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MEXICO CITY — The deposed former Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, packed his guitar and flew into exile Wednesday as the country inaugurated a new president, who promised to try to repair the rifts left by months of political turmoil. After a good-bye lunch with his mother, Mr. Zelaya, his wife and his daughter left their refuge in the Brazilian Embassy and headed for the airport. They were accompanied by the new president, Porfirio Lobo, along with President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, who last week invited Mr. Zelaya to the Dominican capital. The usually voluble Mr. Zelaya said little...

Roberto Micheletti, interrim President of Honduras, steps down today to allow for the peaceful transition of power to the newly elected president of the tiny nation, Porfirio Lobo Sosa. You may recall that Micheletti was appointed after former President Zelaya attempted to overturn the country’s election process (with the assistance of President Obama’s favorite thug, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela) and was promptly, unceremoniously, and constitutionally removed from office... And where is the United States while all this is happening in a tiny democracy well within our sphere of influence? Why isn’t Joe Biden one of the dignitaries congratulating Micheletti for...

A Supreme Court judge cleared Honduras' military commanders Tuesday in the coup that toppled Manuel Zelaya, and hours later lawmakers approved amnesty for the ousted leader and all those involved in his removal. The two measures — combined with Wednesday's inauguration of a new president, conservative rancher Porfirio Lobo — appeared to spell the last chapter in the bitter political dispute that led to Honduras' international isolation. Supreme Court President Jorge Rivera ruled the country's top generals did not abuse their power in ordering soldiers to escort Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint June 28. "Prosecutors failed to prove...

Permanent dismissal for honduran military commanders board. "Justice has been done," were the first reactions of the armed forces spokesman, Colonel Ramiro Archaga. 26.01.10 - Updated: 26.01.10 12:12 pm - Writing: redaccion@elheraldo.hn Current Rating: Votes: 0 0 comment Print Send Tegucigalpa, Honduras . The Supreme Court (CSJ), delivered today a definitive dismissal in favor of the junta of commanders of the Armed Forces of Honduras. They are Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, head of the Joint Chiefs; Cervantes Venancio, deputy chief, Javier Prince, commander of the Air Force, Miguel Angel Padgeth, commander of the Army and Juan Pablo Rodriguez, commander of the...

How Hugo Chavez's revolution crumbled By Jackson Diehl Monday, January 25, 2010 While the world has been preoccupied with the crisis in Haiti, Latin America has quietly passed through a tipping point in the ideological conflict that has polarized the region -- and paralyzed U.S. diplomacy -- for most of the past decade. The result boils down to this: Hugo Chávez's "socialism for the 21st century" has been defeated and is on its way to collapse. During the past two weeks, just before and after the earthquake outside Port-au-Prince, the following happened: Chávez was forced to devalue the Venezuelan currency,...

Honduras will inaugurate president-elect Porfirio Lobo this week, two months after one of the world's most recently famous little countries held a successful democratic election. So we are left to wonder why the United States State Department is still trying to hammer anyone there who dared to participate last summer in the constitutional removal of President Manuel Zelaya from office. The U.S. has formally recognized the November presidential election, and the State Department tells us it also recognizes the congress's second vote to remove Mr. Zelaya. So what's the problem? It appears that State's pettiness still flows from the refusal...

Ousted President Manuel Zelaya confirmed he will leave Honduras and travel to the Dominican Republic next week when a new president is sworn into office. Zelaya told Radio Globo on Saturday he will leave Honduras as a private citizen, thanks to an accord signed by President-elect Porfirio Lobo and Dominican President Leonel Fernandez. "On the 27th of January, I will leave as a common citizen... after having completed my presidential mandate," Zelaya said. Zelaya was ousted in a June 2009 coup during his effort to change the constitution that the Supreme Court had ruled illegal. He still faces treason and...

The Honduran high command, including Gen. Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, the country's top military chief, face charges for bursting into Zelaya's residence and transporting the president to neighboring Costa Rica, Attorney General Luis Rubi said. The June 28 coup deepened a political crisis that remains unresolved, despite a new president being elected in November.

To “storyboard the news” is to replace straight news reporting with a pre-shaped comic-book narrative, an edited fable sustained by selective reporting. Victims of media fraud suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder will be excused for hearing the phrase as a riff on Guantanamo, that “storyboarding the news” occurs when the MSM submerges the facts underwater until the truth surrenders.

