The Dominion - coup

Express Coup Rattles Paraguay

dawn — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:14:05 +0000

Transnational corporations including Canada's Rio Tinto Alcan undeterred by political turmoil

TORONTO—A coup snuck up on South America last month, taking people around the world by surprise. The June 22 ouster of President Fernando Lugo Mendez and his replacement by Federico Franco, head of the right-wing Paraguayan Liberal Party, took place without heavy police or military repression.

The Economist called the coup a "constitutional impeachment." There is no doubt that when he left office on June 22, Lugo bowed to the pressure of the Paraguayan Senate.

While several governments in South America indicated they would not recognize the coup government, Canada and the US immediately acknowledged the incoming regime. "Canada notes that Fernando Lugo has accepted the decision of the Paraguayan Senate to impeach him and that a new president, Federico Franco, has been sworn in," Diane Ablonczy, Canada's Minister of State of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement following the coup.

Lugo's final statement as president indicated he would submit to the request of the Senate and step down. Initially, he did not call for his supporters to take to the streets, and in fact through his words demobilized the Paraguayan people.

Following the coup, however, Lugo stated that what happened was indeed a coup, and that he had been removed from office in the same style as Manuel Zelaya was removed in Honduras.

"Here, there was a rupture of the democratic order, here there was a political trial without any reason, and a parliamentary coup was carried out. There are various names: an express coup, Cristina Kirchner [president of Argentina] mentioned that it was a soft coup," Lugo said during a radio interview a week after the coup. "The laboratory for all of this was three years ago in Honduras, and here in Paraguay it was perfected."

Unlike in the case of Zelaya, who was removed from Honduras to Costa Rica by Honduran soldiers, Lugo continues to reside in Asuncion, Paraguay's capital. Now in the thick of winter, Asuncion is cold, rainy and grey, and the level of mobilization is far lower than it was following Zelaya's ouster in Honduras.

Even before the coup took place in Paraguay, tensions were mounting. Lugo's removal as president came after calls for his resignation on the heels of a massacre in the Curuguaty region east of the capital, in which at least 17 people were killed, including six police officers and 11 peasants. It was the first peasant massacre in Paraguay since the country's return to democracy in 1989.

The campesino (peasant) movements in Paraguay are the most important social movements in the country, which is a little larger in size than the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, with a population of just over 6.5 million. The context of struggles around land, and in particular the events in Curuguaty in June of this year, are of great importance in order to properly understand the coup.

"In Paraguay there are between nine and 11 million hectares of land that we call 'wrongly-granted land' (tierras malhabidas), which are lands that were granted in a fraudulent manner during the Strossner dictatorship, from 1954 to 1989, to children of the dictator, relatives of the dictator, business people from the region, even to other dictators like Somoza, and to members of the Uruguayan military," said Abel Enrique Irala, a researcher with the Paraguay Peace and Justice Service (Serapaj) who spoke to The Dominion from Asuncion, Paraguay.

The June 15 massacre took place at Yvy Pyta, an area that is classified as having been mis-granted during the dictatorship and where the peasant movement had organized occupations at least four times. But at the time of the massacre, those who were occupying the lands were not connected to the larger peasant movement; they were called to participate by supporters of the Liberal party, of which Federico Franco is part. Following the massacre, press reports indicated that the police were killed by sharpshooters, but according to Irala, the only weapons found in the peasant camp at Yvy Pyta were machetes and homemade shotguns.

"This occupation was not carried out in the framework of the peasant movement, or with the knowledge of support of any Paraguayan national or regional peasant organization," said Irala. The day after the massacre, Irala traveled with a delegation of activists and journalists to Curuguaty, where he said local Liberal Party bosses were already calling for Lugo's resignation and the promotion of Franco to the presidency.

"The next day when we did the evaluation of what we saw, one of the things that really caught our attention was the relation between the [political] parties in that area, and the calls specifically for Lugo to resign and be replaced by Federico Franco," said Irala. "What we didn't imagine is that those speeches, made 170 kilometres from Asuncion, coming from what seemed like local party members...We would end up hearing seven days later, with the political trial of Lugo and with Federico Franco staying on as president."

Since Franco took power, the commission entrusted to investigate the events at Yvy Pyta has been cancelled.

In Paraguay, there have been actions to protest the coup, including a week-long occupation of a state-owned TV station by its workers, demonstrations in the capital, and international protests along with supporters in Paraguay's border areas with Brazil and Argentina. However, the overall level of social mobilization since the coup has been low.

