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Honduran coup leader a two-time SOA graduate
Jun. 29, 2009
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Gen. Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez
Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionThe general who overthrew the democratically elected president of Honduras is a two-time graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas, an institution that has trained hundreds of coup leaders and human rights abusers in Latin America.
Gen. Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez toppled President Manuel Zelaya in a pre-dawn coup on Sunday, surrounding the presidential palace with more than 200 soldiers and tanks and tear-gassing a crowd outside. The president was abducted and taken to an Air Force base before being flown to Costa Rica.
The overthrow followed a showdown over a controversial term-limit referendum that was to have taken place the day of the coup.
The military moved quickly against media outlets in an attempt to stem the flow of news about the ouster and the protests that followed.
Jesuit Fr. Joe Mulligan provided NCR with a copy of an email he received about the media crackdown from fellow Jesuit, Fr. Ismael Moreno, director of Radio Progreso, the order’s radio station in Honduras.
The station was transmitting news about the coup Sunday morning when about 25 military troops stormed the building and ordered them to cancel their programming, the email said. While the soldiers were inside the station, a large group of people gathered outside to support the station’s personnel. The standoff was apparently resolved without violence, but the station had not resumed operations by Monday night. Meanwhile, protests were growing in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, and strikes were being planned by Zelaya supporters.
The events came as no shock to Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of SOA Watch, which has sought for years to shut down the Army school, which was closed in 2000 and re-opened as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. “We’re not surprised. Vásquez is one of the key players, an SOA grad” who’s keeping alive the school’s nickname, “School of Coups.”
Ousted President Manuel Zelaya with former President Bush in White House in 2006
The overthrow is re-fueling the latest effort by US peace activists to shut the school once and for all. Eric LeCompte, the national organizer for SOA Watch, said there are two pieces of legislation that are gaining support.
One is Rep. Jim McGovern’s House Bill 2567, which calls for suspending operations at the SOA/WHINSEC and investigating the torture manuals and human rights abuses associated with the school.
The second is an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2010, which would force the release of the names of the school’s graduates, including their rank, country of origin and the courses they’ve taken.
While the Defense Department promised transparency when it re-opened SOA as WHINSEC, LeCompte said it has refused to release the names of the instructors and the graduates since 2005 — after it was revealed that the school was enrolling well-known human rights abusers. One — Salvadoran Col. Francisco del Cid Diaz, a 2003 graduate — was cited by the 1993 U.N. Truth Commission for commanding a unit that dragged people from their homes and shot them at point-blank range.
Last week the House approved the amendment, but the measure still has to survive a House and Senate conference committee later this summer.
In overthrowing the government Sunday, Vásquez Velásquez joins two other Honduran SOA graduates who deposed heads of state, Gen. Juan Melgar Castro and Gen. Policarpo Paz Garcia.
Melgar Castro ruled the country from 1975 to 1978, the years when two of his SOA underlings — Maj. Jose Enrique Chinchilla and Lt. Benjamin Plata — conducted an operation that tortured and executed two priests, Michael Cypher and Ivan Betancur. The priests’ bodies were thrown in a well along with two women and five peasants who were baked alive in bread ovens. The massacre took place on the Los Horcones hacienda, which was owned by the father of Manuel Zelaya, the Honduran president ousted Sunday.
Melgar was overthrown in 1978 by fellow SOA graduate, Paz Garcia, whom the U.S. Army installed into SOA’s “Hall of Fame” ten years later. Paz Garcia’s tenure was also marked by brutal military repression and the formation of Battalion 3-16, a military death squad that worked closely with the CIA in targeting suspected leftists in the ’80s. Paz Garcia’s military commander was another SOA grad, Gen. Gustavo Alvarez Martinez, who ran 3-16 and ordered the execution of Fr. James Carney, a U.S. missionary to Honduras.
The three Honduran generals fit into the larger picture of coup leaders trained by the U.S. Army school, which used to boast about how many of the school’s graduates had become heads of their countries.
The boasting, which stopped after the graduates’ undemocratic paths to power became better known, celebrated such figures as:
- Argentine Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, who seized power in a bloody coup, bringing down another SOA grad, Gen. Roberto Viola, who came to power during Argentina’s Dirty War.
- Guatemalan dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt, who seized power in a coup in 1982 and conducted a scorched earth campaign against the Mayan Indians.
- Panamanian dictators Gen. Omar Torrijos, who overthrew a civilian government in a 1968 coup, and Gen. Manuel Noriega, a five-time SOA graduate, who ruled the country and dealt in drugs while on the CIA payroll.
