No descansaremos hasta corregir esta injusticia

Coinciden en afirmar integrantes del equipo de la defensa de antiterroristas cubanos prisioneros en Estados Unidos
-Deisy Francis Mexidor
Integrantes del equipo de la Defensa de los Cinco antiterroristas cubanos, prisioneros en cárceles de Estados Unidos hace casi 11 años, coincidieron en que los esfuerzos en función de esta causa aún no han concluido y que la lucha por corregir la injusticia continúa a la par de la batalla política.Así lo declararon este domingo durante un intercambio con la prensa en La Habana, en el que explicaron que en este minuto se preparan para la resentencia —con fecha preliminar para el 13 de octubre— de Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino y Fernando González, para lo cual serán trasladados próximamente al centro de detención de Miami. De nuevo la jueza Joan Lenard, tendrá ante sí el caso. Tom Goldstein, quien lideró el equipo de la defensa ante la Corte Suprema dijo que pese a que en esa instancia judicial no se aceptó analizar el caso, se han dado pasos importantes en el proceso y afirmó: "Somos optimistas", al destacar también que las condiciones actuales en que se hará la resentencia de Antonio, Ramón y Fernando no son las mismas que el 2001, cuando los Cinco fueron arbitraria e injustamente condenados.Señaló que la Jueza de Miami ahora tendrá ante sí, además de los argumentos legales, el largo término que han estado encarcelados y el sufrimiento tanto para ellos como para sus familias. Además del reconocimiento de la comunidad internacional que tiene el caso. "Esta es una cuestión que la jueza debe confrontar".Leonard Weinglass, puntualizó que en octubre enfrentarán en la corte de Miami nuevas reglas de sentencia, diferentes a las del año 2001. "Bajo estas nuevas reglas pensamos que las cadenas perpetuas de Antonio y Ramón sean eliminadas". Los juristas manifestaron su solidaridad con René y Gerardo por la reiterada negativa del gobierno estadounidense de otorgarles visas a sus esposas para ir a visitarlos. Mientras, Joaquín Méndez enfatizó que la injusticia más grande que ha ocurrido es la forma en que ha sido tratado Gerardo. A propósito de esto, Ricardo Alarcón, presidente de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular, señaló que el caso de Gerardo es el más complicado y "tenemos que hacer todo lo que se pueda, tenemos que abrirlo con cuanto recurso se pueda aplicar, tenemos que abrirlo con las manos, con los dientes, con las uñas, mientras que él no sea liberado igual que los demás será imposible tener una relación normal con Estados Unidos", subrayó.

Reflections by Comrade Fidel Castro
THE COUP DIES OR CONSTITUTIONS DIE
The countries of Latin America were struggling against history’s worst financial crisis within relative institutional order.When US President Barack Obama -- while on a trip to Moscow to discuss vital topics on the subject of nuclear weapons -- was declaring that the only constitutional president of Honduras was Manuel Zelaya, the ultra right-wing and the hawks in Washington were making manoeuvres for Zelaya to negotiate a humiliating pardon for the illegalities attributed to him by the perpetrators of the coup.It was obvious that before his people and the world such an act would be tantamount to his disappearance from the political stage.It is a proven fact that when Zelaya announced he would be returning on July 5th, he had decided to fulfil his promise to share the brutal repression of the coup with his people.Travelling with the president was Miguel d’Escoto, the president pro tempore of the UN General Assembly, along with Patricia Rodas, the Honduran foreign minister, a Telesur journalist and others, a total of 9 persons. Zelaya maintained his decision to land. I know for a fact that in mid-flight, when they were nearing Tegucigalpa, he was informed from the ground about Telesur broadcasting the moment when the enormous mass of people awaiting him outside of the airport was being attacked by soldiers with tear gas and automatic rifles fire.His immediate reaction was to request