Four on Honduras

Why have a photo of one total shit when
you can have two? Micheletti and Ortez

1) THE VOTES ARE IN and the IKN readership collective whizz dumb has decided the fate of Prez Mel Zel, once and future king of Honduras. There were 250 of you kooky enough to vote and here's how it all panned out:

Sniper bullet 60 votes (24%)
Old age 56 votes (22%)
Lucha Libre Match vs Micheletti 35 votes (14%)
Suffocated by Own Hat 31 votes (12%)
Air Crash 28 votes (11%)
Poisoned Mojito 22 votes (8%)
Stabbed by Lover 18 votes (7%)

So, according to you band of wonderful sickos Mel gets to visit The Elysian Fields via a sniper's bullet. Bummer........I was rooting for the poisoned mojito.

2) A good note that attempts some nuanced analysis at COHA today. You might not agree with the argument but it's about 20X better than the usual dross written on the whole shebang in the language of Shakespeare. Here's how it concludes

If Honduras is to grow peacefully out of the morass it now finds itself in and become a stronger nation in the process, the relevant actors must stand down from their calcified positions, letting the law do what it must and do away with the de facto Potemkin democracy. Manuel Zelaya must return to the office he was elected to serve, Micheletti’s Interim Government must be dismantled, and the Armed Forces should guarantee the safety of all, with many of its senior commanders required to retire. Immediately afterward, the Honduran courts ought to protect justice by enforcing the law and impeaching some of their colleagues for breaking it. When Manuel Zelaya is adjudged, he must be given a fair and transparent hearing for the alleged 18 crimes he committed prior to June 28.. But so too should the architects of the coup. Compromise and dialogue are necessities at this point, and they must take place so that the Republic of Honduras can come out of these trying times as a coherent and lawful state and make it to the November 29 elections in one piece.

3) So what does the US diplo corp make of racist shit Enrique Ortez, the pretend chancellor of the pretend Honduras gov't that disses the O-Man? Here's a translation of this report on today's press release from US ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens (the thing may well exist in English but I can't be bothered to look for it at that State Dep't wesbite...too big):

In a press communique, the US Ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Hugo Llorens, manifested his deep indignation in relation to the unfortunate "disrespectful and racially insensitive" commentaries of Ortez Colindres about President Obama. "These comments were profoundly indignant for the citizens of The United States and for myself personally. I am shocked by these comments which I strongly condemn.

4) Another big march in the Honduran capital today, with 30,000 anti-coup protestors led by Xiomara Castro, wife of President Zelaya. She said good things and people cheered. At one point the marchers approached a police cordon and simply brushed aside the barracades. The police behind the fencing did nothing and Xiomara then went up to them, thanked them for not reacting and even hugged a couple of the uniforms on duty. Thus Micheletti gets another lesson in hearts'n'minds. Here's Xiomara with the front row of her very, very large entourage today.

News roundup (we scrape the corners of the bottom of the barrel that others daren't touch)

Go Borev..... Go Honduras...Go!

Fruitfly-level analysis on Peru's stock market, as 364 words of waffle fails to point out the bleedin' obvious (as seen in the CotD this morning). It's really easy, so listen up once and be done: Cu spot up, Peru up. Cu spot down, Peru down. The rest is noise (and there's plenty of noise in the mediocrity served up by DJNW/WSJ).

Bolivia proves yet again that it's far better at combatting its cocaine problem than the DEA ever was. The FELCN anti-narco police have taken a 35 metric tonne per annum cocaine factory out of commission in the (natch) Santa Cruz area...hey...I wonder why Branko doesn't like Evo? Anyway, that kind of cocaine cookpot is just enormous and to give you some context, that would be just under 1/3rd of Bolivia's cocaine production in 2008. Of course, the English media can't be bothered to mention it, preferring some story about some child molester dying somewhere.

Chile's assumed GDP growth came in -4.4% YoY for May and +0.1% compared to the previous month. Sounds about right.

As for Honduras, Borev scoops the world and wins with the clearly greatest story on the coup so far. Go see for yourself.

Ecuador, and good old Dynasty Metals (DMM.to) reminds me just how stupid the market really is. The company issues a PR saying that the VP Minister of Mines went on a visit and said nice things and the stock shoots up 6% on a general down day (good volumes, too). Nothing that we didn't know before, but the herd needs to be whacked over the head with a 2x4 before it believes the obvious.

Peru's cabinet reshuffle happens this week

Twobreakfasts this morning announced that the current band of ineffective and corrupt puppets that make up his cabinet will be changed this weekend, including the official goodbye for Yehude Simon. Speculation is now underway about who will make up the new cabinet of ineffective and corrupt puppets with "Who gets the PM job?" top of the list of chattering class questions that nobody outside Peru really cares about.

Thus, as Otto would just love to join the chattering classes one of these days, here's a list of possibles with odds and comments by your humble scribe:

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski: Most likely choice right now. PPK has made it clear he's running for Prez in 2011 and the PM job will give him the public radar he needs to launch a campaign. Architect of the economic reforms in the Toledo gov't. Rich and influential and likes reminding people of those two facts. Current odds: Even money.

Rafael Rey: The current Ambassador to Italy, Twobreakfasts met with Rey last weekend for informal talks about.....we don't know (it was off agenda). Not an APRA party member but rightwing leaning and proponent of orthodox economic measures (i.e. status quo in Peru). Member of Opus Dei. Current odds: 3/1 (but quite likely to get a cabinet job).

José Chang: Current Education Minister, APRA lapdog and Twobreakfasts sycophant. About as charismatic as a vanilla blancmange. If Twobreakfasts wants to play it neutral (unlikely) he has a squeak. Current odds: 6/1.

Mercedes Araoz: Current Minister of Foreign Commerce and the point person in the Free Trade Agreements. An honest politico (that rare breed in Peru) and generally liked (perhaps better said is 'not disliked') by both peers and citizens. May be too valuable where she already is. Current odds: 8/1.

