The following is a fairly good breakdown of what is going on in Honduras at the moment and what the implications of the upheaval have been on the recent election results.

Honduran coup regime’s claims about 60% turnout at free and fair elections is revealed as fraud. Also implicated in the video are the wide array of media outlets and governments that have unquestioningly accepted the electoral data of a regime that overthrew the last elected president.
Produced by Jesse Freeston, on location in Honduras.

Download the Report 

http://www.splcenter.org/images/dynamic/main/splc_suffolk_report_lores.pdf

Climate of Fear

Less than one year ago, on Nov. 8, 2008, Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant, was murdered in the town of Patchogue, N.Y. The killing, police say, was carried out by a gang of teenagers who called themselves the Caucasian Crew and targeted Latino residents as part of a sport they termed “beaner-hopping.” It highlighted a growing national problem — violent hatred directed at all suspected undocumented immigrants, Latinos in particular. Officials in Suffolk County, N.Y., where Patchogue is located, minimized the tragedy, with the county executive even suggesting that it would have been a mere “one-day story” if not for earlier publicity about his and other residents’ anti-immigrant activism over the prior decade.

But the reality was that nativist intolerance and hate violence had been festering for years in Suffolk County, fostered by some of the very same officials who were now wishing the story away. The situation in Suffolk County, in fact, is a microcosm of a problem facing the entire United States, where FBI statistics suggest a 40% rise in anti-Latino hate crimes between 2003 and 2007, the latest numbers available. The number of hate groups in America has been rising, too, climbing more than 50% since 2000, mainly by exploiting the issue of undocumented non-white immigration.

In the aftermath of the Lucero murder, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) sent a Spanish-speaking researcher to Suffolk County to interview Latino residents, both documented and undocumented, over a period of months. What SPLC found was frightening. The Lucero murder, while the worst of the violence so far, was hardly an isolated incident. Latino immigrants in Suffolk County are regularly harassed, taunted, and pelted with objects hurled from cars. They are frequently run off the road while riding bicycles, and many report being beaten with baseball bats and other objects. Others have been shot with BB guns or pepper-sprayed. Most will not walk alone after dark; parents often refuse to let their children play outside. A few have been the targets of arson attacks and worse. Adding to immigrants’ fears is the furious rhetoric of groups like the now-defunct Sachem Quality of Life, whose long-time spokesman regularly referred to immigrants as “terrorists.” The leader of another nativist group, this one based in California, was one of many adding their vitriol, describing a “frightening” visit to an area where Latinos are concentrated in Suffolk: “They urinate, they defecate, [they] make sexual overtures to women.”

Fueling the fire are many of the very people who are charged with protecting the residents of Suffolk County — local politicians and law enforcement officials. At one point, one county legislator said that if he saw an influx of Latino day laborers in his town, “we’ll be out with baseball bats.” Another said that if Latino workers were to gather in a local neighborhood, “I would load my gun and start shooting, period.” A third publicly warned undocumented residents that they “better beware.” County Executive Steve Levy, the highest-ranking official in Suffolk, is no friend of immigrants, either. When criticized by a group of immigrant advocates, for example, Levy called the organization a den of “Communists” and “anarchists.” At the same time, immigrants told the SPLC that the police were, at best, indifferent to their reports of harassment, and, at worst, contributors to it. Many said police did not take their reports of attacks seriously, often blaming the victim instead. They said they are regularly subjected to racial profiling while driving and often to illegal searches and seizures. They said there’s little point in going to the police, who are often not interested in their plight and instead demand to know their immigration status.

Although Suffolk County is not unique — many communities across the United States are undergoing similar racial conflicts and rapid demographic changes — there are several concrete measures county officials could take to remedy what has been a worsening problem there for a decade:

• First, local politicians should halt their angry demagoguery on the issue of immigration. There is abundant evidence that Suffolk County officials have contributed substantially to an atmosphere conducive to racial violence.
• Second, the county and state legislatures should mandate that crime victims and witnesses not be asked their immigration status during criminal investigations. As long as they are, immigrants will be unwilling to come out of the shadows to report crimes against themselves and others.
• Third, law enforcement officials should train officers to ensure that they take seriously cases of hate-motivated crime. Until they do, Latino residents will continue to distrust law enforcement officials and avoid cooperation.
• Fourth, the county should maintain accurate hate crime statistics that are readily available to the public. Doing so will help guide county leaders and residents in confronting the problem of hate-motivated violence.
• Fifth, the county should promote educational programs in the public schools to encourage respect for diversity and opposition to hatred. In the end, educating the next generation is the only permanent antidote to hate.