that they took up altitude in order to denounce the events on Telesur and to demand of the commanding officers of those troops that they ceased the repression. Then he informed them that he would carry on with the landing. The high command then ordered the landing strip to be blocked. In a matter of seconds, motorized transport vehicles were obstructing the runway.The Falcon jet made three passes, at a low altitude, over the airport. Specialists explain that the tensest and most dangerous moment for pilots is when fast, small planes -- like the one carrying the president -- reduce speed for touchdown. That’s why I think that attempt to return to Honduras was audacious and brave.If they wanted to put him on trial for alleged constitutional crimes, why not allow him to land?Zelaya knows that it was not only the Constitution of Honduras what was at stake, but also the right of the peoples of Latin America to elect the people who govern them.Today Honduras is not just a country occupied by a coup, but it is also a country occupied by the armed forces of the United States.The military base at Soto Cano, also known by its name of Palmerola -- located less than 100 kilometres from Tegucigalpa and reactivated in 1981 under the Ronald Reagan administration -- was used by Colonel Oliver North when he was running the dirty war against Nicaragua, and from there the US government directed the attacks against the Salvadoran and Guatemalan revolutionaries that cost tens of thousands of lives.That is the location of the US Joint Task Force-Bravo -- made up of personnel from the three forces -- that occupies 85 percent of the area of the base. Eva Golinger reveals its role in an article published on Rebelión web site on July 2, 2009, entitled “The US military base in Honduras at the centre of the coup”. She explains that “the Constitution of Honduras does not legally allow for foreign military presence in the country. A ‘handshake-like’ agreement between Washington and Honduras authorizes the important and strategic presence of hundreds of US soldiers on the base, under a ‘semi-permanent’ deal. The agreement was reached in 1954 as part of the military aid the United States was offering Honduras…the third poorest country in the hemisphere.” She adds that “…the agreement that allows the military presence of the United States in the Central American country can be removed with no notice given”.Soto Cano is also home of the Aviation Academy of Honduras. The components of the US military task force are partly made up of Honduran soldiers.What is the objective of the military base, the planes, the helicopters and the US task force in Honduras? Without any doubt they are only adequate for use in Central America. The war on drug trafficking does not require those weapons.If President Zelaya is not returned to his position, a wave of coups threatens to sweep away many Latin American governments, or these will be at the mercy of the ultra right-wing military, educated in the security doctrine of the School of the Americas, an expert in torture, psychological warfare and terror. The authority of many civilian governments in Central and South America will become weakened. Those dark days are not very far back in time. The military perpetrators of the coup would not even pay any attention to the civilian administration of the United States. It can be very negative for a president who wants to improve that country’s image, like Barack Obama does. The Pentagon formally obeys the civilian power. The legions have not yet taken over control of the empire as they did in Rome. It would not be understandable for Zelaya to now admit to stalling manoeuvres that would wear out the considerable social forces that support him and only lead to an irreparable attrition.The illegally overthrown president does not seek power, but he defends a principle, and as Marti said: “One just principle from the depths of a cave can be mightier than an army.”
-Fidel Castro Ruz - July 10, 2009

Otto Reich and the International Republican Institute Honduran Destablization, Inc.
