<div class="gmail_quote"><div><p><b><br>1) CEPR: Honduran Elections Marred by Police Violence, Censorship, International Non-Recognition, CEPR Co-Director Says</b> <br>
Elections Won't Resolve Political Crisis; Democracy Must Be Restored Before Free Elections Can Be Held<br>
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=be3j7E%2BdH8JEYy442gYQkaUR1D3WLF1d" target="_blank">http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/11/30-8</a><br><br></p><p>
2) Observers: Peaceful march faces 'brutal repression' in San Pedro Sula<br>
Mike Faulk, Nica Times, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, 4:06 p.m.<br>
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ohqMJ3yeA07gHOFAHUlySF4Q%2FD1XNAUr" target="_blank">http://www.ticotimes.net/dailyarchive/2009_11/112920092.cfm</a><br>
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Tegucigalpa, Honduras - About 500 people marching peacefully in the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula were repressed by tear gas and water cannons on Election Day today, election observers said.</p><p>
Tom Loudon, leader of the Quixote Center delegation observing the elections in San Pedro Sula, told The Nica Times that soldiers deployed on the scene of the march at around 12:30 p.m., put on gas masks and began attacking the marchers "unprovoked."<br>
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"The crowd just scattered, people went running in every direction, I was one of those," Loudon said. Speaking over the telephone, Loudon was choking from the gas and said he was still watching marchers and bystanders run away in panic from the continued repression. "It's just pure unprovoked brutal aggression against many people who haven't done anything, people are just walking down the street," Loudon said.<br>
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Juan Barahona, who leads a resistance group critical of the de facto government and the elections, had told followers not to protest today for fear of military repression but left it up to local chapters decide.<br>
[...]</p><p><br></p><p>
3) Honduras: Authorities must reveal identities and whereabouts of people detained today<br>
Press Release, Amnesty International USA, Monday, Novembeer 30, 2009<br>
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=nAehzeiU6Pa5ZytGjzYgSKUR1D3WLF1d" target="_blank">http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGPRE200911301429</a><br>
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Tegucigalpa - Amnesty International today urged the Honduran authorities to reveal the identities, whereabouts and charges against all people detained on the eve and day of the presidential elections.<br>
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In one of the most worrying cases, the whereabouts of Jensys Mario Umanzor Gutierrez remains unknown. He was last seen at 2:30am this morning in the custody of a Police Patrol whose identification number was recorded by witnesses.<br>
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After finding about the case, the Amnesty International delegation in Honduras assisted in the filing of an habeas corpus - a legal procedure to find the whereabouts and well being of someone detained by police - at the Juzgado Penal Francisco Morazan.<br>
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The Supreme Court, amongst several other courts, was closed and noone was available by phone either to receive the petition. The court should have a judge or other court appointed official always available to deal with such urgent matters.<br>
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"Filling a petition to find where a detainee has been taken is an almost impossible task in Honduras ," said Javier Zuńiga, head of the Amnesty International delegation in Honduras . "The delays and barriers imposed by the authorities to find even basic information goes to show the extent of violations taken place in Honduras today, and how vulnerable Honduran citizens are to abuses by the police and security forces," said Javier Zuńiga.<br>
[...]</p><p><br></p><p>7) Coup Security Forces Raid Campesino Organization Day Before the Elections<br>
Laura Carlsen, Americas Policy Program, Nov 28, 2009<br>
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ToAJH%2BN2I0O%2B29GD9tlVfqUR1D3WLF1d" target="_blank">http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/11/coup-security-forces-raid-campesino.html</a><br>
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Today, heavily armed members of the national police, military and criminal investigation units under the coup regime raided the Honduran farm organization COMAL (Alternative Community Marketing Network) in Siguatepeque, in Comayagua. COMAL is a coalition of 42 small-scale farming and women's organizations from throughout Honduras.<br>
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At 1:40 p.m. about fifty members of the security forces broke into the offices of COMAL. After breaking down the doors with their guns and intimidating the employees, they produced a search order a full twenty minutes later. The offices were ransacked, under an order that stated authorization to search for weapons and "materials that could threaten lives".<br>
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At 2:30 the raid spread to the training center of the organization. Security forces confiscated four computers, including the accountant's computer. They also took educational materials used in community workshops to analyze the current political situation and publications from the non-violent resistance movement. The soldiers referred to these materials as "proof" of subversive activities. Intelligence agents removed a list of all the people who had attended workshops in the organization and employees. They took the entire petty cash fund as well.<br>
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The offices were left in total disarray, employees were stripped of their cellphones and held in the offices during the raid. No one had been arrested at last report. Security forces continued to ransack the offices until 5:20 p.m.<br>
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Miguel Alonzo Macias, director of planning and projects for COMAL, stated that the police and soldiers entered heavily armed and nervous. Among the information they took from the offices were computer archives containing photographs of the peaceful marches where members of the organization demonstrated against the coup, "where they can see the faces of everyone of us who participated," and testimonies from communities describing violations of human rights under the coup. The group fears further persecution.<br>
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In a phone interview, Macias stated, "What just happened to us is evidence that basic guarantees of individual human rights and institutional rights do not exist in Honduras. As a result, the objective conditions in terms of the personal security for people to be able to vote freely don't exist either."<br>
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"It's important for the international community and international human rights groups to be aware that this is happening and of what kind of military actions are being carried out. These actions are clearly meant to intimidate the population that sees things differently than the de facto regime and that condemns the coup."<br>
[...]<br><br>
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<a name="125467aac76a840f_November3009m6"></a><b>Uruguay</b> <br>
11) Leftist Wins Uruguay Presidential Vote<br>
Alexei Barrionuevo, New York Times, November 30, 2009<br>
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=tdQDsgwdVF6%2B6PXYrXzsgaUR1D3WLF1d" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/world/americas/30uruguay.html</a><br>
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Montevideo, Uruguay - José Mujica, a brash former guerrilla fighter, was elected president of Uruguay on Sunday, further cementing the hold of a leftist government credited with improving economic conditions in one of South America's smallest countries.<br>
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With more than 90 percent of the vote counted Sunday night, Mr. Mujica, the candidate of the Broad Front coalition, was leading by about 10 percentage points in a runoff against Luis Lacalle, a former president running on the National Party ticket. Mr. Lacalle gave a concession speech on Sunday evening.<br>
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The victory of Mr. Mujica, 74, solidified the control the Broad Front has assumed over Uruguayan politics since the current president, Tabaré Vázquez, was elected in 2004. Mr. Vázquez pursued a pragmatic path of reforms with socialist and market-friendly elements that lowered unemployment and poverty while generating confidence among investors.<br>
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Uruguay's Constitution does not allow for re-election, but Mr. Vázquez's approval ratings in excess of 60 percent have strengthened the Broad Front, a polyglot movement that includes Communists and Christian Democrats.<br>
[...]<br>
The Broad Front, a leftist movement, has followed an economic path closer to those pursued by Brazil, Chile and Peru than to that of Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, which have chased off foreign investors by nationalizing industries.<br>
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Mr. Mujica campaigned on pledges to be a consensus builder who would continue the policies of Mr. Vázquez. The race pitted him against Mr. Lacalle, a neo-liberal who favors privatizing state firms and sought to do away with the income tax.<br>
[...]<br>
<br>
-<br>
Robert Naiman <br>
Just Foreign Policy<br>
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=BnKdQPe8AY1y0%2BXFMaQNDflhZWPMh2TE" target="_blank">www.justforeignpolicy.org</a><br>
<br>
Just Foreign Policy is a membership organization devoted to reforming US foreign policy so it reflects the values and interests of the majority of Americans.</p>
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