Lourdes Flores: Head of the UN party and rightwing fave, Flores might accept if offered to give herself radar before 2011. Twobreakfasts would have to swallow some of the gargantuan pride to put her in a position of power, though. Coming to the end of her shelf life as a presidential candidate. Current odds: 10/1

Javier Silva Ruete: Ex-FinMin and respected figure, but probably ruled out because he's nobody's puppet. The kind of guy that's just too honest to get to the top in PeruPolitik. Current odds 10/1.

Ollanta Humala: More chance of the hole in my tush healing up than this dude getting a job under Twobreakfasts. Current odds: 100/1.

Crude oil at $20 to $40 a barrel by end 2009

You want deflation? We do deflation.

I'm glad to say that it isn't ignorant old Otto that's calling a barrel of crude at $20 to $40 by year's end, but a couple of experts that actually know what they're talking about. Frankly, if I were The Studmuffin I'd be hedging my whole country's output right now. Here's the must-read link to the LA Times article and here are a couple of excerpts to get your juices running.

"The reasons are simple, said Philip K. Verleger Jr., an expert on energy markets at the University of Calgary in Canada: The still-sputtering economy has lessened demand at a time when there is already a big surplus of oil.

"For eight straight months, oil supplies have been running about 2 million barrels a day higher than the global demand of 83 million barrels a day, Verleger said. Eventually, he and others predicted, suppliers will tire of paying to store all of the surplus oil and flood the market.

"That is the largest and longest continuous glut of supply that I have seen in 30 years of following energy prices," Verleger said. "It's a huge surplus. There has never been anything like it."

"The market will eventually correct itself, pushing prices down, Fadel Gheit, senior energy analyst for Oppenheimer & Co., wrote in a note to investors. "Excessive speculation and a weak dollar have lifted oil prices to levels not sustainable by market fundamentals," Gheit wrote.

"With so much oil available and so little need for that amount, investors, oil companies and even some banks have bought and stored surplus oil everywhere they can. By one estimate, before oil surged to its high this year of $73.38 a barrel in June, as many as 67 supertankers -- each capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil -- were being used as floating storage.

"Verleger said it represented a largely risk-free investment for those who could sell that oil for huge profits on the futures markets. But the glut has gone on for so long, he said, that the cost of all of that storage is bound to rise. When it rises enough, some suppliers will refuse to pay and a lot of that oil will be dumped onto the market. "Oil will drop to $20 a barrel by the end of the year because this situation just cannot be sustained," Verleger said.

"Bob van der Valk, a fuel price analyst, predicted that oil would drop to $40 by the end of the year and that Californians would be paying about $2 a gallon for regular gasoline. "In normal years you have seasonally adjusted pricing, and 2009 is looking like our first normal year since 2006," Van der Valk said. "By year's end, oil and gasoline will be coming down."

Honduras: School's out for summer....

....school's out forever.

The usurper government of Micheletti again ordered teachers back to all schools and universities this morning. The teachers (and the students for that matter...probably more important) gave them the royal finger and have ratified their indefinite strike. I'd link to something better than RadioRebelde, but for some reason the local Honduran media aren't covering this angle...wonder why....

Meanwhile, President Zelaya's wife Xiomara Castro is leading a massive march against the coupmongers in the capital this morning. However 800 people won't be able to make it as they've been arrested by the police state under the new laws that give them no protection and allow authorities to hold them without charge or trial forever. Hey, just like Gitmo! What fun! The 800 is the number only in the Capital Tegucigalpa, by the way....gawd knows how many have disappeared in the provinces so far.

Final note; before the wingnuts amongst you get into a lather, it's best to point out that the family name 'Castro' is very common all over the continent. Consider it "the thing wot I learned about LatAm today".

McDonald's presents: The Michael Jackson Commemorative Hamburger

Charts of the day are.......

The 30 chart chart for the Lima IGBVL index and the 30 day chart for spot copper.

Go on, tell me you think it's a coincidence. Go on.......dare you....go on.....

UPDATE: Check out Monty High's blog for a look on the latest developments in LME copper inventories and his call on the short term future of the metal.

The South America Swine Flu Sweepstakes Update

Here's the updated chart, with 14,071 officially confirmed cases in South America (but don't worry, plenty more to come):

click to enlarge

The main news is that Argentina is officially crapping itself. The are now 60 confirmed deaths from AH1N1 in the country and another dozen are likely to be added to the list tomorrow according to the health people. Also ever since last week when the new Health Minister was stupid enough to tell people the truth and Argentina is staring at 100,000 infections before this all dies down, Argentine nerves have been shot to hell.

Chile still a mile ahead of course, and as that 8,160 figure hasn't been updated for 48 hours we can expect a bunch more soon. Peru has snatched 3rd place back from Brazil and passes into 4 figures. Peru has also registered its first two deaths from the thing. Bolivia has shot from nowhere to move into 5th place, most cases being in Santa Cruz. Uruguay isn't telling the truth any more. Finally, to put a bit of context on the latest numbers here is the chart from one month ago, June 7th

Basically tenfold in 30 days. Wow.

Honduras: Gotta love this Enrique Ortez guy

Hot off the presses, here's a Youtube (with subtitles in English) of the Chancellor of Honduras's de facto government, aka racist shit Enrique Ortez, speaking on yet another TV show and yet again calling Obama "That blackie who doesn't even know where Honduras is" (again, plenty of much worse ways to translate the word 'negrito' he uses in this context). This isn't the same occasion we reported last week.

Enjoy.

Honduras update

Of course, how silly of us all. According to usurper Micheletti, the young kids shot dead in the demo at Tegucigalpa airport yesterday were killed by their fellow demonstrators, not the army. Never mind that the Honduras police force said at the time that the army were the shooters.

The airport is still closed, but the de facto government managed to sneak out a dialogue group that has arrived in Washington. Apart from the wingnuts at HACER, there ain't nobody gonna listen.

