In a radio and television chain, last night President Manuel Zelaya dismissed the head of the Joint Staff, Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, for refusing to accompany with Armed Forces’ logistics the public opinion poll of Sunday, which has been declared illegal by the judiciary, because it seeks to subvert the constitutional order.

He also accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Edmundo Orellana.

Immediately resigned in solidarity commanders of Force Army, Navy and Air Force.

However, today the Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of the chief of the Joint Staff, so General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez continues in office.

Also material brought by a Venezuelan plane for next Sunday consultation was seized by the Prosecutor’s Office.

Today Congress met to reject the illegal removal of Romeo Vasquez. This dismissal was illegal because nobody can be fired for refusing to comply with an illegal order.

The political crisis provoked by the President who insists on conducting an illegal “survey” is being undermined by legal institutions and by Armed Forces’ obedience to the Constitution of the Republic.

The authorities of the Public Ministry are concerned about the allegation that there exist clear signs of State terrorism.

The expert on security issues, Mario Berrios, warned that the threats, kidnappings, assassinations, and in the coming days, monitoring of persons’ activities, and even detonations are clear signs of a policy of state terrorism and left terrorism.

This week, the president of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, is reportedly facing threats of death.

Same complaint made the Principal Prosecutor, Rosa Miranda, who asked before the Administrative Court to suspend the June survey. She warned that she has received threatening calls.

The judge of this court, Jorge Zelaya, also reported being subjected to threats, like the principal prosecutor, Luis Rubí.

In the case of Micheletti, Miranda and Rubi, they have showed their position on the illegality of the June survey, the fourth ballot box, stating that they are on the side of upholding the Constitution and the rule of law.

As regards to judge Zelaya, he admitted the application filed by the MP against the Decree PCM-005-2009 and the next week he must decide whether or not to suspend the contested measure, ie the survey.

Micheletti even lost confidence in the officials of the Ministry of Security who guard him. He holds the Executive branch responsible for any damage to his body that may happen to him.

Same distrust displayed the National Commissioner of Human Rights, Ramón Custodio.

Similar threats have denounced journalists of various media outlets who have manifested against the destruction of the current Constitution. In recent months, two journalists have been kidnapped, Bernardo Rivera and Andres Torres, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

“I would give him much credit, even when it may not be accurate at the extent that he does, but I give much credit, not only to what he states, but to public complaints made by many public officials and journalists, that is, that this scenario is being presented in Honduras for a while, not just yesterday, and leads to believe that we have signs, signs of terrorism in Honduras,” said Mario Berríos.

Taken from El Heraldo.

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS

The veteran journalist Andres Torres Junior, who works for the HRN radio station, was kidnapped this afternoon [yesterday] by several subjects.

Unofficial versions indicate that the journalist was leaving the City Hall’s facilities located at the residential zone 21 de Octubre at the capital city, when he was intercepted by several subjects.

At least two men boarded their vehicle and forced the driver to follow another vehicle.

When transiting in front of the residential zone El Sitio, where there are always police roadblocks which curiously were not today [yesterday], he was forced to enter the neighborhood where he was taken from his car to enter the one lead by the hijackers.

A relative said that along with Mr. Andres Torres was also taken captive his driver, whose name was not given.

Police authorities confirmed the kidnapping of the journalist, but not of the driver. The vehicle was found by police at the place where the exchange was made.

A closure of the city was immediately ordered but his whereabouts are still not known.

The family begged the captors to surrender him immediately because he has serious health problems.

Taken from El Heraldo

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS

The funds of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) have become a bone of contention between agricultural workers and government.

The Executive wanted to impose Rafael Alegria as representative of the countrymen before the board of the so called Conialba, organization overseeing the donations of Alba, in a meeting held last night, but the nomination was rejected.

The National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CNC) refused to support the Executive’s appointment to representative of Conialba to Alegria because it does not consider him to be from the “grassroots of the agricultural workers” and therefore withdrew from the meeting which was held at the National Bank of Agricultural Development (BANADESA).