By NIKOLAS KOZLOFF
When it comes to U.S. machinations and interventionism in Latin America, I'm not naïve: over the past five years, I've written two books about the inner workings of American foreign policy south of the border, as well as dozens and dozens of articles posted on the Internet and on my blog. As a result, when the Obama Administration claimed that it knew that a political firestorm was brewing in Honduras but was surprised when a military coup actually took place this strains my credibility. Nevertheless, in the absence of cold, hard facts, I reserve judgment on whether Obama has turned into an imperialist intent on waving the Big Stick in Central America. Furthermore, the fact that Hugo Chávez of Venezuela says North American imperialism was behind the coup in Tegucigalpa does not make it so. In typical fashion, Chávez has failed to produce any shred of evidence to support his provocative allegations.International Republican InstituteThere are, however, a number of intriguing leads that point to U.S. involvement --- not in a coup per se but in indirect destabilization. Eva Golinger, author of the Chávez Code, has just published an interesting piece on her blog about the ties between the International Republican Institute (IRI) and conservative groups in Honduran society. Golinger has followed up on my extensive writings documenting the activities of the IRI, a group chaired by Senator John McCain (R-AZ). Though McCain seldom talks about it, he has gotten much of his foreign policy experience working with the operation that is funded by the U.S. government and private money. The group, which receives tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each year, claims to promote democracy worldwide. Golinger reveals that IRI has thrown hundreds of thousands of dollars to think tanks in Honduras that seek to influence political parties. What's more, she discloses that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided tens of millions of dollars towards "democracy promotion" in Honduras. I was particularly interested to learn that one recipient of the aid included the Honduran National Business Council, known by its Spanish acronym COHEP, a long time adversary of the Zelaya regime. Otto Reich Another interesting lead comes via Bill Weinberg, a thorough and dogged journalist, founder of the Web site World War 4 Report and the host of WBAI Radio's thoughtful program Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade in New York. On Sunday, Weinberg posted an intriguing article on his Web site entitled "Otto Reich behind Honduras coup?" In the piece, Weinberg discloses that the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization, known by its Spanish acronym OFRANEH, has claimed that former U.S. diplomat Otto Reich and the Washington, D.C. based Arcadia Foundation were involved in the coup.In my first book, I documented Otto Reich's Latin American exploits in some detail. A Cuban native, Reich left the island in 1960. In 1973, while studying at Georgetown, he met someone named Frank Calzon. According to Honduras' La Prensa, Calzon was an "expert in CIA disinformation" who recruited Reich. Later, when Reich served as U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela under Ronald Reagan, he established contact with Gustavo Cisneros, a media magnate, billionaire and prominent future figure in the Chávez opposition.After his stint as ambassador, Reich went on to be a corporate lobbyist for Bacardi and Lockheed Martin, a company that sought to provide F-16 fighter planes to Chile. In 2002, he became assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs under Bush through a recess appointment. Although Reich has denied there was any U.S. role in the brief coup d'etat against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in April 2002, the veteran diplomat reportedly met regularly at the White House with alleged coup plotter Pedro Carmona. At the height of the coup in Venezuela, Reich called his old friend Cisneros twice. According to the media magnate, Reich called "as a friend" because Chávez partisans were protesting at Caracas media outlets.Reich has also served on the board of visitors of WHINSEC, formerly known as the School of the Americas, a U.S. army institution that instructed the Latin American military in torture techniques. As a member of the board, Reich's job was to review and advise "on areas such as curriculum, academic instruction, and fiscal affairs of the institute." After leaving the Bush Administration in 2004, Reich went on to found Otto Reich Associates in Washington, D.C. On the group's Web site, you can see a photo of Reich and John McCain shaking hands. A caption from McCain reads, "Ambassador Reich has served America with distinction by representing our fundamental values of freedom and democracy around the world, and I am grateful for his support."Reich's outfit provides services in "International Government Relations/Anti-Corruption," and "Business Intelligence/Policy Forecasting." Specifically, the group seeks to "design and implement political and business diplomacy