Paraguay was the last country in the region to break with a two-party system, with the election of Lugo, considered a progressive President, in 2008. "Since 2008, a sector of the best [social movement] leaders transformed into bureaucrats and took up residence in the capital, convinced that this was the path to gain more force," wrote Raul Zibechi, a Uruguayan journalist and analyst, following the coup. "Today, with some exceptions, the movements are the weakest they have been in decades."

Though considered progressive, Lugo's government passed anti-terrorist legislation and declared a state of emergency across a number of departments (provinces) with a high level of peasant organization, once in 2010 and again in 2011. His government used repression to discourage peasant organizing and land occupations, and has maintained close relationships—especially with regards to intelligence sharing—with the US government under the umbrella of anti-narcotics initiatives.

Paraguayan analysts and writers have also commented on the appearance of a "ghost" guerrilla movement, the Paraguayan Peoples Army (EPP), which they say has been used by the government to justify increasingly repressive tactics, including the use of Colombian-trained special forces, against the peasant movement.

"The fall of Lugo, as in every political crisis, exposes the changes that are being produced in the region since Barack Obama defined the [United States'] new defence strategy," wrote Zibechi.

Since Franco was named president, he has agreed to re-initiate negotiations with Montreal-based Rio Tinto Alcan, and has sat down to meet with various local, national and international representatives of transnational capital. "One can deduce that [Franco] has already met with regional, national and international business people, who represent transnational power," said Irala. While Rio Tinto Alcan represents the biggest Canadian interest in Paraguay, it is far from the only one.

Bilateral merchandise trade between Canada and Paraguay last year was valued at more than $25 million. "Canadian companies looking into the Paraguayan marketplace may find opportunities in oil and gas, mining, and infrastructure sectors," according to the Government of Canada. Paraguay is also a participant in Canadian military training through the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre.

Dawn Paley is a freelance journalist and co-founder of the Vancouver Media Co-op.

An article focused on the coup government's resumption of negotiations with Rio Tinto Alcan was published by the Media Co-op on Friday.

Anti-Coup protestors in Paraguay

Canada Deepens Ties with Deadly Regime

Tim McSorley — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:58:53 +0000

Honduran journalist visits Montreal, reaffirms strength of resistance movements

MONTREAL—In June 2009, Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was kidnapped by soldiers and taken to Costa Rica in a military airplane. The Honduran army took control of the streets.

Nearly three years later, a popular resistance movement continues to organize against and oppose the coup. Meanwhile, the Canadian government and Canadian companies continue to deepen their ties with the controversial post-Zelaya regime.

The coup in Honduras was more than the kidnapping of a popular, progressive president. The day of the coup, Zelaya was scheduled to oversee a non-binding, nationwide survey on whether people were in favor of holding a binding referendum on re-writing the Honduran constitution. For the first time in history, the opinion of regular Hondurans would have had the potential to dramatically change the future of their country.

Had the June 2009 survey passed, it would have meant serious momentum toward a long-term goal of the Honduran social movement, the writing of a new constitution by way a people's assembly, inviting representatives from every sector and municipality to join in the re-founding of Honduras.

The coup, a joint operation by the military, supreme court, congress, and business elite, put a stop to all of this. It meant that the current Honduran constitution, written under a US-backed military dictatorship in the early 1980s, would continue to benefit a small elite.

But the coup also gave rise to the creation of the National People's Resistance Front, which now has local chapters in each of Honduras' 298 municipalities. The resistance movement is dedicated to bringing about a new constitution, at whatever cost.

In 2011, Honduras became the deadliest country in the world, for those countries which the UN has been able to gather statistics. "Our country of just 8 million people is suffering more than 20 murders per day," said Felix Molina, a Honduran journalist who recently spoke in Montreal during a Canadian tour. “Among the victims are around 20 journalists and 424 women. On top of murders, there are death threats, forced disappearances, exile for some and a general criminalization of the social resistance movement.”

Molina is the host, producer and founder of the radio show Resistencia. The show airs on the station Radio Globo, which has supported resistance and pro-democracy movements since the coup.

In the November 2009 Honduran general elections, Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo was elected president in a vote took place under what some considered a state of siege.

In the five months between Zelaya's kidnapping and the vote, more than 4,000 anti-coup activists were arbitrarily detained. Anti-coup media outlets were repeatedly shut down by the military. More than 100 community organizers were assassinated. Meanwhile, Zelaya, the president in exile, made his way back to Honduras and hid out in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa surrounded by the military.