Meanwhile, no less than 651 people have been arrested under the new laws that suspend citizen's constitutional human rights. These people can be held by the government indefinitely with no recourse to habeas corpus or need for the government to say where they are and what they're doing to them. Gotta love these free democratic values the coupmongers offer the world.

Some dude called Ban Ki-moon (crazy name, crazy guy) says the the coup is unacceptable. Apparently his opinion carries some weight. Blue Helmets here we come!

Oh wow, nearly forgot

Alvaro Vargas Llosa, sartorially-challenged son of somebody worth reading*, autodenom 'liberal thinker' (neither word truly applies) and coup apologist, as promised last week you are the recipient of this week's coveted award. Enjoy, dumbass:

*when writing novels

World of Mining: Just in case you're naïve enough to think......

She's 55 years old, by the way

.....that cheats never prosper in the world of gold mining and that the worst dregs of society can't make it rich by scamming the world of its cash in the most underhand ways possible, here's news from Century Mining (CMM.v):

Century Mining Settles Law Suit Surrounding "Poderosa"

- Century receives cash payment and shares of Poderosa as settlement -

BLAINE, WA, July 6 /CNW/ - Century Mining Corporation (CMM: TSX-V) announced today that it has settled a lawsuit in Peru that the Company had brought against Corporacion Minera San Manuel S.A., Compania Minera Atacocha S.A.A. and Monica Patricia Arias Vargas de Ucelli, Veronica Rocio Arias Vargas de Gamero, White Peak Resources Inc. and Koriarias Inc. regarding the binding agreement signed for the sale of shares to Century of Compania Minera Poderosa S.A.

As part of the settlement announced today, Century will receive 260,868 common shares of Poderosa, which have been held in trust since a Letter of Intent was signed by both parties in 2006. In addition to the shares of Poderosa, Century will receive a cash payment in the amount of US$300,000.

Today's announcement brings to an end all litigation concerning the "Poderosa" deal.

The law suit Century filed in Peru was the result of yada yada continues here

Peru news

President Twobreakfasts said over the weekend that "Peru would recover (from the crisis) in 2010", which might not sound too bizarre to you, but it is in fact the first time he's actually admitted that there is a crisis. He also said that (and I quote) the "administration is working intensively to put an end to social protests" which explains why today the Peruvian Army has been given permission to intervene in any illegal protest during the next three days. Or in other words, bang you're dead, commie.

Why these three days? That because there's a national general strike planned to protest this most pathetic of governments. All sorts of fun'n'games are planned, but the most likely militant strongholds will be in the teachers and transport sections. So block a road at your peril, dudes...you saw what happened at Bagua.

However, we now know exactly why Peru is protesting so much. It isn't the fact that 43% of Peruvians with salaries at or under the national average are worse off now than one year ago. It isn't because of the violent repression every time somebody bothers to protest. It isn't because the government tries to push through presidential decrees that favour big biz and leave nothing for citizens. IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF HUGO CHAVEZ.

Yep that's right, and this time there's undeniable proof.....I think. So follow the bouncing ball on this one and listen carefully. El Comercio (right-wing officialist APRA party newspaper) reports that...

....according to un-named sources in the Ministry of the Interior....

.....there are political indications of foreign insugence...

...that have Chávista orientation.....

.....and have been identified in the recent protest movements in Peru.

The un-named source also showed El Comercio 'secret documents' (yeah I know...not so secret any more...but hey!) that place directors of Bolivarian Continental Coordinators, Peru Chapter at working groups on June 20th with other groups such as Movimiento Perú Pueblo (peru people movement), Colectivo Javier Heraud (the Javier Heraud collective, whoever he might be) , Partido Patria Libre (free homeland party), Fuerza de Izquierda Socialista (force of left socialist...bit of redundancy there methinks) etc etc. The problem with the Bolivarian dudes is that the organization was founded in Venezuela...dammit and shock and horror. Hey, is it my imagination or was APRA founded in Mexico...?

The punchline is at the end of the report, though. When El Comercio asked whether there was enough evidence to file a criminal report, the answer was that the pertinent investigations were still continuing. You think I'm making this shit up? Think again.


UPDATE: Far too good not to share, Un Tal Lucas (of excellently named blog Otorongo no come caballo) has just left a comment below that explains the current state of journalism in Peru. Here's the bit for English speakers:

-Pro Gov. Journalist: Enter my website, click on my picture and read all about my research. There's a radical left Chavista/communist conspiracy against democracy! It's not against this gov, it's against democracy!

-Independent journalist: Hey, that would be awful... do you have any proof? Who is in charge and isn't doing anything in office? This would be clearly more important than the sea limits conflict with Chile, why aren't we telling this to the OAS?

-Pro Gov. Journalist: You are supporting the commies! you fu__ing Chavista! I am a real journalist!! You are not neutral you are against democracy!!!!

-Independent journalist: But...

-Pro Gov. Journalist: HEY! LET ME TALK YOU COMMIE!!!!

Happy Happy Happeeeee Latin America

The name is enough to get those "here we go again" sounds come from your inner second personality that whispers in your ear all the time (you don't have one of them?...try it...it's fun), but "The Happy Planet Index 2009" has just been published by a bunch of people that wear hemp sandals in London called The New Economics Foundation.

So this Happy Planet Index takes things like life expectancy, ecological footprint (it was in that Al Gore movie...remember?) and other things like being poor is fashionable...probably. And as it turns out, Latin America seriously but seriously whups the world's tush, with nine of the top ten places (143 countries surveyed) taken by the region...damn, we rule.

(click to enlarge)

Here above are the LatAm countries in their entirety as placed by the these so-called hippy people with the lower the score the better (e.g. Uruguay sucks). As well as tippy top top placed Costa Rica, Central America and the Caribbean scores well. In continental South America, Colombia and Brazil make the top ten, which must be the only time Colombia wins in a world poll that doesn't involve death, cocaine or both.