strategies for U.S. and multinational companies to compete on an even playing field in countries with complex ethical and legal challenges," as well as "advise major and mid-size U.S. corporations on government relations to support trade and investment goals in South and Central American countries and the Caribbean," in addition to identifying and securing foreign investment and "privatization opportunities" in Latin America.Otto Reich and The Searing Case of Hondutel In campaign '08, Reich served as a foreign policy adviser to Republican John McCain. In an interview with Honduras' La Prensa, Reich blasted Honduran President Zelaya for cultivating ties with Hugo Chávez. Reich had particular scorn for the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, known by its Spanish acronym ALBA, an anti-free trade pact including Venezuela, Honduras, Cuba, and Bolivia. "Honduras," Reich remarked, "should be very careful because the petroleum and Chávez problem is very similar to those who sell drugs. At first they give out drugs so that victims become addicts and then they have to buy that drug at the price which the seller demands."Reich went on to say that he was very "disappointed" in Zelaya because the Honduran President was "enormously corrupted from a financial and moral standpoint." In another interview with the Honduran media, Reich went further, remarking brazenly that "if president Zelaya wants to be an ally of our enemies, let him think about what might be the consequences of his actions and words."When discussing Zelaya's corrupt transgressions, Reich is wont to cite the case of Honduras' state-owned telecommunications company Hondutel. In an explosive piece, the Miami newspaper El Nuevo Herald reported that a company called Latin Node bribed three Hondutel officials to get choice contracts and reduced rates. Zelaya, Reich remarked to El Nuevo Herald, "has permitted or encouraged these types of practices and we will see soon that he is also behind this."Reich would not provide details but reminded readers that Zelaya's nephew, Marcelo Chimirri, was a high official at Hondutel and had been accused of a series of illicit practices relating to Hondutel contracts. "After an outcry in Honduras," writes Bill Weinberg of World War Four Report, "Reich said he was prepared to make a sworn statement on the affair before Honduran law enforcement -- but said he would not travel to Honduras to do so, because his personal security would be at risk there." Reich's pronouncements to the Miami paper infuriated Zelaya who went on national radio and TV to announce that he would sue Reich for defamation. "We will proceed with legal action for calumny against this man, Otto Reich, who has been waging a two year campaign against Honduras," the president announced.Turning up the heat on Chimirri, the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa denied the Hondutel official an entry visa into the United States, citing "serious cases of corruption." Zelaya may have taken the U.S. ban on his nephew to heart. Zelaya complained to Washington as recently as last December about the visa issue, urging U.S. officials to "revise the procedure by which visas are cancelled or denied to citizens of different parts of the world as a means of pressure against those people who hold different beliefs or ideologies which pose no threat to the U.S."Bush-appointed U.S. Ambassador Charles Ford was also turning the screws on Zelaya. Speaking with the Honduran newspaper La Tribuna, Ford said that the U.S. government was investigating American telecom carriers for allegedly paying bribes to Honduran officials to engage in so-called "gray traffic" or illicit bypassing of legal telecommunications channels. The best way to combat gray traffic, Ford said, was through greater competition that in turn would drive down long distance calling rates.Perhaps the U.S. government was using the corruption charges as ammunition against Hondutel, a state company that Reich probably would have preferred to see privatized. The Honduran elite had long wanted to break up the company. In the late 1990s, none other than Roberto Micheletti, the current coup president of Honduras, was Hondutel's CEO. At the time, Micheletti favored privatizing the firm. Micheletti later went on to become President of Honduras' National Congress. In that capacity, he was at odds with the Zelaya regime that opposed so-called "telecom reform" that could open the door to outright privatization.The Mysterious Case of Arcadia and Robert-Carmona Borjas Building up the case against Hondutel and Chimirri was none other than the Arcadia Foundation, a non-profit and anti-corruption watchdog that promotes "good governance and democratic institutions." For an organization that purportedly stands for transparency, the group doesn't provide much information about itself on its Web site. The two founders include Betty Bigombe, a Ugandan peace mediator and World Bank researcher, and Robert-Carmona Borjas, a Venezuelan expert in military affairs, national security, corruption, and governance. The Web site does not list any other