- Ecuadoran dictator Gen. Guillermo Rodriguez, who overthrew the elected civilian government in 1972.
- Bolivian dictators Gen. Hugo Banzer Suarez, who seized power in a violent coup in 1971, and Gen. Guido Vildoso Calderon, who grabbed power in 1982.
- Peruvian strongman Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado, who in 1968 toppled the elected civilian government.
In ousting the Honduran president Sunday, Vásquez Velásquez had the help of other SOA graduates, including Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo, the head of the Honduran Air Force.
Another two-time SOA grad, retired Gen. Daniel López Carballo, told CNN that the coup was justified because Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez would be running Honduras by proxy if the military had not acted.
Records show that Vásquez Velásquez took a basic combat arms course at SOA in 1976 and another course on small military units in 1984, while Prince Suazo took a 1996 course on joint operations.
President Zelaya — whom the Honduran Congress replaced Sunday with Roberto Micheletti — was a businessman who had leaned to the right when he was elected in 2006. Zelaya surprised many when he started to loosen the strong ties Honduras has had with the United States, which has controlled the country to such a degree that it was once called the U.S.S. Honduras.
Zelaya enjoyed wide support among the poor and union leaders, but increasingly drew the wrath of the powers that be and clashed with foreign oil companies and the U.S. Embassy when he sought to reduce the price of oil for Hondurans.
Restricted by law to a 4-year term, he attempted to have a referendum that would ask voters to change the constitution and permit a second presidential term. Zelaya said a single term makes it impossible to address long-standing poverty issues in a country where half of the residents live on less than one dollar a day and have little voice in how the government operates.
The controversy heated up when Zelaya dismissed a Supreme Court ruling that held that the referendum was illegal. “The court,” he said, “offers justice for the rich, the powerful and the bankers, but only causes problems for democracy.”
Zelaya had also replaced Vásquez Velásquez as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces after he refused to give logistical support for the referendum.
The coup has brought wide-spread condemnation by world leaders, and the Organization of American States called for Zelaya's reinstatement.
U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann “categorically” condemned what he called “the criminal action by the army” and asked the U.N. to find a way to restore the president to power.
D'Escoto also called for President Obama to condemn the coup, noting that Obama announced a new policy toward Latin America at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad last month. But he added, "Many are now asking if this coup is part of this new policy as it is well known that the army in Honduras has a history of total collaboration with the United States."
The U.S. has sent mixed signals about the coup. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the US was not insisting that Zelaya be restored to office. But later, Obama stiffened his stand, calling for his return to power. Still, he stopped short of calling for sanctions or threatening a cut off of U.S. aid to the country.
Linda Cooper and James Hodge are the authors of Disturbing the Peace: The Story of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of the Americas.
The Obama administration has
The Obama administration has made some very disturbing decisions in foreign policy, such as the decision not the release torture photos and the decision not to investigate and prosecute members of the Bush administration for illegalities such as torture and the wiretapping of US citizens on US soil. Most recently, the administration has been toying with the idea of continuing "indefinite detention".
The manner in which the Obama administration deals with the Honduran military overthrow of a constitutionally elected president will determine, in my eyes, whether this administration really represents "change you can believe in" or whether it represents lipstick on the pig of American imperialism.
Yes - the Obama
Yes - the Obama Administration has made some VERY disturbing decisions. The constitutional lawyer occupying the White House has even continued GW's use of signing statements. Executive signing statements are not only unconstitutional - they are essentially undemocratic; I'm certain that most U.S. voters had no intention of electing an autocrat. Maybe American voters should have paid more attention to Obama's senate votes for the (non)Patriot Act.
More and more American citizens must wear blinders to ignore the essential imperialism of the U.S.
Obama Carries Bush Torch (video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDRVwuQWFQw
Here's a classic example of
Here's a classic example of the devil you know vs the devil you know or don't know. Reportedly the ousted President is in line with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and President Evo Morales of Bolivia, both extremely leftist and leaning heavily towards a permanent dictatorship and now this Honduran President is booted out by a well known criminal trained by the SOA. I ws glad to hear Hilary Clinton state that the U.S. is not insisting that this Pres. be restored to power. One more piece of evidence that the Mafia cleans its own house and installs another Mafioso.
anonymous Entitled to your
anonymous
Entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts. There is no evidence of Chavez or Morales seeking a "permanent dictatorship" In both cases the presidents were elected with highter precentage of votes that we get in this country. Chavez's referendum was a democratic tool. Celaya's request for a referendum is also democrat1c. You are more likely to see a dictatorship when the military takes over the government. By not insisting that Celaya be returned, "you are backing the potential dictator".
