***UPDATE 6*** - 8:54 pm Eastern - According to several sources, it looks like President Zelaya may have landed in Nicaragua as opposed to El Salvador. Early reports claim one person killed and 6 others wounded at the airport standoff. These are early reports. It should be mentioned that the illegal coup regime in power tonight in Honduras had stated earlier in the day that Nicaraguan troops were massing on the border, a claim later denied by the president of Nicaragua.
***UPDATE 5 *** - 8:20 pm Eastern - (article posted minutes ago)
Bloomberg is reporting that Zelaya is diverting to El Salvador due to what is happening on the ground at the airport...
Zelaya, speaking from the plane in an interview on the Telesur network, said the plane will head toward El Salvador where he will meet with allies. He vowed to try to enter Honduras tomorrow or at a later date.
***UPDATE 4*** - 8:10 pm Eastern - (article posted minutes ago)
Zelaya supporters are being shot at the airport, according to a Times reporter who witnessed it.
Stephen Ferry, a photographer working for The Times, was at the airport in the capital, Tegucigalpa, where the Army fired on protesters. “I saw a kid being shot in the head, I think he is dead,” Mr Ferry said. “There are lots of injured — I don’t know how many. They just opened fire — it was completely unprovoked.”
***UPDATE 3*** - 7:49 pm Eastern - (article posted 4 minutes ago)
Ousted President Manuel Zelaya says he can't land at the main Honduras airport because soldiers are blocking the runway with several military vehicles.
The pilot of his Venezuelan plane circled around the airport and decided that landing is "totally impossible" because of the trucks in the way.
Groups of police and soldiers also are stationed around the runway and the perimeter of the airfield, facing off against thousands of Zelaya supporters outside.
Zelaya says he'll announce later where they'll land.
***UPDATE 2*** - 7:44pm Eastern - (article posted an hour ago) -
Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is now approaching Honduras in a Venezuelan plane, asking the military that kicked him out to please let him land "in the name of God."
Speaking live from the plane on the Telesur network, Zelaya says he is just minutes away from landing.
***UPDATE*** - 5:32pm Eastern -
[caption id="attachment_2905" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Supporters of ousted Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya protest outside the entrance to the international airport in Tegucigalpa, Sunday, July 5, 2009."]
[/caption]As far as I can tell, an hour or so ago, two planes left from Washington, DC. One is "Tango One", the Argentine presidential plane (carrying the presidents of Ecuador, Argentina, and Paraguay, along with the president of the Organization of the American States)... the other plane is carrying President Zelaya and with him, the courageous President of the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations, Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann.
Though Zelaya has been in D.C. for several days now, President Obama has NOT met with him, to our shame. I guess his DLC/neo-liberal staff wouldn't LET him.
Zelaya departed from Dulles International Airport outside Washington. He was in the U.S. to attend a meeting by the Organization of American States, which shortly before midnight suspended Honduras’ membership from the regional body. Bloomberg News
"The government of President (Roberto) Micheletti has order the armed forces and the police not to allow the entrance of any plane bringing the former leader," MSNBC
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Hondurans are rushing toward the airport. These pictures are from Reuters today...
[caption id="attachment_6594" align="alignnone" width="260" caption="Thousands march toward airport"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_6595" align="alignnone" width="266" caption="Zelaya supporters moving toward the airport"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_6596" align="alignnone" width="390" caption="July 5th 2009"]
[/caption]this is a true revolution. We are watching from afar a repeat of the attempted CIA coup in Venezuela in 2002. Our hearts and our prayers go with these men and women.
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original...
by Scott Creighton
[caption id="attachment_6589" align="alignleft" width="328" caption=""We will be FREE or we will be SLAVES forever!""]
[/caption]The stage is set. The curtain rustling. Behind the scenes the players take their places. And we wait to see what will be.
After all the fake Twitters and corporate media spin, the populist president of a democratic country is putting his life and his freedom on the line to return to the people he served.
President Zelaya is going home today.
