This is Journalism?

So you create an article full of inaccuracies and blatantly false statements on a high traffic news website, and you're pleased because the target of your misinformation takes the time to respond?

If that's what passes for journalism today, we're on a long slope downhill.

Journalism

One of the tenets of good journalism is that when errors or omissions are published (wittingly or unwittingly - and subsequently shown to have been incorrect or erroneous) the publication involved will provide and publish a correction. Usually this is done by means of a frequently pusillanimous and often tiny note appended to the tag end of another story far away from the front page.

In fact, both the Tyee and Ashley Holly have been more upfront about the errors published heretofore on the subject of mining, finance and the involvement of Canadian Government Institutions in countries such as Honduras.

The objections to Holly's articles have been given far more exposure than would, I'd assert, have been done in any Canadian paper...

There are, furthermore, some very serious questions about both the financing and the activities of the EDC in countries such as Honduras - questions which neither Peter Kent nor Phil Taylor appear very anxious to address.

I wonder why not?

I've frequently criticized the editorial policies here at Tyee as anyone who has been around here very long knows.

I think the errors in Holly's columns were unfortunate and probably should have been caught before publication. However, the fundamental point(s) she was making about anti-democratic actions in places like Honduras and the culpability of profiteering Canadian businesses and our government in such places are fundamentally sound and important for all Canadians to consider.

That same body, EDC, is also in the business of fostering and promoting the export of, among other things, Canadian asbestos.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 125 million people throughout the world are exposed to asbestos in the course of their work, while an estimated 100,000 die each year from asbestos-related diseases. Despite international efforts to block Canada's export of asbestos, the Canadian federal government continues to defend the economic interests of the asbestos industry. Virtually all of Canada's asbestos is exported to developing countries, led by India, Indonesia, and Thailand.

EDC hasn't got a leg to stand on in that debate - I wonder how much of the truth they're willing to sustain in this one Mr Taylor?

Tighten up the editing process Mr. Beers – but don’t lose sight of the important work you’re doing – please.

Keep it up.

G West

Are you standing by your earlier comments and how do you hold up the tenets of good commentary?

quoting you:

"Maybe we should send a regiment down to escort the duly elected president BACK to his own country."

"Peter Kent is an ass. ..."

"I'll repeat it one more time - shame on Kent and shame on Canada."

"Sadly, the only thing this proves is that Pee Wee, who can't manage to get into the frame in time for a picture and turns the host into a joke at a Catholic funeral is more concerned with finding rocks to throw at his opponent than actually representing this country in a statesmanlike manner.'

Shame on Harper!"

Please note: ("The publisher and editor of the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal are no longer with the paper after it was forced to apologize to Stephen Harper and two of its own reporters over a story about whether the prime minister took communion at the state funeral of former governor general Roméo LeBlanc.

CBC News has confirmed that editor Shawna Richer has been fired and that Jamie Irving is no longer the publisher of the paper. Earlier, their names had been removed from the paper's list of senior staff.

The apology, which ran on the provincial newspaper's front page on Tuesday, said the story that ran on July 8 that accused Harper of placing a communion wafer in his pocket was "inaccurate and should not have been published." CBC New Brunswick 28 July '09)

The comments then and now stand -

As for Kent, he now seems determined to further embarrass himself and the country by trying to impose conditions upon the return of Zelaya to his own country...

As for the communion story - No one who's not a Roman Catholic is meant to accept communion in a Catholic ceremony - what he did after having received the host is entirely irrelevant.

He should never have taken the host in the first place. The fact he ‘did’ is what I criticized – his lack of knowledge and cultural sensitivity, a fact that’s hardly new to Pee Wee watchers, is pretty much ‘de rigueur’ for someone like the current imposter to the job. Sadly, his most likely replacement is little better – although Ignatieff is clearly much more intelligent.

It is interesting that editors and reporters would lose their jobs for suggesting that there's anything 'wrong' with the Prime Minister's actions though. Somehow the fact that heads would roll over 'that' while the activities of the EDC in bankrolling the rape and pillage of indigenous peoples is only covered at a place like Tyee doesn't exactly fill me with confidence in our government or the bought and paid for press.

Certainly, Pee Wee's boys and girls seem to have the clout to pull some favours with the publisher of the Telegraph Journal. Much like the way the attempt to bribe Chuck Cadman was hushed up I guess.