And if you're wondering, The UK 74th place, Canada 89th place, The USA 114th place. So you all suck. So there. In fact the best placed "western nations" (reminds me of '3:10 to Yuma' that we watched last night....pretty good movie, BTW) is The Netherlands, squeaking in at position 43. Find all the downloads here (the XLS file is the most fun).

So remember folks, money doesn't buy you happiness but it does buy you the computer equipment to create stupid polls while sitting in an office in the most expensive real estate area in the whole world, publish them and then read them online. I'm now likely to receive a stuffy mail from the authors of the report because one thing treehuggers always seem to lack is a sense of humour. Lentilburgers served.

UPDATE (from reader 'PP')
Question: How do you confuse an ecologist?
Answer: Ask where the nickel in his Prius batteries came from.

Chart of the day (snagglepuss edition) is........

....crude oil, daily chart.

A pretty much classic rush for the exits on oil. Mind.....the gap. Mind.....the gap. Mind.....the gap....

Jawdropping photo from Honduras airport today

Boy shot dead by army. According to reports, he was 16 years old. Link here.

Click to enlarge and for better focus.

Do you need extra commentary?

Well, considering there are 200,000 people at Honduras's airport....

....and the army decided to open fire on the crowd, only three dead so far is probably a lucky result all round. Meanwhile that cute Micheletti guy says "we don't want conflicts" while handing down orders to shoot his own citizens....ahhhh, I love the smell of democracy in the morning. Meanwhile, some reports are saying that the plane carrying Zelaya has landed in El Salvador. Something to do with the pilot not wanting to die.......sound a bit whussy to me.

Latin America, HG Wells' time machine writ large and transporting you to the decade of your choice (1950's, 60's, 70s or 80's...your call). I'll update this post later rather than add a load more new ones. Don't forget to vote in el sondeo importante above.

UPDATE: According to this, that buzz buzz buzzing sound they can hear on the ground is Zelaya's plane circling the airport. Somebody please tell the pilot that the runway the long thin looking thing. Damn, nobody does chaos better than Latinos.

UPDATE 2: HEY BOSS! IT'S DA PLANE, IT'S DA PLANE!

screenshot from Alvaro Vargas Lllosa's TV channel of choice, Telesur

The latest rumour is that the coupmongers have put a load of stuff on the runway,like nails and concrete and shit to make sure the Prez dies in a nasty fireball. Then they can all go home. The end.

UPDATE 3: "BE VEWY VEWY QWIET...AM HUNTIN WABBIT".
The coupmongers prepare their "Welcome Home Zelaya" celebrations by hiding in the long grass with riot gear....bless 'em!

UPDATE 4: Zelaya has left the holding pattern...I repeat, Zelaya has left the holding pattern. So Mel's pilot has decided not to commit suicide by trying to land his plane on a boulder-strewn runway and The Cat In The Hat is off to spend the night in El Salvador...show's over...move long now folks..nothing to see here. Hasn't anyone in the Bolivarian Revolution ever heard of helicopters?

UPDATE 5: Zelaya's plane landed in Managua, Nicaragua and not El Salvador. Will somebody phone the dude and say the magic word, "helicopter"?

UPDATE 6: Oh cool! Now Honduran parliamentarians are saying that the destitution hearing that took place and threw Zelaya out was not atended by all members, it was not a unanimous vote as Micheletti has tried to make out, those that wanted to vote against his chuckingouteration (is that a word?) were barred from the hearing, those barred have been refused access to the press until now and the demission of Zelaya was done illegally (their word, not mine). This usurper is toast, toast toast..he didn't even follow his own precious rule of law, the megadumbass.

UPDATE 7: Reader Richard makes a smart observation in the comments section below;

Has anyone else noted that Zelaya is supposedly a fugitive from justice (ok, so he didn't quite flee of his own volition... details, details) and now -- the "government" is doing everything in its power to keep him from turning himself in?

Vote in the poll, dudettes and dudes

I've never done one before, so let's mark this special "you are not cleared for landing" moment in style with the poll widget thingy you see above this post. You got 48 hours left to get your vote in.

The IKN Weekly, out now

IKN10 is now to be found in the inboxes of subscribers, including a fundamental analysis of Sacre-Coeur Minerals (SCM.v).

Any delivery problems please advise, guys.

Honduras update

The march against the usurpers yesterday.
(click to enlarge)

The OAS has suspended Honduras from its club, the score 33 to 0 with one abstention (Honduras....a protocol thing). "You're fired!" "I already quit on Friday!" "No you didn't, I didn't recognize it!" "Screw you!" "Screw you!" "Screw you!" (I could continue)

Klishtina has chickened out and won't be flying with Mel...she'll make the best of it by going shopping in NYC instead.

The usurpers have denied permission for Zelaya's plane to land. So they lied when they said he'd be let back into the country...big deal, normal for these coupmongers as their whole argument is based on lies anyway.

A crowd estimated at 200,000 pro-Zelaya people will be hanging round the airport when (if?) Mel lands....including snipers loyal to the usurpers on top of tall buildings.


UPDATE: Reader Nell just put the following in the comments section of this post. Thanks Nell.

In a press conference that got underway at OAS headquarters a few minutes ago at 11:55 a.m. ET (9:55 a.m. in Tegucigalpa), Honduran President Miguel Zelaya announced that two planes will be heading south today.
...
The first airplane will head from Washington DC directly to the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, and it will carry President Zelaya and Miguel D’Escoto, president of the United Nations General Assembly.

The second airplane will head first to San Salvador, carrying Presidents Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Kristina Kirchner of Argentina, and OAS chairman Jose Miguel Insulza, "to begin the process... of assuring that the Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States is complied with" in Honduras.

From Al Giordano, who posted before the press conference had ended. I imagine there will be corporate news reports shortly.

Honduras: Snipers are in place around the airport

Snipers in the Teguchigalpa airport control tower, as photographed this afternoon

Below is a direct translation of the first part of this post recently put up at Honduras Resistencia. The blogger has proven to be correct on several occasions this week, having blogged about the bus tires being shot out by troops before CNN got its hands on video footage and writing about how Micheletti's cousin was taking over as Mayor of San Pedro Sula before it hit the newswires. In other words, the blogger I'm translating has been getting the news stories right before they're news.

