Month: December 2009
Amid Repression, Mobilizing Against the Coup Continues in Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA-Hundreds of Hondurans marched in the capital city on Friday, demanding the return of elected President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, who was deposed in a coup d’état on June 28.The hundreds of people who marched in Tegucigalpa showed no fear in the face of deadly repercussions. “Since June 28 we’ve been in the streets,” said Dionisia Diez, who at 76 years is known as the grandmother of the resistance movement. “We’re mobilizing for the restitution of our president.” […]
Critiquing the Trajectory of the Zapatista Movement
It has been noted, perhaps somewhat unfairly, that by this stage there are probably more books and papers written about the Zapatistas than there are actual Zapatista milicianos. Niels Barmeyer’s new work, Developing Zapatista Autonomy: Conflict and NGO Involvement in Rebel Chiapas adds to this cannon, but distinguishes itself by coming from the perspective of a militant anthropologist, an embedded solidarity activist investigating— from below—the inner workings of the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) and the solidarity and NGO organizations surrounding it. It also distinguishes itself by being more critical than most, certainly of those ostensibly coming from a sympathetic position. […]
Honduran Coup Regime Erects Superficial Reality Around Elections
Porfirio Lobo
A few days prior to the November 29 elections in Honduras, Francisco Varela—the homeless man regularly stationed outside the drive-through of one of the ubiquitous Espresso Americano establishments in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa—acquired a campaign T-shirt for National Party presidential candidate and soon-to-be victor Porfirio (Pepe) Lobo. […]
On Presidents and Precedents: Implications of the Honduran Coup
The Nov. 29 election passed with predictable results. For most Hondurans, Election Day in Honduras was never seen as a turning point. Rather, it followed a familiar rhetoric that democracy can be always gained, or restored, in the ballot box. That this simple action could clean up the violent elimination of democratic order is a profound lie. […]
Ecuador Uses WTO Rules to Make Medicines More Accessible
`People before Profits!´ In the United States the motto can be seen on signs at protests or health care rallies, though it is a plea historically ignored by lawmakers in Washington. But in Ecuador, President Rafael Correa has translated this phrase into policy. […]