everyone's arriving in managua, i think

[click image, Zelaya supporter in Managua]

I have confirmation that Chávez and Correa have both arrived and been greeted by Ortega, but I only know that Zelaya has left for the airport in Costa Rica... no word on his arrival for the meeting yet. I just hate it when Latin American presidents get in planes. It's going to give me an ulcer. A bunch of them, including Zelaya, are due to be meeting tonight and in the morning, and everybody better damn well arrive safely....

Oh, thank you, Granma... yes! He's arrived safely.

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A word from Fidel a couple days ago:

I am halting for a moment the work on a historic episode that I have been writing for the last two weeks to express my solidarity with the constitutionally-elected president of Honduras, José Manuel Zelaya.

It was impressive to see him on Telesur, haranguing the people of Honduras. He energetically denounced the blatantly reactionary attempt to prevent an important popular referendum. That is the "democracy that imperialism defends. Zelaya has not committed the slightest violation of the law. He did not engage in any act of force. He is the president and commander-general of the Armed Forces of Honduras. What is happening there will be a test for the OAS and for the current United States administration.

Yesterday a meeting of the ALBA took place in Maracay, in the Venezuelan state of Aragua. The Latin American and Caribbean leaders who spoke there shone out both for their eloquence and for their dignity.

Today I was listening to the solid arguments of President Hugo Chávez, denouncing the coup action on Venezolana de Televisión.

We do not know what will happen tonight or tomorrow in Honduras, but the brave conduct of Zelaya will go down in history.

His words reminded us of the speech by President Salvador Allende as warplanes bombarded the Presidential Palace, where he heroically died on September 11, 1973. This time we were seeing another Latin American president entering an air base with his people to demand the ballots for a popular referendum, spuriously confiscated.

That is how a president and a commander-general acts.

The people of Honduras will never forget that gesture!

Funny how we have to think of men like Allende at times like this, isn't it?

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Neatly averted the President Ma problem, though....

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UN and OAS getting in on this action

On Tuesday the OAS General Assembly will hold a special session to address the issue and take whatever decisions it considers appropriate, in accordance with the Charter of the Organization of American States, international law, and the provisions of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

Country members of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas, ALBA meeting in Managua, Nicaragua also condemned the coup perpetrated in alliance with the “oligarchy and reactionary forces of Honduras”.

“We demand the immediate return to the rule of law and restitution of President Manuel Zelaya to his constitutional functions”, added the statement.

ALBA is made up of Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Antigua and Venezuela.

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Ann has some good links up....

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A little history and familiarization with the territory....

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Bloomberg manages an almost balanced accounting of things up to the minute.... As noted earlier, and of course you would know anyway, I revile Twinkle Toes' vapid pronouncements of "concern" where they don't belong, for one reason or another, and I'm suspicious of the weak little threat to maybe stop trading with Honduras, since we probably already own most of what's worth anything there, and can hardly escape intense suspicion in this matter, AND OUR MILITARY HAS MADE ITSELF ESPECIALLY COZY WITH THE HONDURAN MILITARY.

[Note the date. Note well the date. Then get back to me on what's "changed" since 20 January, okay?]

Goddammit, anyway, I'm going to bed rooting for ALBA... for dawn....