Now read the translation below, as tomorrow President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras and an entourage that is supposed to include Argentina's Fernandez, Ecuador's Correa, The OEA head Insulza and perhaps others will walk onto the tarmac at Tegucigalpa airport.

The de facto government led by our dinosaur coupmonger has placed his snipers around the area of the Toncontin International Airport, Tegucigalpa. The sharpshooters were seen today when protestors approached the area. They have maintained their position throughhout and we only hope they do not receive an order from the coupmongers and aim their rifles in the direction of the people and do what the Catholic church (which more than a church seems to be spokespeople of the government, they even get TV airtime) forecasted; "If Mel returns it will be a bloodbath". CONTINUES HERE

Zelaya returns to Honduras tomorrow

So reports The BBC and plenty of other news channels.

I'm hoping that it's a peaceful happening, but (take it away Mr. Marley) I know my history and I see where I'm coming from. I can't help thinking about an occasion in 1973 when an exiled president returned under controversial circumstances to his Latin American homeland and the ensuing battle in and around the airport where he landed caused dozens of deaths and hundreds (in fact probably thousands) of injuries. It also marked the beginning of the militarization of the country that ended up with tens of thousands of disappeared citizens.

Read about the 1973 Ezeiza Massacre at this wiki page to start with, then find out more from the links offered. Learn from history and you're not doomed to repeat it.

Honduras's de facto chancellor: "Obama is a little black man who knows nothing."

Cute huh?

Enrique Ortez (for it is he)

Meet Enrique Ortez, the man given the job of Chancellor of Honduras (basically foreign minister) by the usurper Micheletti. In an interview on Honduras TV last night he said the above about President Obama and a whole lot more. Here's a translation of this report in the El Salvador daily, LaPagina:

Following the Coup D'Etat over José Manuel Zelaya, the de facto government led by Roberto Micheletti has named its new government team, among them the new Chancellor Enrique Ortez Colindres, who in his declarations has made the position of the coupmongers clear.

According to the Argentine newspaper El Clarín, the new "chancellor" Enrique Ortez took part in a journalistic TV program in Honduras where he was asked about the international reactions to the coup d'etat. Ortez said that he gave no importane whatsoever to the OAS and "the other little groups out there", he said (Spanish premier) José Luis Rodrígues Zapatero should "go back to his shoes*" and said that he was not going to talk about (Honduras neighbour) El Salvador "because it's not worth talking about such a small country, where you can't even play football because the ball lands in another country".

But he went for more by defining President Barack Obama of The United States as "that little black man who doesn't know anything".

Keep apologizing for your coupmongers, wingnuts. Cos by gawd, every day there's more to apologize for.

UPDATE: I've had a couple of mails from people about what this Ortez scumbag actually said about Obama, so here goes with a bit more. His precise words in Spanish were "Ese negrito que no sabe nada de nada". I decided to translate this as "that little black man who knows nothing" or "that little black man who doesn't know anything" to stay away from the controversial side of the statement and be as bland as possible. In fact the use of the word "negrito", i.e. the diminuitive of "negro", is very derogatory in nature and overtly racist in context; the kind of racism that would force the resignation of any public figure in the USA (for example). One mailer offered up the translation of "that know-nothing black boy" to get the proper feeling of the message implied by Ortez, and although it's extremely difficult to hit the translatory nail on the head in this case, I'd tend to agree that the offered translation captures the sentiment better than my deliberately bland version. Another way of catching the drift would be "That blackie that knows nothing about anything", or even "That negro...." would work, even the other "N" word would be a fair translation of what he meant.

The bottom line is that Ortez's statement, alongside the equally offensive words he has for Zapatero and the nation of El Salvador (note Revolter's comment below and Google up about the "football war" if you haven't heard about it previously) is dripping with bigotry and hatred.

UPDATE 2, July 5th: Must see photo from Honduras today.

UPDATE 3, July 6th: Enrique Ortez speaks! About Obama! On Youtube! With English subtitles!

* a play on words with the word "zapatero", which means "shoemaker" in Spanish

Honduras: You can't fire me cos I quit

So the OAS goes over and presents a message from all other states that make up the group that tells the usurper Micheletti to desist or face having his country thrown out of the organization. Micheletti's reaction is to resign Honduras from the OAS. As the blog Honduras Resistencia correctly comments

"...the only thing this measure shows is the lack of capacity for dialogue from the coupmongers. The infantile attitude of the spoiled child of "better I leave before they throw me out" offers nothing to the climate of dialogue, concertation and peace that, hypocritically, is their motto.

"The repercussions of this action in the international community are incalculable and as always will affect the poor (first)..."

Put the Honduras Resistencia blog on your RSS, or on your own blogroll if you have a blog. The voice of the people from inside Honduras is the most powerful and it's clear that they are not taking this abuse lying down. Meanwhile, for those morons that still believe what happened in Honduras was legal, some basic facts. If you can give me cogent, democratic reasons for any of these then you have the right to move your madness forward.

• The forced explusion of Zelaya from Honduras was both against the law and against the constitution that the coupmongers say they were protecting.

• The resignation of Zelaya needed to be made to congress. The coupmongers did this by presenting a clearly falsified document to the parliament, one Zelaya says he did not sign and even the US State Dep't has said cannot be taken seriously.
  

• There was no attempt to impeach Zelaya and remove him by legal methods.

• Since seizing power, the de facto government has suspended several articles of their precious constitution, including articles that protect basic human rights including habeas corpus.

• Troops have been captured on video shooting out bus tires as they tried to transport people to the capital city in order to protest the de facto government.
  

• The Colon region of Honduras is now under an all-day military controlled curfew, the measure passed to stop residents from travelling to the protests scheduled in the capital today. The announcement came yesterday afternoon and caused panic amongst people had just two hours to buy in provisions before the extended curfew began.
  

