The Marentes Network
The Military Coup in Honduras - Part II
A US TRAINED GENERAL WITH A CRIMINAL PAST
The coup plotters. At the extreme right (middle) is general Romeo Vásquez.
THE LEADING executor of the coup, general Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez, is a two-time graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas. In fact, some of the other military coup accomplices of General Vásquez, like general Luis Javier Prince Suazo, also received American training in the same school, which is internationally known as the breeding place of the worst military torturers and dictators of Latin America.
General Vásquez, who has the ambition of becoming president, has a criminal record. During the early 90's, he was the leader, along with colonel Wilfredo Leva Cabrera, of a gang of car thieves called “La Banda de los 13” (The Band of the 13). He was arrested and put in jail. He was a major then. After his release he continued his criminal career until he got closer to the political elite. The relationship with the ruling class was more profitable and allowed him to climb from an obscure military member involved in illegal activities to a general and eventually to Minister of Defense.
The military coup included the assassination of Manuel Zelaya. Specific orders were issued by the perpetrators of the coup and their collaborators. But the executor of the coup, general Romeo Vásquez, instead decided to abduct the president and take him to Costa Rica.
A day later of the coup, general Vásquez called Zelaya and told him: “You should be grateful... These group of politicians and some other sectors who are against you wanted you eliminated but I was opposed. I told them that I would take you out of the country... I did it to save you...”
Although the military happily carried out the coup, in reality, the coup was organized by the oligarchy of Honduras which is composed by 10 families who control transportation, radio and television, communications, real state, pharmaceuticals, American fast food franchises, etcetera, and the natural resources (like mining) as well as many sectors of the infrastructure that serve foreign corporations. This privileged class is connected with the largest sector of the economy and the largest employer of labor: The maquiladoras.
THE MAQUILADORA REPUBLIC
Maquiladora workers, mainly young girls, earn about $20 a week.
Honduras is nothing more than a maquiladora country. The maquiladoras provide jobs to at least 130,000 workers, therefore this industry is very important for the national economy. The boom of the maquiladora industry started in the 1980's with the creation of the Free Trade Zones. The approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2004, was intended to fully bring Honduras into the neoliberal market economy and to a new era of prosperity. But the opposite happened, at least for the majority of the people.
Despite the maquiladora expansion and CAFTA, Honduras continue to be the poorest country in the hemisphere. With a population of 7 million people, the average income is only $1,190 dollars a year. The maquila laborers, mainly young women from the rural areas, work long and tedious shifts for a salary that only allow them to take care of the most basic necessities. The low wages are not the only problem they face. In the maquilas they suffer accidents due to the intensity of the operation as well as illnesses due to the use of chemicals and unhealthy conditions in the workplace.
The maquila industry have been successful in stopping any serious organizing attempts and struggles by the workers to change the salaries and the workings conditions they face every day. The government has been always ready to violently repress the workers to protect the industry. The maquiladora is the “Sacred Cow” of the Honduran economy and therefore is untouchable.
If you wear sport clothes or tennis shoes, socks, t-shirts or even if you use underwear, you will find that all are made in Honduras. Adidas, Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, Nike, Russell, you name it, all are produced by young workers, mainly female workers, who earn about $80 dollars a month under very oppressive working conditions. You will find all these products in J.C. Penney, Gap, K-Mart, Macy's, and other popular stores.
The maquiladora activity benefits the oligarchy tremendously, because the corporations pay rent for buildings, industrial parks, communications, transportation, raw material and for all services needed to support the maquiladora system. While the oligarchy members enjoy the prosperity of the maquiladoras, the State only gets about 25 per cent of their income. But since the State is responsible for creating the infrastructure (paved roads, land, sewage, garbage collection, water system, security, etc.) to support the “maquiladora” the gain is non-existent. Additionally, when the maquiladora leaves, the State has to deal with the contamination and pollution generated by the operation of the maquiladora.
When president Zelaya decided to raise the minimum wage 60 per cent, just to allow working people to earn enough to eat, the maquiladora sector and its partners, the oligarchy, got very upset. At that moment, they decided that the president was no longer serving their profit-making interests.
The so-called Apparel Trade Group, representative of such corporations like Rusell, Fruit of the Loom , and Hanes, played a significant role in advocating and supporting the military coup. But foreign corporations did not get involved directly in the coup, they had the Honduran oligarchy to do the dirty job.
In order to facilitate the military coup, the oligarchy and the corporations raised the funds needed to lubricate the military coup machinery. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tegucigalpa, circulated a letter to its members asking for individual contributions of $1,000, $2,000, and $3,000 “US dollars” as “urgent action” to “support the defense of democracy and the social and economic liberties.” The letter, signed by Aline Flores, president of the chamber and member of the powerful Flores Facusé family, stated: “This is the moment to defend our country and the gains of our personal efforts to create jobs for our employees, for that reason we appeal to the higher patriotic ideal: your love for Honduras...”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
THE LEADING executor of the coup, general Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez, is a two-time graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas. In fact, some of the other military coup accomplices of General Vásquez, like general Luis Javier Prince Suazo, also received American training in the same school, which is internationally known as the breeding place of the worst military torturers and dictators of Latin America.
