DTN News: Honduran State Of Affair In Confusion, Judgement Issued Against Military Chiefs In Coup

DTN News: Honduran State Of Affair In Confusion, Judgement Issued Against Military Chiefs In Coup *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - January 26, 2010: A Honduran judge on Thursday charged the country's top military commanders with abuse of power for exiling President Manuel Zelaya in June.Honduras' Army Chief and Military Chief of Staff, General Romeo Vasquez is seen after the inauguration ceremony of the first session of the new congress in Tegucigalpa January 25, 2010. Honduran Supreme Court President Jorge Rivera has ordered all six members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to remain in the country and testify in court next week. The charge carries a sentence of three to six years in prison. The military chiefs, who wore their dress uniforms, met with Rivera for six hours before the charges were announced late Thursday. They didn't speak to the news media. "The army officers won't be able to leave the country and will have to go to court periodically," said prosecutor Mario Cabanas. Last week, Honduras' chief prosecutor, Luis Alberto Rubi, asked the Supreme Court to issue arrest warrants charging the top military commanders with abuse of power for sending Zelaya out of the country. The prosecutor's case doesn't question Zelaya's June 28 ouster itself, only whether the military went too far in flying him to Costa Rica after he was arrested by armed soldiers in a dispute over a constitutional referendum. Those named by the prosecutor include the head of the armed forces, Gen. Romeo Vasquez, and five other top-ranking military officers, including the air force chief, Gen. Javier Prince, and the navy commander, Gen. Juan Pablo Rodriguez. The military commanders' defense lawyer, Juan Carlos Sanchez, said there is enough evidence to show their innocence. "We will concentrate on showing the facts and they (the military officers) want to face this process to prove the charges are baseless," Sanchez said. Outside the court, Dozens of Zelaya supporters booed the army officers as they went into the meeting with Rivera while a group of their relatives and supporters held signs of support. President-elect Porfirio Lobo has said he supports granting amnesty both to Zelaya and to all of those involved in the coup. He takes office Jan. 27. Zelaya has been holed up at the Brazilian Embassy since sneaking back into Honduras in September.

DTN News: FACTBOX ~ Details On U.S. military In Latin America

DTN News: FACTBOX ~ Details On U.S. military In Latin America *Source: DTN News / Reuters

(NSI News Source Info) BOGOTA, Colombia - August 16, 2009: Colombia is poised to sign a deal to allow the U.S. military more access to its bases to enhance counter-drug operations after Washington lost access to a base at Manta, Ecuador it used for surveillance flights. The United States has a long and unfortunate history of creating and feeding military violence in Latin America. From the Cold War era to the War on Drugs and Terror today, U.S. military aid and training in the hemisphere have contributed to human rights violations, supported corrupt and cruel governments, and protected the economic interests of multinational corporations and national elites at the expense of the poor majority. Witness for Peace monitors the on-the-ground impacts of U.S. tax dollars in Latin America and works to change our foreign policy so that we can support human rights and sustainable development. The proposal in Colombia has triggered ire among its Andean neighbors, especially Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce U.S. critic, who says the plan could trigger war in South America. Other leaders called it worrisome. U.S. officials say the plan is just an extension of existing cooperation with Colombia. Here are details of current U.S. military operations at local installations in Latin America and the Caribbean: COLOMBIA U.S. military personnel: Approximately 268. A key operation in the region, the U.S. military in Colombia is involved mainly in training, logistical support and some intelligence backup for the Colombian armed forces to enhance their fight against cocaine traffickers and leftist FARC guerrillas. The United States has provided more than $5 billion in aid to Colombia since 2000. The current accord caps staff at 800 military and 600 civilian contractors. GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA U.S. military personnel: Approximately 1,900. The largest operation in Latin America is the joint task force at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel are involved in detention operations on the island. HONDURAS U.S. military personnel: Approximately 650. Joint task force Bravo at the Soto Cano Air Base, involving Army and Air Force, mainly to support disaster relief operations, humanitarian assistance and counter-drug operations. EL SALVADOR U.S. military personnel: Approximately 150. A Forward Operating Location, or FOL, at local Comalapa Air Base installation. Navy officials and air crews are involved in drug surveillance missions in the eastern Pacific from the Central American country. ARUBA-CURACAO U.S. military personnel: Approximately 250. Another FOL in the Netherlands Antilles islands. Air Force crew and ground and support staff involved in counter-narcotics surveillance operations in an area that includes Colombia's Guajira Peninsula and the Venezuelan frontier region. MANTA, ECUADOR U.S. military personnel at time of full operation: Approximately 250, but currently less than 100 as the mission wraps up. U.S. FOL operation on Ecuador's Pacific coast was once a key piece in its counter-narcotics surveillance operations. Before leftist President Rafael Correa decided not to renew the deal, the base carried out more than 5,000 drug surveillance flights.

