[HNA] Fwd: US Group That Supported Overthrows of Democratically Elected Governments in Haiti and Venezuela Will Observe Elections in Honduras

[Tito Meza]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Celso Castro <celcas2000 at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 6:32 PM
Subject: US Group That Supported Overthrows of Democratically Elected
Governments in Haiti and Venezuela Will Observe Elections in Honduras
To: HondurasResiste <hndrsresiste at gmail.com>


    *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
November 23, 2009
3:33 PM

*CONTACT: CEPR <http://www.cepr.net/> [1]*
Dan Beeton,    *       *  *  202-239-1460 **      *  202-239-1460
 US Group That Supported Overthrows of Democratically Elected Governments in
Haiti and Venezuela Will Observe Elections in Honduras International
Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute Plan to Observe
Elections Controlled by Honduran Military and Police

WASHINGTON - November 23 - The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the
International Republican Institute (IRI), organizations that receive funding
from the U.S. State Department, are planning on sending delegations to
observe the November 29 elections in Honduras, according to a statement
issued by Republican Senator Richard Lugar. The IRI is a group that has
supported the ouster of democratically elected presidents in Haiti and
Venezuela in recent years. Both groups are apparently planning to *assist
with observation of the
elections*<http://ndi.org/honduras#NonpartisanElectionMonitoring>
[2], despite the fact that the electoral process will be effectively
controlled by thousands of military troops and police officers - the same
forces who have committed innumerable human rights violations, including
killings, rapes, beatings and thousands of detentions, since the June 28
coup d'etat.

"I am surprised to see NDI joining the International Republican Institute in
its efforts to legitimize another coup," Center for Economic and Policy
Research Co-Director *Mark
Weisbrot*<http://www.cepr.net/index.php/mark-weisbrot/>
[3] said. "NDI has generally been less willing to support coups and
anti-democratic regimes than has its Republican counterpart."

Weisbrot noted that NDI steered clear of IRI's involvement in the ouster of
democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004, which
became the subject of controversy following a *major 2006 investigative
report*<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/international/americas/29haiti.htm?_r=1>
[4] in the *New York Times*. When IRI publicly applauded the 2002 coup
d'etat against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in a *press
release*<http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=PRNI2&STORY=/www/story/04-12-2002/0001705053&EDATE>
[5], the NDI remained silent. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) -
the primary funder of both IRI and NDI - expressed its
*disagreement*<http://www.oig.state.gov/documents/organization/13682.pdf>
[6] with IRI for voicing its support for an "unconstitutional" action.

NDI's plans to observe the elections have been surprising because Democratic
leaders in Congress, including Senator John Kerry and Representative Howard
Berman, have *repeatedly expressed their
opposition*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/world/americas/11honduras.html>
[7] to the coup, and other congressional Democrats have urged President
Obama *not to recognize elections*<http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/384>
[8] held under the coup regime.

Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, *has
written*<http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/11/16/trumka-free-elections-not-possible-now-in-honduras/>
[9] that ongoing human rights abuses under the coup regime, including
continued repression of trade unionists, makes it impossible to hold free
and fair elections. Trumka called on the U.S. government to oppose national
elections in Honduras unless President Zelaya is reinstated, in a letter to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this month.

*An editorial*<http://www.tiempo.hn/editoriales/5898-el-signo-de-la-represion>
[10] in a leading Honduran newspaper, *El Tiempo*, on Friday noted the
electoral process will be controlled by the coup regime: "12,000 troops,
14,000 police and 5,000 reservists are fully in direct control of the
polling," it notes, opining that free and fair elections are impossible due
to the current, ongoing human rights abuses. "Until now, the atmosphere is
totally contrary to a democratic electoral process, and what prevails is a
climate of political oppression," the editorial states.

"The IRI has become notorious throughout Latin America for its sometimes
rogue actions that have threatened to seriously damage U.S.-Latin American
relations," Weisbrot said. "NDI would do well to exercise caution in
following IRI's lead on Honduras."

Weisbrot noted that in addition to its support for the coups in Haiti and
Venezuela, IRI organized a
*conference*<https://acesso.uol.com.br/login.html?dest=CONTENT&url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/brasil/fc2207200820.htm&COD_PRODUTO=7>
[11] in Brazil in 2005 to promote political reforms that would undermine the
Workers' Party - the political party of President Lula da Silva.

When the creation of the NED, IRI, and NDI was first being publicly
discussed, in 1983, the Washington Post reported: "The CIA used to fund
covertly much of what the endowment plan envisions, such as the publication
of books and articles 'consistent' with democratic ideals. But many of these
were halted in 1967 following public disclosure of the CIA's activities."

###

The *Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)* <http://www.cepr.net/>
[1] was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most
important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. In order
for citizens to effectively exercise their voices in a democracy, they
should be informed about the problems and choices that they face. CEPR is
committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so
that the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy
options.
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