Honduras: Shit you couldn’t make up if you tried

Two lovely items about Central America’s luvverliest faux-democracy I simply had to share with you. First, this one from Aporrea, by Jean-Guy Allard:

The putschist Honduran leader, Roberto Micheletti, was declared a “national hero” on December 18 by the Civic Union for Peace and Democracy of Honduras for “his search for peace”, according to putschist media.

The far-right politician, who directed the expulsion from the country of the constitutional president, Manuel Zelaya, and ordered the army to open fire on defenseless protesters, was pleased about the award and publicly thanked the organization.

The “Unión Cívica Democrática de Honduras”, or UCD, is a creation of the “civil society participation” arm of USAID, the US State Department agency which subsidizes political interference through covert intelligence operations and destabilization efforts.

With the title of “national hero”, the organization presented a metal plaque to the dictator in a special ceremony held at the presidential palace. The plaque was inscribed: “For our national hero, president Roberto Micheletti, with admiration and affection.”

“Today we recognize Mr. Micheletti, who assumed with much dignity the role of national hero of Honduras and defender of peace, freedom and democracy,” said the co-ordinator of the UCD, deputy Armida Villeda, who personally benefited from the favors of the putschist leader on multiple opportunities.

Giving thanks for the “prize”, Micheletti thanked “the people and the friends who thought I deserved a recognition of this nature”.

A few hours before the coup, demonstrators from the UCD, led by the same Armida Villeda, demanded the removal of OAS observers assigned to the referendum called by President Zelaya over the question of constitutional reform.

Immediately after the coup, on June 28, the UCD took the “initiative” to organize a demonstration in favor of the military and Micheletti, while a campaign of terror unfolded against the supporters of the expelled president.

Ironically, the UCD defines itself as “a group of social organizations with one thing in common: to detect, analyze and expose threats to the rule of law in Honduras”.

According to investigator Eva Golinger, the UCD is a coalition which unites, among others, right-wing organizations, the archbishop of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP), the National Federation of Commerce and Industries of Honduras (FEDECAMARA), the Association of Communications Media (AMC), and the student group, Generation X Change.

For the fiscal year 2009, USAID contributed some $47 million US to organizations and groups in Honduras. Strange as it seems, the country with the most incoherent electoral system in the world provides technical assistance, among other things, to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Honduras, “for effective and transparent carrying-out of its responsibilities.” The TSE has been one of the most loyal supporters of the usurper Micheletti in the operation that made a mockery of public opinion upon his illegal assumption of power.

Translation mine.

Then, this one from Spain’s Público:

If you ever wondered how to win a Nobel Peace Prize, this is a good year to get an answer to that question. You can choose between waging a war, or bringing down a government by way of a coup d’état. Ever since the president of the United States, Barack Obama, won this award, it seems that any candidate is a valid one.

That’s what they must be thinking in the Honduran Francisco Morazán Organization and Americas Democracy Watch, who have begun a signature-collecting campaign in support of the candidacy of the putschist “de facto president” of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

The activists of this Latin American community in Miami, Florida, have already informed of their intention to present the signatures formally to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, an institution named by the Norwegian parliament.

Micheletti has been occupying the presidency of Honduras since the coup d’état of June 28 of this year, when he ousted the elected president, Manuel Zelaya, who still remains in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.

If they agree to the petition of these organizations, the Norwegian parliamentarians will place Micheletti at the level of the only four Latin Americans to have won the prize: Carlos Saavedra Lamas (Argentina, 1936), Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Argentina, 1980), Oscar Arias (Costa Rica, 1987) and Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala, 1992).

Again, translation mio. Linkage added, so that you can see just what august company would be sullied by the inclusion of Gorilletti among the ranks of Nobel Peace prizewinners. BTW, Pérez Esquivel and Menchú have both come out in favor of a much worthier recipient, who’s been snubbed at least twice now: Evo Morales of Bolivia.

I wonder, too, if USAID had anything to do with this astroturfer who flung bat guano at me on Facebook. The “group” it mentions certainly has that odor about it…

Whoever’s behind it, though, I have to say that this really is the height of arrogance and absurdity. Prizes for crowning himself king of Honduras? Hmmm, where have I seen that before?

Actually, never. But this guy from Venezuela might well have been in the same boat, had he not lasted a mere 48 hours in power:

(Yes, the audio is fake. It’s a spoof, using the coronation of the king of Spain by the dictator Franco for a soundtrack.)

BTW, the dictator from Venezuela is squatting in Miami right now, along with all those people who think the Honduran putsch was just groovy and worthy of a Nobel nom. Nice place, Miami; all the scum of Latin America has a funny way of washing ashore there sooner or later. Must be those ocean currents…