http://quotha.net/node/1848
Two years since the coup; Nothing to celebrate
Tue, 06/28/2011 - 20:33 AP
A short post for now, several more pending. Today, along with a group of
about 500 people (COPINH, OFRANEH, Misquito activists, Feminists in
Resistance, Artists in Resistance, a human rights delegation from AFGJ,
Padre Fausto Milla, numerous national and international journalists, and
others) I marched half the length of the side of Palmerola facing the
highway, around 7km. About half way, the police went crazy when a few youths
starting walking near a wall. Their violent unused weapon: a can of spray
paint. They started attacking one of them with their batons, and drew their
guns, pointing them menacingly at Pascuala, the Lenca *Anciana en
Resistencia*, and many others. With no notice, the whole area was filled
with teargas. It filled my throat (I already have strep, and had been on my
way to recovering) and I ran as fast as I could, crying, to a house on the
side of the road. A woman came out with a big container of water and a metal
bowl, splashing those of us who made it there so the effects would go away.
*Ya saben*, she said, *¡estamos con ustedes!* It was miserable, I couldn't
stop cryingI couldn't tell if it was from indignation or the burning. In
the chaos I lost my camera, with all the pictures from the last several
days. The pictures are a much greater loss than the camera.
Luckily, the police surprised even themselves with their violence. They
weren't wearing masks when they set off the teargas canisters, so everyone
ended up scattering in all directions, and the various youths who had gotten
beaten trying to help the first victim all escaped back into the crowd,
where they were protected. Despite their wounds, they seemed energized by
the escape, and jumped up and down making ape noises (mocking the brute
force of the police and army, who are frequently caricatured as gorillas).
When we arrived at the base entrance itself, we were met by over a hundred
police and soldiers, all Honduran. It was a PR decision to maintain the
fiction of Palmerola being Honduran sovereign territory, belied by all the
traffic signs in English (and the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, of
U.S. troops are stationed there, and U.S. taxpayers are funding new
permanent barracks to be built for the DoD to the tune of 20 million
dollars). When the AFGJ delegation asked to enter the base, they were
informed by the Honduran military man in charge that no such base existed.
He just didn't know what they were talking about. (*¿Donde está la
base?*asked Félix Molina.
*Pues no sé*, the commander responded) It was the height of absurdity.
Three days ago, on the plane from Houston, I sat next to a soldier based at
Palmerola. He worked in the fire brigade, and had requested to be stationed
in Honduras because he had a daughter whom he seemed quite fond of, by a
Honduran woman from Comayagua for whom he had nothing but contempt. He told
me he'd been stationed in Japan, and Afghanistanmuch heavier than Honduras,
lots more fires to put out (literally).
I think I brought up Osama bin Laden, although it may have been him. He said
"I wanted to catch Osama for that 10 billion dollar reward but then the guys
who caught him didn't get it anyway because they were army and we can't get
rewards." I said, well, at least you'd get the glory, but he corrected me.
They didn't release the names of the guys who caught him, for their own
protection. How sad, I said. Not even that.
I asked him if his firefighting was limited to the base, and he said that
mostly it was, but there wasn't much to do. The regs were so strictno open
fires, no charcoal. Once in a while during dry season someone's cigarette
butt would set some brush on fire, but other than that nothing much to do
during the days. I asked if they ever helped the local community with it's
fires. He said "They're calling on us a lot from town. if it's factory or
something we might go in if it's good PR, but if it's a house, we say 'let
it burn.' A few months ago there was a huge fire on the mountain nearby. We
let it burn for four days- what did we care? They were calling and calling
us, but it was just brush. There was nothing in it for us." I asked why they
cared so muchhad there been people living up there? "I dunno."
He told me that no visitors were allowed on base, unless maybe I (as a
gringa) had some direct connection. He said "There's no other base in the
world where you can't sign people on" [not true, incidentally, but it
certainly is stricter than most]. He lamented the rule, which had been in
place since last year, when according to him a Honduran general ("It's our
base but they're in charge" he said, well-trained in the PR) decided no one
could come in. The girls from town used to be able to come to the base club,
he told me. But now it's totally boring. "That sucks," I said, doing my best
to empathize. He was a nice guy, after all. Just a soldier.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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