• Media have been silenced with only pro-government news items allowed on TV, radio and newspapers. Pro-Zelaya Canal 36 has been closed down against the will of its director and is guarded by troops. Apparently CNN is "on the payroll of Hugo Chávez" which explains why it has been suppressed inside Honduras.
  

• The leader of the 3-16 death squad from the 1980's has been appointed as ministerial advisor.

• The mayor of San Pedro Sula has been deposed and arrested. In his place Micheletti has appointed his cousin (this one of many examples, unfortunately).

You think this is normal? Good for society? Legal? Decent? As reader 'GR' wrote in a mail this morning;

Here the media do not talk or write about the Coup d`Etat, or so little.

It was a different story for Iran. We have been inundated with reports about the evil country for weeks.

But why this difference? First explanation that comes to my mind; there is no oil involved. Secondly this could be a "good dictatorship" (pro-Washington) as opposed to a "bad dictatorship" (anti-Washington).

Meanwhile, the whole of the international community...all of them, every single last one of them, have condemned the coup. Micheletti's lies about having places like Taiwan as allies have also been exposed at the highest level.

If you don't like Zelaya, that's fine by me. But why on earth do we have to be pulled back to the 1970's because it suits the self-interests of people who couldn't find Honduras on a map one week ago? You have the whole of the international community on one side, and a military government with a bunch of wingnuts on the other. Gimme a break here........

PS: Greg Weeks at his blog has been covering Honduras in a more scholarly, intellectual way (i.e. better than here), so go see for yourself.

Progress?

Ed Stafford is a incredibly brave (or stupid, or mad...your call) dude who decided to do what nobody else has ever done, namely walk the length of The Amazon River. His website, walkingtheamazon.com is right here and regular reader MM has been following his journey and occasionally sends me a "hey Otto, check out this Ed Stafford post" headsup.

Well MM sent one today (thank you sir) and it's pretty much obligatory reading for everyone. Ed met up with an anthropologist on his way through one area. She sent him a mail to point to the progress that the Amazon basin is facing. No more blab from me, read the entry yourself:

Hi Ed,

In December the CARE, the organisation the oversees the Ashaninkas, discovered that the Peruvian national and regional governments, along with the Brazilian govt, have been cooking up plans for no less than 3 dams on the Ene River - 15 in total in Peru. I wrote something about it in an article I have on my new blog… www.gezc.wordpress.com.

Well, the headlining act of these 15 dams happens to be right in the middle of the River Ene - I don’t know if you remember when you took the boat, when going upriver about 5 hours in from Puerto Ocopa there’s a massive canyon with high walls - it is called Pakitzapango by the Ashaninka.

Pakitzapango is a mythical eagle that the Ashaninkas believe was building a massive dam across the river in order to steal the Ashaninka and eat them but the Ashaninka succeeded in killing him before he finished his dam. They believe this is why there is such a tight canyon there…

Well, it is going to be dammed in reality, by a 165 meter concrete wall which will flood all the communities upstream & dry out the ones downstream. basically a HUGE disaster for the Ashaninka. Their declaration against the dam is copied below.

Emily xx

———

DECLARATION CONCERNING THE THREAT OF THE PAKITZAPANGO DAM
BY THE ASHANINKA COMMUNITIES OF THE ENE VALLEY

The Ashaninka communities of the Ene Valley, in the districts of Rio Tambo and Pango, Province of Satipo, Junin, Peru, gathered together to celebrate the XIII ordinary Congress of their representative organisation, Central Ashaninka del Rio Ene (CARE), in the community of Pichiquia on the 24th-26th of April 2009 in order to debate the threat of the current project for the construction of the Pakitzapango hydroelectric dam, declare the following:

Considering that:

Our history is one of constant abuse: we were enslaved during the rubber boom, forcibly removed from our territory and subjected to cruel atrocities during the civil war that has unfolded in our territory since the 1980s. The Truth Commission reports that around 6000 Ashaninka were murdered or disappeared during the latter’s worst years. While organised in Ashaninka Self-defense Committees, we contributed with our blood and our lives to the pacification of this country, and yet the government still imposes new threats upon us: the concession of our territories to petrol companies and to the construction of the Pakitzapango dam. To us, the latter assaults on our territorial integrity signal a direct attack on our lives and our survival as a People. It leads us to one conclusion: this government intends to exterminate us.

The Ene river is the heart and soul of our territories: it feeds our forests, animals, plants, crops, and most of all, our children. For the Ashaninka People, Pakitzapango is of great cultrual and spiritual importance, as the origins of our People lie within this sacred place. We, the Ashaninka of the Ene have demonstrated our ability to care for our environment; we also helped create the Otishi National Park and Ashaninka Communal Reserve, to biodiversity hotspots which would be severely affected by the construction of the Pakitzapango dam.

Nevertheless, the government persists in ignoring and violating our human rights, as enshrined in the ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This is made clear in the Ministerial Resolution N. 546-2008-MEM/DM in which the Minister of Energy and Mines grants, to the company ‘Pakitzapango Energia SAC’, a concession for a feasibility study to prepare for the constuction of the Pakitzapango hydroelectric dam. This concession was granted without informing or consulting us, demonstrating, once again, the peruvian government’s lack of respect towards our way of life and, more fundamentally, our human rights.

Furthermore, it is outrageous that our president Alan Garcia and Brasil’s president Lula da Silva are currently in the process of negotiating an energy agreement by which they commit to the building of six hydroelectric dams in Peru, Pakitzapango being the largest of them.

