Honduras is coming apart, and the State Departments response is utterly nonsensical

[Judi Lynn]

Many worry the country's right-wing president is rigging the current election.
LUKE BARNES DEC 12, 2017, 4:25 PM

It’s been two weeks since Hondurans headed to the polls to elect a new president. Since then, there have been reports of electoral fraud, widespread protesting and rioting that have rocked the already-precarious Central American state. And the U.S. response? Send them military aid.

The crisis started in late November when Honduras held a hotly-contested presidential vote between the right-wing incumbent, President Juan Orlando Hernández, and his leftist rival Salvador Nasralla. However, a fortnight later, there is still no clear winner between the two. Electoral authorities say that Hernández has an unassailable lead, but there is also substantial evidence of electoral fraud, including one episode in which a glitch shut down the main tallying computer for 36 hours. Beforehand, Nasralla held a five-point lead.

As a result of the bitterly-disputed elections, protests spilled over into the street last week, causing the government to declare a 10-day curfew and suspend constitutional rights. “The suspension of constitutional guarantees was approved so that the armed forces and the national police can contain this wave of violence that has engulfed the country,” Ebal Diaz, a senior Honduran minister said on December 2. On the same day, a teenage girl, Kimberly Dayana Fonseca, was shot dead by soldiers loyal to Hernández.

To make matters worse, it appears that the security forces are now beginning to split into rival factions. Last Tuesday, hundreds of members of the elite riot police unit known as the Cobras said that they were no longer willing to face down protesters. “We are rebelling. We call on all the police nationally to act with their conscience”, one masked officer told Reuters. Other police units around the country have reportedly followed suit to the elation of Hondurans. However, according to a recent report, the Army has now begun clearing the streets of barricades, and Amnesty International reports that at least 14 people have died in clashes.

More:
https://thinkprogress.org/honduras-is-coming-apart-the-u-s-response-more-military-aid-e462f6712bcb/

[sandensea]

1. Big banks love the drug trade

And since the Iran-Cocaine-Contra days, Honduras has become a major lily pad in the drug rackets.

[BigmanPigman]

2. Do we still have a State Dept?

I thought there were cobwebs and tumble weeds blowing around in the hallways where we once had a State Dept.

[shadowmayor]

3. Bring back

Manuel Zelaya!