Free Republic

“Our homeland is bleeding painfully,” is how Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez put it recently at a religious event whose audience included Honduran President Porfirio Lobo. Indeed, Honduras is spiraling into an ungovernable and unstable situation due to the increased operations of international drug syndicates and their local gang proxies within its territory. Last October, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reported that Honduras, a nation of 7.6 million, now has the highest homicide rate in the world. Honduras is a victim of what counter-narcotics experts refer to as the “balloon effect,” where heavy pressures on traffickers in Colombia...

MONROE - Village police said Thursday that they plan to seek extradition of a 29-year-old illegal immigrant who stabbed his 23-year-old cousin in Monroe last weekend and then fled to Honduras. The victim is recovering at Westchester Medical Center in Valhahlla after being stabbed once in the back early Saturday morning in the Hillside Trailer Park off Route 17M, Detective James Frankild said. Police say the knife thrust punctured multiple organs. With help from federal immigration agents, investigators tracked the suspect to a flight to his native Honduras, where he was met by State Department officials and Honduran police when...

Prosecutors in Honduras say a decomposed, bullet-riddled body found near the border with Nicaragua has been identified as the purported leader of a shadowy Nicaraguan resistance group.

Honduras will inaugurate a new naval base on Guanaja Island next month. The base, which was financed by the U.S., will be used to support joint U.S.-Honduras counternarcotics efforts.

The wife survived the attack in which gunmen killed the former adviser of Security. His voice was drowned to death. Organized crime and the police will rest from the constant criticism that made them the secretariat adviser of Security, José Alfredo Landaverde, foully murdered yesterday. The professional engineering had become an auditor of the actions of the institutions in charge of national security. Yesterday he went with his wife Hilda Caldera when he was attacked by two gunmen who were driving a motorcycle. The unfortunate occurrence which caused the Honduran population repudiation occurred at about ten o'clock on the Boulevard...

Washington, United States The Republican candidates differ on their ideologies in various foreign policy issues in the second Republican presidential debate. Newt Gingrich, who more recently has emerged to the top of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, said that during his government did not expel immigrants without legal permission but already have a life founded in the United States. The applicant added that the Republicans can not say that his party is in favor of the family when separating parents from their children who were born in the country and have citizenship. Gingrich, also supported the antiterrorism law...

24-year-old Luis Flamenco, an illegal Honduran national, is in the Orleans County Jail after admitting to stabbing 45-yearold Kathleen Byham. Police say Byham resisted Flamenco, and he stabbed her over and over again. She was rushed to the Medina Memorial Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead a short time later.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras A series of simultaneous raids were conducted on Monday in different parts of Honduras by members of the Public Prosecutor elements, Directorate for Combating Drug Trafficking, the Army and National Police. This is the first action that is made ​​pursuant to the Act Deprivation of assets of illicit origin , in force since July 2010 and applies through the creation of the post of judge with national jurisdiction. The raid was carried out operating in La Ceiba, Roatan and San Pedro Sula, towns where the nine homes that were deprived by the authorities. Also checks should be made...

How does an 'activist' blogger know when she's doing a good job? When people try to stop her or intimidate her. censorship Reporters without Borders (RWOB) ranks Honduras as 143rd of 178 countries in their 2010 Press Freedom Ranking. While RWOB often sites government intimidation, many journalists and bloggers freely admit to self-censorship for various reasons, including personal safety, job security, business or organizational interests, and others. I use the pseudonym 'La Gringa' for obvious reasons — and note that this is very different from an anonymous poster who could be one of millions of anonymous posters. 'La Gringa' is...

Several months ago a well-respected pastor was senselessly murdered in San Pedro. Initially it was reported that he was killed while walking his dogs by thieves who wanted his two Schnauzers, which reportedly have a value in Honduras of about US $500 each. Later it was reported by a witness that he was killed merely for his cell phone. Honduras President Pepe Lobo's first anniversaryThat murder seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back — for a few moments in time anyway. Thousands came out a week later in a silent protest to demand that something be done...

News of the shootings at Ramón Villeda Morales international airport in San Pedro Sula on Friday evening has now begun to be splattered across the pages of newspapers around the world and broadcast via television and radio. The story has been picked up by the AFP, AP, EFE and UPI news wire services and reported by CNN International. Consequently, it has already been written up in newspapers such as The Washington Post, the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, The Kansas City Star, and Newsday. The headlines read... "6 Killed, 3 Wounded in Honduras Airport Shooting" and "Gunmen Kill 6, Wound 3 in...