General Vásquez, who has the ambition of becoming president, has a criminal record. During the early 90's, he was the leader, along with colonel Wilfredo Leva Cabrera, of a gang of car thieves called “La Banda de los 13” (The Band of the 13). He was arrested and put in jail. He was a major then. After his release he continued his criminal career until he got closer to the political elite. The relationship with the ruling class was more profitable and allowed him to climb from an obscure military member involved in illegal activities to a general and eventually to Minister of Defense.
The military coup included the assassination of Manuel Zelaya. Specific orders were issued by the perpetrators of the coup and their collaborators. But the executor of the coup, general Romeo Vásquez, instead decided to abduct the president and take him to Costa Rica.
A day later of the coup, general Vásquez called Zelaya and told him: “You should be grateful... These group of politicians and some other sectors who are against you wanted you eliminated but I was opposed. I told them that I would take you out of the country... I did it to save you...”
Although the military happily carried out the coup, in reality, the coup was organized by the oligarchy of Honduras which is composed by 10 families who control transportation, radio and television, communications, real state, pharmaceuticals, American fast food franchises, etcetera, and the natural resources (like mining) as well as many sectors of the infrastructure that serve foreign corporations. This privileged class is connected with the largest sector of the economy and the largest employer of labor: The maquiladoras.
THE MAQUILADORA REPUBLIC
Honduras is nothing more than a maquiladora country. The maquiladoras provide jobs to at least 130,000 workers, therefore this industry is very important for the national economy. The boom of the maquiladora industry started in the 1980's with the creation of the Free Trade Zones. The approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2004, was intended to fully bring Honduras into the neoliberal market economy and to a new era of prosperity. But the opposite happened, at least for the majority of the people.
Despite the maquiladora expansion and CAFTA, Honduras continue to be the poorest country in the hemisphere. With a population of 7 million people, the average income is only $1,190 dollars a year. The maquila laborers, mainly young women from the rural areas, work long and tedious shifts for a salary that only allow them to take care of the most basic necessities. The low wages are not the only problem they face. In the maquilas they suffer accidents due to the intensity of the operation as well as illnesses due to the use of chemicals and unhealthy conditions in the workplace.
The maquila industry have been successful in stopping any serious organizing attempts and struggles by the workers to change the salaries and the workings conditions they face every day. The government has been always ready to violently repress the workers to protect the industry. The maquiladora is the “Sacred Cow” of the Honduran economy and therefore is untouchable.
If you wear sport clothes or tennis shoes, socks, t-shirts or even if you use underwear, you will find that all are made in Honduras. Adidas, Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, Nike, Russell, you name it, all are produced by young workers, mainly female workers, who earn about $80 dollars a month under very oppressive working conditions. You will find all these products in J.C. Penney, Gap, K-Mart, Macy's, and other popular stores.
The maquiladora activity benefits the oligarchy tremendously, because the corporations pay rent for buildings, industrial parks, communications, transportation, raw material and for all services needed to support the maquiladora system. While the oligarchy members enjoy the prosperity of the maquiladoras, the State only gets about 25 per cent of their income. But since the State is responsible for creating the infrastructure (paved roads, land, sewage, garbage collection, water system, security, etc.) to support the “maquiladora” the gain is non-existent. Additionally, when the maquiladora leaves, the State has to deal with the contamination and pollution generated by the operation of the maquiladora.
When president Zelaya decided to raise the minimum wage 60 per cent, just to allow working people to earn enough to eat, the maquiladora sector and its partners, the oligarchy, got very upset. At that moment, they decided that the president was no longer serving their profit-making interests.
The so-called Apparel Trade Group, representative of such corporations like Rusell, Fruit of the Loom , and Hanes, played a significant role in advocating and supporting the military coup. But foreign corporations did not get involved directly in the coup, they had the Honduran oligarchy to do the dirty job.
In order to facilitate the military coup, the oligarchy and the corporations raised the funds needed to lubricate the military coup machinery. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tegucigalpa, circulated a letter to its members asking for individual contributions of $1,000, $2,000, and $3,000 “US dollars” as “urgent action” to “support the defense of democracy and the social and economic liberties.” The letter, signed by Aline Flores, president of the chamber and member of the powerful Flores Facusé family, stated: “This is the moment to defend our country and the gains of our personal efforts to create jobs for our employees, for that reason we appeal to the higher patriotic ideal: your love for Honduras...”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Tags: coup, exploitation, general, honduras, maquiladora, military, vasquez, workers, zelaya
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