Chavez`s referendum was
Chavez`s referendum was passed democratically. The first time it was rejected. The second time he ran a huge campaign in favor of the referendum. The opposition couldn´t compete. Chavez has helped his country y nationalizing industries such as oil, but has restricted the press as well as any opposition parties.
According to the Adelante Foundation, a non-profit that works with micrfinancing in Honduras, the military was responsible for kicking Zelaya out of the country, but the President of Congress, Roberto Micheletti was appointed as interim president until the next election is held in November. This is the rule according to the succession of power outlined in the Constitution.
Below is the newsletter I received from the Adelante Foundation, a source I believe to be reliable.
What's Going On? An Insider's Account of the Recent Events in Honduras
by Sophia Anderson
Honduran President, Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, known as "Mel" to most Hondurans, was ousted from power this past Sunday, June 28. In the early hours of the morning, he was woken up by military officers, forcibly taken from his home in pajamas, and placed on a plane headed for San Jose, Costa Rica, where he was placed in exile.
Later that morning, the Honduran Congress held an emergency session in which they read and approved a letter of resignation written by Zelaya (although he categorically denies having written it). In the afternoon, according to the succession of power outlined in the Constitution, the President of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, was appointed as interim president until the next election is held in November.
In order to fully understand what is being presented by much of the international press as a gross violation of democracy, one must examine the events leading up to Sunday. Honduras' Constitution currently states a presidential limit of one term. Zelaya has been trying for months to gain support of a referendum vote to modify the Constitution. The desired outcome of this modification includes a re-election and potential indefinite presidential stay in power - similar to dictators such as Hugo Chavez, Zelaya's close political ally, and Fidel Castro.
Furthermore, Zelaya has been widely criticized for his blatant abuse of power and obsession with winning the upcoming referendum vote at the expense of his other responsibilities. Without an approved federal budget in place, Zelaya has been spending government funds at will. Most notably, government workers who had not received a salary in several months due to supposed lack of funds were paid 300-500 Lempiras ($15-25) in exchange for marching in a pro-referendum demonstration. Meanwhile, hundreds of Hondurans severely affected by the May 28 earthquake and thousands more in subsequent danger of flooding from destroyed levees of Ulúa River were completely ignored.
In the weeks before the referendum vote, it became clear that Zelaya did not have legal grounds to hold an election. Although the Constitution can be modified, the Supreme Court declared Zelaya's referendum illegal because the President does not have authority to propose such modifications and, even if he did, it must be approved by Congress. In addition, the Attorney General supported the Supreme Court's decision and declared that he would prosecute anyone involved in carrying out the illegal vote.
Just a few days before the referendum vote, the Head of the Armed Forces, Romeo Vasquez, declared that he would not participate in the logistics of making an illegal election take place (a role traditionally carried out by the military). Zelaya responded by firing him and refused to reinstate Vasquez on the Supreme Court's order. Shortly thereafter, the Defense Minister and Heads of the Navy and Air Force also resigned.
On Friday, June 26, in a desperate attempt to carry out his illegal referendum vote despite widespread opposition, Zelaya led a crowd of supporters to a military compound near the airport in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. They successfully took possession of the country's ballot boxes and distributed them, along with thousands of illegal ballots that had been sent from Venezuela by Hugo Chavez, throughout Honduras for Sunday's illegal vote.
The international community, including the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union, has been quick to condemn what they are calling a military coup, while the new administration insists it was not a coup because Zelaya was clearly warned beforehand about the potential consequences if he carried out his illegal referendum vote. Furthermore, the military is not ruling the country. Rather, an interim president has been appointed to govern until the next election in November. The OAS has called for Zelaya to be returned to the Presidency and will hold a meeting in Washington D.C. to discuss the crisis.
The United States, while condemning Sunday's actions as illegal, has stopped short of officially declaring a coup, which would require the U.S. to cut off millions of dollars of aid to Honduras, where over half the population lives in extreme poverty. The U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, indicated U.S. reluctance to returning Zelaya to the Presidency when she said, "We haven't laid out any demands that we're insisting on, because we're working with others on behalf of our ultimate objectives."[1] President of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington D.C., Peter Hakim, summarized the international community's predicament by saying that Zelaya had been "fighting with all institutions in the country" and that "he's in no condition to really govern. At the same time to stand by and allow him to be pushed out by the military reverses a course of 20 years."1
In Honduras, there is a sense of tense anticipation over what is to come. Monday, while Micheletti was naming his new cabinet, an estimated 1,500 pro-Zelaya demonstrators were sprayed with tear gas by soldiers attempting to control the protests outside the Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa.[2] A nationwide 48-hour curfew was imposed from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting Sunday evening and is likely to be extended. Meanwhile citizens throughout the country have been lining up at grocery stores and gas stations to stock up on fuel and supplies as they wait to see what will happen next. As these events unfold, Adelante will continue to support our clients and work to improve the standard of living of the extreme poor.