staff members at its D.C. branch. Outside of the U.S., the organization has outlets in Spain, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Chile, Argentina, and Guatemala.In his columns published in the conservative Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, Borjas has gone on the attack against Chávez. In recent months, he had expressed skepticism about Obama's foreign policy openness, particularly if it meant dealing with "totalitarian" figures such as the Venezuelan President. According to his bio, Borjas left Venezuela after the 2002 coup against Chávez and sought political asylum in the U.S.Interested in knowing where Arcadia's funding comes from? You won't get any pointers from the Web site. Click on "In The Media" however and you get an endless list of Borjas' articles and links to news pieces related to Hondutel (and I mean endless: I saw about 70 articles before I got tired and stopped counting). There's no other published research on Arcadia's site, leading one to wonder whether the organization's sole purpose is to pursue the Hondutel case. There's no evidence that Borjas knows Reich, though given their common interest (or should I say obsession) in the Hondutel affair it seems at least possible that the two might have crossed paths.In recent months, Borjas had driven his anti-Zelaya campaign into overdrive. As Weinberg has written, "The Honduran newspapers El Heraldo (Tegucigalpa) and La Prensa (San Pedro Sula) noted June 11 that Carmona-Borjas had brought legal charges against Zelaya and other figures in his administration for defying a court ruling that barred preparations for the constitutional referendum scheduled for the day Zelaya would be ousted. A YouTube video dated July 3 shows footage from Honduras' Channel 8 TV of Carmona-Borjas addressing an anti-Zelaya rally in Tegucigalpa's Plaza la Democracia to enthusiastic applause. In his comments, he accuses Zelaya of collaboration with narco-traffickers."So, there you have it: the International Republican Institute, an enigmatic Washington, D.C.-based organization intent on driving back Hugo Chávez, an inflammatory former policymaker with business connections and a high profile effort to discredit Zelaya and the Honduran state telecommunications company. What does it all amount to? There's no smoking gun here proving U.S. involvement in the coup. Taken together however, these stories suggest destabilization efforts by certain elements in the United States --- not the Obama administration but the far right which was more allied to Bush and McCain. Perhaps if the mainstream media can drag itself away from the likes of Michael Jackson and Sarah Palin, we can get a more thorough picture of the political tensions between Washington and the Zelaya regime.
Nikolas Kozloff is the author of Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008)


Ambos nombrados, por supuesto, por la voluntad de George W. Bush.
EL EMBAJADOR LLORENS, DISCÍPULO DESTACADO DEL MAESTRO MAISTO, CÓMPLICE DE LA MUERTE DEL CHE
En un amplio análisis del personaje, titulado “El Maestro Maisto y la muerte de Che”,
En sus andanzas en el laberinto de la diplomacia latinoamericana del Departamento de Estado, el actual embajador de Estados Unidos en Honduras disfrutó las enseñanzas de John Maisto, el máximo experto yanqui en materia de golpes de estado que reconoció su participación en el asesinato del Che Guevara.Llorens y Maisto colaboraron en varias circunstancias, la más notable siendo en el momento del golpe de estado contra el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez, en el 2002.El primero se encuentra entonces de Director de Asuntos andinos en el Consejo Nacional de Seguridad, encargado precisamente de Venezuela, y el segundo de Asistente Especial y Director Superior de Asuntos del Hemisferio Occidental para la Consejera de Seguridad Nacional, Condoleezza Rice.Ambos nombrados, por supuesto, por la voluntad de George W. Bush.En un amplio análisis del personaje, titulado “El Maestro Maisto y la muerte de Che”, publicado por el sitio web Rebelión, el investigador Juan Bolipaine cuenta detalladamente cómo, años atrás, el “Maestro” reconoció su participación en el asesinato (de Ernesto Che Guevara) durante una reunión “realizada en una sala de las oficinas de una ONG patrocinada por el gobierno de EE.UU, ubicadas en la calle 15 de Washington, DC, un par de pisos más abajo que la Fundación Nacional por la Democracia [NED], frente al periódico pro-gubernamental The Washington Post y a unas tres manzanas de la Casa Blanca”.Según Bolipaine, Maisto confesó su crimen ante un grupo compuesto de “gente del Departamento de Estado, USAID, y la OEA, pero la mayoría pertenecía a ONG financiadas por el gobierno de EE.UU., como Transparencia Internacional, y DAI, el contratista de USAID en Venezuela”.Maisto tenía mucho que contar. En estos días de 1967, era nada menos que el “‘encargado adjunto de asuntos culturales’ en la Agencia de Información de EE.UU. (conocida en aquel entonces como “U-CIA”) en Cochabamba, Bolivia “que manejaba las comunicaciones con el cuartel general CIA de Langley”.