The Obamites Fold Their Tents and Slink Off: Facing a Stronger Foe. January 2, 2010, 7:47 am By Bruce Karlson The “stronger foe” referenced above is Honduras. As is obvious, its strength is not in force of arms, population, or economic clout. The Hondurans and their recent president, Roberto Micheletti, had spine, commitment, and principle. Obamites, and Democrats in general, are unfamiliar with these attributes and usually simply pay obeisance to or pay off dictators of all persuasions. It should be noted that said dictators need not have their fiefdoms off shore. Andrew Stern of the SEIU, the current head...

Ruins of a pre-Columbian city built before the rise of the Maya civilisation have been discovered in a remote region of eastern Honduras, the Institute of Anthropology and History says. The so-called City of Encounters, in the wilderness of Botaderos mountain about 120 miles northeast of the capital, includes vestiges of three rectangular plazas, various mounds and small stone-encrusted pillars. It appears to have been built in the pre-Classical or early Classical period between 300 B.C. and 300 A.D., said Mexican anthropologist Victor Heredia, an investigator for the institute. "It's a pre-Hispanic city, a complex site. It has a well-defined...

200 gather to cheer Honduras' ousted president Published: 01.01.10, 08:29 / Israel News About 200 people gathered outside the Brazilian Embassy to show support for ousted President Manuel Zelaya inside while they celebrated New Year's Eve with food and music. Supporters of the deposed leader, who has been in the embassy since late September, began arriving at dusk Thursday and were allowed on one of the streets next to the compound,

The “stronger foe” referenced above is Honduras. As is obvious, its strength is not in force of arms, population, or economic clout. The Hondurans and their recent president, Roberto Micheletti, had spine, commitment, and principle. Obamites, and Democrats in general, are unfamiliar with these attributes and usually simply pay obeisance to or pay off dictators of all persuasions. It should be noted that said dictators need not have their fiefdoms off shore. Andrew Stern of the SEIU, the current head of the misnamed National Education Association (education is far down the list of interests for this bunch), the Teamsters, UAW,...

Note: The following text is a quote: Ringleader of International Truck Theft Conspiracy Sentenced to Prison HOUSTON—A Houston man who recruited others to steal and transport millions of dollars of truck tractors, trailers and other heavy equipment to Central America has been sentenced to prison, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. United States District Judge David Hittner sentenced Yuri David Melendez, 43, to a total of nine years in federal prison for his leadership role in the truck theft scheme and in an unrelated narcotics charge during a hearing today. Melendez, who was convicted of conspiracy to export and...

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya will spend Christmas with his family stuck inside the soldier-ringed Brazilian Embassy where he has been holed up for months after being toppled in a June coup.

Honduran President-elect Porfirio Lobo is actively considering a general amnesty for all political activists involved in the June 28 takeover that toppled Jose Manuel Zelaya and triggered an international crisis over the legitimacy of the de facto government that succeeded Zelaya. Lobo was chosen in a Nov. 29 election that itself was marred by controversy because Zelaya, who sneaked back into Honduras from exile in September, conducted a passionate campaign for return to power from the Brazilian Embassy. The takeover deeply divided Hondurans and led to riots, economic dislocation and partial sanctions against the impoverished state. Both the United States...

WASHINGTON — The United States will soon resume issuing visas to Hondurans it barred after president Manuel Zelaya was overthrown in a June coup, Republican Senator George LeMieux said Thursday. Citing a letter he received from the US State Department announcing the measure, LeMieux told reporters that "visa procedures will be normalized... very quickly." Temporary visas for Hondurans to visit the United States were suspended in August amid an international outcry over Zelaya's ouster. Honduras last month held elections won by Porfirio Lobo, who is slated to replace Zelaya and the de facto regime in January. Washington backed an agreement...

Diario de America (note- Machine translation from Spanish) "Rigged States Organization" By Luis Marín The OAS is well aware, in any of the instances, what is the state of human rights in Venezuela, as does also on Cuba, even though that country is full member of the organization. It does not take in all the visit of any committee "in loco" for what he need to contact a group of experts who could do their job and report much better documented and more credible than the same inter-American commission, so permeated by political and ideological interests of the respective governments....