The president of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo, asked for U.S. help to create an independent police investigation to strengthen the efforts of his government in the fight against organized crime.

When Honduran leader Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo visits the White House today, it will be a watershed moment in the Central American country’s diplomatic rehabilitation. More than two years have passed since Honduran authorities removed Manuel Zelaya from the presidency to block his unconstitutional, autocratic power grab. Five months after Zelaya’s ouster, Honduras held a democratic national election, and Lobo, a member of the conservative National Party, won with over 56 percent of the vote. Yet it was not until this past June that Honduras was formally readmitted to the Organization of American States (OAS), which had suspended the country following...

My Honduras (cultural nationalism?) The Hondurans are proud to be and with legitimate reason. We clear our belonging to this geographical area, we are fully identified with the culture of the country that has been forged over many years: a way of being, a manner of speaking, a set of social attitudes, a kind of food . And we interact closely with anything that symbolizes the motherland. What seems very clear that we have is that this country is ours. We seldom think that Honduras is mine. That feeling compelling, so we have not developed. I think at this critical...

U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo next month at the White House to discuss a broad range of bilateral and regional economic and security issues, according to a press release. The Oval Office Meeting on October 5 will come only a few weeks after Lobo’s address at the United Nations, where he highlighted his country’s commitment to restoring human rights in the aftermath of the June 2009 coup that ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya. “The President also welcomes the opportunity to underscore the strong bonds of friendship between the American and Honduran people, as well as...

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Visit of President Porfirio Lobo of Honduras: President Obama will host President Porfirio Lobo of Honduras at the White House on Wednesday, October 5. The President looks forward to discussing a broad range of bilateral and regional economic and security issues during their Oval Office meeting. The President also welcomes the opportunity to underscore the strong bonds of friendship between the American and Honduran people, as well as President Lobo’s efforts to restore democratic and constitutional order in Honduras and the country’s return to the Organization of American States earlier this year.

The stench from Washington is getting stronger. Rep. Darrell Issa has called for a special prosecutor to get to the bottom of the festering mess known as Operation Fast and Furious. Hatched somewhere in the bowels of the Justice Department, that misbegotten scheme had the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives deliberately allowing high-powered guns to “walk” from Arizona and elsewhere into Mexico: Our agents turned a blind eye toward the straw purchasers who were funneling the weapons to the drug cartels. The (dumb) idea was to trace cross-border arms trafficking, and so prove the (false) claim that 90...

Shakeup at the Ministry of Security! Honduran newspapers are reporting that both the Minister of Security, Oscar Alvarez, and the Vice Ministers Armando Calidonio and Roberto Romero Luna have been removed from their offices. La Tribuna is reporting that Alvarez is currently meeting with Porfirio Lobo Sosa. Also removed was the head of the Police in San Pedro Sula, Hector Ivan Mejilla, and the head of the traffic police (Transitos) for northwest Honduras, Guillermo Arias. The head of the northwest (San Pedro Sula) sector of the DNIC-- the national investigative police, equivalent to the FBI-- Oscar Garcia Mendez also is...

Honduras is awash with weapons; a result of lax gun laws and a legacy of decades of civil conflict. The arms trade is flourishing in Central America and Honduras is at the center of this booming business. Honduras is awash with weapons; a result of lax gun laws and a legacy of decades of civil conflict. The arms trade is flourishing in Central America and Honduras is at the center of this booming business. A recent report released by the National Commissioner for Human Rights (CONADEH), in Honduras indicates that there are more than 850,000 weapons in circulation in the...

Distinguished Senior Fellow in Political Leadership and Constitutional Governance Laureate, the Samuel Adams-Jose Bonifacio Prize for 2010 Roberto Micheletti (b. 13 Aug. 1943) is a former President of Honduras (28 June 2009 – 27 January 2010). He succeeded to the Presidency as a result of the constitutional crisis arising from then President Manuel Zelaya's June 2009 attempt to illegally change the national Constitution. The Attorney General's office charged Manuel Zelaya with violations of the constitution, laws and court orders. The Honduran Supreme Court found that Zelaya was violating the Constitution and issued an arrest warrant ordering the Honduran military to...

