A Few Thoughts on the Coup in Honduras

There is a lot of great analysis circulating on the military coup against Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. I do not see a need to re-invent the wheel. (See here here here and here). However, a few key things jump out at me. First, we know that the coup was led by Gen. Romeo Vasquez, a graduate of the US Army School of the Americas. As we know very well from history, these “graduates” maintain ties to the US military as they climb the military career ladders in their respective countries. That is a major reason why the US trains these individuals.

Secondly, the US has a fairly significant military presence in Honduras. Joint Task Force-Bravo is located at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras. The base is home to some 550 US military personnel and more than 650 US and Honduran civilians:

They work in six different areas including the Joint Staff, Air Force Forces (612th Air Base Squadron), Army Forces, Joint Security Forces and the Medical Element. 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, a US Army South asset, is a tenant unit also based at Soto Cano. The J-Staff provides command and control for JTF-B.

The New York Times reports that “The unit focuses on training Honduran military forces, counternarcotics operations, search and rescue, and disaster relief missions throughout Central America.”

Significantly, according to GlobalSecurity, “Soto Cano is a Honduran military installation and home of the Honduran Air Force.”

This connection to the Air Force is particularly significant given this report in NarcoNews:

The head of the Air Force, Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo, studied in the School of the Americas in 1996. The Air Force has been a central protagonist in the Honduran crisis. When the military refused to distribute the ballot boxes for the opinion poll, the ballot boxes were stored on an Air Force base until citizens accompanied by Zelaya rescued them. Zelaya reports that after soldiers kidnapped him, they took him to an Air Force base, where he was put on a plane and sent to Costa Rica.

informationclearinghouse.info...

Fingerprints everywhere. Of course the president (Obama) could deny any involvement since hey would be in the need-to-know and he wouldn't need to know which gives him immunity to prosecution. And his handlers probably didn't clue him in.

reply to post by warrenb


Warrenb, thanks for the the thoughts. I thought the School of the Americas was being shut down? Regardless, what a travesty. Central America is rife with examples of our democratic way - truly electeld leaders being replaced with our puppets - and for what? There is an incredible amount of sadness in Honduras, Nicararagua, El Salvador, Guatemala, etc. I for one don't need bannanas that badly - what am I missing out on here?

ColoradoJens

Good thread with good info. Thanks.
If it walks like a duck...Zelaya, in following Honduran tradition of the office of president entertaining more power than the other branches, did indeed attempt to use the traditional power but did indeed violate his constitution. Unfortunately, what followed was similar to the South Park underwear gnomes who didn't know what to do with the underwear they had stolen. Apparently the H cons does not spell out exactly how to depose and what to do with a deposed president.

The H military followed its traditional historical power and solved the problem by kidnapping Z and dropping him off in Costa Rica. That's where the duck doesn't exactly quack to call this a coup IMO.

Oh, this can't be a CIA deal, because Zelaya's plane didn't blow up or crash...bad joke, bad joke...

What the H govt then did may have again violated their constitution, if Zelaya did not write a letter of resignation (govt officials purportedly came up with such a letter). Also, can Z's successor, Micheletti, hold power if he is not "native born", which may be why the govt was reported to be finding HIS replacement?

The events look more like the Keystone Cops in action, but I should not laugh, as there is much improvement overall in the southern Americas in regards to democracy. At least the November election is not far away, in US terms, but it will be interesting top see what happens in H till then. Perhaps the govt will come up with the constitutional means to get rid of a pres, such as trial and impeachment. Although such processes would take much longer than the historical actions of a coup. Patience is needed in democracy.

I might add that the govt wanted Z out of the country for the "good of the country" (to keep down actions by the citizens), in much the same reasoning that the current US administration did not want to look into Bush administrations misdeeds for the "good of the country".