Óscar Arias

As the current president of Costa Rica, one wonders how his own record of successfully opposing term limits in his country may have formed and informed the actions and intentions of Zelaya - you know, the ones that occasioned the military coup in the first place.

Perhaps junior Kent isn't all that well versed in Latin American history either. Apparently he's not the only one.

GWest

I wonder at this, Garth. Had the "inaccuracies" been exorcised, there is a very good chance that neither Kent nor Taylor would have responded at all. That they have, and what with Ashley Holly's clarification, now puts either of them or both, on the proverbial hotseat.

I will be willing to bet money even that there will be no more response from either of these "gentlemen" -- if only because they cannot help but dig their hole a little deeper.

Kudos Miss Holly for lighting this up!

This dialogue is a really great example of critical journalism. Here’s two individuals: a social science graduate researcher/activist and a top level government executive with two very different ideological perspectives battling it out in the public sphere on an issue that (whether directly or indirectly) does involve us Canadians. The author really only begins to direct our attention to a very serious problem: the fact that Canadian mining companies are engaging in unethical mining practices that are resulting in illness and poverty. This is clearly a problem. We can argue nitty gritty facts but the bigger picture is that many Hondurans are struggling with poverty and sickness as a result of our greed.

RickW

It's an interesting perspective you bring up...clearly Holly and the Tyee 'got' to the PM and his acolytes.

Still, I'm wary of promoting the idea that tighter editing isn't a good idea in general.

Clearly there is a rat pack around the current government which would rather sling mud than actually contend with the record and the tendency of the Harper/Ignatieff family compact to come out shooting no matter 'what' the target is.

What will be interesting to see is the reaction - or not - of someone to Ashley Holly's latest writing.

AND, it is also interesting to see that there are media monitors on the job in the Langevin Block as well as here in Victoria.

Quote:Still, I'm wary of

Events seem to inevitably reach a time when the hornet's nest must be poked, if anything is to be acomplished. Poking the nest always presents an element of danger, and most of us would not embark on this."Tighter editing" might conceivably reduce the stick to ineffectual ash.

What Holly is "guilty" of, is taking a "shortcut", which the Phil Taylors (I keep wanting to say Phil Silvers) are more than pleased to jump all over. But it serves to add momentum and discussion to an article that might otherwise be tossed in the entropy bin.

Corruption in Roatan

I was in Roatan a couple of weeks ago and it was interesting to see all the police check points across the island to make sure that the citizens were not arming themselves. Our guide was especially proud of the fact that you could buy off the police for as little as $30 US if you got caught drunk driving ... they would even drive you home!

The diversity of people across the island was simply amazing. Unfortuantely, it looked like the majority of the people did not enjoy the great prosperity of the unchecked and little regulated capitalism that the island is becoming famous for. It is strange that the locals don't get upset that John Edwards, of Century 21 fame, seems to own half the island. Our guide was thankful that Zelaya was gone so that they didn't turn into a communist country.

Anyways, I would be interested to see the reaction of those beholden to their neo-liberal agendas if the NDP ever got elected federally. Would they be cheering on the military to overthrow the government like has happened in so many latin american countries?

Rather the News than writer's Opinion

I would like to think that Canada would try their best to stay out of the affairs of another country, such as Honduras. Canada persuades but normally allows countries to solve their own problems, unlike many Latin leaders and our friend, the world's policeman. Since few Canadians understand the issues in Honduras, let's let the Hondurans solve their problems. We would better serve the region by standing back and also limiting the interference by other countries, including OAS.

Although Ms Holly issued a correction, she still could not admit that her article was mainly opinion and not facts. I read editorials for opinions but articles and editorials should be based on facts combined with analysis and collaborating evidence not what the authors think should be said. Lets leave the 'shoulds' to politicians and other purveyors propaganda.

Here we go again - the end does NOT justify the means !!.

Sask resident's words are worth repeating, esp since they show the illogic in GWest's apologia for inaccurate reportage - particularly the deliberate and politically convenient substitution of disinformain for incnvenient "truths"

I quote

"Although Ms Holly issued a correction, she still could not admit that her article was mainly opinion and not facts. I read editorials for opinions but articles and editorials should be based on facts combined with analysis and collaborating evidence not what the authors think should be said. Lets leave the 'shoulds' to politicians and other purveyors propaganda."

We Lefties have difficulty enough already with trying to sort out the fact from the fiction in the "news" diet the MSM feeds us.

We should have a right to feel confident in believing our trusted sources, and knowing that "facts" we've told doubting friends won't be thrown back in our faces with knowing smiles.