If these measures are taken to combat an increasingly volatile situation, it’s likely that angry passions in Suffolk can be cooled and a rational debate on immigration and its consequences begun. The alternative is that the county continues to foster a dangerous growth of violent racial intolerance and nativism — a climate of fear.

For more visit http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=395

Crimen Organizado, o Democracia, en Honduras?

 La nueva cara del crimen organizado esta en (display) pleno despliegue en Honduras. El pasado 28 de Junio, 2009, el Presidente electo Manuel Zelaya, de la República de Honduras, fue ilegalmente destituido del poder vía un (coup d’etat) Golpe de Estado.   La oposición (El partido Nacional) y Roberto Michelleti (Liberal) y ciertos miembros de su partido, secuestraron la democracia Hondureña, dando tregua a lo que la comunidad internacional llama la aterrorizarían del sistema democrático en Latinoamerica.   La razón por la cual estos actos terroristas sucedieron, fue el supuesto acto ilegal, de consultarle al pueblo Hondureño, mediante un plesbicito, si ellos estarían de acuerdo que la constitución del país fuera enmendada, para darle una oportunidad a futuros presidentes de la nación, la posibilidad correr por re-elección, limitándolos obviamente a dos términos.

Mi pregunta es, desde cuando es ilegal en América Latina, o en cualquier otro país del continente, preguntarle a los ciudadanos su opinión vía el VOTO; si ellos estarían de acuerdo con aceptar una nueva legislación? Esta clase de reacción, siendo el primer golpe de estado en el Siglo XXI, se llama MafiosoCracia a la Michelleti. Solo en países totalitarios, como en Cuba, en China, en África y otros, es donde se observa esta clase de acciones.

Basado en estos hechos, tanto el político Roberto Michelleti, la ultra derecha, como los miembros de la izquierda, empapados de paranoia y celo patriótico, decidieron que la democracia no tenia sentido y se tomaron la ley en sus propias manos.   El resultado ha llevado a la interpretación incorrecta de la constitución Hondureña, además de las leyes nacionales e internacionales.   Finalmente, sabiendo que el pueblo Hondureño pediría explicaciones a estos actos terroristas, Michelleti junto a miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas, bloquearon en forma ilegal los medios de comunicación, secuestraron al presidente Zelaya a punta de pistolas, y lo extraditaron a Costa Rica.   Los crímenes cometidos por Michelleti y sus títeres deben de ser expuestos al resto del mundo, procesados y juzgados, de acuerdo con las leyes Hondureñas.   Las leyes de Honduras deben de ser ejecutadas al pie de la letra, para que quede muy claro que Honduras es un país que obedece las leyes nacionales e internacionales.

Debe quedar muy claro que nadie esta por encima de la ley, y que ningún grupo, persona o institución, ejecutara en el nombre de la Democracia actos criminales, sin antes haberlos consultado con una corte Independiente y sin Interés Político (la Corte Suprema?)  o con los organismos nacionales e internacionales, y mas importante todavía, con los ciudadanos Hondureños.

La solución al problema:

1.El hondureño debe encontrar una posición neutral y pro-democracia.

2.El hondureño necesita poner su partido e ideología política a un lado, y pensar en el futuro de Honduras.

3.El hondureño debe decidir, basado en los hechos, no en las emociones, y actuar de acuerdo con esos hechos.

 4.El hondureño debe demandarle al gobierno, la restitución del presidente electo por el pueblo, Manuel Zelaya.

5. Se debe demandar que se forme un cuerpo de investigación independiente, compuesto por miembros de todos los partidos políticos Hondureños, miembros de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (O.N.U), la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), y absolutamente nadie mas.

Con el propósito de encontrar las fallas del sistema democrático de Honduras, y a la misma vez, proseguir judicialmente a aquellos que deliberadamente violaron la ley, la constitución, y secuestraron la democracia de Honduras.

6.Permitir una elección nacional interna, para reemplazar a los miembros del congreso que serán encontrados culpables de crímenes en contra de la soberanía nacional de Honduras.

7.Calcular las perdidas monetarias que este golpe de estado le causo al país, y asegurarse de que los culpables paguen, en forma monetaria, o de acuerdo con lo que la ley estipula.

 8.Crear una legislación especifica, para prevenir que situaciones de esta índole no vuelvan a ocurrir en el territorio nacional de Honduras.

 El que tenga oídos que oiga.

No te olvides de dejar tus comentarios.

Escrito por:

JuanCarlos López
President & CEO
LatinosUSA Communications LLC.
ceo@LatinosUSA.org

 Editado por Guilmo Barrios.

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