Given the challenges that President Obama faces in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, China, and elsewhere, the fact that he has thus far neglected Latin America is hardly surprising or scandalous. Obama has committed several unforced errors in the Americas, however, most notably in Honduras, and his relatively weak performance has raised concerns about declining U.S. influence. Obama's Latin America policy has evolved through four stages. During stage one, Obama practiced what might be called Sally Field diplomacy ("You like me!"), marveling over his own popularity in the region while trying to make nice with both friendly and adversarial...

Porfirio Lobo, Honduras president elect, said on Sunday he is committed to enable ousted president Manuel Zelaya to leave the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, where he remains under refuge following a frustrated attempt last week. Honduras now made it clear what it will accept: "It was decided at the highest level of government: it will be a territorial asylum and he may not go to any nation which borders Honduras, ie that is in Central America," said the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Milton Mateo. According to the Honduran government, Zelaya will not be allowed to travel to Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua...

QUESTION: And my second question is whether the U.S. is surprised at all of the passion, the people reacted before on Honduras. ASSISTANT SECRETARY VALENZUELA: On your second question, your question is a very valid one because there really are strong passions on both sides; there’s no question about that. And it does show a certain degree of ideological polarization in the world, and you see it in many capitals. You see it here in Washington. It became a domestic problem as well in terms of Honduras. You see it very much in Spain and in other places. So I’m...

Our weapon is the vote," a man named Randolfo tells me. We are standing outside a school called La Vida Abundante in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It is Sunday, November 29, Election Day and this is one of the polling places. Outside each class room is a list of all the people who are to vote there. Inside, representatives of the five political parties check the IDs of voters and give them three ballots, one for the Presidential race, one for the mayoral race and one for the Congressional races ( more complicated because each voter can vote for up to 23...

BRASILIA, Brazil — Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says he will leave the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras by Jan. 27, when his presidential term ends...Zelaya said in the telephone interview with Globo TV that he wants to leave soon but did not say where he will go. He has been holed up in the embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa for three months under threat of arrest if he sets foot outside the building. Zelaya's comments aired a day after Honduras' coup-installed government said he is free to leave the country, but not as president. The top-ranking Brazilian official...

Americans take many things for granted: our high standard of living, our low infant mortality rate and our democratic government, to name a few. Witnessing firsthand the 2009 Honduran presidential election reminded me of all these things. I am particularly struck by how fragile democracy truly is. Despite fears of violence, unrest and calls to boycott the election, Hondurans came to the polls in droves. They elected Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo as their next president. We may be tempted to dismiss that news. Elections happen all the time, right? But we should all extend our deepest congratulations to the good people...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' coup-installed government says ousted leader Manuel Zelaya is free to leave the country, but there's a catch: Zelaya can't go as president, and he says he won't go as anything else. And so he remained holed up Thursday in the Brazilian Embassy, where he has been staying since he slipped back into the country three months ago. If he sets foot outside the building, the leaders who ousted him have vowed to arrest him on charges of treason and abuse of power. They appeared to be softening their stance on Wednesday when they initially responded positively...

Plans for ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to leave for exile in Mexico have been postponed, the government of Honduras has said. Sources close to Mr Zelaya had said he was about to leave Brazil's embassy in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Mr Zelaya was removed from power in June and forced into exile but later returned and has taken refuge in the embassy for almost three months. Officials said Mr Zelaya had to apply for political asylum before leaving. He insisted he would not do so. Porfirio Lobo won presidential elections late last month and the Honduran Congress voted not to...

Honduras' interim government says it has authorized ousted President Manuel Zelaya to leave the country and go to Mexico. Foreign Ministry spokesman Milton Mateo says the safe-conduct pass was signed and would be delivered to the Brazilian Embassy, where Zelaya has been holed up since sneaking back into the country Sept. 21. Mateo said Wednesday night that the Mexican government has sent an airplane to pick up Zelaya and his family. Another official of the interim government's Foreign Ministry said Mexico requested that Zelaya be given safe conduct to leave. A Mexican government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says...

Representatives for Honduras tourism announced this morning that the U.S. canceled all pending travel alerts to Honduras yesterday. The Department of State issued a travel alert in July, stating “The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the current unstable political and security situation in Honduras, and recommends that American citizens defer all non-essential travel to Honduras until further notice.” The alert was issued shortly after Honduran military ousted President Manuel Zelaya and sent him out of the country. However, on November 29, the Honduran people peacefully elected their new president – Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo, who will take office on...

