The Honduran people defeat communist interventionists and win back their freedom and their democracy...

The Honduran people shouted with one clear firm voice, "Yes We Can." The huge and victorious outpouring of votes completely drowned out the international socialist interventionists from disrupting the democratic ideals of the freedom loving Honduran people.

The electoral win by the Honduran people has also been a huge defeat for the chavista/castrista ALBA acolytes who continue their banal and stupid rhetoric regarding dictatorship in Honduras; the only dictatorships in the Americans are the shameful 50 year dinasty of the Castro Bros. in the humiliated island of Cuba, and in Venezuela where Hugo Chavez dictates and decrees as if he owned the country.

I applaud the Honduran people for their character strength to stand up against the tsunami of socialists that included organizations such as the OAS and the UN. It's good to know that even Obama finally saw the light. Best wishes to the inspirational new and democratic elected government of Honduras and to the heroic people who made it possible.

Hundreds of students attack Nicaraguan communist dominated legislature...

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AFP) reported that hundreds of students lobbed homemade bombs at the Nicaraguan Congress to protest government plans to cut university funding, as pro-and anti-government demonstrators prepared to square off at the weekend in Managua.

The explosives caused only minor damage when they were thrown at the building that houses the Congress, said lawmaker Francisco Aguirre.

But Aguirre said that if they had been used in a street demonstration, which both the ruling party and opposition groups are planning for Saturday, "they certainly could kill a person."

Students on Tuesday marched to the legislature building to oppose government plans to cut funding for public universities as set out in the draft budget for 2010, said National Universities Council leader Telemaco Talavera.

Meanwhile, groups for and against President Daniel Ortega traded insults and claimed the right to demonstrate this weekend on the same stretch of road where thousands of people will square off with the likelihood of violence.

Pro-government groups said they will muster 100,000 people in support of the leftist president, while opposition leaders speak of "sinister plots" by authorities to arm their followers with rocks, clubs and bombs so they can use them against dissenters.

The tension has been building since the ruling Sandinista party's crushing win in mayoral elections a year ago, which the opposition charged were riddled with fraud, and a Supreme Court ruling last month that cleared the way for Ortega to seek reelection in 2011.

Sandinista union leader Gustavo Porras said everybody has the right to demonstrate, as long as it is clear that the opposition's "will be a march of thieves and corrupt people."

Opposition groups have complained to authorities for allowing the two demonstrations to take place Saturday at the same time and place, while business leaders have appealed to Ortega to personally ask that his followers change the timing of their march.

Pro-Nicaragua Movement official Violeta Granera told AFP that Porras' provocative comments were meant to intimidate anti-government demonstrators, adding that bus and truck drivers have been warned not to ferry people to the protest march.

"The government thinks it not only owns the streets but the whole country. We're going to march, which will be orderly and peaceful.

"We won't allow ourselves to fall into violence because we're not only after ending the (Ortega) dictatorship and rescue democracy, but also breaking the vicious circle of violence" gripping the country, she added.

Ortega led the 1979 Sandinista uprising that ousted the regime of US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza, after 45 years of oppressive rule.

International leftist interventionists fail to mention that Daniel Ortega, who served as president in Nicaragua from 1985-1990, fraudulently gained office again in 2006.

Communism is a failed ideology that the world has rejected, yet Latin America's frustrated geriatic revolutionaries are now using the democratic processes as a 'Trojan Horse' to gain political power and then undermine the democratic structures from within. We have seen this time and again in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Honduras (with the ousted Zelaya), Etc.

The people of Latin America have witnessed Chile and Honduras regain their freedom and ridding themselves of these opportunistic communist parasites .

Interventionist communist lobby against recognizing Honduras' elections...

The following is a copy of a letter sent to Dr. Arturo Valenzuela, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs by over fifty scholars and practitioners meddling in Central American affairs.


Dr. Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, United States Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520.

Dear Arturo:

As a group of scholars of Central America we ask that you seek to change the ill advised position taken by Mr. Thomas Shannon that would recognize the results of the Honduran election even though Pres Zelaya is not restored to office.

This sets a terrible precedent that undermines the wave of democratization that has swept the region because it in essence legitimizes a coup. It is at odds with the other Latin American nations. We ask also that the Department of State not fund election observation missions by the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, as announced by Senator Richard Lugar.

This would legitimize a patently illegitimate poll. The secretary general of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza, said he would not send observers to monitor the November 29th elections, while many of the OAS's member countries said they would not recognize the election winner unless Zelaya was reinstated. Will you push for reconsideration of the decision to send U.S. observers?

The issue is not whether technical election procedures are carried out, or if the ballots are counted accurately, but rather the effects on the election of the coup. Several candidates have withdrawn because they do not wish to legitimize an election sponsored by a coup government, including Carlos H. Reyes of the Independent Party and leader of the resistance movement against the coup.

It is highly unlikely that the forces behind the coup would have allowed him to take office were he to win. The broad-based national resistance movement has called for a total boycott of the elections and a number of candidates have withdrawn.

Press reports note that as many as 110 mayoral and 55 congressional candidates have withdrawn because they do not believe the elections will be free and fair.We are concerned that there appear to be powerful forces (beyond the individual efforts of Senator Jim DeMint) pushing the United States in the direction of acceptance of efforts to roll back the democratic gains in Latin America because of the election of some or all candidates of the left. Could you tell us if you perceive these rollback efforts as a threat and, if so, what your plans are to minimize them?Human rights violations continue.

The Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH) notes, in its second report since the coup, that the de facto government relies on:
“the use of excessive force on the part of military and police, control of the media and closure of media outlets that are not allies of the regime, use of paramilitaries to intimidate, threaten and kidnap those opposed to the coup, and the emission of illegal decrees that suspend the exercise of fundamental rights....

It is clear that a repressive apparatus is being mounted to intimidate and annihilate resistance to the coup. In the 115 days since the coup, thousands of human rights violations have been registered that reflect the evolution of state violence and the rupture of institutionality.”The United States should forcefully condemn these human rights violations. We ask that it announce that the U.S. will not fund observers to the Nov. 29 elections, and that it not recognize the election results, and that we will work with other members of the Inter-American community to resolve this crisis in a way that reflects democratic processes and respects human rights.

