Comments on: Honduras vote

By: Matt O'Brien

Matt O'Brien — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:42:29 +0000

Are we going to get an apology or at least an acknowledgment from John Otis and from “The World” about the errors and inaccuracies in Mr. Otis’ report? Are we going to get some sort of statement from “The World” about how they will try in the future to not repeat talking points (propaganda) proffered by corporations, lobbying groups, and governments, especially illegitimate governments who came to power through a violent kidnapping of a democratically elected president and pass them off as ‘reporting’? C’mon bosses of “The World”, are you going to hold yourselves and your reporter accountable for the misinformation you have spread?

Mr. Otis exhibited not only utter laziness by merely parroting talking points and not doing the most basic of actual reporting, like reading the referendum proposed by Zelaya, and exploring what other reporters had revealed about the coup and the propaganda surrounding the coup, but he also is supporting the coup by disseminating the misinformation created by the coup. And “The World,” by allowing this shoddy reporting to be broadcast on the program is guilty as well. What have you to say for yourselves, Mr. Otis, and “The World”?

Here is a link to an article which puts the lie to Mr. Otis’ mediocre reporting and propaganda mongering: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3893

By: River

River — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:09:34 +0000

So… The Constitution of Honduras contains 379 articles of which 372 can be legally reformed. The non-reformable articles deal with Voting fraud, Extradition, Territorial Borders, Administrative Succession, and TERM LIMITS.

The only way to skirt any one of these is to rewrite the constitution. And…. that’s exactly what Zelaya’s 4 ballot box initiative was intended to address (he has said so himself).

So was he pushing for
- Legal extradition of Honduran citizens?
- Changing the boundaries of HN?
- Legalizing voting fraud?
- Restructuring of the Government?
- A lift on Term Limits?

In so many words, the Constitution states “Don’t even go there”, and he did. Consequence = game over.

It should also be understood (if you take time to really read the Constitution) that it is the responsibility of the Military to execute arrests in Constitutional matters. Not the police. A great provision considering that all the police forces are administered under a Presidential Cabinet member.

So, if you’re one of those people calling this a “millitary coup”, much less a coup, then please tell me the name and rank of the armed forces individual that is now the head of the Honduran Government.

There has now been enough of a track record to see that Zelaya’s only interests are in himself and being in power. The tragedy here is that his followers believe that they can vote themselves more money. What they don’t realize is that it works only till you run out of other peoples money….

By: Don

Don — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:01:30 +0000

Zelaya is a nut, he has crushed investment in Honduras. The link to his good friend the dictator and trouble maker Chavez, is clear and unavoidable.

Under his presidency, this white hatted lunatic has made a fool of Honduras and chased away investors that brought jobs and food to this impoverished country and the people suffer.

By: Franklyn

Franklyn — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:56:48 +0000

Thank you, Mr. O’Brien, for bringing out the truth! I am tired of the lies being spread by the elite families in Honduras, who control the country and wish to keep the masses misinformed and under control.

By: banelly

banelly — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:51:59 +0000

Above all thanks to the the world for maintaing this tragic story alive. The US state Dpt. and the extreme right of US congress once again are showing their power over president Obama. Since they haven’t been able to get rid of Castro and Chavez, they went after the “weakest link” president Zelaya. And yes, Honduras is a weak link in this web of deception, however by supporting this coup, the US is opening a door to other coups in Latin America. Recent history shows that whenever the US supports political disruptions in what they called “third world counttries” always come back to hunt them. One doesn’t have to be a genius to forsee other legitimate presidents taken out of office by military, and thousands of people crossing borders to get to the US territory. Every action has a reaction.

By: LCSS

LCSS — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:24:43 +0000

I heard this report with great dismay. I am particularly troubled by the following statement: “… the elections organized by the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti.” This type of statement is absolutely misleading, it makes it sound as though the Micheletti government is pulling elections out of nowhere. This is an election year in Honduras, the electoral process has been in place long before the events from June 28th. We had primaries in 2008, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal is an independent entity that has continued working on our electoral process. This is not the “de facto goverment” elections, these are the elections mandated in our constitution. I find it absolutely unbelievable that you would leave out a “small” but significant detail like that.

Additionally, has anyone who prepared this new report actually READ the actual resolutions from the Tegucigalpa-Guaymuras accord? The stated objective on the accord was to put an end to the crisis and it especifically mandated that the decision to restore Zelaya to power rested in the hands of the Honduran Congress. Nowhere in it is it stated in black and white that the congress will restitute Zelaya, but rather it is up to the congress to decide. Everyone jumped to the conclusion that our Congress would do so, but it is not actually on paper.

Zelaya has repeatedly violated the terms of the accord, retracted on his word, but that of course get no international coverage whatsoever. If it were not for the fact that my entire family lives in Honduras and I have countless friends from all sides of the political spectrum, I would not even begin to comprehend what is going on in my homeland. I am tired of incomplete, inaccurate reporting with careless statements.

If you doubt my words, here you have the actual accord signed in Spanish:
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B08-H8hU7cI_YjhhY2EzZWQtOGU4Zi00ZjQyLThjOGItNzlhNmQ2ODExMzYw&hl=en

Excerpts in English of the accord:
http://lagringasblogicito.blogspot.com/2009/10/highlights-of-honduras-accord.html

I intend to go voting on Sunday to the local voting center here in Los Angeles and I would invite you to go to any of the cities where voting is to take place for you to report the sentiment of those of us overseas.

By: Matt O'Brien

Matt O'Brien — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:45:12 +0000

I’m afraid John Otis is repeating the lie promoted by the coup perpetrators and their corporate allies– that the referendum which Zelaya wanted to carry out had the purpose of extending his term of office. THIS IS A LIE. Shame on John Otis and “The World” for repeating this propaganda and for lazy reporting. Weeks ago there was a program on FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)’s program “Counterspin” which debunked this myth and pointed out that the same false allegation had been used to justify a coup in Brazil. Check out the article: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3893

If The World wants respect, it must demonstrate that it is prepared to do more than repeat establishment propaganda.