A strange lull in Honduras - well, not exactly.  The new political campaigns have kicked-off this week and a second resistance front has taken on legs: reject the November elections as fraudulent, given that the illegal coup government is orchestrating them.

Meanwhile, Secretary Clinton has everyone sitting on pins and needles with regard to her formalizing the classification of "military coup" - thus setting into motion an array of automatic sanctions against the coup group in Honduras.  He decision was expected by now, but perhaps her scheduled meeting with President Zelaya tomorrow will be the final act before she decides.  Who knows at this point?  It's a guessing game.

Elvia Valle, Liberal Party (same as Zelaya's)

Adding to the chorus of voices urging Clinton to get tough with the sanctions is Honduran Congresswoman Elvia Valle's August 30 letter published in the Seattle Times. We haven't heard much from the congress members in Honduras, so this one is interesting.  For one thing, it addresses the claim that a near unanimous vote by congress deposed the President:

Moreover, on top of being unconstitutional, the vote to approve the destitution of Zelaya was not transparent. I am a member of our Congress' Executive Committee, yet I was not summoned to participate in the vote to approve the president's removal, nor were another 20 fellow Liberal Party members of Congress. The regime then tried to fool the world by claiming there was a unanimous congressional decision supporting the coup, even though some 27 congress members publicly voiced their opposition.

Remember, this vote was not a roll call vote, it was a show of hands.  That portion of congress that was invited to the special session was asked to vote on overthrowing the constitutional order of the State with a show of hand!  Define cavalier.  Valle continues:

The U.S. should also join the Union of South American Nations and Mexico in refusing to recognize the outcome of November's elections. Since the electoral process would be held under a de facto regime that has suppressed all constitutional liberties, civil guarantees and the freedom of expression, conditions for free and fair elections will be impossible, and some politicians who have publicly denounced the coup now face reprisals and retaliation for their ties to President Zelaya.

So there's the second front.  The first of course is returning Zelaya to the presidency.



Silvia Ayala Democratic Unification Party

Narconews recently published a terrific story by Belen Fernandez which contrasts Honduran Congresswoman Silvia Ayala to an American Expat blogger in Honduras, La Gringa's Blogicito. La Gringa has appointed herself to defend the coup, and she has targeted Ayala in the process.  But I don't want to get sidetracked. Fernandez shows us how disinformation works in the Honduran Expat community.  An interesting article.

And La Gringa lives in La Cieba, which is smack in the middle of Garifunaland - that portion of the Honduran Caribbean coast settled by escaped West African slaves who brought with them their African culture and language.  In fact, one of the first social development projects killed off by the coup was the development of the Garifuna dictionary.  Now, especially with the commercial interests associated with the expat retirement communities, the Garifuna land base is threatened with development.  it is a very sad story.