Sincerely,

Jack Spence, University of Massachusetts, Boston Aaron Schneider, Tulane University David Close, Memorial University of Newfoundland Marc Zimmerman, University of Houston Nora Hamilton, University of Southern CaliforniaFrancisco J. Barbosa, University of Colorado, BoulderKaren Kampwirth, Knox College Ellen Moodie, University of Illinois Gary Prevost, St. John's UniversityThomas W. Walker, Ohio University Irene B. Hodgson, Xavier University Julie Stewart, University of Utah, Salt Lake City Marc Edelman, Hunter College, CUNY Lisa Kowalchuk, University of Guelph, Ontario Sylvia Tesh, University of Arizona Eliza Willis, Grinnell College Lena Mortensen, University of Toronto Scarborough Abigail E. Adams, Central Connecticut State University Robin Maria DeLugan, University of California-Merced Susanne Jonas, University of California, Santa Cruz Mary Finley-Brook, University of Richmond Aviva Chomsky, Salem State College Mayo C. Toruño, California State University, San Bernardino Miguel Gonzalez, York University Richard Grossman, Northeastern Illinois University Carol A. Smith, University of California, Davis William S. Stewart, California State University, Chico Katherine Borland, The Ohio State University Hector Perla, University of California, Santa Cruz Jefferson Boyer, Appalachian State UniversityRose Spalding, De Paul University Bruce Calder, University of Illinois, ChicagoSheila R. Tully, San Francisco State UniversityLaDawn Haglund, Arizona State University Suyapa Portillo, Pomona College Arturo Arias, University of TexasLaura Enriquez, University of California, Berkeley Chris Chiappari, St. Olaf CollegeDana Frank, University of California, Santa CruzKatherine Hoyt, Nicaragua Network Gilbert G. Gonzalez, University of California, Irvine Celia Simonds, California State University Northridge Beatriz Cortez, California State University, Northridge Ana Patricia Rodriguez, University of Maryland, College Park Justin Wolfe, Tulane Univesrity Gloria Rudolf, University of Pittsburgh Elizabeth Dore, University of Southampton, UKRichard Stahler-Sholk, Eastern Michigan University Leisy Abrego, University of California, Irvine Craig Auchter, Butler University Bill Barnes, City College of San Francisco Linda J. Craft, North Park University, Chicago Lois Ann Lorentzen, University of San Francisco Juliana Martinez Franzoni, University of Costa Rica Breny Mendoza, California State University, Northridge.


Note: This cabal of "useful fools" conveniently omit any mention of the many socialist/communist human rights abuses and electoral fraud by Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, or the communist 50 year old dynasty of the Castro brothers in the humiliated island of Cuba. As a Central American, I can only say to these armchair communists, "Surrender your country, not mine." Central America, my land, my decision. "NO" to foreign interventionists.

Honduras gears up for elections, rebuffs the Chavista/Castrista communist acolyte Manuel "El Sombrerudo" Zelaya...

Less than a week away from the presidential elections scheduled for November 29, the people of Honduras have rejected deposed president Manuel Zelaya’s boycott calls.

Instead, they look to the coming elections as the solution to the crisis brought about by Zelaya’s defiance of the Supreme Court’s orders. Since his removal from office last June for violating the country’s constitution, Mr. Zelaya has conducted a campaign to return to power, with the active help of a group of left-wing Latin American rulers, and the acquiescence of a compliant Organization of American States and United Nations General Assembly.

The people of Honduras, however, have shown heroic determination in the face of international pressure. They have resisted the economic sanctions imposed against them and stood firm in defense of their constitution and democratic rights.

Shamefully, the international press has contributed to the suffering of the Honduran people by characterizing Zelaya’s Supreme Court sanctioned and National Congress decreed removal as a military coup d’état. While the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Press wire services routinely showed pictures of handfuls of Zelaya supporters protesting his removal, they never showed those of much larger – and peaceful – anti-Zelaya demonstrations.

Yesterday, as the campaigning period came to a close, all political parties held rallies. The accompanying photographs attest to the massive enthusiasm and support for the electoral process among Hondurans. According to the opinion polls, National Party Candidate, Porfirio Lobo, holds a double digit lead over Liberal Party candidate Elvin Santos.

When the history of this tumultuous year in Honduras politics is written, it will be said that Mel Zelaya made serious miscalculations. He assumed that his election as president constituted a vow of personal loyalty from the electorate that guaranteed public support for any initiative he might undertake. He misread the public mood and thought that his return to Honduras would cause a popular uprising and that he’d ride back to the Presidential House on the shoulders of his supporters. When he couldn’t muster more than a few thousand supporters at the height of his effort, he failed to see the futility of his attempts.

History will also record how a naïve and uninformed American president embarrassed himself by placing his efforts to appease our country’s Latin American left-wing detractors ahead of America’s – and democracy’s’ – interests.

But the most lasting and important lesson to be learned is how a small and poor nation gave the world an admirable example of courage. Pitted against incalculable odds, the people of Honduras remained firm in their defense of their country’s independence and its democratic institutions. They stood alone, but for their steadfast faith in God, and stared down the threats and demands from every powerful country in the world. With patience and dignity, they rebuffed the attacks and found the way to make reason prevail over hubris. Interim president Roberto Micheletti will never win a Nobel Peace Prize but, in the hearts of his countrymen and anyone who truly loves freedom, he deserves it.

Chile and Honduras have shown the way to oust communist parasites who want to usurp political power. It's better to be a lion for a single day that 100 days a sheep.

Why did the Nazis and so many others throughout history so brutally persecute Jews and other minority groups…

The Nazis thought that Jews (among the many groups that they persecuted) were "untermenschen" or sub-humans

They felt they would be improving the lot of the entire human race by killing all "untermenschen" in the same way a farmer might have to cull cattle that are sick or genetically inferior

Of course the Nazis were very, very, wrong to see themselves as better than others in this way, and to use that as justification to murder those they thought to be inferior

As a direct consequence of the horrors of WW2 the Geneva Convention was agreed by the world's civilized nations to prevent the same sort of atrocities from happening again

The way the Nazis treated the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto is IMO almost identical to the way the Israelis are currently treating the people in Gaza and the West bank

Therefore sadly it is clearly demonstrable that mankind is incapable of learning from its prior mistakes and atrocities, and we must remain alert that this behaviour never again happens.

As long as ‘greed’ is the dominant focal point of human nature, mans inhumanity toward man will simply continue to ‘be’….