Gunmen in Honduras have shot dead the head of the country's anti-drug trafficking operations.Police said retired Gen Julian Aristides Gonzalez was travelling in a car in the capital, Tegucigalpa, when attackers on a motorcycle opened fire. Honduras is a major route for drugs smuggled from South to North America. The nation, mired in political crisis since President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in June, also has one of the highest murder rates in the region. Gen Aristides, director general of the national office for combating drug trafficking, was travelling by car through Tegucigalpa when two attackers on a motorcycle opened fire,...

Andres Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald wrote an intriguing piece recently on the splash effect of the coup, or crisis, or whatever term least offends someone of Honduras’ new leadership and recent election, and how the major powers in Latin America have tried unsuccessfully to remedy the situation. Oppenheimer argues that the US, Brazil and the OAS have all succeeded in failure in their own unique ways. Failure for the three comes as follows. For Brazil, its “hypocrisy” of recognizing Iran’s and Cuba’s undemocratic leadership, while criticizing Honduras’ recent elections. For the US, the “flip-flopping” that comes with a constant...

Honduras' deposed President Manuel Zelaya said on Sunday that he would stay in the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital for as long as Brasilia allowed him to and that he would be willing to talk to the new president-elect. Leftist Zelaya, who was ousted by the army in a coup on June 28, slipped back into Honduras in September and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, from where he has been demanding his reinstatement. The United States and Brazil have been pushing for Zelaya's return to power but his fate remains uncertain after the Honduran Congress voted...

As members of a gang of kidnappers, assassins and robbers were investigated two of the five victims who on 1 December were found floating in the waters of the Ulua River in the area of Pimienta. In the place were found the bodies of two women and two men, who were naked and bound hand and foot. The bodies decomposed, they would have been dropped from the 28 November. Officials of the National Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DNIC) have not publicly released the identities of two of the victims, but it is presumed there are two individuals who belonged to...

PANAMA CITY, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The 25th Ordinary Assembly of the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) decided on Friday to suspend the Honduran Congress from it, for supporting the coup against ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Most of the Latin American deputies voted in favor of the suspension, Parlatino Executive Secretary Humberto Pelaez from Columbia said. "The suspension measure was approved by 103 votes in favor, three against and seven abstentions," Pelaez told a press conference after the Ordinary Assembly in Panama City. Pelaez urged the Honduran congressmen to think over and work to reinstate the constitutional order in their...

There is wide agreement that last week’s presidential election in Honduras, won by the conservative leader Porfirio Lobo, was clean and fair. But it doesn’t settle the country’s political crisis, nor the question of how the world should treat Honduras. snip Despite all the missteps, Honduras’s military and militaries across the region need to know that coups will not be tolerated. Hondurans need to be able to move on and rebuild their democracy.

TEGUCIGALPA – The National Resistance Front that arose after the June 28 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras has abandoned hope for the restoration of ousted the former president and is focused now on convening an assembly to overhaul the country’s constitution, one of the group’s leaders said Thursday. “We have closed this chapter on the restoration of President Zelaya, which didn’t take place,” Juan Barahona told Efe the day after Honduran lawmakers rejected reinstatement of the deposed head of state. The Honduran Congress decisively rejected the restitution of deposed President Mel Zelaya in a vote of 62 to...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Where does Manuel Zelaya go now? Congress slammed the door on restoring the ousted Honduran leader to power, ignoring intense international pressure to reverse Central America's first coup in 20 years. He faces arrest if he leaves the Brazilian Embassy, where he stays up into the night talking on the phone, sleeps until noon and fires off letters to world leaders, urging them not to forget him. Seeking asylum would return him to the exile he faced when soldiers ejected him from the country in his pajamas. He vows not to do that — for now. His...

The US has said it is disappointed by the Honduran Congress's decision not to reinstate President Manuel Zelaya for his remaining two months in office. Honduran lawmakers voted overwhelmingly against allowing ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who was removed from office in June, to serve out his term. Conservative politician Porfirio Lobo won presidential elections on Sunday. Several neighbouring countries say they will not restore ties unless Mr Zelaya is allowed to finish his term. Following the vote in Congress, Mr Zelaya told the BBC: "This decision ratifies a coup and condemns Honduras to continue living in illegality." Of the 125...

The final tally in favor of a motion against Zelaya's reinstatement was 111 to 14.