¿UNA NUEVA CONSTITUCIÓN? NO, REPETÍA LLORENS En el contexto de la presente crisis hondureña, hace falta señalar que tres semanas antes del golpe militar, el embajador estadounidense Hugo Llorens ya se encontraba metido de lleno en el debate político interno de Honduras.En un artículo titulado “Uno no puede violar la Constitución: Llorens”, publicado el 4 de junio último por el diario La Prensa de Tegucigalpa, se reporta como el diplomático afirma que no se puede “violar la Constitución” para “crear otra Carta Magna” porque “eso sería como vivir en la ley de la jungla”.Cuenta el rotativo de extrema derecha, que el diplomático habló entonces, en conferencia de prensa, “sobre democracia”,“Lo único que yo diría sobre ese asunto, es que es un tema hondureño, es un tema delicado de comentar como un diplomático extranjero” empezó Llorens.“¿Honduras necesita una nueva Constitución?” repitió, “Uno no puede violar la Constitución para crear una Constitución, porque si uno no tiene Constitución vive la ley de la jungla”.“Entonces, que se haga dentro de la ley, dentro de la Constitución las reformas que piensen que se hagan dentro de la ley. Ésa es la posición de Estados Unidos y es muy clara”.Siguió el representante del Departamento de Estado con la actual “solución” norteamericana de la negociación entre la oligarquía y el pueblo, orientando: “un diálogo maduro, constructivo, sereno”.Pasaron unas semanas y un golpe militar: la misma propuesta de “dialogo” viene ahora directamente de la Casa Blanca.
UN PROYECTO “QUE TIENE A SUS CUADROS ESPECIALIZADOS”
El “maestro” de Llorens, John F. Maisto, nació en 1938 en Braddock, Pennsylvania, EE.UU. Obtuvo en 1961 una licenciatura en ciencias en la Escuela de Servicio Exterior de la Universidad de Georgetown, cantera del servicio exterior donde también estudia Llorens.Como John Maisto, el embajador Llorens pasó la mayor parte de su carrera en América Latina, con la excepción de una estancia en Filipinas.En las notas biográficas que publica de su representante, el Departamento de Estado omite - de manera inusual - ‘precisar su lugar y fecha de nacimiento, así como la fecha exacta de la mayoría de sus misiones.Su estancia prolongada en Filipinas, llama la atención. Se encontraba ahí, oficialmente, de simple funcionario consular. Sin embargo, se señala que además del inglés, del español y de “un poco de francés”, se expresa en tagalo, el idioma filipino.El doctor José Luis Méndez Méndez, especialista del tema y autor de varios libros sobre las actividades norteamericanas de injerencia y de subversión, precisa acerca de Maisto: “Estuvo también en Filipinas, cuando el derrocamiento de Ferdinando Marcos, en 1986. Ahí, fue el creador de NAMFREL (National Movement for Free Election)”.“Maisto Estuvo en Panamá, cuando fue derrocado Noriega . Creó la Cruzada Civilista Nacional, sus acciones eran disturbios provocadores, quemar gomas, dispersar la basura, no pagar los servicios públicos, vestirse de blanco (eso le recuerda algo?), cacerolazos, pañuelitos blancos, manifestarse al mediodía pacíficamente y otras acciones, se basó en su experiencia en Filipinas, incluso viajaron de Panamá a tomar experiencia en Manila”.“Él prepara los eventos pero no les disfruta en el terreno. Dejó de Embajador a Arthur Davis, que fue remplazado por Deane R. Hinton, que a su vez había sido expulsado por Mobutu de Zaire…”“Estuvo en Nicaragua y Venezuela, fue embajador ante la OEA…”Después de una pausa, concluye el investigador: “Estamos hablando de un programa, un proyecto golpista que tiene a sus cuadros especializados…”