Cuba's Raul Castro crushes dissent like his communist tyrant brother, Fidel...

Cuba's current communist dictator Raul Castro has kept the system his brother Fidel used to repress critics, refusing to free scores of people imprisoned years ago and jailing others for "dangerousness," Human Rights Watch said in a report issued on Wednesday.

The assessment came as President Barack Obama says he wants to "recast" ties with Cuba and Congress is considering lifting a ban on U.S. travel to the Communist-run island 90 miles from Florida.

Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his younger brother Raul in July, 2006 and formally stepped aside as president last year because of illness.

Raul Castro has relied in particular on a Cuban law that lets the state imprison people even before they commit a crime, Human Rights Watch said.

The group documented more than 40 cases under Raul Castro in which Cuba has imprisoned individuals for "dangerousness" because they sought to do things such as stage peaceful marches or organize independent labor unions.

In addition, 53 prisoners who were sentenced in a 2003 crackdown on dissidents under Fidel Castro are still in jail, the report by the global human rights monitor said.
Systematic repression has created a climate of fear among Cuban dissidents, and prison conditions are inhumane, said Human Rights Watch, whose researchers traveled to the island for two weeks during the summer for their report.

Jail is only one of the tactics used, it said. "Dissidents who try to express their views are often beaten, arbitrarily arrested, and subjected to public acts of repudiation."

In one recent well-publicized example, Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez said she was beaten this month by men she thinks were state security agents.

The independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights estimated this year that Cuba has 200 political prisoners. It says the government now favors brief detentions over long sentences because they intimidate without hurting Cuba's image abroad.

U.S. TRAVEL BAN QUESTIONED

In Congress, a key Democrat said the report showed the need to lift the U.S. travel ban on Cuba. That would be "the best anti-Castro-policy," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman told Reuters.

Americans visiting Cuba would be ambassadors of democratic values, thus undermining the Castro government, he said.

"I think the Castro regime likes our current policy. They are very nervous about us opening up travel to Cuba," Berman said. He is holding a hearing on the travel ban on Thursday.

But Florida Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American who was born in Havana, said it was important to retain the travel ban. U.S. tourists flooding to Cuba could mean "billions of dollars for the (Castro) regime," he said.

Human Rights Watch urged a multilateral approach to press the Cuban government to improve its rights record, focusing on the release of political prisoners, instead of seeking to change Cuba's one-party system through a unilateral embargo.

The United States has restricted trade and travel with Cuba since the 1960s in what started as a Cold War policy to isolate Fidel Castro after his 1959 revolution. But the U.S. embargo has lost international support, with only Israel and Palau backing the U.S. policy at the United Nations this year.

Since taking office in January, Obama has taken steps to ease the embargo as well as reopen dialogue with Havana. But he also has called on its government to reciprocate by freeing detained dissidents and improving human rights.

Human Rights Watch favors an end to the U.S. travel ban. It says Washington should also end its "failed embargo policy" that has won sympathy for the Castro government abroad.

But before lifting the embargo the United States should agree with allies in Europe and Latin America to jointly demand the immediate release of Cuban political prisoners, it said.

If Havana does not respond in six months, countries should impose joint punitive measures on Cuba, the report said.

The 50-year old Castro dinasty in Cuba is a desgrace for all of the Americas and no one should assist these crminals in any way whatsoever. Although his death is rumored on the Internet, Fidel is looking more and more like the cadaver we are all hoping for. The freedom loving people of the world need to keep the pressure on this evil regime. Let's show our solidarity with the humilliated Cuban people.

Revisionists attempting to omit and keep God out of America the beautiful...

MUST WE THE PEOPLE HIRE A MONUMENT ENGRAVER TO GO TO ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY AND ADD THE MISSING WORDS?

Today I went to visit the new World War II Memorial in Washington , DC. I got an unexpected history lesson. Because I'm a baby boomer, I was one of the youngest in the crowd. Most were the age of my parents, Veterans of 'the greatest war,' with their families. It was a beautiful day, and people were smiling and happy to be there. Hundreds of us milled around the memorial, reading the inspiring words of Eisenhower and Truman that are engraved there.

On the Pacific side of the memorial, a group of us gathered to read the words President Roosevelt used to announce the attack on Pearl Harbor:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941-- a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.

One elderly woman read the words aloud: 'With confidence in our armed forces, with the abounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph.'

But as she read, she was suddenly turned angry. 'Wait a minute,' she said, 'they left out the end of the quote. They left out the most important part. Roosevelt ended the message with 'so help us God.'

Her husband said, 'You are probably right. We're not supposed to say things like that now.'

'I know I'm right,' she insisted. 'I remember the speech.' The two looked dismayed,
shook their heads sadly and walked away.

Listening to their conversation, I thought to myself, 'Well, it has been over 50 years; she's probably forgotten.'

But she had not forgotten. She was right.

I went home and pulled out the book my book club is reading --- 'Flags of Our Fathers' by James Bradley. It's all about the battle at Iwo Jima.

I haven't gotten too far in the book. It's tough to read because it's a graphic description of the WWII battles in the Pacific.

But right there it was on page 58. Roosevelt's speech to the nation ends with, 'so help us God.'

The people who edited out that part of the speech when they engraved it on the memorial could have fooled me. I was born after the war! But they couldn't fool the people who were there. Roosevelt 's words are engraved on their hearts.

WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO EDIT AND CHANGE THE WORDS OF HISTORY?

There appears to be a group of slack jawed, limp wristed socialist politically correct cretins today who are trying to change the history of our beautiful America by leaving God out of i; but the truth is and remains, God has been a part of this nation since its beginning. He still wants to be... and He always will be because we the people want him to be!

Ousted Honduran socialist president blames US for his non reinstatement…

Ousted Honduran leftist turncoat President Manuel Zelaya accused the U.S. government Thursday of weakening and changing course in the conflict over the June 28 coup that saw soldiers hustle him out of the country on orders from the Honduran Supreme Court..

Washington has said it supports Zelaya's reinstatement, but a U.S.-brokered pact signed by Zelaya and the government in place since the coup sets no deadline for his return to office and hopes of reinstating the deposed leader before Nov. 29 presidential elections appeared to be dimming. Albeit, the US owns nothing to this chavista/castrista socialist.

U.S. officials "have suddenly declared they are going to wait for the elections because they changed their position midstream," Zelaya told Radio Globo. Zelaya has demanded he be reinstated before the vote.

