Lawmaker gunned down in Honduras

[Judi Lynn]

Source: I.A.N.S.

Lawmaker gunned down in Honduras

Tegucigalpa, Dec 4 : A congressman with Honduras' ruling National Party was fatally shot by unknown assailants in the western city of La Entrada, authorities said.

Juan de Jesus Deras Madrid, 33, was attacked Thursday while returning in his car from a public event to hand out government benefits to poor residents of Copan Ruinas.

The lawmaker managed to get out of the vehicle and run into a nearby shop, but the shooters pursued him inside and killed him, according to preliminary accounts.

One of the two people traveling with Deras Madrid was wounded and the other emerged unscathed, Copan provincial police chief Jorge Barralaga said, withholding the individuals' named "for security reasons".





Read more: http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-98004.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Photo taken of this man not long before he was assassinated:

http://media.townhall.com.nyud.net:8090/Townhall/reu/d/2010/337/2010-12-03T053100Z_01_HND05_RTRIDSP_0_HONDURAS.jpg

Honduran legislator Juan de Jesus Deras Madrid (blue cap), a deputy of the National Party, participates in the delivery of government monetary handouts to poor residents in the town of Copan, western Honduras December 2, 2010. Deras Madrid was shot dead by unidentified gunmen shortly after making the delivery, according to local police. REUTERS/Diario La Prensa/Handout

On edit, adding photo:

http://estaticos01.cache.el-mundo.net.nyud.net:8090/america/imagenes/2010/12/03/noticias/1291342001_1.jpg

Rep. Juan de Jesus Deras during a ceremony at Copán. | Efe

[awoke_in_2003]

2. handing out benefits to help the poor...

gets you killed. The guys middle name is "Jesus"- I am a non-believer, but it sounds like this guy was living up to the ideal that another supposed "Jesus" advocated. I wish everyone was more like "Jesus" (pronounce it either way you wish)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Report Finds Impunity in Post-Coup Honduras

Report Finds Impunity in Post-Coup Honduras
December 21, 2010
by AQ Online

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, released yesterday, documents violence and a climate of intimidation in Honduras in the aftermath of the 2009 military coup. The 65-page report, titled “After the Coup: Ongoing Violence, Intimidation, and Impunity in Honduras,” identified 47 cases of threats or attacks—including 18 killings of journalists, human rights defenders and political activists—since the inauguration of President Porfirio Lobo in January 2010.

According to the report, the lack of accountability has negatively affected freedom of speech and political participation in Honduras. José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at HRW, said that “until Honduran authorities take concrete steps to reduce impunity and stop the attacks, it will be very difficulty to restore trust in the country’s democratic system.” The report’s recommendations include the allocation of funds for the Witness Protection Program and the establishment of an International Commission of Inquiry to carry out thorough investigations into abuses committed after the coup and into ongoing attacks and threats.

The June 28, 2009, coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya was denounced by much of the international community, including the United States. In the weeks after the coup, the OAS suspended Honduras’s membership.

http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/2057

[Judi Lynn]

4. Honduras: Campesinos Expelled Like 'Vermin'

Honduras: Campesinos Expelled Like 'Vermin'
Written by Giorgio Trucchi, Translated by Peter Lackowski
Wednesday, 15 December 2010 21:59

Soldiers and police armed to the teeth violently evict defenseless peasant families. The presence of human rights organizations and national and international journalists prevents, this time, a new blood bath in the Bajo Aguan.

The dawning of Thursday, December 9, brought terror to dozens of campesino families of the Bajo (Lower) Aguan River Valley. Several contingents of soldiers and police, armed to the teeth, evicted them without any judicial order, nor the presence of an administrative judge, from the settlement of Paso Aguan, on the left bank of the Aguan River.

The delegation of human rights organizations and national and international journalists arrived at the place just as the the repressive forces of the state were finishing their "work."

Dozens of troops, armed with M16 rifles and even with an M60 machine gun were forcing men, women, and children to abandon the place that they had recovered some months ago from the hands of Miguel Facusse, a wealthy landholder who grows oil palms.

More:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/honduras-archives-46/2820-honduras-campesinos-expelled-like-vermin

[Judi Lynn]

5. A State of Siege in Northern Honduras: Land, Palm Oil and Media

A State of Siege in Northern Honduras: Land, Palm Oil and Media
Written by Peter Lackowski
Tuesday, 30 November 2010 18:42

Palm oil is a convenient source of biodiesel, and oil palms grow very well in the valley of the Bajo (Lower) Aguan River of northeastern Honduras. This valley is the home of some of the poorest people in one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Their poverty is due, in large part, to the fact that most of the land in the region has been appropriated by powerful corporations controlled by members of the Honduran oligarchy, led by one of the richest and most ruthless of them all, Miguel Facusse.

Facusse owns massive tracts of land throughout the country, much of which he has obtained by fraudulent deals made possible by the corruption of government officials. In the early 1990's, 5000 acres in the Bajo Aguan was awarded to peasants after the closure of a military base on which personnel were trained by the USA in the use of torture and other methods of repression. Facusse bribed "community leaders" to make deals to sign this and other land over to him for bargain prices. He also employs hundreds of heavily armed "security" personnel who are used to intimidate and murder those who stand in his way, so any peasants who objected to this process were "neutralized." (resistenciahonduras.hn November 16)

One of the reasons that President Manuel Zelaya was deposed on June 28, 2009 was the fact that he was actively carrying out a program of land reform, implementing laws that were on the books but never enforced, actively investigating and rectifying cases of fraud and corruption that had deprived campesinos of their land. Miguel Facusse was a prominent supporter of the coup, along with other members of the oligarchy who opposed Zelaya's land reform, his raising of the minimum wage, and various other things he was doing to benefit and empower the popular classes. Zelaya's ouster put an end to these efforts.

