CRISIS IN HONDURAS
Fidel Castro's Reflection: A Suicidal
Mistake
Havana (Prensa Latina) The leader of
the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, stated
Monday there is no way to negotiate with
that putschist high command.
In an article spread by the Cuban Television
entitled "A Suicidal Mistake," Fidel Castro
says they must be asked to abdicate while
other younger officers, uninvolved with the
oligarchy, take charge of the military
command; otherwise, there will never be in
Honduras a government "of the people, by the
people and for the people."
There is no hope for the cornered and
isolated putschists if the problem is faced
with determination.
Prensa Latina is posting below the full text
of Fidel Castro's reflection.
REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL
A SUICIDAL MISTAKE
Three days ago, in the evening of Thursday
25th, I wrote in my Reflections: "We do not
know what will happen tonight or tomorrow in
Honduras, but the courageous behavior
adopted by Zelaya will go down in history."
Two paragraphs before I had indicated that:
"The situation that might result from
whatever occurs in that country will be a
test for the OAS and the current US
administration."
The prehistoric Inter-American institution
met in Washington the following day and in a
halfhearted and spiritless resolution
promised to immediately make the necessary
efforts to bring about harmony between the
contending parties; that is, a negotiation
between the putschists and the
Constitutional President of Honduras.
The high ranking military chief who was
still in command of the Honduran Armed
Forces was making public statements
different from the President's position
while recognizing his authority in a merely
formal way.
The putschists needed barely anything else
from the OAS. They couldn't care less for
the presence of a large number of
international observers who had traveled to
that country to bear witness to a referendum
and who had been talking with Zelaya until
late into the night. Today, before dawn,
they launched on the President's home about
200 well-trained and equipped professional
troops who roughly set aside the members of
the Guard of Honor and kidnapped Zelaya
--who was sleeping at the moment-- taking
him to an air base and forcibly putting him
on a plane to Costa Rica. At 8:30 a.m. we
learned from Telesur of the assault on the
Presidential House and the kidnapping. The
President was unable to attend the initial
activity related to the referendum that was
to take place this Sunday and his
whereabouts were unknown.
The official television channel was
silenced. They wanted to prevent the early
spread of the news of the treacherous action
through Telesur and Cubavision
Internacional, which were reporting the
events. Therefore, they first suspended the
broadcasting centers and then cut off
electricity to the entire country. At the
moment, the Supreme Court and the Congress
involved in the conspiracy had yet to make
public the decisions that justified the
plot. They first carried out the
indescribable military coup and then
legalized it.
The people woke up to a fait accompli and
started to react with growing indignation.
Zelaya's destination was unknown. Three
hours later the people's reaction was such
that we could see women punching soldiers
with their fists and the latter's weapons
falling off their hands as they were nervous
and confused. At the beginning, their
movements resembled a strange combat with
ghosts; later, they tried to cover Telesur's
cameras with their hands and nervously aimed
their guns at the reporters. Sometimes, when
the people advanced the troops stepped back.
At this point, armored vehicles carrying
cannons and machineguns were sent in as the
people fearlessly discussed with the crews
of the armored vehicles. The people's
reaction was amazing.
Approximately at 2:00 in the afternoon, a
tamed majority in Congress --in coordination
with the putschistsâ�"toppled Zelaya, the
Constitutional President of Honduras, and
appointed a new head of State announcing to
the world that the former had resigned and
showing a forged signature. A few minutes
later, from an airport in Costa Rica, Zelaya
related everything that had happened and
categorically refuted the news about his
resignation. The plotters had placed
themselves in a ridiculous situation in the
eyes of the world.
Many other things happened today. Cubavision
took all of its time to expose the coup and
keep our people informed.
Some events were purely fascist in nature
and even if expected they are still
astonishing.
Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas was
the putschists' main target, second only to
Zelaya. Another detachment was sent to her
residence. She was brave and determined, and
she acted quickly; she did not waste time
and started denouncing the coup in every way
possible. Our ambassador contacted Patricia
to learn about the situation; other
ambassadors did likewise. At a given moment,
she asked the diplomatic representatives of
Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba to meet with
her since she was being fiercely hounded and
required diplomatic protection. Our
ambassador, who from the first moments was
authorized to offer the minister all the
constitutional and legal support, proceeded
to visit her in her own residence.
When the diplomats were already in her
house, the putschist command sent Major
Oceguera to put her under arrest. The
diplomats stood between the woman and the
officer and claimed she was under diplomatic
protection and could only be moved
accompanied by them. Oceguera discussed with
them in a respectful fashion. A few minutes
later, 12 or 15 men in uniform and covering
their faces with ski masks rushed into the
house. The three ambassadors embraced
Patricia but the masked men using force
managed to separate the Venezuelan and
Nicaraguan ambassadors; Hernandez held her
so strongly by one arm that the masked men
dragged them both to a van and drove to an
air base where they finally separated him
and took her away. As he was there in
custody, Bruno, who had news of the
kidnapping called him to the cell phone; one
of the masked men tried to violently snatch
the phone out of his hands and the Cuban
ambassador, who had already been punched in
Patricia's home, shouted: "Don't push me,
cojones!" I don't remember if the term was
ever used by Cervantes, but there is no
doubt that ambassador Juan Carlos Hernandez
has enriched our language.
Later, he was abandoned in a road far from
the Cuban mission not before being warned
that something worse could happen to him if
he talked. "Nothing can be worse than
death," he answered with dignity, "and still
I'm not afraid of you." Then people from the
area helped him to return to the embassy and
from there he immediately called Bruno
again.
There is no way to negotiate with that
putschist high command. They must be asked
to abdicate while other younger officers,
uninvolved with the oligarchy, take charge
of the military command; otherwise, there
will never be in Honduras a government "of
the people, by the people and for the
people."
There is no hope for the cornered and
isolated putschists if the problem is faced
with determination.
Even Mrs. Clinton stated this afternoon that
Zelaya is the only President of Honduras and
the Honduran putschists can't even breathe
without the support of the United States of
America.
Zelaya, a man who was in his pyjamas just a
few hours ago, will be recognized by the
world as the only Constitutional President
of Honduras.
Fidel Castro Ruz
June 28, 2009 6:14 PM. |