In view of this, the Ashaninka communities of the Ene river:

1. Wholly reject and demand the immediate anulment of the Resolution N. 546-2008-MEM as the Ashaninka communities of the Ene valley were neither informed nor consulted regarding it
2. Demand that the peruvian government respect and unreservedly apply our human rights as enshrined in the ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
3. Insist that the national government, represented by the president Alan Garcia, and public institutions such as the Ministry for Energy and Mines, the Congress of the Republic, the Junin Regional Government and the local Municipalities (Pangoa and Rio Tambo) respect the decisions of the Ashaninka People and call off any negotiation regarding the Pakitzapango hydroelectric dam.
4. Insist that international goverments such as Brasil, represented by Lula Da Silva, respect the decisions of the Ashaninka People and call off any negotiation regarding the Pakitzapango hydroelectric dam.
5. Repudiate the use of the Ashaninka word Pakitzapango in light of its spiritual and cultural significance for the Ashaninka People of Peru.
6. Demand that any activity such as research, promotions, reports, meetings or proposals that support or promote the construction of the Pakitzapango dam are immediately called off. The Ashaninka of the Ene valley will NOT permit the entry of any institution carrying out any of the mentioned activities.
7. Provide our wholehearted support to our orgnisation CARE (Central Ashaninka del Rio Ene) and trust that it will transmit, maintain and defend our common decisions. Furthermore, we entrust it to disseminate our voices in all necessary social and political spaces.

The Friday OT: Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan

Best. Video. Ever.

Part of the 1965 documentary "Don't Look Back", Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues is about the coolest performance ever. Lots of side-issues here, including beat poet Allen Ginsberg skulking around in the background, the filming location (behind the Savoy Hotel, London) and deliberate mistakes made on the cards (e.g. "twenty dollar bills" when the song is "eleven dollar bills" and the beautifully mis-spelled 'suck cess').

As an extra IKN bonus, you can even follow that bouncing ball with the words:

Johnny's in the basement, Mixing up the medicine, I'm on the pavement, Thinking about the government, The man in the trench coat, Badge out, laid off, Says he's got a bad cough, Wants to get it paid off, Look out kid, It's somethin' you did, God knows when, But you're doin' it again, You better duck down the alley way, Lookin' for a new friend, The man in the coon-skin cap, In the big pen, Wants eleven dollar bills, You only got ten. Maggie comes fleet foot, Face full of black soot, Talkin' that the heat put, Plants in the bed but, The phone's tapped anyway, Maggie says that many say, They must bust in early May, Orders from the D. A., Look out kid, Don't matter what you did, Walk on your tip toes, Don't try "No Doz", Better stay away from those, That carry around a fire hose, Keep a clean nose, Watch the plain clothes, You don't need a weather man, To know which way the wind blows. Get sick, get well, Hang around a ink well, Ring bell, hard to tell, If anything is goin' to sell, Try hard, get barred, Get back, write braille, Get jailed, jump bail, Join the army, if you fail, Look out kid, You're gonna get hit, But users, cheaters, Six-time losers, Hang around the theaters, Girl by the whirlpool, Lookin' for a new fool, Don't follow leaders, Watch the parkin' meters. Ah get born, keep warm, Short pants, romance, learn to dance, Get dressed, get blessed, Try to be a success, Please her, please him, buy gifts, Don't steal, don't lift, Twenty years of schoolin', And they put you on the day shift, Look out kid, They keep it all hid, Better jump down a manhole, Light yourself a candle, Don't wear sandals, Try to avoid the scandals, Don't wanna be a bum, You better chew gum, The pump don't work, 'Cause the vandals took the handles.

Bolivia got new money

As from 2010, Bolivia's central bank is changing the wording on the reverse side of coins minted.

It remains to be seen whether the fascist jerks that claim to represent Santa Cruz are into plurinationalism.

In other Bolivia financial news, International Currency Reserves now stand at U$7.955Bn (which I think is an all-time record, but even if it isn't it's darned close). Also, Fitch said nice things about Evolandia using words like "stable" and "solid" and phrases like "fiscal surplus" and "GDP growth in 2009". But don't let facts get in the way of anyone telling you that Bolivia's economy is in a mess, will you?

Excellent note on media gagging in Honduras from inside Honduras by Ioan Grillo of Global Post

Ioan Grillo is no mug as a journo, either.

He's a Time Magazine contributor, does TV and used to cover Mexico with AP and the Houston Chronicle.


I'm not pasting the whole thing as it's only fair that you click through and read at source.

It's fine stuff from start to finish, with intelligent analysis and nuance.


Here's how it starts:

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — At the Channel 36 TV station in this sweltering capital, the buzzing, hectic atmosphere of a news network has been replaced by an ominous silence.

The doors are held shut with huge industrial padlocks, bored-looking soldiers stand on the sidewalk and the journalists are nowhere to be seen.

Since taking power Sunday after a coup against elected-president Manuel Zelaya, the new administration has shut down a major TV station, several radio stations and a newspaper. It has also cut off signals from some international networks, including Venezuela-based Telesur.

Meanwhile, those media outlets still running heap praise on the regime of Roberto Micheletti. “Defending the Constitution,” blears the headline in one newspaper reporting the consolidation of the new government. “Zelaya Out, We Want Peace,” says another.

Such control of the media is perhaps a predictable development from a government that came to power after the elected head of state was forced out of his home at gunpoint and taken on a plane to neighboring Costa Rica.

But the media battle over the Honduras coup also reflects larger news-related issues as leftist governments have risen to power in the region.

Longstanding commercial networks controlled by wealthy families have often had head-on collisions with leftist leaders, who accuse them of undermining their governments.

In reaction, business interests accuse stations controlled by leftist presidents of demonizing the rich and dividing nations along class lines.

“The media across Latin America has become much more polarized in recent years. There is more of an atmosphere of saying, “You have to be with us or against us,” said Elan Reyes, president of Honduras’ journalist association.

In power, the left-leaning Zelaya had a fiery relationship with the dominant TV channels in Honduras, which are controlled by some of the nation’s richest families.