"The United States weakened in the face of the dictator," Zelaya said, referring to interim President Roberto Micheletti. It is clear that the (leftist leaning) nations of the world, including the current US administration itself, advocated for Zelaya’s reinstatement and they condemned the so-called coup, but Honduras has help firm and not yielded to interventionist pressures and threats.

This week, the United States sent Craig Kelly, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, to Honduras to try to move along the U.S.-brokered pact, which calls for a unity government and for Congress to vote on whether to restore Zelaya.

Congressional leaders say they are waiting for an opinion from prosecutors and Honduras' Supreme Court, which ordered Zelaya's arrest for refusing to drop plans for a referendum on constitutional change that the court had ruled illegal. Key lawmakers have indicated there might not be a vote until after the elections. According to Honduras constitutional law, Zelaya should be tried for his crimes and abuse of power.

"There is an accord and we want it to advance because we think it is important for the country and the region. It's urgent and we have to advance," Kelly said Tuesday.

On Thursday, U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat from Illinois, said during a visit that "the (Honduran) congress needs to move forward quickly ... to reinstall Zelaya as president, and the democratic order needs to be restored."

Zelaya declared the agreement a failure last week when Micheletti announced the creation of a national unity government even though Zelaya had not proposed any candidates.

Micheletti on Thursday repeated a similar offer to resign if Zelaya agrees to seek asylum abroad and stop his political activity. Zelaya has been holed up at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa since sneaking back into Honduras despite the government's threat to arrest him.

Micheletti also said the government is investigating purported plans by unspecified Venezuelans and Nicaraguans to disrupt the elections. He did not give details.

Zelaya is urging the international leftist community not to recognize the outcome of the November election (the will of the people). Washington initially joined other Western Hemisphere countries in warning that they would not recognize the vote if Zelaya is not reinstated first.

But after brokering the pact, U.S. diplomats indicated Washington would support the elections, which had been scheduled before the coup, as long the deal was implemented.

Hondurans have continually insisted on, “Our country, our decision,” and reject any and all international meddling and intervention in the internal affair of their country and their national sovereignty.

Never again...

Eisenhower warned us...

It is a matter of history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.

He did this because he said in words to this effect:

'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.'

This week, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it 'offends' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred. It is not removed as yet. However, this is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. We need to keep alive the memory of the millions upon millions of individuals who were 'murdered, raped, burned, starved, beat, experimented on and humiliated' while the German people and the world looked the other way!

Now, with many voices claiming that the Holocaust was 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets mans inhumanity toward man.

The Fall of Mexico - Corruption and drugs

Poor Mexico. So far from God and so close to the United States.
—Porfirio Díaz, dictator of Mexico from 1876 to 1880 and 1884 to 1911

Those famous words came to mind when another man named Díaz offered me an equally concise observation about the realities of life in the country today: “In Mexico it is dangerous to speak the truth. It is even dangerous to know the truth.”

In the almost three years since President Felipe Calderón launched a war on drug cartels, border towns in Mexico have turned into halls of mirrors where no one knows who is on which side or what chance remark could get you murdered. Some 14,000 people have been killed in that time—the worst carnage since the Mexican Revolution—and part of the country is effectively under martial law. Is this evidence of a creeping coup by the military? A war between drug cartels? Between the president and his opposition? Or just collateral damage from the (U.S.-supported) war on drugs? Nobody knows: Mexico is where facts, like people, simply disappear.

The stakes for the U.S. are high, especially as the prospect of a failed state on our southern border begins to seem all too real.

His pockets bulging with petro dollars, Chavez's next target could very well be El Salvador's fledging new democracy...

Fidel Castro and Latin American communists learned a lot from Chilean President Salvador Allende's failed power grab in 1973.

And he used the lessons of that bitter defeat to coach Venezuela's Hugo Chávez to dictatorship under the guise of democracy more than 25 years later.

Now Latin America's revolutionaries may be experiencing another setback and this time they can't claim that a military coup removed their would-be dictator. Instead, former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was arrested by order of the Supreme Court and deposed by Congress. And despite enormous international pressure, the Honduran democracy has so far defended its rule of law.

Yet far from giving up, Castro protégés are already using what they learned in Tegucigalpa in El Salvador. Central America's most promising free-market democracy is now fighting for its life.

Allende got the boot from his military because he had been trampling the constitution. The Supreme Court, the Bar Association and the Medical Association all denounced his disregard for the rule of law. According to James R. Whelan, author of a history of Chile titled "Out of the Ashes," the lower house of its Congress passed a resolution on Aug. 22, 1973, that "said bluntly that it was the responsibility of the military . . . 'to put an immediate end' to lawlessness and 'channel government action along legal paths . . . .'"

Less than a month later, the military complied. The lesson from Chile for the hard left was that success depended on first getting control of the institutions with the power to check an aspiring tyrant.

Now the leadership of El Salvador's FMLN party, composed of many former terrorists and guerrillas, is attempting just that. It took some 20 years for the political party of the FMLN to get to the presidency and many Salvadorans distrust it because of its violent history. But FMLN candidate Mauricio Funes ran as a moderate, and the economy had suffered under former President Tony Saca of the center-right Arena Party. Disillusioned Salvadorans sought change in Funes…

Without Mauricio Funes, the FMLN had little to no chance of gained political power because of the people’s distrust of their violent and terrorist past. This group of recalcitrant and frustrated communists went so far as to threaten that if they did not win these elections, that they would burn the country.

It should be noted that a widening rift has developed in the ranks of the militant left due to the fact they thought Funes would be easily manipulated, but so far Mauricio Funes seems to be his own man and has chosen to remain the president of all Salvadorans.

Albeit, the people must remain alert and on guard during these fragile period in their fledging democracy, because at present only Mauricio Funes stands between the militant terrorist left and their life long dream of reaching power…

Conditions have gone from bad to worse, to overwhelming in tiny Central American republic...

Murders up 40 percent in El Salvador and the extreme left can no longer sit back, criticize and point their finger at the ARENA goverment

The number of murders in El Salvador between Jan 1 and Nov 1 stands at 3,673, which is 40 percent more than during the same period last year, media reports said, citing official statistics.
La Prensa Grafica a local newspaper in that country based the figure on data from the National Police, the Attorney General's Office and the medical examiner's office.