Let me disabuse you of the...

...legitimacy of the powerful and their toadies in DFAIT and Harpo's government.

Here's an eyewitness report from United Church justice committee member Tom Loudon's walk with the people of Honduras.
_____________________

A day of Reckoning in Honduras

Something unprecedented is occurring in Honduras. Since the military coup which occurred on June 28th, the people of Honduras have mounted 6 weeks of sustained, massive, non-violent resistance to the violent take-over of their country. Perhaps even more astounding, is that this resistance shows no signs of tapering off. On the contrary, the movement continues to build in momentum and numbers despite violent repression on the part of the military.

Last week, hundreds of thousands of people began walking 10-12 miles per day, from all parts of the country, to converge on the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula on Tuesday, August 11. The columns of people, filling two to three lanes of traffic, camp out in towns along the way at night, picking up more marchers at every stop. Reminiscent of Ghandi’s great salt marches, the people of Honduras are writing a new chapter in the history of non-violent struggle in Central America.

The thousands who are marching are aware of the possibility of violent repression on August 11. In an interview this week, union leader Carlos H. Reyes pointed out that the coup government has used violence to repress each of the two previous mass mobilizations in the aftermath of the coup. On July 5th, a young boy was shot and killed by a sharpshooter when as many as half a million people gathered at the airport for Zelaya’s return. Ten days ago, a large protest in Tegucigalpa was attacked by the military with tear gas, pepper spray, rubber and live bullets and troops pursued the fleeing protestors for several kilometers. That day, a teacher was shot and killed. Carlos Reyes, a Presidential Candidate for the upcoming November elections, was beaten by police and has just been released from the hospital where he was treated for multiple injuries.

Part II

Human rights organizations have documented nine murders and thousands of other human rights violations perpetrated by the coup government including illegal detentions, disappearances, excessive use of force, death threats etc. These tactics are well known to veteran human rights defenders in Honduras. In the 1970’s and 80’s Honduras served as a U.S. military fortress and intelligence center for grizzly counterinsurgency operations aimed repressing social change efforts throughout Central America. The 3-16 Death Squad, a U.S. trained assassination and torture unit, hunted down activists in Honduras to make sure that Honduran social movements never got enough traction to pose a serious threat to the economic and military elites as they did in the neighboring Central American countries. In a deliberate move, intended to send a message to the people, de facto President Micheletti named former head of the 3-16 Death Squad as his top security advisor.

This message is not lost on the people of Honduras. However, it is not working. On banners, signs, wall graffiti and chants throughout the country, the people are responding with an even more astounding message of their own, “They are afraid of us, because we are not afraid of them!” This declaration of freedom from fear has become the motto for the non-violent resistance movement in Honduras. It has liberated a spontaneous upwelling of, peaceful resistance to a legacy of brute force and abuse of power, and shows no signs of stopping.

Every day this movement builds as teachers, nurses, taxi drivers and university students declare themselves in opposition to the coup. Last week, Elvin Santos, Presidential candidate for the Liberal party and Micheletti ally, arrived for a speaking engagement at the National University in Tegucigalpa. When students realized that he was on campus, a spontaneous protest erupted. Santos quickly abandoned the campus while his body guards fired bullets into the air to keep outraged students away. At every turn, the coup leaders are meeting people who refuse to recognize their legitimacy and who are not afraid. ....

Part III

Meanwhile, the economic situation is deteriorating rapidly as the state of internal in governability and international rejection of the coup continue. Historically, Honduran power elites and their Washington, D.C. allies have relied on the power of fear and violence to quell popular dissent. They are beginning to realize that something is happening here in Honduras that was not in their playbook.

The manifestations on Tuesday, August 11, will surpass all previous concentrations. In an amazing reversal of fortunes, the violent coup has unleashed a torrent of non-violent protest that is uncontainable. In what has surely become a nightmare for the coup leaders, the people of Honduras are no longer afraid. They are pouring into streets and plazas; they walk for days, going without food or a place to sleep and they risk their lives. They are calling for restoration of democracy, and end to impunity, Constitutional reform and economic justice. The people of Honduras are making a new history, without violence and without fear. On August 11, the illegitimate government of Micheletti will see the people of Honduras as they have never been seen before. God forbid that they carry out a massacre.

____________________

This was posted back to me by Helmut, a friend of Tom's and a distant friend of mine.

Shame, Peter Kent. Shame.