“We were surprised by the imposition of someone who does not represent the interests of agricultural workers, I’m talking about Rafael Alegría,” said Daysi Ibarra, president of CNC.

For that reason, Ibarra left the assembly. The candidate who was going to propose this entity was Santos Chirinos.

The country has received at least 25 million dollars through the Venezuelan initiative.

Alegria, who advocates government projects, is a member of Via Campesina, but this entity does not belong to the CNC or any other.

The CNC, the Confederation of Agricultural Women Workers (CMC) and the Coordinating Council of Agricultural Workers Organizations’ (COCOCH) representations are to be included in the Conialba as stipulated by the Executive.

Taken from El Heraldo.

The president of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou, has chosen Belize as destination instead of Honduras, as planned from the beginning, during his trip to Central America.

In a press release from the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry was informed that the decision not to come to Honduras is because the country will hold the 39th Assembly of the OAS.

President Ma will also visite El Salvador, where he will attend the inauguration of President-elect, Mauricio Funes.

Taiwan announced the suspension last week of the investment of the Taiwan Power Company in Patuca III hydroelectric project, estimated at 300 million dollars.

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry clarified that the suspension of the trip had no connection with the decision of the Taiwan Power Company.

It was reported that President Ma will come to Honduras on a second trip planned for next July, when attending the inauguration of the president of Panama, Roberto Martinelli.

Taken from El Heraldo.

In a surprising outcome, and after having kicked in the Convention of the National Party a carton box representing the fourth ballot box, Pepe Lobo, the candidate of this party, said that he now supports the consultation to amend the Constitution.

What’s eating Pepe now?

Apparently, this confirms my claim a few years ago that Pepe Lobo is an opportunistic hypocrite. However, I think we should not be so hard on him. What politician is not a hypocrite or opportunistic?

And, as the saying goes, to err is human, to forgive is divine. Sectarian critiques of the Liberal Party against Pepe Lobo are blind critiques.

The same happened to the National Party when it declared to be in a “humanist center” Some liberals bother when the National Party takes away their flags. But if they were really sincere, they should welcome this approach from their sister party to the “progressive ideas”. We must leave this stubborn dogmatism that prevailed in the past and make a debate of ideas, not a futile clash of political colors.

For my part I continue to oppose the fourth ballot box, because I think it has a clear intent of perpetuation in power. I don’t know what Mel Zelaya offered to Pepe, but I am still not convinced. By the winds blowing from the south, it is easy to see that these changes may lead to an increase in authoritarianism, which would be regrettable.

It is repeatead that people should be consulted. And who can be against that?

But the thing is that people is only consulted when it suits certain interests. This government is the least inclined to consult people. People were not consulted, for example, if they agree with Honduras joining ALBA, or even knew what the ALBA was all about.

And when the government launched ALBA, Hugo Chavez came to insult anyone who did not agree with their way of seeing things. Such attitudes do not seem very democratic. In a functional democracy, the people need to be properly informed of the decisions of government. The Transparency Law, which would promote greater openness in government activities, proved to be just a paper exercise.

The style of this government is more of enforcing its decisions. It is easy to foresee that at the end they will attempt to impose a constitution based on their clumsy whims. People will not be consulted to see what kind of constitution they want, just whether or not they want a new constitution.

More correct would be to try to draft a constitution and then let the people decide if they support it or not, but if the query is made before, it would be like handing a blank check to the ruling class who would then be able to commit all sorts of abuses.

But even in the most favorable scenario, the consultation process and the drafting of a new constitution is something that would take a long time, such a fundamental change to the nation can not be taken lightly, it would require a series of studies, and to perform many debates. Such things can not be done in a hurry, as the Executive pretends.

The haste with which the Executive wants to make things produces justified suspicion.

There are people who are active in leftist groups that have somewhat quirky and chauvinistic ideas .

And there are people in these groups who claim to defend the interests of workers who are haunted with these ideas.