The number of murders, which average 13.9 per day, is 40.2 percent higher than the 2,620 homicides that were tallied during the same period in 2008. The National Police added that during last month alone there were 431 murders, 158 more than in October 2008.

Leftist government authorities are clearly overwhelmed and warn that nearly two-thirds of the 3,184 men killed this year were between the ages of 18 and 30. The San Salvador metropolitan area, which contains 14 municipalities, has had 419 more murders this year than during the same period last year. Seventy-six percent of the killings were carried out with firearms.

In the face of the increase in violence, 94 percent of the residents of Greater San Salvador supported the possibility of increasing the use of army troops for security tasks, according to a survey by the firm JBS Opinion released Tuesday by the Diario de Hoy newspaper. The poll was made public at a time when the government of President Mauricio Funes is evaluating the possibility of adding 6,500 soldiers to the effort to fight the lack of security.

The Salvadoran armed forces (FAES) had among its other constitutional duties, the mission to guarantee and maintain public order, until this was passed to the newly created National Civilian Police force that was organized as part the Peace Accords that ended the country's civil war in 1992. This apparently has turned out to be a big mistake as can be seen by the crime wave that has overwhelmed civilian police the government autorities.

It's becoming more and more apparent why the Army was made resonsible for maintaining public order in the cities and the rural areas. The Guardia Nacional was established in 1912 and fashioned along the lines of the Spanish Civil Guard and had maintained public order until it was decommissioned in 1992. The Salvadoran people, now victimized and feeling the sting of crime and mayham are living in terror and they cry out for the reinstatement of the Guardia Nacional of El Salvador.

One more example of why, "It's better to be right than politically correct"....

The more things seem to change, the more they remain the same....

The Communist Party of Spain joined with other left-wing groups using the name Popular Front and won the election of February 1936. The Spanish Fascists, called Falangists, challenged the Popular Front, which resulted in open violence. The Falangists planned a coup d’etat that involved two Spanish generals; however, the government discovered the plot and quickly reacted by discharging or prematurely retiring any officer whose loyalty was suspect. Other officers were assigned to posts outside the Spanish mainland. The latter included Generalisimo Francisco Franco Bahamonde, who was exiled to command the Canary Islands, off the west coast of Africa.

On July 18, 1936, garrisons rebelled all over Spain, and many Spanish generals joined the rebels, with the result that some of northern Spain fell to the insurgents.

After a long and bloody conflict where international brigades played important roles in the struggle between the politically opposite extreme factions, on March 27, 1939, white flags were finally seen flying over Madrid, and the city surrendered the following day. Generalisimo Franco declared the Spanish Civil War had ended on April 1, 1939 with the total defeat of the national and international communist hoards.

Populist Communist dictator, Hugo Chavez blowing his tin horn...

Chavez: Prepare for war with Colombia

Tensions between Venezuela and Colombia increased over the weekend as President Hugo Chavez urged his country to prepare for war. Chavez ordered 15,000 troops to the border last Thursday. "Let's not waste a day on our main aim: to prepare for war and to help the people prepare for war, because it is everyone's responsibility," Chavez went o9n to say on his weekly TV show. Such preparation is the "best way to avoid war," he said.

Chavez objects to a leasing agreement giving the U.S. military greater access to Colombian military, saying it could set the stage for a U.S. invasion of Venezuela. "Don't make a mistake, Mr. Obama, by ordering an attack against Venezuela by way of Colombia," Chavez said. A series of shooting along the border has also increased tensions in recent weeks.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is appealing to the United Nations and Organization of American States after Chavez's "threats of war."

Chavez has been pouring venzuelas national treasure down a rat hole purchasing Russan weapons that include modern fighter aircraft, helicopters and infantry small arms. It's clear that anything Chavez purchases from Russia only serves to bluster and intimidate his neighbors and it's about time that Colombia went in and kicked his ass once and for all. Chavez is precisely what's wrong in Latin America.

It's better to live one day as a lion, than 100 days as a sheep...

Blood alone moves the wheels of history.

Benito Mussolini, the Prime Minister of Italy in the 20th century, turned a dictator. He began in fields like labor, teaching, writing and journalism. The son of a blacksmith and a socialist after struggling for two decades to gain power ended up with Fascism. It was a doctrine rooted in staunch nationalism, instead of individualism. He rose to power rapidly. Supported by his Fascist fellows, alias 'Blackshirts Commandos', he ruled in Italy for two decades, providing stability and improving Italian economy. It was said that 'he made the trains run on time'.

The Il Duce (The Leader), as he declared himself, was comparatively less brutal than other European dictators. His inconsistency of thoughts, ambitions to build an Empire and vain efforts to change the history through blood revolution led him to militarization and wars. It not only ruined Italy but Mussolini too.He met an awful death. He was killed and his body desecrated by a rabid communist led mob. 'The Era of Fascism', as he called, ended with him. He led an enigmatic life, as some analyze him as a social genius while others criticized him a deranged dictator.

The jury of history is still out...

Ousted Honduran leader asks U.S. for explaination… As if we owed the Chavista clown anything..

Ousted Bolivarian socialist Chavista President Manuel Zelaya is asking the Obama Administration to explain why, after pressing for his reinstatement, U.S. officials say they will recognize upcoming Honduran elections even if he isn't returned to power first.

In a letter sent to the U.S. State Department on Wednesday, Zelaya asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "to clarify to the Honduran people if the position condemning the coup d'etat has been changed or modified."

His request came after Washington's top envoy to Latin America, Thomas Shannon, told CNN en Espanol that the U.S. will recognize the Nov. 29 elections even if the Honduran Congress decides against returning Zelaya to power.

"Both leaders took a risk and put their trust in Congress but at the end of the day the accord requires that both leaders accept its decision," Shannon said.

The U.S. has repeatedly pressed for Zelaya's reinstatement. President Obama was explicit in a speech this summer: "America supports now the restoration of the democratically elected President of Honduras."

But the U.S.-brokered deal between Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti's interim government leaves reinstatement in the hands of Congress.

Nonetheless, hours after shaking hands, Zelaya and others indicated a behind-the-scenes arrangement had been made with Congress to reinstate him.
"This signifies my return to power in the coming days, and peace for Honduras," he said.
His comments, and U.S. approval of the deal, left many believing Congress was ready to put him back in office.