In Honduras, thousands of President Zelaya's supporters are moving toward the airport in the capital.
"We'll be free, or we'll be slaves forever,"
If they want a civil war," Juan Carlos Herrera, a high school teacher, said of Micheletti's government, "then go ahead and arrest him [Zelaya]."
Herrera's tiny, spirited 69-year-old mother, Maria Ricarda Espinoza, added, "People are ready to die." LA Times
Traveling with Zelaya are several presidents and foreign ministers from other Latin American nations and a horde of press.
In comments to a local radio station, Zelaya said Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and Ecuador's Rafael Correa, several foreign ministers and 300 journalists would accompany him. MSNBC
The C.O.T.O. crew salutes the courage of this President Zelaya, those who boldly travel with him, and most importantly, the people of Honduras who are gathering now at great personal risk, to welcome their president home.
We will keep you informed as best we can.
Godspeed President Zelaya.
I just read on Yahoo (oh, forgive me lord for that transgression...) that the military ordered Zelaya's plane to turn back.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090705/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup
I am very glad to do it, Rady. I see this historic event the same way you do. The events unfolding now will be part of history. Either the coup regime will block the runways and keep his plane from landing or the tens of thousands of people will attempt to storm the airport and clear the runways themselves. They may just literally push the obstacles of their freedom out of the way, or be gunned down trying.
ReplyDeleteI am putting up some updates. I don't know if that qualifies as "live blogging" or not. One thing for sure; don't expect any "Twitter" updates...
I don't know what you want to do with the "Read More" button. With the new update it is a little long, but the pictures from the scene kinda make it worth it.
I will leave that up to you.
Wow, those are some awesome pictures! POWER TO THE PEOPLE !!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/search?q=Zelaya%27s+flight+home+to+Honduras+diverted+to+El+Salvador&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
ReplyDeleteAccording to Google search, that article was put up 3 hours ago... about the same time the plane left DC (or was still on the runway)...
or to quote someone who left a comment on that McClatchy report...
"Oh, please - this is an effort to report the news before it happens, isn't it? Look at other sources, please:"
"Update 3:51pm: Radio Globo's correspondent at the Toncontin airport reports that some Zelaya supporters have managed to get into the airport and are on the runway. It reports that the military has fired warning shots into the air. As previously reported, there are snipers stationed around the airport."
as I have said.... the article you posted a link to quotes a representative of the coup regime's "official" aviation authority... it is unconfirmed and the article itself was posted, according to Google and a comment left on the site itself, 3 hours ago...
ReplyDeletethat would have put Zelaya's plane in the air for about an hour before they "diverted"?
I do not trust that source.
People are now being shot at the airport.
ReplyDeleteWilly
ReplyDeletethank you. I seen this and IMMEDIATELY went to CNN and all the rest of the TV media.
They are reporting on MICHAEL JACKSON.
Actually, they are making it easy for us to make the case that they are propaganda.
thanks corporate media
Those photo's are indeed awesome, especially the one with the mountain in the background. Such a powerful and vibrant picture.
ReplyDeleteI'm certain most, if not all of the Honduran people are aware of havoc the US has created in their country. More so than the American sheople, who are too enamored with what's happening with Michael Jackson. An intentional distraction from the real issues that are plaguing our world. F' this no good, reticent and complicit corporate media. F' them all!
By them not reporting on the real news stories is just so F'n wrong!
God speed to the Honduran people and their protests. I hope they are successful
As Rady wrote: "I see this Honduras coup as a line in the sand between populism and corporate rule in the Americas."
ReplyDeleteWell we know which side of this the US is on. Obama didn't meet with him, didn't try to stop the coup, and is probably busily arming the resurgent right-wing honchos.
Only the people of Honduras can roll this back, and it will be bloody.
Hey, Munich!
ReplyDeleteYou may wanna check my blog for an article I posted written by an Arab that echos exactly what you're saying and the reality of American ignorance - it made me laugh but it was oh, so, on point!