I have to concur with those

I have to concur with those who are hesitant to endorse the method by which this exchange of positions began. It suggests a slippery slope, particularly in the battle for online media to be recognised as legitimate by those who make the news.

Recall the upset caused when the reporter from HuffingtonPost appeared to ask a question President Obama's staff had previously solicited. Online media is already the source of better reporting than the mainstream media, but it remains limited in its appeal to the wider public. More people should be accessing this quality journalism, but I hardly see that subpar editorial policies that allow unsupported allegations to be made in the Tyee's articles will do anything to inspire new readers' trust.

Peter Kent and The rest of Pee Wee's Gang

If you really want to know what's gong on, FOLLOW THE MONEY! Obviously someone is making a fortune with the overthrow of a legitimate government. It will be refreshing to find out who really is behind it.

Hmmmmm

If the report that Zalm has just posted here is anyway near accurate, one has to wonder how (or why?) the march has escaped the notice of the MSM????

fact-checking

Ashley says:"In the future, I will write only what I see, rather than what I read."

Maybe she should write only what she has checked out and verified as accurate. That would be the professional way to do it.

I learned a long time ago that when you f**k up this badly in an article, your credibility is shot and it will be a long time in recovering. Her mea culpa is not terribly helpful since she clearly wants to blame EDC secrecy for her mistakes.

Media in general has always had a very difficult time admitting its screw-ups. It usually takes a sharply-worded letter from a lawyer to get any kind of redress. In my opinion, it's one of the major reasons why media credibility in general is in such bad shape.

The Tyee gets points for such a prominent grovel (mainstream would kiss it off with a little box on P. 2), but I can't help think that the prominence is governed as much by puffed-up chest notoriety as it is by any real remorse that an egregious error was made.

And I wonder, given the rather blatant attempt in the apology to deflect all the responsibility back on the EDC, whether they'll be satisfied with the retraction.

One final note. The difference between news and opinion doesn't include a columnist's right to play fast and loose with the facts. I know that seems to be the style these days (sometimes in "news" stories as well), but it's another reason why media is held in such low esteem. It would be nice to think that online media might break with that trend -- but I'm not terribly encouraged so far.

My Email to Peter Kent about this

Mr. Kent:

You wrote to a constituent recently complaining about inaccuracy in an article published online by the Tyee.ca

You wrote

"The Honduran Congress and Supreme Court were well within their laws when they acted to defend the constitution against President Zelaya's attempt to hold an illegal referendum to change the constitution."

This is false, and should be corrected. Zelaya intended to hold a non binding poll. It would not have changed any laws, regardless how people voted, much less the constitution.

The Honduran Supreme Court's decision to outlaw an opinion poll should be condemned by anyone who values democracy - especially when it provided a pretext for a coup and numerous human rights violations. That the Canadian government has not condemned this ruling, or blocked all military aid to Honduras, demonstrates that it does not value democracy.

Please note that any legal arguments cited by apologists for the Supreme Court ruling are irrelevant. A constitution that provides that shakiest legal justification for such an absurd ruling is a constitution in urgent need of reform.

Joe Emersberger

Say it ain't so, Joe

Much as we might find it extraordinary the Constitution of Honduras is different from our own. Much has been written explaining this and if you go a-Googling the Honduran Constitution, at least an abridged version citing key points, is available on-line.

The WSJ and the Christian Science Monitor have covered this.

"The Honduran Supreme Court, as it is empowered to do under the constitution, ordered the army to arrest Zelaya after he began to carry out a referendum for a constitutional convention that the court, Congress and his own attorney general said was illegal."

From a legal perspective Peter Kent is correct, as one can see if one reads their Constitution. We may not like this and we may wish to encourage the Hondurans to change it but that is not currently the issue at hand.

Nice Friends Peter Kent has

Peter Kent is NOT correct from any perspective: legal, moral or ethical.

In fact, he's doing everything he can, as is the Canadian government and the press, to ignore what's really going on in Honduras.

The cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, have been militarized. In San Pedro Sula, helicopters dropped tear gas canisters on the city and have arrested over 300 people.
The military has occupied centers in San Pedro that housed people participating in Tuesdays march. Lawyers are desperately working round the clock to secure the release of those detained. In Tegucigalpa, the Teachers University resembles a military base. Large numbers of people remain detained and missing.

The use of 1980's torture centers as detention sites raises concerns that people are being tortured. COMAL and COPINH report that members of their organizations are missing and fear they may be disappeared. Today our delegation is accompanying Honduran human rights workers to detention sites.