"I think it was sort of assumed that there was a deal with Congress to reinstate him," said Dana Frank, a historian at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "But the U.S. negotiators may have underestimated the sheer nutso chaos of Honduran politics."

The leaders of Honduras' Congress said Tuesday they would consult the courts and prosecutors before deciding when to submit the measure to the full Congress for debate.

Juan Carlos Hidalgo, project coordinator for Latin America at Washington-based Cato Institute, said he doesn't expect Hondurans to be swayed by U.S. pressure.

"If Congress doesn't reinstate Zelaya, it certainly will be a diplomatic embarrassment for the United States since they pressured so much for his reinstatement and even threatened to not recognize the election results," said Hidalgo. "But not recognizing a popular vote was a dead-end road for the U.S. and they knew it."

This wanna be tin horn socialist dictator is simply an acolyte of Hugo Chavez and a fool. He was ousted because he was breaking constitutional law, and also because the Honduran nation stood up to international leftist intervention. If anything, Zelaya belongs in a Honduras jail.

Honduras: “Their country, their decision.”

Chevron Exec: Venezuela Relations All Business, No Politics...

Chevron Corp.’s (CVX) chief for Latin America and Africa says the company aims to keep business and politics separate as it views a possible multibillion dollar, decades-long investment to drill for oil in Venezuela.

In an interview Tuesday with Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of an oil conference, Ali Moshiri expressed few concerns about any of the political risks often attributed to Venezuela's populist-socialist leader and avowed enemy of the United States Hugo Chavez. "Our relationship with Venezuela is business-to-business," he said.

Yes, wasn't it chairman Mao Tse-tung who said that for a profit, "capitalist's greed was such that they'd sell the rope that would be used to hang them with." ...

Honduras, a giant that stood its ground against international interventionist threats of violence and intimidations...

Events in Honduras took a dramatic turn last week as an agreement was finally reached that could defuse the country's long-running political crisis. But defenders of the so-called coup in the United States will likely maintain the anti-leftist stance they have adopted since late June.

Ambassador Otto Reich perfectly captured the ideologically driven reality of fact that conservatives have insisted on since the ouster of Manuel Zelaya and his replacemente the interim president Roberto Micheletti. Reich vigorously defended Micheletti's assumption of power as the victory of the rule of law and a stand against Latin American leftists.

Although only a narrow segment of U.S. policymakers shares this view, he has consistently attacked the regional and international leftist consensus around the events of June 28 as well as the only appropriate and legal solution to the political crisis. Now, with the agreement on Zelaya's return awaiting the Honduran Congress's approval. Micheletti will very likely depict Zelaya's return as a necessary concession to another would be Hugo Chávez acolyte Zelaya who follows the steps of the like of Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega. The deal struck last week offers the possibility of a responsible, democratic exit from the four-month political crisis in Honduras and annuls the threats of violence as threatened by Hugo Chavez and Honduras' leftist leaning neighbors.

In recent months, U.S. conservatives have argued that Barack Obama's administration should recognize the Nov. 29 elections in Honduras as a way out of the political crisis. They made the case that in the democratic transitions that swept the hemisphere in the 1980s, the United States recognized elections held by previous authoritarian regimes to facilitate transitions to democracy; doing the same in Honduras, they contended, would offer a way out of a seemingly endless political deadlock.

Since the so-called coup, conservatives have called on the Obama administration to respect the rule of law in Honduras, which they say supports Micheletti's assumption of power. It is true that Zelaya abused his position and ran roughshod over democratic institutions in his bid to maintain power along the lines of the ALBA Bolivarian group financed by Hugo Chavez. It is also true that his return should be as part of a coalition government, in which his role is constrained.

Michelitti and the Honduran people stood firm against the international tsunami of threats of violence and they have heroically stood up to the interventionists with their cry of , “Our country, our decision.”

Honduras has come to the forefront of those opposing the Cuban and Venezuelan ALBA Bolivarian menacing communist cloud over Latin America. Thank God that there were true Jeffersonian patriots the U.S. who did not join the bandwagon of leftist fanatics condemning Honduran right to sovereignty and rule of constitutional law. Viva Honduras!

Clinton met with anger and frustration in Israel, Pakistan … An ongoing ordeal of suffering and untold of hardships…

Palestinians say Hillary Clinton is 'back-pedaling' after a comment in Israel Sunday, and her 'charm offensive' in Pakistan was dogged by persistent outbursts against US policy there.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to Israel and Pakistan this week in part put her stamp on two key areas of American foreign policy. Along the way, she is making a lot of people unhappy.

The Palestinian Authority Sunday accused the United States of "back-pedaling" after Secretary Clinton suggested that a full freeze of Israeli activity in settlement areas was no longer a precondition to the resumption of peace talks.

Clinton instead chose to laud Israel for making "unprecedented" concessions toward slowing the rate of expansion within Israeli settlements. The Palestinians have said that they would not return to the negotiating table until all settlement construction was halted – a position backed by the United States until Sunday.

"The negotiations are in a state of paralysis and the result of Israel's intransigence and America's back-peddling is that there is no hope of negotiations on the horizon," said Nabil Abu Rudeinah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

This comes on the heels of a contentious trip to Pakistan. Pakistanis had dubbed the three-day trip a "charm offensive" intended to address pervasive anti-American sentiment in Pakistan – born of the pervasive perception that America uses Pakistan only for its own strategic interests.

"We are turning the page on what has been for the past several years primarily a security, anti-terrorist agenda," she told the Associated Press before arriving in Pakistan.

When Clinton arrived, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi added: "This visit of yours will build bridges."

That did not appear to be the case. Instead, in two town halls, she and the Pakistanis questioning her appeared to talk mostly at cross-purposes.

She talked of America's sincere interest in bringing security and prosperity to Pakistan. They invariably grilled her about why the US is using drone aircraft to fire missiles at terrorist targets in tribal areas. The campaign has had some success – killing the leader of the Pakistani Taliban this summer – but Pakistanis say that hundreds civilians have been killed and that the strikes are a violation of national sovereignty.

"As a PR exercise and the creation of an illusion of debate and dialogue, Ms Clinton's recent visit was a triumph of style over content," wrote an English-language Pakistani daily newspaper. "Ms Clinton … was well briefed and had a lawyers way of answering questions that left you wondering if she had actually answered the question she was asked – or had answered a question she had asked herself unspoken."

