Horrifying Image from Honduras

By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, Sept. 26 – Knowing what the Chilean military did to thousands of prisoners held at the Santiago stadium after the 9/11/73 coup against President Salvador Allende, a photo appearing today in BBC World in Spanish is all the more horrifying.

The fact is that the Honduran military honchos, like their Chilean counterparts under Pinochet, are from the same school of training and thought that actually holds Adolf Hitler high in esteem as a firm man who knew how to squash his enemies, regardless of what the rest of the world thought.  Their defiance to the global condemnation of the coup illustrates that.

The BBC reported that more than 600 people were detained in the last four days, and the physical integrity of those persons and others is seriously threatened.

Deposed President Mel Zelaya – held up at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa after sneaking back in the country last weekend- also denounced the Honduran military for launching toxic gases into the diplomatic mission, trying to destroy the will and health of those boarded up there, including the president’s family and the Brazilian diplomatic personnel.  Zelaya also warned that the military could be planning to storm the embassy building.

At its special UN Security Council meeting on Friday to address the crisis, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim alerted, “The Brazilian government is seriously concerned that the perpetrators of the coup in Honduras could decide to violate the premises of the embassy to try and forcefully arrest President Zelaya.”

Chairing the meeting in New York was US Ambassador Susan Rice.  The diplomat expressed her country’s insistence that international law be respected in terms of the inviolability of the Brazilian embassy and the Vienna Convention.

“The Security Council condemned acts of intimidation against the Brazilian Embassy calling on the de facto government of Honduras to cease harassing the embassy, and to provide all necessary utilities and services – including water, electricity, food, and the continuity of communications,” she said.

However, whether “condemnation” turns into more firm action remains to be seen.  The US maintains military bases inside Honduras and many observers believe the Pentagon was fully aware of the coup’s plotting but did nothing to stop it.

The Honduran military is also well aware that when then President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) criticized human rights violations by South American dictatorships in the 1970s, behind the scenes those officers felt they had of plenty of support to stay in power.