Ambassador Lopez stated that the head of the Honduran Armed Forces and the Defense minister are currently in Israel acquiring equipment that is needed by the institution. Tegucigalpa, Honduras Israel’s ambassador to Honduras said yesterday that the decision of the government of Honduras to advocate for the recognition of Palestine at the United Nations (UN) is like “sticking a knife in the heart of the people and government of Israel “. The diplomat offered these statements from Israel to Telenoticias. It was learned that the ambassador was in his country due to “consultations” he is making with his government after...

Border: Mexico's Zetas have drawn a bead on Guatemala's 2011 presidential election, and former U.S. officials say the cartel is stockpiling arms to do the same to Mexico in its 2012 election. Is there a White House plan? Smuggling military-grade weapons from Fort Worth through El Paso and Columbus, New Mexico, the Mexican cartel known as Los Zetas may be doing so not just to fight other cartels but to disrupt Mexico's 2012 election, according to report quoting former officials in the El Paso Times that ran July 13. Phil Jordan, a former director of El Paso's DEA Intelligence Center,...

That may well be. Mr. Altman approached this correspondent and Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars for details on this story on July 12, and this is what Vanderboegh took special care to point out in his responding email: Mr. Altman, Please read the first link below that David sent you to my story this morning. It covers the distinction between the public face of Castaway and the Honduras gun walking allegations by our sources, which may, or may not, be related. You would do well locally to ask questions on the general subject and not specifically Castaway. Now, if...

A Honduran patrol boat has located a semi-submersible craft used by drug traffickers to carry cocaine. Five crew members have been detained. Officials say the submarine-like vessel is floating about 15 meters (50 feet) under the surface of the Caribbean off the Honduran coast after the crew tried to sink it.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez once plotted to kidnap Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the cardinal revealed to a truth-and-reconciliation commission in his own country. The Honduran cardinal reported that Chavez was outraged by his support for a coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya, a Chavez ally, in 2009. Today, Cardinal Rodriguez says that he has not regrets about his role: conditions in Honduras have improved, he says, and he is now praying for Chavez, who is suffering from cancer. In an interview with Vatican Insider, the Honduran cardinal—whose name is often mentioned among the possible candidates for the...

The U.S. State Department warned yesterday that the Juarez Cartel may target its consulate office in Ciudad Juarez -- just over the border from El Paso, TX -- or other U.S. interests as reported by Mary Forgione for the Los Angeles Times. The "emergency message" states: Information has come to light that suggests a cartel may be targeting the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez or U.S. Ports of Entry. In the past, cartels have been willing to utilize car bombs in attacks. Earlier this month a drug cartel in Ciudad Juarez spray painted a public warning to U.S. DEA agents...

On July 4th,Acting ATF Director Ken Melson testified for hours before representatives of the Grassley/Issa congressional committees. Personal counsel in tow,Melson made a number of allegations concerning the Department of Justice and two agencies under DOJ control—the FBI and the DEA. According to his testimony,not only did the DOJ refuse his repeated requests that the ATF be permitted to provide information demanded by the congressional committees,the Department also arranged for tax dollars from the FBI and DEA to help finance Fast and Furious straw buyers. And as Fast and Furious supplied weapons were found at the murder scenes of both...

In Billy Hoover's office today: U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens. My favorite Hugo Llorens quote: "One can't violate the Constitution in order to create another Constitution, because if one doesn't respect the Constitution, then we all live under the law of the jungle." Hugo Llorens, June 2009, in reference to President Manuel Zelaya's planned referendum on a proposed constitutional assembly. I guess we'll see if what Llorens thinks is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. Maybe he's there to give Billy Hoover a lesson on our Constitution. He could sure as hell use it.

The commission also found Honduran police and soldiers killed 20 people in the days following the June 28 coup in 2009 that toppled Zelaya when violent protests broke out between his supporters and security forces. US and Latin American governments condemned the coup, which installed a de facto government in the banana and coffee exporting nation for months before a November election picked a new President. The coup was triggered when Zelaya illegally ignored the supreme court and the congress who tried to stop him from calling for a constitutional referendum in a bid to extend presidential term limits, the...

I'm working on another thread about how the Elites seem to be in full Civil War right now, and the ATF is really a prime example, it looks like the current administration's open and blatant plan to grab guns is being exposed, big time. I will acknowledge a lack of sources at the moment, they all seem to lead to an Examiner story, but ATF's own site acknowledges the program. This is a developing story and I'll add more links as obtained. Operation Castaway. Used in conjunction with Operation Fast & Furious, the program has allowed the release of THOUSANDS...