According to a preliminary report from lawyers assisting the National Front Against the Coup today, hundreds of people were wounded and more than forty people detained following violence occurring after a peaceful mass mobilization in the capital city on Tuesday. The group of lawyers is seeking the liberation of those arrested through Habeas Corpus. The leadership of the Front insists that the disturbances were carried out by people who were not part of the protest, but rather infiltrators interested in provoking confrontations and disparaging the peaceful protests that the Front has been mobilizing. The people detained are accused of rebellion, terrorism and treason among other crimes.

Alegría emphasizes that “The National Front Against the Coup is not responsible for these incidents. On principle the front supports peaceful marches, peaceful demands and peaceful mobilization. At no point do we use or call for violent acts. It appears that these incidents are the responsibility of groups interested in ruining the social mobilization and they have taken it upon themselves to provoke this situation for which we categorically deny any responsibility.”

Given what has taken place in the last 24 hours, Vía Campesina of Honduras calls out to the entire Vía Campesina network, social movements, as well as national and international human rights organizations to send messages or delegations in solidarity with the resistance against the coup and for the defence of human rights in Honduras, and to assist in bringing about an end to so much injustice and violence against the Honduran people.

The Universidad Pedagogica and the STIBYS [Brewery Workers's]union hall (a private building which has served as the organizing center for the Anti-Coup resistance front) have been taken by the military and large numbers of people are reported detained. Human rights organizations fear they are being tortured.

Conclusions

The issue at hand is quite simple - the legitimate government of Honduras has been overthrown by thugs - not very different in kind from what Pee Wee did to Canadian democracy last December - it's hardly a surprise he and Kent aren't too exercised about it.

The Honduran thugs—echoed by the mass media in the US (of which the WSJ and the Christian Science Monitor are but two examples—has equated this project with Zelaya attempting to change the constitution in order to overturn its limits on presidential terms and thereby hold onto the presidency. The vote—which was thwarted by the coup—was to ask voters whether they would favor a referendum on a constituent assembly being placed on the ballot in the November election to choose a new president. Zelaya is ineligible to run in this election, no matter what the results of a referendum held simultaneously with the presidential vote.

Sadly, not many commentators have the courage to tell the truth….

Some facts

As others in Canada have written:
"The following facts should be well known about this situation by now: (a) that the president of Honduras is constitutionally prohibited from even trying to exceed his or her term limits, and any president who attempts to change the relevant part of the constitution can be impeached immediately, (b) that Zelaya attempted to change the constitution anyways by organizing a referendum (something else that a president is constitutionally prohibited from doing), (c) that the court order to arrest Zelaya was confirmed 125-3 by the ELECTED legislature, and (d) that the army henceforth arrested the president, as it was legally obligated to do.

The order to remove Zelaya came from the Honduran Supreme Court, acting within its' legal parameters. The military was the proper choice to implement the orders, per their laws. The military is not in charge, it was not a coup. Following the law, the next person in line was sworn in, a civilian, a member of Zelaya's own party."

This does not call for yet another invasion from el norte.

What MSM?

If the report that Zalm has just posted here is anyway near accurate, one has to wonder how (or why?) the march has escaped the notice of the MSM????

Yep. Me 2. Or were you being a facetious as I am?

The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/rest-of-world/Ousted-leaders-backers-arrive-in-Honduran-capital/articleshow/4884289.cms

Die Spiegel
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,639791,00.html

Johannesburg - the Mail & Guardian
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-08-03-media-crackdown-in-honduras-worsens-says-activist

The Times
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1042671

England - The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/12/honduras-coup-democracy-barack-obama
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/12/honduras-us-media-latin-america
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/03/us-honduras-obama

Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/08/200981383655121590.html

Zalm

Thanks for that, Zalm. We see so much slagging of our Canadian MSM, that after a while it takes on the appearnce of meaningless propaganda. The review of sites you have just posted was needed to shake that notion.

I can't help thinking that if I was connected to our MSM, I'd be hanging my head in shame after even a glance at them.

How dispiriting it is to read about the muzzling of the press in Third World countries and then have the thought pop into one's head that who in hell are we to talk about OTHER cuntries? The only difference is that here it's voluntary.

Thank you for your effort in compiling that list

thanks, zalm

such interesting reading...
Honduras is a "banana republic" according to one of those articles, but that begs the question of how Canada might be described... where much of our media cannot even pretend to a cursory interest in events shaking the neighbouring hemisphere...