When they criticized him for raising the minimum wage by more than 50 percent, saying he was clobbering business, he lashed back, alleging that they were part of an “elite group” of oligarchs who CONTINUES HERE

Romulo Leon

Romulo (for it is he)

Does the name Romulo Leon ring a bell? It might do, and when I remind you that he was the dude that was taped talking about bribes obtained from foreign oil companies in Peru, you'll probably go "aaaahh yeah!...I gotcha, Otto." Here's how this humble corner of cyberspace reported the story way back on October 6th, 2008:

Last night Peru investigative reporting program "El Cuarto Poder" played audio tapes of APRA party insider Romulo Leon and PetroPeru bigwig Alberto Quimper as they discussed the best way to make themselves a nice slice of bribery and corruption money. Between them they arranged for a foreign oil company, Discover Petroleum of Norway, to land five concession blocks in Peru (continues)

In the immediate fallout, then PM Jorge Del Castillo and the rest of the Twobreakfasts cabinet resigned, as the trails of corruption were soon traced to the highest levels of the administration. Then, as you'll probably recall, Romulo went into hiding and police did a Where's Waldo? all over Peru until giving himself up a full 30 days later.

You've already guessed what I'm going to say, haven't you? Yup, the dude has been let out of jail. Peru's Poder Justicial (PJ) ('Justicial Power'...the law people) have offically let him do his arrest thing in the comfort of his own home, but as Juan Sheput points out, house arrest in Peru is simply the first step in quietly dropping any case of this type, especially for an APRA buddy during the time of an APRA government. And if all this isn't enough, check out one of the reasons the PJ said he's good to do his arrest on his sofa (Sheput dixit)

One of the considerations of the PJ fr the freeing (because house arrest with this government is being freed) of Rómulo León was that this individual has already been tried for corruption and demonstrated good personal conduct.

Wilkommen, Mondo Bizarro. Yes you read that right, in Peru it's considered a positive that because a dude has been tried for corruption previously and while the trial went on didn't try to skip the country or kill anybody or whatever. It's good reason to let him out.

Meanwhile, this week's 'No Shit Sherlock' award is won by outgoing (he's gone next week) Prime Minister Yehude Simon, who says that freeing Romulo today was "a bad signal for the country." Second prize in the NSS award goes to opposition congressman Isaac Meckler who said that a link seems to exist between the Courts and the APRA party. Ah wuz shocked, ah tellz ya....shocked ah wuz.

Hey, maybe.....just maybe, that link is something we've already mentioned here at IKN. It just so happens that Romulo Leon has a daughter who's a congress member for the APRA party in the current parliament. Luciana León also knew all about the 'petroaudios' corruption case because she was found with a whle bunch of e-mails from her father about it all. But León is also the protegé(e) of Mercedes Cabanillas, who is ....roll on the drums...the present Minister of the Interior (!) and as we mentioned before was closely involved with the (ahem) modernization of PeruPetro in the Twobreakfasts administration before getting a ministrial position.

Gotta love these APRA dudes. Viva investment grade, everyone.

Honduras: Big Anti-Coup Marches Happening Now

What kind of democracy needs to hurredly put up barricades against its
own people? If the wingnuts don't mind me asking, that is.......

Reports are still sketchy and unconfirmed at the moment and there's no link of worth to give you, but word coming in from Honduras is that tens of thousands of people are now marching in separate protests through the streets of Tegucigalpa protesting against the coup d'etat and demanding that President Manuel Zelaya is reinstated. Protest marches are also supposedly happening in other cities in Honduras. Expect the Washington Post to mention minor disturbances on page 427 tomorrow.

The protests are going ahead despite the curfew orders, the stripping of basic rights via the suspension of articles in the constitution and the "welcoming committee" of heavily armed miliary, part of which you see protecting the Presidential palace this morning. Also, last night a bomb reportedly exploded in restaurant just 100m from the capital's airport. The welcoming committee's way of greeting Insulza as he lands today, I suppose.

UPDATE: Avoiding Honduras media that insists all is quiet in the capital (as TV station directors report they've been under military occupation for the last 100 hours), and avoiding Prensa Latina that thinks there are a million pro-Zelayans marching right now, here's Notimex with a bit of coverage that talks about the area around the Presidential palace as a 'battleground' right now and that two military helicopters are firing into the crowd. It's still very difficult to get reliable word on what's going on, but something big is clearly happening.

I fought the law and the law lost

An excuse to peg up one of the
better rock photos of all time

More strong work on Honduras from The Miami Herald (really, the most pleasant surprise of the whole sorry episode...TMH is reporting balanced and objective stuff and should be congratulated). Check out how the report starts here and then click through for the rest . Also, those Spanish speakers among you should check out the full transcript of the interview at ElFaro....pretty amazing stuff.

TEGUCIGALPA -- The military officers who rushed deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya out of the country Sunday committed a crime but will be exonerated for saving the country from mob violence, the army's top lawyer said.

In an interview with The Miami Herald and El Salvador's elfaro.net, army attorney Col. Herberth Bayardo Inestroza acknowledged that top military brass made the call to forcibly remove Zelaya -- and they circumvented laws when they did it.

It was the first time any participant in Sunday's overthrow admitted committing an offense and the first time a Honduran authority revealed who made the decision that has been denounced worldwide.

''We know there was a crime there,'' said Inestroza, the top legal advisor for the Honduran armed forces. ``In the moment that we took him out of the country, in the way that he was taken out, there is a crime. Because of the circumstances of the moment this crime occurred, there is going to be a justification and cause for acquittal that will protect us.''

Zelaya was ousted in a predawn raid at his house Sunday after CONTINUES HERE

Peru: "All the gains in confidence of the last three years have disappeared in the quarter"

So says Michelson Survey, the company that conducts Peru's most reliable consumer confidence survey, the IAC.

Let's play 'Spot The Trend'

As well as the lowest rating since Twobreakfasts came to power (yep, even worse than last year), the most telling datapoint is that 43% of those surveyed that earn under S/1000 per month (as close to the national average as dammit) say they are worse off today than they were a year ago, with just 15% saying they're better off. "This is why they have been provoked into protesting", says Michelson. Meanwhile, those surveyed that earn over S/3,500 a month (over triple the national average) are happy with their lot and the majority are better off than they were a year ago....hoodathunkit, eh? Gotta love that trickledown economics thing.