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-wrong-side-honduras-dispute-gop-la Obama on wrong side of Honduran dispute and http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/breaking-news-source-claims-atf-s-tampa-sac-walked-guns-to-honduras ATF walked guns to Honduras.

Honduras? Why would ATF walk guns to Honduras? 1. The national scope of the Gunwalker Scandal & 2. Because that's where some of the action is. "It's just another little garden-variety act of war between hemispheric friends. What's the big deal?" "Why would ATF walk guns to Honduras?" asks a reader. That's easy. First, and this is important to understand: the Tampa operation proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that "Project Gunwalker" was a national strategy, not a Phoenix aberration. The "major media" has been slow to understand this. They have ignored the fact that the Houston Field Division...

Part of 'Operation Castaway'? Exclusive Special Report by Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea Virginia O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Tampa Field Division, ran a gun-running investigation that was walking guns to Honduras using the techniques and tactics identical to Fast and Furious, it was reported to these correspondents this evening via private correspondence from a proven credible source. On 21 September, 2010, A. Brian Albritton, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida issued a press release on Operation Castaway: Part of 'Operation Castaway'? Exclusive Special Report by Mike Vanderboegh...

Ambassador Roger Noriega discusses the growing relationship between Venezuela Strong man Hugo Chavez and Honduran President Lobo and his shift towards 21st century socialism.

During his speech, Micheletti Tuesday criticized the U.S. government and the OAS Hugo Llorens for reacting to the removal in 2009 of President Manuel Zelaya a "strong interest in ideological" The Honduran president Roberto Micheletti today asked the U.S. to defend democracy in Latin America and fight the presidents who want to stay in power, in a speech via video link to lawmakers in the country. "Please watch democracy in these countries where the presidents appear overnight and they want to stay in power. Help the people," Micheletti asked in his speech broadcast on a legislative subcommittee on Latin America....

Top Story — Ousted President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya accused current President Porfirio Lobo on Thursday of violating the terms of the agreement that allowed Zelaya to return to his country on May 28. Zelaya’s allegation came after a Honduran judge ordered Enrique Flores to be put under house arrest on Wednesday under corruption charges. Flores served as Zelaya’s chief of staff and returned in the same plane with him last month. Flores appeared before a judge voluntarily on Wednesday in response to four charges from federal prosecutors of stealing $5 million of public funds when he was serving in...

The ousted ex-president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, has arrived back in his home country, greeted by thousands of supporters after being run out of office almost two years ago. Zelaya's flight from Nicaragua landed at Tegucigalpa's airport Saturday afternoon where thousands of his supporters had been camping out. Zelaya, who spent much of his exile in the Dominican Republic, is scheduled to meet with Hondura's current President, Porfirio Lobo, and Organization of American States chief Jose Miguel Insulza. Zelaya was removed from office in June 2009 by the military for ignoring a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum, which...

EGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Former President Manuel Zelaya has arrived in Honduras, ending a long political crisis caused by his ouster in a military-backed coup almost two years ago. Zelaya's flight from Nicaragua landed on Saturday at Tegucigalpa's airport where he was greet by thousands of supporters who had set up a tent camp nearby. Zelaya's comeback paves the way for Honduras to re-enter the international community, which rejected the June 2009 coup that forced him from office and out of the country.

An agreement signed in Colombia this week allowing the ousted former Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, to return home and resume political activity without fear of prosecution marks “a great day” for the Honduran people, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But in the view of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the accord sets the stage for Zelaya and his leftist ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, to further damage democracy in the small Central American country. “Hugo Chavez’s handprints are all over this deal,” Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. “He can’t wait to have Zelaya...

Ousted ex-Honduran President Manuel Zelaya inked an accord Sunday with the country's current president that will allow him to return to Honduras after almost two years in exile, officials said. The deal, which was brokered by the Colombian and Venezuelan governments, was signed in Cartagena, Colombia, by Zelaya and Honduran President Porfirio Lobo. It allows Zelaya and his allies to return to Honduras and helps clear the way for the country to rejoin the Organization of American States. Zelaya and his supporters will also be permitted to participate in Honduran politics. Zelaya was overthrown in a military-led coup June 28,...