It is customary that on Workers’ Day, some of these people engage in painting bizarre graffiti slogans on fast foods’ facilities.

Today I saw in Dunkin Donuts downtown this legend: “Long live baleadas! Transnationals Out!”

This ideology is very poorly designed. To destroy private enterprise can not benefit workers, just the opposite.

If people want to eat baleadas, nothing prevents them. No need to ban fast food franchises from abroad.

It is true the tax exemption of such franchises in Honduras is wrong. But to suspend these privileges is not easy, because that would result in millions in lawsuits and a bad image for Honduras, which is thought to have no “legal security”.

Moreover, yesterday I received a comment from a supporter of the fourth ballot box, which appears to favor a dictatorship of Mel which would ban fast food franchises, soap operas and bilingual schools.

The stuff of bilingual schools appear to be a gross manifestation of anti-Americanism. Apparently they hate bilingual schools because they are thought to bring the pernicious gringo culture. I find this rather pathetic.

Instead of attacking international franchises I suggest to focus on helping small business entrepreneurs who want to establish food enterprises.

There is nothing wrong in learning English, on the contrary, it is an advantage in these times of globalization, and to master this language does not mean to become unconditional admirers of American culture, with all the vices it may have.

Carlos Molina wrote a post criticizing the bad habits of the Honduran people and the deplorable state of cities in Honduras.

He believes that if we had been conquered by Dutchs or Germans instead of Spaniards, another would be our luck. But having been conquered by the Spaniards we have inherited their “culture of destruction”.

Therefore, we are irresponsible, lazy, untidy, unpunctual, liars, dirty, polluters, crooks and corrupt.

Carlos Molina shared the opinion of Cesar Indiano in his book “The Bible of the Donkey” that “we live in a country of shit.”

But Molina contradicts himself when he recognized that in Latin America there are more advanced cultures, but these were also conquered by the Spaniards.

This reminds me of when in a presentation in a college class I commented that “We Hondurans are lazy.” And the teacher asked: “Do you considere yourself lazy?.” And I said: “No”. “So do not generalize and don’t say that all Hondurans are lazy.” And I admitted that the teacher was right. Such generalizations are wrong.

There are many theories that attempt to explain underdevelopment, but none is completely satisfactory. Instead of worrying for our supposed cultural incapacity, we must project ourselves to the future, thinking about the kind of people we want to be, and taking steps to get there.

If we want change, we must be optimistic and hope for the best. Bad opinions of ourselvest turn against us and prevent us from improving, thinking it makes no sense to make an effort, because the fight is lost in advance. These beliefs about the Honduran identity become self-fulfilling. We need to break the vicious cycle of pessimism.

We are in difficult times.

This is the impression we get when we review the latest news from Honduras and the world.

For example, the corruption scandal in Hondutel. The company Latin Node confessed to a Miami court that it had bribed officials from Hondutel. Immediately, Mel Zelaya’s government launched a smokescreen campaign accusing Mr. Otto Reich, who was a U.S. official, of defamation. Once again, the government is abusing of national chains and paid advertisements, with a clearly dictatorial pose.

Then, the Liberal Party Convention. Mel Zelaya tried to prevent Roberto Micheletti, president of the National Congress, of being sworn as president of the Central Executive of the party. Apparently Mel Zelaya suffers Micheletti strong opposition against his project of the fourth ballot box, which many think it’s a mean to remain in power.

The funny thing was hearing the statements of Patricia Rodas, Mel’s ideologue, accusing Micheletti of going against the statutes of the Liberal Party, when she breached them herself.

The Liberal Party is clearly divided between the small group that supports Mel Zelaya’s pretensions for staying in office and those opposing him. Although the group in favor of Mel is small, it has the power of the government.

It’s true Micheletti was booed when he was sworn in, but some say it was a group of activists paid by the government. Others say that Micheletti is widely rejected in the grass roots of the Liberal Party. Indeed, the presidential candidate Elvin Santos appointed Micheletti as President of the Central Executive to cement the unity of the Party and bring it to victory.