[1] Sheridan, Mary Beth. U.S. Condemns Honduran Coup: Still, Administration Steps Lightly. The Washington Post. 6/30/09.
[2] Rosenberg, Mica. Honduras Isolated over Zelaya Ouster. Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE55R24E20090629. 6/29/09.
Chavez and Morales have more
Chavez and Morales have more popular support from their citizens than any of our recent presidents - one might assume they are doing something right. Even IF Chavez and Morales don't suit some people in the U.S. - why is it any American's right to impose their choice upon South America's countries? Too many Americans in IMHO equate right wing laissez faire capitalism with a democracy. Aren't European socialist countries democratic? Contrary to the opinion of some North Americans, our unregulated capitalist system did not come down from the hand of god with the 10 commandments.
Don't expect many comments
Don't expect many comments here. Unfortunately, US Catholics are so incredibly parochial that they couldn't care less about world issues -they are only obsessed about their collective little womb OR about perfidious Vatican intrigues vs. the wimmin...
the article seems to only
the article seems to only focus on the SOA, not mentioning or considering that it was the President who was trying to change the constitution to remain in power- extend term limits.The SOA is NOT something that the USA should be proud of, and it should be closed, but to so quickly identify the SOA and NOT ANY OTHER ISSUES is not good journalism.
What do you expect from a
What do you expect from a leftist publication such as NCR. They are socialist/communist fellow travelers, how many times has the NCR published an article on how the communist murdered its citizens en masse. Not many!!!!
The myth that "the President
The myth that "the President ... was trying to change the constitution to remain in power- extend term limits" has been repeated over and over throughout the mainstream media.
The truth is that the non-binding survey that was supposed to have been voted on last Sunday asked only if voters would like to have a question of whether or not to call a constitutional assembly to rewrite the Honduran constitution be voted on during the November election. In that same November election President Zelaya’s successor will be elected. How then could it be about his own re-election, something that he has stated before the UN and other international bodies that he has no intention of seeking?
What courses do these coup
What courses do these coup makers take at Ft. Benning? Can anyone please verify the curriculum? Thank you.
This development in Honduras
This development in Honduras is very alarming. Has Vasquez Velasquez
indicated that he will set himself up as a dictator or will he call for a
new democratic election to replace now ousted President Zelaya?
Washington's response to this latest military coup in Latin America, shortly
after the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad is likewise suspicious.
The fact that the United States continues to train and harbor Latin American
military brass in the arts of overthrowing well-established democratically
elected governments is blatantly unexceptable, especially under an Obama-
Biden Administration which prides itself in helping to spread democracy
in the Western Hemisphere by peaceful and legal means.
Whoa!! The Western
Whoa!! The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation is involved? Gambling? In Rick's?
I think Honduras is another place that "is too close to the United States, and so far from Godde."
He is a two-time SOA
He is a two-time SOA graduate? Did he flunk it the first time or did he graduate to a higher level cruelty and disregard for human dignity and human rights?
According to the article he
According to the article he only took two classes there.
"Records show that Vásquez
"Records show that Vásquez Velásquez took a basic combat arms course at SOA in 1976 and another course on small military units in 1984, while Prince Suazo took a 1996 course on joint operations."
Seems like standard military training and strategy to me. Meanwhile the fact that this is an internal consitutional crisis (ie ordered by the Supreme Court, with the approval of the Parliament, and carried out by the military) is completely ignored by world governments, eager to undermine the functioning of a representative republic.
Chris
My prayers go for the
My prayers go for the Honduran people, the electorate, the ordinary ones, the poor - all of whose lives are once again totally upset.
A question for someone above? Since when, in a democratic republic, is it illegal or sinister, to work through the legislature to change the constitutional limit of governing for a one-time four-year term? Dismissals are not necessarily undemocratic but a coup definitely is. No wonder there are protests in the streets! They, at least, were not pre-planned nor orchestrated in advance - by anyone in or out of the country. They occured because ordinary citizens did not like what happened to their rule of law. I finish as I began. I pray for the Honduran people....
"Since when, in a democratic
"Since when, in a democratic republic, is it illegal or sinister, to work through the legislature to change the constitutional limit of governing for a one-time four-year term? "
Since such a measure is enshrined in the Honduran Constitution in 1982.