Coming out of one town-hall meeting with Clinton, one assistant professor from the Fatima Jinnah Women's University in Rawalpindi told the Christian Science Monitor: "Frankly, it was a waste of my time. [Clinton] wasn't interested in hearing the about the layman's problems or the reality of our daily lives."

Curiously the comment that seemed to resonate most with Pakistanis was her disbelief at the fact that Pakistani leaders still don't know where Al Qaeda leaders are. "I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to," she told a group of newspaper editors during a meeting in Lahore.

Noting the exchange, The News said with a touch of admiration: "She occasionally gave a glimpse of the mailed fist inside the velvet glove."

With President Obama assigning special envoys to the Middle East and South Asia, the trip was seen partly as an effort by Clinton to bring her personal touch that might help progress in these areas, which has been slow. She finishes the trip with two days in Morocco, where she will meet with several Arab leaders.

One wonders if peaceful coexistence is even possible in this part of the world, we contribute but a snapshot in time of a struggle lasting many millennium.

Honduras standing firm and showing the way...

Throughout the Honduran crisis the international media has reported sporadic agreements between the two sides as if interim president Micheletti was really capable of making concessions without the Honduran congress and Supreme Court, and the ousted socialist ex president Zelaya was certain to get the OK from his mentor and sugar daddy, Hugo Chavez.

It’s obvious that is nothing happened to Zelaya when he was ousted from the country in the so-called coup de etat, that nothing would happen to him now if he walked out of the Brazilian embassy. Things happening now should be analyzed based on what happened before and notwithstanding the threats of violence by the militant left.

But, most media accounts have been devoid of analysis and have relied on banal rhetoric and sheer demagoguery since most don’t quite grasp what the underlying problem actually is.

The international media is quick to condemn Honduras and say nothing of the blatant electoral fraud the illicit enrichment of Daniel Ortega whom Nicaraguans now call, “the new Somoza.” The three factors that should be considered when analyzing developments in Honduras are: everything that has taken place in the last four months; a Fat Lady about to sing and several of her sisters waiting in the wings. If you will, the past, the present, and betting on what is likely to take place in the future. Albeit, the future portends the end of this silly Bolivarian alliance of acolytes who see Chavez not at the statesman he would like, but rather as a jackass loaded with his new found wealth of petrodollars.

Honduras has heroically held the line against international leftist interventionists who demanded the reinstatement of Zelaya. Hondurans cherish their freedom and their democracy and their patriotic shouts to the foreign meddlers was, “Our country, our decision.”

Was democracy and the rule of law served in Honduras...

FOUR MONTHS of political crisis in Honduras have apparently come to an end with the signing of an agreement by representatives of the outsted socialist President Manuel Zelaya and the head of the interim government, Roberto Micheletti.

The agreement, arising out of negotiations called the "Guaymuras Dialogue" that began in early October, stipulates the following:

-- Formation of a "Government of Unity and National Reconciliation," to be installed no later than November 5, comprised of "representatives of diverse political parties and social organizations."
-- Renunciation of the call for a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the constitution (Zelaya's organizing of an illegal advisory referendum on a constituent assembly was a motivation for the coup).
-- Support for the next general elections and a transfer of power on January 27, 2010 (the elections are currently scheduled for November 29, although the agreement does not specify a date).
-- Putting the armed forces under the control of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for a month before the elections.
-- Consideration by the National Congress, in consultation with the Supreme Court, of "the return of the title of the Executive Power to its state previous to June 28."
-- Formation of a Verification Commission, coordinated by the Organization of American States, to monitor compliance with the agreement, and a Truth Commission, to be organized by the next government, to investigate "acts that occurred before and after June 28."
-- Normalization of Honduras' international relations.

Undoubtedly the heroic struggle of the forces of freedom and democracy in Honduras against the unconstitutional acts by Zelaya has come to a mixed end. I personally salute the Honduran people for their firm stance against a powerful and seemingly worldwide leftist organized attempt to intimidate and force them to reinstate the ousted Chavista socialist Zelaya. The heroic response of the freedom loving democratic Honduras people to the pressure was admirable: “Our country, our decision.”

An agreement was only reached with the personal intervention of the U.S. government's representatives, Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon and Daniel Restrepo of the National Security Council. After months of delaying, the White House finally put serious pressure on the negotiations, and a deal was cut on October 29, the very first day that Restrepo and Shannon participated in meetings.

The resistance front encouraged and financed by Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian ALBA group has always insisted on Zelaya's return as a condition for accepting the national elections that had been scheduled for November, a position reiterated on October 30 by the resistance leader Juan Barahona. If the oligarchy wants a clear road to the elections, it will need to accept Zelaya. So even though Congress has a golpista majority, it is likely to reinstate Zelaya. Thus, Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, the National Party's presidential candidate, said, "We are willing to be cooperative in Congress with the agreement of the negotiators."

The agreement compels Zelaya to drop his illegal advocacy of a Constituent Assembly, but this does not apply to the militant leftist resistance. In fact, the Front's communique of October 30 threatened that "the National Constituent Assembly is an irrenouncable aspiration of the Honduran people and a nonnegotiable right for which we will continue fighting in the streets." Although Zelaya's enforced silence on the issue will not be helpful, it will be easy to explain--and it expires on January 27, 2010, when Zelaya becomes a private citizen again.

If Zelaya is reinstated and the state of siege lifted, a boycott of the election--which has been the position of the resistance so far--is probably not viable. A united left-wing presidential campaign by Carlos Reyes, president of the beverage workers union STIBYS, could advance agitation for the Constituent Assembly and help the resistance measure its popular support.

The violent leftist anti democratic resistance must avoid electoral illusions, though. The polls will represent the conservative countryside and tourism zones beyond their social weight, and there is no way an openly anti-democratic candidate will be allowed to win. The state -- both its elected shell and its bureaucratic core – constitutes a democratic ideology that remains under the control of the freedom loving people, so extra-parliamentary action could be the primary strategy to protect democratic values and institutions against the threats of violence by the pro Cuban/Chávez instigators.

All that said, the restoration of Zelaya remains likely -- although the violent left argues that Zelaya certainly erred in accepting an agreement lined with so many potential traps for their agenda of becoming one more scalp on the belt of Hugo Chávez and his ALBA acolytes.

Battle over face veil brewing in Egypt...

