The Cuban newspaper Periodico 26 [2] July 3 notes claims by the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH) of the "undeniable involvement" of former US under-secretary of state Otto Reich [3] and the DC-based Arcadia Foundation [4] in the coup d'etat in the Central American country. The account says OFRANEH accuses Reich of "heading misinformation and sabotage operations, with close ties to international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and the Cuban-American mafia in Miami." The account also names an anti-Zelaya civil coalition, the Movimiento Paz y Democracia, which was apparently funded by USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
The website Solidarity with the People(s) of Honduras [5] runs the complete text [6] (in Spanish) of the OFRANEH statement. We translate the critical passages:
The mobilizations in support of the de facto government are being organized by, among others, Sra. María Martha Díaz Velázquez, who directs the supposed civic organization known as the Peace and Democracy Movement (MPD), which has for several months been acting as a pressure group against the administration of Manuel Zelaya... The same Sunday the 28th [as the coup], the Peace and Democracy Movement convened a demonstration in Tegucigalpa's Plaza Morazán, accompanied by the Civil Democratic Union, a group made up of the country's ultra-conservative business associations...
The ambiguous position assumed by the government of Barack Obama is clear indication of the participation of the United States in the coup perpetrated last Sunday. The Obama administration has condemned the coup in timid terms, but has taken no concrete actions. The press declarations from the White House call the coup illegal, but avoid declaring the events a coup d'etat, which would mandate an immediate suspension of economic aid from the United States.
According to the Obama administration, it is trying to "reinstate" Zelaya, and he insists on disassociating himself from the impertinent rumors of his country's involvement in the recent events. According to the White House press statements, the United States Embassy made efforts to avoid the coup, serving as a mediator between the golpista army and Manuel Zelaya.
[But it] is undeniable that there exists direct interference on the part of organizations of the extreme right in the United States, such as the Arcadia Foundation, in which meddles Otto Reich, the notorious personality in charge of disinformation and sabotage operations, not far from Posada Carriles and his Cuban terrorists entrusted with dirty tricks by the CIA. Supposedly, one of the primary objectives of the Arcadia Foundation is the struggle against corruption, and under this pretense it has maintained a low-intensity war against the Zelaya administration since 2006.
Then there are the large sums of money received by the Peace and Democracy Movement through US AID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), institutions recognized as financiers of coups and processes of destabilization across the planet...
For OFRANEH, it is clear that the Obama administration could halt the efforts of the intelligence organisms dedicated to destabilization and disinformation, and which seek to create a confrontation between groups allied with the golpistas and the defenders of democracy. It is the United States government that will be directly responsible for any bloodshed.
The Arcadia Foundation website does indeed identify [7] the non-profit as an anti-corruption watchdog, which also promotes "good governance and democratic institutions." Otto Reich's name does not appear in any obvious place on the website. However, one of the two names on the site's Founders [8] page is Robert Carmona-Borjas, identified as "a Venezuelan lawyer and an expert in military affairs, national security, corruption and governance. In Venezuela, concerned with the issue of governability, the defense of human rights, democracy and the fight against corruption, he became an activist, disregarding the risks that such a stance implied. Following the events of April 2002, he was forced to abandon his country and seek political asylum in the United States of America."
The Honduran newspapers El Heraldo [9] (Tegucigalpa) and La Prensa [10] (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 [11] 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.
Reich's name did pop up in the media in relation to Honduras earlier this year, when he publicly accused the Zelaya administration of corruption after the Latin Node digital telephone company (which had since been acquired by eLandia) was fined $2 million by US authorities for allegedly bribing officials in Honduras and Yemen. "President Zelaya has allowed or encouraged this kind of practices [sic] and we will see that he is also behind this," said Reich. (Miami Herald [12], April 9, reprinted VHeadline [13], April 20) After an outcry in Honduras, 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. (HonduDiario [14], April 25)
The US government recently filed criminal perjury charges against Luis Posada Carriles [15], although he remains at large and his trial has been postponed until next year. (AP [16], June 11) Federal prosecutors are moving to suppress documents his lawyers are seeking detailing Posada's "long-term association with US government intelligence and law enforcement agencies." (AP [17], June 12)
See our last post on Honduras [18].
Please leave a tip [19] or answer the Exit Poll [20].
