Participant observation has turned me into an anti-capitalist therapist. How many times, and with how many different young Honduran men, have I had the following conversation?

cipote: I'm shit. I haven't done anything with my life. I'll never amount to anything. I try to find a job, I try to get ahead, but I can't, because I'm shit.
me: You're not shit. Capitalism is shit. The oligarchy is shit. Your boss is shit. The U.S. State Department is shit. But you are not shit.

Another article from truthout. Why does this matter to Honduras watchers? Because it comes from Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, perhaps the most ardent supporter of last year's military coup and the Micheletti regime. Her agenda is the (hegemonic) Miami Cuban agenda, and it is the Israel agenda. The involvement of Israel (by which I mean not Jews, but the state of Israel) in last year's coup, and in "security" actions since, from supplying weapons to (para-/)military and police training to revamping Hondutel's domestic spying network under military control, is part of a broader geostrategic plan for Latin America. The irony here is that some Honduran golpistas have also been some of the major financiers of the PLO over the years, but their class alignment in Honduras is with Israel, so if they don't see a contradiction, why should the Congresswoman?

FRIDAY 13 AUGUST 2010
Get the Palestinians Out of Washington?
Friday 13 August 2010
by: Allen McDuffee, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

From the Frente's English language page:
Maria Teresa Flores, peasant leader, murdered
Viernes 13 de Agosto de 2010 12:01
RED MORAZÁNICA DE INFORMACIÓN

Reposted from Honduras Culture & Politics, where an excellent four-part discussion of "The 1990-2010 crisis in historical perspective" by Miguel Cáceres Rivera and Sucelinda Zelaya was also recently posted:

"Collective memory" at risk: On moving the Honduran National Archives

It is easy, we have noted, to lose sight of the economic effects of the coup in the face of the horse race about politics of OAS recognition. And it is equally easy to forget the profound negative effect the coup and its continuing aftermath has had on Honduran culture.

Rights Action
U.S. Pressuring Hard to Have Pro-Coup Regime of Honduras Re-Admitted to O.A.S.
August 4, 2010

BELOW: A second article by Annie Bird about how the US is pressuring hard to have Honduras reinstated to the OAS. Honduras, controlled by the post-military coup regime, is backed by the US, Canada and a few Latin American nations. The chance for real democracy and rule of law in Honduras, and across the Americas, hang in the balance.

If you've been following this blog, you know I've fallen off over the past few weeks, mostly due to work, travel & internet access complications. I'll be posting a number of things that are slightly dated, but relevant, over the next few days as I try to catch up, in between preparing for classes.

Click on title for original in Truthout with proper formatting, links, images and all that:
What the Heck Are US Marines Doing in Costa Rica? Obama's Tilt to the Right on Latin America
Friday 06 August 2010
by: Nikolas Kozloff, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis

I've seen this film literally dozens of times, and I don't tire of it. It brilliantly dissects the strategy of the same actors now in power (e.g., Oscar Álvarez, Pepe Lobo, the national police) to criminalize poverty and identity for political gain, and the zeitgeist of the mid-2000s that enabled the invisible genocide preceding the coup. I've uploaded it here, with the filmmaker's permission. It has English subtitles.

Click title for original on FAIR's site with proper formatting & links.

Extra! August 2010
Honduras Down the Memory Hole
U.S. media ignore the aftermath of dubious elections they praised

By Alyssa Figueroa

A year after a military coup removed democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya from office, Hondurans are still living under a repressive government—but the U.S. is pushing Latin American countries to join it in normalizing relations with the regionally ostracized nation.

Yesterday, the New York Times published a letter signed by Ana Pineda, former assistant to the golpista human rights commissioner Ramón Custodio and current Minister of Human Rights.