Peter Kent is wrong – court did not “protect” the constitution

Zelaya was attempting a non-binding vote – an opinion poll. It could not have changed the constitution as Kent claims when he wrote above that the Supreme Court “protected the constitution” by declaring the poll illegal. An article published by Inter Press Service explained this in considerable detail (;"Honduras: Coup d'Etat - What's In a Name?" by Diana Cariboni). It is the only article I’ve seen that revealed the question that Zelaya intended to ask the Honduran public.

"Do you agree that in the general elections of November 2009 a fourth ballot box should be installed to decide whether to convene a National Constitutional Assembly that would approve a political Constitution?"

[Aside: Countless articles and opinion pieces have falsely stated that the question was about term limits or a second term for Zelaya. Obviously, numerous journalists and pundits didn’t bother to look up the question.]

Even if the vote had been binding (and it wasn’t) and even if it had gone Zelaya’s way, it would not have changed the constitution or even convened a constitutional assembly. It would only have resulted in another question being put to the public at a later date.

Even some commentators who are very hostile to Zelaya – like Dan Rosenheck of the Economist – have acknowledged that Zelaya was attempting to conduct a non-binding poll. (See National Post “Everyone is wrong about Honduras” July 7,2009)

Does the Honduran constitution allow the Supreme Court to outlaw an opinion poll - in other words, to tell the public that they cannot even be asked a question about their own constitution?

A Spanish legal scholar, Francisco Palcios Romero, has studied the issue closely, and concluded that the Honduran constitution actually isn’t so bad that it justifies the Supreme Court ruling. However, we don’t need legal scholars to show us that the ruling was unbelievably odious and anti-democratic. All we need are a few simple facts and a genuine belief in democracy.

Zelay broke law - go to jail

No matter what somebody up here may think Zelaya was "attempting", a huge majority of the elected Honduran Congress thought otherwise. All the apologists for the old line communist and the neo-marxist far left can't deny that. The interim government has the law on their side - Kent knows that, Clinton knows that, Arias knows that.

The Colombian terrorist group FARC support Zelaya, with Zelaya and FARC up to their elbows in the drug trade:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574340570960456550.html

It's up to the lawyers

"Octavio Sanchez, a lawyer and constitutional expert in Honduras who agrees with Mr. Micheletti, explains the legal reasoning. Zelaya was pushing forward with an attempt to hold a nonbinding vote to consider a constituent assembly, which the Supreme Court declared illegal. Article 239 of the Constitution is the key. It prohibits presidents from running for reelection, and it states that whoever does so, or proposes to do so, must immediately vacate the office.

It is also worth noting that only referendums approved by a two-thirds vote of the Honduran Congress may be put to the voters. Far from approving Zelaya's proposal, Congress voted that it was illegal."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0721/p09s02-wogn.html

"The Honduran Constitution may be amended in any way except three. No amendment can ever change (1) the country's borders, (2) the rules that limit a president to a single four-year term and (3) the requirement that presidential administrations must "succeed one another" in a "republican form of government."

In addition, Article 239 specifically states that any president who so much as proposes the permissibility of reelection "shall cease forthwith" in his duties, and Article 4 provides that any "infraction" of the succession rules constitutes treason. The rules are so tight because these are terribly serious issues for Honduras, which lived under decades of military rule.

The attorney general filed suit and secured a court order halting the referendum. Zelaya then announced that the voting would go forward just the same, but it would be called an "opinion survey." The courts again ruled this illegal. Undeterred, Zelaya directed the head of the armed forces, Gen. Romeo Vasquez, to proceed with the "survey" -- and "fired" him when he declined. The Supreme Court ruled the firing illegal and ordered Vasquez reinstated."

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/10/opinion/oe-estrada10

It's all here, all 375 articles:
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Honduras/hond82.html

More useful info

Narco News: A pro-Coup newspaper in Honduras appears to be swtuching sides after military assaults its reporters

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3371/toppling-coup-part-v-resistance-cracks-oligarchy

RIghst Action Update on the ongoing repression in Honduras
http://canuckmediamonitor.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=183

A Critique of Canadain Media coverage by Yves Engler
http://yahyaottawa.blogspot.com/2009/08/canadian-medias-coverage-of-coup-in.html

Good one Here:

http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/

jnewcomb

So before you rant on about getting rid of drug dealers, find out who's using and go after them.