Thursday, July 02, 2009

Honduras Update: Mass Protests, U.S. Handwringing, Iran versus Honduras Via Tweeting Liberals

Mass demonstration against the ouster of Manuel Zelaya--video and the story can be found here.
The march started with about 4,000 people, but throughout the day numerous people arrived from other parts of the city and the rest of the country, despite the fact that the highways remain blocked either by the army or the demonstrators themselves.
Since last Sunday, popular movements have been demanding the restoration of the government headed by Manuel Zelaya, the legitimate president of Honduras, and they vow to advance the call for a Constituent Assembly to reorganize the various branches and institutions of the country which have been devastated following the coup d'état.

The number of demonstrators against the coup in Honduras has absolutely, overwhelmingly outweighed the small numbers of coup supporters, although you wouldn't know that reading AP or the Washington Post...or Bloomberg News, which simply lied about the number of protesters.

Meanwhile, the U.S., characteristic of the Obama regime, is trying to have it both ways:
The US has refrained from formally declaring Zelaya’s ouster a “coup,” a designation that would, under US laws, require Washington to cut off military aid to the country and impose sanctions. Nor has it recalled its ambassador.

Allison Kilkenny writes that Iran, whose "reformer" dissident candidate is a pro-big business, who-cares-about-the-poor kind of guy, inspired millions of liberals in the U.S. to practically swear blood-oaths with Iranian protesters; Honduras, on the other hand, whose deposed president had taken a hard line against neoliberalism, globalization, and the failed war on drugs, just isn't glitzy enough for the soft left. Maybe somebody could make some t-shirts or something...
The Hondurans have reacted to this coup with as much gusto as the Iranians did during their supposed election fraud. The military has shut down public transportation and put up roadblocks to prevent protesters from reaching the capital. ¡Presente!'s Kristin Bricker writes that unknown numbers of citizens have taken to the streets, and she even includes photos in her report that are available for the taking by any network (CNN, MSNBC, FOX).
Somehow, the U.S. media isn't picking up on these details. A democratically elected president has been ousted by a military strongly supported and trained by the US government as apparent punishment for his adoption of progressive ideals. Where is the outrage, or at the least, the intrigue? Where are the solidarity movements?
The hashtag #Honduras quickly disappeared from Twitter's Trending Topics. It was replaced by Wimbledon, Michael Jackson, and Iran. Since Twitter siphons news from traditional media sources, it's only logical to assume that the focus on Honduras has diminished in the micro-blogging world because it has vanished from the U.S. media.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Matt, you should try citing sources from inside Honduras. For example:

http://www.elheraldo.hn/Especiales/Honduras%20en%20contra%20de%20la%20ilegalidad%20del%2024%20de%20junio%20de%202009/Ediciones/2009/07/02/Noticias/Fuera-Mel-fuera-Chavez-grita-multitud-a-favor-de-la-democracia-en-Honduras

Matt J Stannard said...

Will, if the coup was legitimate, why did the military need to shut down the media? Why are leading Hondurans saying the real reason he was removed was his closeness to Chavez, and why hasn't the "new government" produced any evidence beyond his intent to hold a nonbinding referendum? Why wouldn't they let his plane land if they really intended to arrest him? Why are his political allies, who had nothing to do with the referendum, being detained?