Looks like ousted Honduras President Zelaya will be holed up in the Brazilian embassy for a while longer. The Congress of Honduras voted not to reinstate the deposed dictator-wannabe. Honduras has been the object of Obama's attacks ever since they threw Zeyala out of office. The former President's disposal was ordered by the Honduras Supreme Court and was in line with the Honduras Constitution. Following the direction of his buddy Chavez, Zeyala illegally attempted to stay in power despite the constitutional ban on running for another term. The military removed him from office, and immediately returned power to the civilian...

final score: 111 against Z 15 for Z.

10 in favor of Z 80 against Z.

TEGUCIGALPA — A majority in the Honduran Congress have voted against reinstating deposed President Manuel Zelaya and allowing him to finish out his term of office. A simple majority of 65 lawmakers in the 128-member body voted against Zelaya's return to the presidency shortly before 730 pm (0130 GMT) on Wednesday after more than six hours of debate.

Update: 4:40: Vote is still taking place. Has stalled with a long pro-Zelaya speech by ???. She claims there was 60+ abstentionism on Sunday and is basically repeating the same things we've heard Zelaya say a thousand times. She is quoting several sections of the constitution. Says that Zelaya never submitted a change of the constitution, the court was wrong, .

The Obama administration messed up when it decided to back the aspiring Chavezian thug Zelaya in Honduras. Zelaya had attempted to illegaly change the constitution to remain in power. For this he was legally ousted from office. Everyone who spent more than five minutes looking into this topic understood that the people who ousted Zelaya, while not perfect, were certainly on the side of the angels on this one. Everyone, that is, except Obama and his State Department.

Despite threats of violence, bombs, and bullying by other countries, as well as being told by their former president that they would be stupid to vote and by world leaders that it would be a waste of time, the valiant Honduran people came through and showed the rest of the world that they value their democracy. Just as Honduran President Roberto Micheletti had promised hundreds of times since June 28, voters were safe and secure, and the elections were fair and the most transparent in the history of Honduras. Micheletti often said, “No one, absolutely no one, will stop our...

In a few minutes the honduran congress will vote to decide if Manuel Zelaya, president fired by the honduran constitution for attempting a repeal of the current constitution, will be or not be reinstated. The honduran institutions such as the human rights commissioner, Attorney general, Procurator general, Supreme Electoral Tribunal and Supreme Court, have opposed any reinstatement, saying that is inappropiate. The attorney general has threatened to prosecute any that supports the reinstatetment of Zelaya.

"...Hot, but a very nice breeze. I'm sure you've heard that the Republican party won the vote. Everyone on the island is very happy. On the voting day, many said "they weren't voting for a political party, they were voting for their freedom". Indeed, there is a renewed spirit among the locals. They are hopeful once again. I have to tell you, this country is very fragile. In a matter of four short months, many hotels, shops and restaurants have been forced to close. As a result of this political crisis, tourism all but came to a halt. Times have...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduran lawmakers begin debating ousted President Manuel Zelaya's future Wednesday under pressure from much of the region to reinstate him or face more isolation despite a presidential election designed to end the crisis. It's not clear the pressure will be enough. The interim administration has already resisted months of diplomatic arm-twisting, and has long predicted Sunday's election would weaken demands for Zelaya's return. Still, many Latin American governments warn they will not restore ties with the incoming administration of Porfirio Lobo unless Zelaya is allowed to finish his own term, which ends Jan. 27. Lobo, a wealthy...

The people of Honduras made it clear on Sunday that they fully supported the electoral process that produced a presidential victory for Porfirio Lobo, the candidate of the opposition National Party. The turnout of more than 60 percent signals that most Hondurans were unwilling to heed the call of ousted president Manuel Zelaya, who had called for a boycott of the process to strengthen his claim that the elections were not legitimate because he was improperly removed from power back in June. In fact, the elections easily passed the most important test of all in any democracy by attracting popular...

Nationalists (conservatives) won 252 mayors and 46 liberals The Liberal Party won only one municipality in La Paz while 16 controlled National Party. Were pending two. PN (conservatives) plans to win more than 70 deputies. National Party leaders argue that 12 or 13 deputies are of this political entity. Six or seven of the Liberal and 3 or 4 other games. According to preliminary projections of political parties, the National Party will bring as many members, perhaps the greatest of all electoral processes. Between 70 and 73 MPs are believed to belong to the National Party, enough to dispense with...