As a result of the deteriorating security conditions under the interim coup regime headed by Roberto Micheletti and the military's offensive against the resistance, all international election observation bodies refused to send observers.

Regardless, the United States and Canada applauded Lobo's election, and put pressure on other countries to do the same.

The Harper administration has shown it is especially eager to work with Honduran officials since the coup, and Canada's corporate interests in the country continue to grow. In August 2011, Stephen Harper traveled to Honduras and signed a free trade agreement with Honduras. The announcement was unexpected, and took many by surprise.

”The Honduran population was never informed about this [agreement],” said Molina. “As with many of the most important decisions in Honduras, they learned about it after it was taken.”

Honduran congress is considering a new mining law, which critics say prioritizes corporate interests over human rights. This mining law, they say, is designed to benefit mining companies by, among other things, failing to protect access to water and limiting both access to information about mining activities and the ability to have mines closed.

Canadian mining company Goldcorp has faced criticism of its San Martin gold mine, which operated from 2000 to 2008 in central Honduras.

Goldcorp consistently denied that its operations had anything to do with a variety of health problems among locals, including miscarriages and skin diseases, as well as the death of livestock. In 2011, results of tests conducted in 2007 were finally released, showing heavy metal poisoning among 62 residents of the area near the mine.

The National People's Resistance Front recently voted to form a political party as another way to confront these corporate interests. Some groups within the wider resistance movement believe there are other ways to continue the struggle, such as establishing autonomous popular zones and small-scale municipal powers.

“The discussion is far from being over,” Molina said during his talk in Montreal. “In the meantime, we have to make sure that the popular movement keeps existing and to reinforce the capacities of the National Resistance Front.”

Stéfanie is part of the Montreal Media Co-op and is currently interning at CKUT 90.3FM's community news department.

Jesse Freeston is a media co-op sustainer and maker of the upcoming film Resistencia about the ongoing farmer occupation of Honduras' Aguan Valley, www.resistenciathefilm.com.

This article was produced by the Montreal Media Co-op.

Questions? Comments? Drop us a line: info@mediacoop.ca.

Felix Molina

Americas

Moira Peters — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:13:56 +0000

americas_hmeek whiter.jpg

IMF bails out Honduras Coup Regime with $150 million

dawn — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:39:21 +0000

3813318304_3ce4848a11_b.jpg

Reuters' Spanish service and Venezeuala's Telesur are reporting that the IMF granted US$150 million to the defacto regime in Honduras, which is now into into its third month.

Both reports stem from a press release by the Honduran Central Bank (BCH).

The BCH release reads (in part):

"At the initiative of the twenty industrialized and emerging countries (G-20), presided by the Prime Minister of England, Gordon Brown, the International Monetary Fund injects liquidity into the world economy and Honduras augments it's international reserves by $150.1 million."

The CBH release goes on to state that the money was received on August 28th. Telesur is reporting that the IMF will give another $13.8 million to the coup regime next week.

The IMF does not have an update on their Honduras page since before the coup happened. The BCH has not posted a press release in English since last year.

The only report on the payment in English thus far is posted on Iran's PressTV.

Photo of anti-coup protesters in Honduras by Sandra Cuffe. All translations above are unofficial.

DominionPaper.ca & MediCoop.ca contributing member reporting from the streets of Tegucigalpa, Honduras!

Sandra — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:43:52 +0000

IMG_2123.JPG

to see the other 99 photos of the July 3 2009 march against the coup through the streets of Tegucigalpa: http://flickr.com/photos/lavagabunda

please feel free to re-post, forward, etc my info... will be posting regularly to this blog, the MediaCoop.ca & all other media below & available to write articles of various lengths and focuses on short notice. get in touch!

grassroots reporting from the streets of Tegucigalpa, Honduras...

Sandra Cuffe

Freelance journalist, photographer, contributing member of DominionPaper.ca & MediaCoop.ca, and Honduras correspondent for UpsideDownWorld.org

Honduran cell = (504) 9525-6778
Canadian cell = (514) 5... [while in Honduras, voicemail & text messages only!]
public email = sandra.m.cuffe@gmail.com
twitter = SandraCuffeHN
facebook = Sandra Cuffe
photos = http://flickr.com/photos/lavagabunda
video [content up soon!] = http://www.youtube.com/user/lavagabunda27
Honduras blog [content up soon!] = http://hondurassolidarity.wordpress.com
Dominion blog = http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/sandra
Akwesasne blog = http://akwesasnecounterspin.wordpress.com