CAIRO (Reuters) – Rokaya Mohamed, an elementary school teacher, would rather die than take off her face veil, or niqab, thrusting her to the forefront of a battle by government-backed clerics to limit Islamism in Egypt.

Egypt's state-run religious establishment wants teachers like Mohamed to remove their veils in front of female students, sparking a backlash by Islamists who say women should be able to choose to cover their faces in line with their Islamic faith.

"I have put on the niqab because it is a Sunna (a tradition of the Muslim prophet Muhammad). It is something that brings me closer to religion and closer to the wives of the Prophet who used to wear it," she said.

"I know what makes God and his prophet love me, and no sheikh is going to convince me otherwise. I would rather die than take it off, even inside class," she added.

Egypt, the birthplace of al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri, fought a low-level Islamist insurgency in the 1990s, has faced sporadic militant attacks targeting tourists since then, and is keen to quell Islamist opposition ahead of parliamentary elections next year and a 2011 presidential vote.

The spread of the niqab, associated with the strictest interpretations of Islam, is a potent reminder to the government of the political threat posed by any Islamist resurgence emanating from the Gulf, where many young Egyptians go to work.

Controversy over the niqab flared last month after the state-appointed head of Egypt's al-Azhar mosque asked a young student to remove her face veil during a visit to her school.

Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi later issued a religious edict or fatwa barring women and girls from wearing the niqab in all-girl Azhari schools, saying there was no reason for girls to cover their faces amongst themselves.

An Azhari research center later backed the ruling, saying the face veil should be removed when a girl is in an all-female class with women teachers, in all-female exam rooms, and in all-female dormitories.

Egyptian state-run media have also called for women to show their faces, citing the "damaging" effects of niqab on society.

GULF INFLUENCE

While a majority of Egyptian women and girls consider it an Islamic religious obligation to cover their hair and neck with a scarf, few Muslim scholars say the full face veil is mandatory.

Yet growing numbers of Egyptian women are abandoning the simple headscarf in favor of the niqab, analysts say, reflecting the growing sway of strict Saudi-based Wahhabi ideology on an already conservative and Islamized society.

"It increased mainly because of the major influence from the Gulf. This habit is not from the heart of Egyptian society. It is imported from the Gulf," political analyst Hala Mustafa said.

"(Extremism) has been increasing in Egyptian society for the past 30 years and therefore Egyptians are accepting more extremism and becoming more closed off," she said.

Egypt, unlike other Muslim states Saudi Arabia and Iran, does not require women to cover their heads with a scarf. But the millions of Egyptians who have lived or worked in Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia are believed to be a source for the spread of Wahhabi ideology.

Just 30 years ago, women attended Egypt's flagship Cairo University wearing miniskirts and sleeveless tops. They strolled along the beaches of Alexandria in skimpy swimsuits at a time when society was seemingly more liberal and tolerant.

Analysts say the headscarf, or hijab, was seen as a status indicator and was prevalent among lower-income classes. Women from upper and middle classes rarely veiled at a young age and those who did usually followed fashionable interpretations of hijab. The niqab was uncommon at that time.

NIQAB MORE PREVALENT

But the niqab has become more prevalent. Women in flowing black robes are a common sight strolling through Egypt's fanciest shopping malls and five-star hotels, as well as in shanties.

Analysts say challenging the stricter interpretations of Islam could be a long journey that requires, in particular, introducing reforms on an educational system that has allowed women in niqab to teach small children.

"These decisions have to be accompanied with ideological procedures and requires challenging the ideology so there will be moderate ideology," Mustafa said.

Egyptian courts have a history of ruling in favor of women wearing niqab inside universities. In 2007, a court ruled that the American University in Cairo, seen as a bastion of Western liberal education in Egypt, was wrong to bar a female scholar who wears niqab from using its facilities. The court cited personal and religious freedom as grounds for its ruling.

Ordinary Egyptians on the streets of Cairo have conflicting feelings regarding the niqab. Some say it should be banned on security grounds because it can be used by criminals to disguise themselves and escape police searches.

Others hail it as the right way to fulfill religious duties or as the best way to protect women from sexual harassment, although a recent study showed veiling had little effect on harassment rates in Egypt.

"When a man cannot see a woman, then what is he going to harass her for? Nothing," said Abu Donya, a taxi driver, whose views are shared by many Egyptians. "So imagine if all women wear niqab, things would be better," he said.

There’s no right an no wrong here; when in Rome do as the Romans do. Pay your taxes and don't rock the boat and all will be well with you.

El Salvador - Collapse of a society and the rise of delincuency...

Almost two decades have passed since Central America's civil wars ended, but authorities in those countries are now fighting a new enemy: street gangs and wide spread delinquency and carnage that is terrorizing and victimizing the populace.


Meanwhile, the U.S. is now routinely deporting Latino gang members back to their native homelands where authorities as in El Salvador and Honduras have launched an all-out war, cracking down hard on the gangs (mareros). Many young people have been caught-up in routine mass police sweeps, and it is widely feared that as the government is in fact losing control over the rising gang related crime wave, and that vigilante self-defense groups may arise and target those associated with gangs as has been the case in Brazil’s notorious "City of God" slum, where even police fear to tread.


It is thought that gang violence in Central America is fed by many factors, including: dysfunctional families, family dislocation caused by war with the inevitable consequence of internal displacement and a huge population of refugees that left their countries never to return; a harsh economic environment with persistent unemployment that has caused millions of people to leave their countries, heading north to the United States in search of work and a paycheck to help their families survive back home (in many of these countries, the so-called "remesas familiares" - money send home from those working abroad) has become the principle source of foreign currency in the country; and, as fuel for the fire, new U.S. immigration policies that have brought about the deportation from the U.S. of hundreds of thousands of "criminal aliens" who have overwhelmed the legal systems of Central American and other impoverished countries.


In many cases, the deportees came to the U.S. with their families when they were babies or young children and know nothing of the countries from which they came. They are sent back to an experience of profound alienation, isolation, and loneliness, often turning to gangs for protection or even a sense of family. It is estimated that there could be up to 60,000 gang members throughout El Salvador itself, a Massachusetts size country where the murder rate exceeds 16 homicides per day, and where extortion, muggings, drug trafficking, institutionalized corruption and the inability of an overwhelmed government to protect its citizens and guarantee the rule of law and order has created a generalized condition of mayhem and desperation among the terrorized population.-