RIO DE JANEIRO.- Dominican Republic president Leonel Fernandez said Friday that only some judicial hurdles prevent the return of ex president Manuel Zelaya to Honduras and that country’s reintegration to the (OAS). "The only thing that’s halting that process, when the possibility is proposed for ex president Zelaya’s and other members of his cabinet’s return to Honduras, is that the Justice Ministry of that country warns of issuing arrest warrants," Fernandez said to Efe in Rio de Janeiro, where he participates in World Economic Forum for Latin America. “That doesn’t contribute anything to the adequate climate of coexistence between Hondurans."...

Although it is not in the form of binding resolution, the American push for U.N. action has helped win over a handful of new countries to the cause. A resolution could be brought to a vote later this year. The issue of gay rights has polarized nations at the U.N. for years. And despite growing acceptance for homosexuality in Western nations and parts of Latin America, lawyers say there is still a gap in human rights treaties for the protection of gays against discrimination and mistreatment. "We are very concerned that individuals continue to be killed, arrested and harassed around...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Two Honduran soldiers and three policemen have been injured and about 50 protesters detained in clashes with supporters of ousted former president Manuel Zelaya. Authorities say police were attacked with sticks and stones as they used tear gas to clear protesters blocking streets in several Honduran cities. Teachers' union leader Eulogio Chavez says the police "used barbarity and repression against us." Many of those detained were teachers.

SINCE the confused morning in June 2009 when its president was marched to the airport at gunpoint and sent packing, Honduras has been creeping back towards something resembling normal political life. Porfirio Lobo, a conservative who was elected president in a reasonably fair contest five months after the coup, is popular at home. Most of the world now recognises his government, meaning that the vital tap of international grants and loans to one of the poorest and most violent countries in the Americas has been turned back on. Last year the Honduran economy was restored to growth, which many forecasters...

Tegucigalpa, Honduras - Honduras is hardly well-known as a tourist magnet, but the Central American country is making an effort to change that. Roatan, an island paradise in the western Caribbean, is Honduras' claim to tourist recognition. Already as one arrives at the airport in Coxen Hole, Roatan's main town, the visitor knows what the island is about: diving, snorkelling, swimming. The plane gets so close to the water's surface that passengers have the impression that the machine is about to fall into the turquoise sea. The island of Roatan is some 60 kilometres long, and it has three wooded...

CARACAS, Venezuela, Mar. 2, 2011/ Troy Media/ – Events are occurring in the Middle East that, even last December, we would never have thought possible. The modern Beys and Pharaohs have been ejected from power and the worst dictator of the area is teetering. The Western World, in fear for his oil supply, resembles deer caught in the headlights. And yet there are other world concerns that need to be kept in mind, in particular for the U.S. which is slowly but surely losing dominance in its own hemisphere. Events in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Followers of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya decided Sunday not to form a political party and take part in 2013 elections, saying conditions are not in place for a democratic process. Instead, some 1,500 delegates to the first general assembly of the People's National Resistance Front, known popularly as Resistance, opted to eschew elections and push for the Central American nation's constitution to be rewritten, an effort that was begun by Zelaya and led to his ouster. "The conditions are not right to go to an electoral process," Zelaya's wife, Xiomara Castro, said in a speech Saturday....

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Followers of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya are meeting to determine whether they will form a party and participate in elections in 2013. Members of the People's National Resistance Front have begun a two-day assembly in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Group leader Juan Barahona calls it a "historic event." Barahona said Saturday that among the group's goals are "holding a national constituent assembly, returning Zelaya to the country and taking political power to transform Honduran society."

As the cliche goes, there are no coincidences in politics. Obama fundraiser group Code Pink just happened to have arrived in Cairo last week for the group’s ninth visit there in two years as part of its campaign to undermine the Mubarak government and help Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza. Code Pink and the media are trying to portray the leftist group's 'sudden' appearance in Cairo Wednesday as an act of courageous support for a democratic revolution. Nothing could be further from the truth.Code Pink protests the Mubarak government in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt. February 2, 2011. Code...

Cuarto-Poder (Mexico) 1/30/2011 Cops Go to War Without a Gun (Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas) “They send us to war without guns,” said a police officer while nostalgically looking at new, unused patrol vehicles. Nearby, six vehicles have been scrapped, while others are being repaired. From December through January 15, there were only 5 patrols circulating with the remainder in repair. This officer is patrolling on foot, while nearby are 14 new units and 15 motorcycles, all ready for use. They either lack the plates or fuel. http://tinyurl.com/49s2c2n ______________________ El Universal (Mexico) 1/29/2011 Mexico grows despite violence: Calderón (Davos, Switzerland) President Felipe...