With or without the help of president Zelaya, the peasants of the Lower Aguan were living in such extreme poverty that they had no choice but to continue with their struggle for land. Around the beginning of 2010 they began invading the land in question and planting subsistence crops. Facusse's thugs moved in and began killing and beating peasants and destroying their property. But the current president, Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, who came to power in an election tainted by repression, censorship, and massive abstention, was faced with the task of obtaining diplomatic recognition for his post-coup de facto government, and this did not look good to international observers. So Lobo began negotiating with Facusse and the campesinos to use public funds to buy him off. Meanwhile, he moved thousands of Honduran troops into the region to set off fears of a massacre that might be carried out under the cover of clearing out "illegal squatters." The clear intention was to motivate the campesinos to accept the terms of whatever deal he struck--or else. Of course the troops were said to be there in the interest of public safety, to prevent acts of "terror" by those lawless, land invading peasants. In April 2010 Lobo announced a deal according to which the campesinos would get a lot less land than they were demanding, with the added requirement that half of that land would have to be used to grow palm oil, and that the palm fruits would have to be sold to Facusse for processing.

More:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/honduras-archives-46/2800-a-state-of-siege-in-northern-honduras-land-palm-oil-and-media

[Judi Lynn]

6. Don't forget what US ambassador Hugo Llorens said about the illegal coup.

From the same article:

The power of the corporate media was demonstrated at the time of the coup that deposed Zelaya, when the corporate newspapers constantly ran stories about how he wanted to change the constitution so as to be president for life. While this could conceivably have been in his mind, what he was actually calling for was a poll to ask whether the country needed a new constitution. The possibility of his being re-elected was no more than a hypothetical proposition, and it would only have been possible after a new president and a new constitution would have been in place. But by constantly repeating the claim that he wanted to be re-elected for life, they introduced enough confusion so that people who didn't like his policies had a superficially plausible reason to accept a blatantly illegal military coup.

One of the secret diplomatic cables made public by Wikileaks was an analysis of the legal basis of the coup sent to Washington by the US ambassador, Hugo Llorens, in July 2009. He described it as illegal and unconstitutional, saying that "...the actions of June 28 can only be considered a coup d'etat by the legislative branch, with the support of the judicial branch and the military, against the executive branch." The revelation of the ambassador's honest (though secret) assessment of the coup has caused quite a stir in Honduras.

[bitchkitty]

7. I didn't know this.

I make soap, and this is one more good reason not to use palm oil. I don't even use sustainable palm, I can do without it. This is outrageous.

[formercia]

8. El Salvador Redux

Native peoples standing in the way of 'Development.'

I wonder where he learned that from.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Honduran coffee harvest relies on child workers

Honduran coffee harvest relies on child workers
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 24th, 2010 -- 5:37 pm

EL PARAISO, Honduras — Evelyn and Carlos toil for 10 hours a day on chilly mountainsides in Honduras, filling baskets with ripe red coffee beans for a handful of dollars: they are six and eight years old.

"Sometimes I fill up to seven baskets a day," said Evelyn, deftly swatting branches out of her way before picking prime Honduran coffee beans and dropping them into a wicker container hanging from her tiny waist.

Evelyn's estimate was likely a bit off since Carlos, two years her senior, said he only managed four -- Evelyn could easily be forgiven as she had just started school and was still learning basic arithmetic.

The children probably manage to pick about 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of coffee beans a day. Their rich produce sold this week at market for 2.34 dollars a pound -- a daily haul, therefore, worth roughly 150 dollars.

More:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/honduran-coffee-child-workers/

[Judi Lynn]

10. Honduras: Women’s Rights Under Seige After Military Coup

Honduras: Women’s Rights Under Seige After Military Coup
Posted on 03 December 2010

23 of 217 registered cases (10%), women have declared that they were victims of groping, being bashed in the breasts and vagina, being subject to sexual violence, insults and torture/humiliation.There have been 12 cases of rape by police/soldiers reported after protests or during curfews or who had been targeted for kidnapping for their participation in the resistance.

I read on a website that women made up 70% of the (to date, non-violent) Popular Resistance – the broad movement of people organising courageously in opposition to the coup and towards a National Constituent Assembly. Unfortunately, as I try to look up this reference, the website is currently down due to targeted virus attacks – a common occurrence for media outlets reporting the truth about Honduras

4 women have been killed in protests/for participating in the resistance: Wendy Avila and Olga Osiris Ucles were both killed by tear gas soon after President Zelaya’s entry into the Brazilian Embassy. In February 2010, Vanesa Zepeda, a vocal unionist and participant in the anti-coup movement has recently been killed and dumped on the street dead, leaving young children. Also in February 2010, Claudia Brizuela, an active resistance member and daughter of a prominent activist, was shot dead in her home in front of her young children, when she opened her door. Several women reported death threats the day Claudia was killed.

When I was in Honduras as a human rights observer some of the most inspiring and brave actions I witnessed were of women in resistance. In one moment I saw how one woman journalist witnessed police covering over their number plates (to be unidentifiable for when they commit human rights crimes), this woman was jotting down the number plate and someone inside the vehicle took her photo and threatened to kill her. Instead of being scared, she got angry, talked back and ripped off the piece of paper that covered one of the number plates and reported the number on her mobile to a human rights organisation. Another woman journalist showed no fear toward the lines of soldiers that barricaded the Brazilian Embassy; she approached them and took photos of the soldiers. A mother protested as the military took one of her sons away during curfew one evening; they knocked her to the ground, but they did not silence her.

More:
http://inewp.com/?p=5862