Honduras is known for being a violent country, with one of the highest murder rates in the world. I try to complicate this taken-for-granted understanding in my work by examining structural forms of violence rather than repeating the neoliberal Giuliani-informed narrative of citizen-based insecurity.

I am no fan of any elected party or official anywhere, and have often portrayed Honduras' newly deposed president, Manuel Zelaya, as something of a fool. But what has happened today is a sad reflection of the violence of the powerful in that country against the impoverished majority. And although Obama has rightfully denounced the coup, U.S. trade & drug policy and military aid, and the restructuring demands of the IMF and World Bank bear significant responsibility for the vast inequities and violence in Honduras today.

What is particularly interesting is the creative resistance, even on the cusp of another military dictatorship. Hondurans have been symbolically voting in public, a rejection of the usurpation of their electoral democracy. Honduran Facebook members and Twitterers have been posting non-stop, and the online debates are heated, as they should be. Hondurans need our support. This isn't about whether you think Chavez's Venezuela is a good model (and for the record, I don't). This is about whether you think a corporate-sponsored military backed by an illegitimate legal system (I know, I know- is there ever a legitimate one? I'm just saying) has the right to violently oust an elected representative because he is threatening to act democratically.