by the citizenry within and across the borders, the detention of thousands of citizens, the deaths of at least seven, and the torture, beating, disappearance, and harassment of hundreds more. The “integrity of Honduran democracy” and “the safety and well-being of the Honduran people” has been decimated under Pinochetti’s regime.

Listen up, Obama. Democracy is NOT negotiable. Democracy puts presidents in place through the exercise of free and fair elections. Zelaya was freely and fairly elected. Pinochetti was imposed on the Honduran people at the barrel of a gun.

Honduran democracy cannot be served, or have any integrity, until the legitimate president is restored, and the criminal usurpers are held to account.

Zelaya is the legitimate president of Honduras. He was not elected to be the powerless puppet of a coalition of sycophants to the U.S., but to represent the Honduran people’s interests, to protect and maintain their integrity, safety and well-being. His presidential term does not finish until January. Zelaya should be in his country now, fulfilling the functions he was elected by the Honduran people to carry out. Full stop.

The criminals who, using state resources, illegally kidnapped him and whisked him out of the country and refuse to let him back, and who continue to repress the citizenry and breach numerous national and international laws, should be arrested and brought before justice. Full stop.

The only negotiation required is that to get rid of the illegal government. But they are refusing to negotiate their exit in good faith, they are refusing to go gracefully and take their chances at the ballot box in November. It is they who began, and are continuing, the bloodshed. It is Pinochetti’s thugs who are pulling the triggers, stabbing the bayonets, firing the tear gas, beating citizens with police and military batons, torturing, disappearing and detaining innocent citizens, and trampling democratic norms.

It is bizarre in the extreme to even suggest that rather than return to his county, Zelaya should negotiate the terms of his legitimate presidency with a bunch of self-confessed criminals.

The only justifiable negotiation is that necessary to get the Pinochetti thugs into custody as soon as possible, so they cannot wreak any more havoc on the Honduran people and democratic processes through their reckless disregard for “the integrity of Honduran democracy” and “the safety and well-being of the Honduran people.”

Prevent a bloodbath, Obama – withdraw all support for those that conducted, aided and abetted the military coup in Honduras, and unconditionally and unequivocally support the return of the democratically-elected and legitimate President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. That would really be a change...

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