* Information from U.S. military's Southern Command, U.S. State Department, Reuters. (Reporting by Patrick Markey in Bogota; Editing by Will Dunham)

DTN News: Honduras's President Manuel Zelaya To Visit Washington July 1

DTN News: Honduras's President Manuel Zelaya To Visit Washington July 1

*Sources: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) MANAGUA, Nicaragua - July 1, 2009: Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said he will visit Washington on July 1 before returning to his country after the coup that ousted him from power. Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya talks to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez during the Central American integration meeting in Managua June 29, 2009. Honduras came under pressure on Monday to reinstate ousted President Zelaya as many Latin American leaders agreed to withdraw envoys, Washington called his overthrow illegal and street protests turned violent. "I will return to Washington and then go to Tegucigalpa, where the people and the military await the arrival of the president elected by the people," Zelaya said June 29 at an emergency meeting of Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathered in the Nicaraguan capital. Zelaya, snatched from the presidential palace by Honduran troops early June 28 and sent into exile in the first Central American coup in years, said he would address the United Nations in New York to protest his ouster before heading to Washington on July 1 and then home. "I go to Tegucigalpa on Thursday," Zelaya said in a speech before leaders of the Rio Group of 23 regional nations, which strongly condemned the coup in fellow group member Honduras. "I'm the elected president, I will fulfill my four-year term," he vowed. Zelaya, 57, did not reveal what his schedule would entail in the U.S. capital, or whether he would meet any officials in President Barack Obama's administration. Soldiers stand guard as one reads a local newspaper outside a hotel near the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa June 30, 2009. Honduras' interim government battled on Tuesday against a tide of international support for ousted President Manuel Zelaya who vowed to return home after troops toppled and exiled him in a coup. In Managua, Zelaya welcomed the unanimous support he has received from around the world, notably from the U.S. Obama himself has spoken out strongly against his Honduran counterpart's ouster, saying: "We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras." The White House was unable to provide any initial comment on Zelaya's intent to visit Washington. In Managua, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has pitted himself as an Obama adversary and earlier said U.S. fingerprints were all over the Honduran coup, urged Zelaya to meet with Obama, saying the U.S. president's attention to the matter could "deliver a major blow" to those who ousted Zelaya.

DTN News: Honduran President Says Military Kidnapped Him / Honduran Military Ousts President Ahead Of Vote

DTN News: Honduran President Says Military Kidnapped Him / Honduran Military Ousts President Ahead Of Vote *Sources: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - June 29, 2009: Soldiers seized the national palace and flew President Manuel Zelaya into exile Sunday, hours before a disputed constitutional referendum. Zelaya, a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said he was victim of a coup. Soldiers surround the presidential residency in Tegucigalpa, Sunday, June 28, 2009. Soldiers arrested Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya and disarmed his security guards after surrounding his residence before dawn Sunday, his private secretary said. Protesters called it a coup and flocked to the presidential palace as local news media reported that Zelaya was sent into exile. Hours later, Congress voted to accept what it said was Zelaya's letter of resignation, but Zelaya said the letter wasn't his and vowed to remain in power. The Supreme Court said it was supporting the military in what it called a defense of democracy, and the Honduran ambassador to the Organization of American States said the military was planning to swear in Congressional President Roberto Micheletti — who is next in line to the presidency — to replace Zelaya. Zelaya was arrested shortly before polls were to open in a referendum on whether to change the constitution. The Supreme Court ruled the referendum illegal and everyone from Congress to members of his own party opposed it. Critics said Zelaya wanted to remove limits to his re-election. Tanks rolled through the streets and hundreds of soldiers with riot shields surrounded the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Zelaya, at the airport in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose, called the military action illegal. "There is no way to justify an interruption of democracy, a coup d'etat," he said in a telephone call to the Venezuela-based Telesur television network. "This kidnapping is an extortion of the Honduran democratic system." A majority of members of Congress voted with a show of hands to accept a letter of resignation that Congressional Secretary Jose Alfredo Saavedra said was signed by Zelaya and dated Thursday. The letter said Zelaya was resigning because of "the polarized political situation" and "insuperable health problems." Honduran soldiers arrive at the presidential residency in Tegucigalpa June 28, 2009. Witnesses said Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya was detained at home by troops in a constitutional crisis over his attempt to win re-election. CNN's Spanish-language channel later quoted Costa Rican officials as saying he was in Costa Rica and seeking political asylum. But Zelaya told CNN the letter was "totally false." He told Telesur he would not recognize any de facto government and pledged to serve out his term, which ends in January. He said he would attend a scheduled meeting of Central American presidents in Nicaragua on Monday. He siad Chavez, which is also going, would provide transportation. Chavez, who along with the Castros in Cuba is Zelaya's top ally, said Venezuela "is at battle" and put his military on alert. President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by Zelaya's expulsion and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the arrest should be condemned. "I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read. Zelaya told Telesur that he was awoken by gunshots and the shouts of his security guards, whom he said resisted troops for at least 20 minutes. Still in his pajamas, he jumped out of bed and ducked behind an air conditioner to avoid flying bullets, he said. He said eight or nine soldiers in masks escorted him onto an air force plane that took him to Costa Rica. Chavez said troops in Honduras also temporarily detained the Venezuelan and Cuban ambassadors, beating them. Zelaya called on Honduran soldiers to desist, urged citizens to take to the streets in peaceful protests, and asked Honduran police to protect demonstrators. Zelaya ally Rafael Alegria, a labor leader, called for protests. "We demand respect for the president's life," he told Honduran radio Cadena de Noticias. "And we will go out into the streets to defend what this has cost us: living in peace and tranquility." About 100 Zelaya supporters, many wearing "Yes" T-shirts for the referendum, blocked the main street outside the gates to the palace, throwing rocks and insults at soldiers and shouting "Traitors! Traitors!" "They kidnapped him like cowards," screamed Melissa Gaitan. Tears streamed down the face of the 21-year-old, who works at the government television station. "We have to rally the people to defend our president." Honduras has a history of military coups: Soldiers overthrew elected presidents in 1963 and 1972. The military did not turn the government over to civilians until 1981, under U.S. pressure. Micheletti has been one of the president's main opponents in the dispute over whether to hold the referendum. The head of the Supreme Court was also opposed to the nonbinding referendum, on whether to ask voters whether they want to convoke an assembly to rewrite the constitution. It appeared that the vote would no longer take place.