Both sides are protesting, and given that the ousted president had a 25% approval rating, I tend to believe the reports that the majority are seeking his continued exile.
Chris
SOA's involvement in human
SOA's involvement in human rights abuses has been known for years...from El Salvador to the current situation in Honduras. This war on Democracy via death squads, disappearances, and media censorship can no longer be tolerated. Wheather for right or left, the will of the people must be respected. The people of Central America and South American have fought for years against this Tryranny including Arch-Bishop Romero and thousands of comman people executed or disappeared over the last few decades. Their sacrifices will eventually bear fruit. May true Democracy be their childrens inheritance.
In ousting the Honduran
In ousting the Honduran president Sunday, Vásquez Velásquez had the help of other SOA graduates, including Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo, the head of the Honduran Air Force.
Records show that Vásquez Velásquez took a basic combat arms course at SOA in 1976 and another course on small unit instruction in 1984, while Prince Suazo took a 1996 course on joint operations.
I am so glad that that Joint Operations course worked out so well.
Coups have been going on in
Coups have been going on in Central America and South America for more than 100 years. Last time I checked, the SOA (by whatever name) is not more than, say, 40 years old. Can every instance of military takeover, coup plotting and the like in the other 60 years be attributed solely to the United States? That does not seem very likely.
What's more interesting is the cultural superiority and subtle racism of the Left in this regard. Its as if they are saying the Honduran people are not smart enough to elect a good leader without outside help, and (also) that the Honduran people are not dumb enough to elect a bad leader or stage a coup without outside help.
Just because somebody went to the SOA doesn't make the SOA responsible for her or his misbehavior.
considering the ousted pres
considering the ousted pres has the vocal support of such wonderful, freedom loving, human-rights respecting choirboys such as hugo chavez and fidel castro, i think there might be a little more to this story than the ncr likes to think.
i will withhold judgement until more facts come to light.
in a hilarious side note: my first attempt at entering the captcha token for this post failed. it seems strangly fitting that after reading the ncr's take on this story that 1 + 1 does NOT equal 2.
Travesty of justice at School
Travesty of justice at School of the Americas:
Googie here's the scoop: On the School of the Americas' foyer walls were photos of Latin American leaders, who are well-known for extensive use of torture, and other massive corruption.
Googie, at a seminar divulging about the School of the Americas, an elderly nun, who was planning to go and protest at the School of the Americas, and who was forming her back-up plan in case of arrest and imprisonment; told us the simple, despicable truth:
The School of the Americas, and these torturing Latin leaders, are known internationally as being totally interconnected with BIG DRUG MONEY. Millions of devout, well-educated people of good will, all over the world, are praying for justice, against this SOA evil.
True democracy cannot be
True democracy cannot be achieved in a nation without respect for law and order. The nations of South America have, for the most part, been nations embroiled in various types of civil and guerilla war for decades. Order must be restored in those nations.
Further, it is in the interest of the United States to insure that the nations of South America are free, democratic, and open to the free markets. Thus, we use various tools to bring about changes necessary to secure our interests. After all, that is always the primary goal of this nation, its own interests and security. That is how it has always been, and how it should be.
People hate the former SOA because it is a tool of American foreign power and policy, because it attempts to prevent nations becoming socialist and communist, because it seeks to teach soldiers from other Western Hemisphere nations to espouse and support the values that have made this nation the greatest in the history of Man.
No one supports coups, but, at the same time, coups sometimes are necessary to protect the nation and its people from unscrupulous individuals who seek to undermine and destroy their rights (Chavez and Castro are two examples). Never forget that Hitler's Nazi Party was democratically elected in Germany, and, as a consequence, Hitler rose to power as Chancellor. If a coup could have stopped that happening, tens of millions of lives could have been saved. Democracy is not the final end, freedom is.
Did you know that many (if
Did you know that many (if not all ) the Latin America dictators were supported by the US military and its deadly foreing policy. Just to name a few: Zomoza, Trujillo, Batista, Pinochet, ,,,. I have not seen that bloody history in the so call democratic US. History can not be changed. Latin America should not be the "backyard" (this word implies lack of respect to sovereing nations) of USA.
Where in all the reporting by
Where in all the reporting by secular and religious press organs is there any mention of Rodriguez Mariadiaga, who is so often touted by NCR and others as a world class churchman? What if any role is he playing in mediating the political crisis or lowering the risk of violence by Catholics against fellow Catholics and others in Honduras? Does anyone know?
What if any role is he
What if any role is he playing in mediating the political crisis or lowering the risk of violence by Catholics against fellow Catholics and others in Honduras? Does anyone know?
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