The attack of president Mel Zelaya against Micheletti gave the impression that he was proposed to destroy his own party. This is consistent with the perception that Mel is setting the favorable stage for continuing in power.

Moreover, the government has taken too long to present the national budget this year, so government agencies are working with last year’s budget. This delay hinders governance, and threatens to sabotage the electoral process, which is convenient to the referred pretensions of staying illegally in office.

Roberto Micheletti himself has added fuel to the fire by presenting his proposed 15th salary. This would further increase unemployment caused by the disproportionate increase of the minimum wage of President Zelaya. Zelaya himself has opposed the measure as “populist.” However, he’s agreed to pay the 15th salary, provided that it is fully funded by employers, and not giving them any deduction from their taxes.

The government seems to forget we are in the midst of an international economic crisis, and that this is not the time for sterile discussions and populist measures, if they are really interested in the welfare of the people.

But it is clear that this is not the case. They are not interested in the people. We are in an election year and politicians have their eye in public offices. But the scale of the current crisis should awaken them from their stupor caused by hunger for power. It is necessary to solve current problems, not to create new ones. We need more dialogue, not more confrontation. But it is useless.

And if the international economic crisis and the clumsy governmental management were not enough trouble, we now have the threat of swine flu, which is expected to soon come to Honduras, causing more deaths and further depressing the economy.

Meanwhile, Mel Zelaya is flooding the media with his fourth ballot campaign, and his defense against allegations of corruption against Hondutel to the point of spending in a repetitive television ad discrediting Otto Reich.

And after all the above, this still claims to be the best government in the history of Honduras, and intends to stay in power. The nerve of Mel and his supporters is unbelievable.

Honduran government thinks it can manipulate public opinion bombarding it with misleading advertising.

The new advertisement for a fourth ballot box is full of misleading phrases. Characters of the earlier announcement for the minimum wage appear, and also new ones. A young man, who got a girlfriend thanks to the raise in the minimum wage goes to a family reunion of hers where the topic of the fourth ballot box is raised. The father believes that the referendum proposed by the government is just an excuse for it to continue in power. Carmen, such is the name of the girlfriend, replied smiling: “How is that, Daddy, if it is only a consultation to reform the constitution?

The mother said: “I do believe it would be good for us to be consulted for the first time how we want to live.”

The boyfriend said that the fourth ballot box should be welcomed, in order for the minimum wage to remain. The parent asks, “And who is this?”. And one girl, who apparently is the sister of Carmen, replied: “He is the boyfriend.” To which the father replied very seriously: “I had not been consulted for any of this.” This created a stressful moment, so in order to overcome it, the mother said laughing: “Let us make the consultation, then”. And everyone smiles. Carmen caressed her mother approvingly.

Then a background voice says that there will be a referendum in June on the issue of the fourth ballot box, and that the people will have for the first time the ability to decide without intermediaries, that the popular consultation is the highest expression of democracy.

It is easy to see the subliminal manipulation involved. Apparently, they want to pigeonhole those of us who oppose to the fourth ballot box as bitter and negative, and those who support it would be smiling and optimistic.

The minimum wage issue is brought up without having anything to do with the topic, in order to attract support of workers.

It is simply a lie that with the fourth ballot box people will be able to take any decision without the need for intermediaries. On the contrary, the fourth box is just a subterfuge for Mel to remain in power.

To vote in favor of the creation of a new constitution is to give a blank check to this government and to pave the way for a dictatorship.

Although Mel may swear not to continue in power, his actions indicate otherwise. The way he has allied with governments using the strategy of reforming the constitution to remain in power is there for everyone to see.

Much of the constitution can be reformed without the need to call for a Constituent Assembly. The only thing that can not be reformed are stony articles, among which are those concerning the form of government and the duration of the presidential term.

It is clear that the interest in amending the constitution is to allow perpetuation in power.

See note by La Prensa newspaper.