Having budgeted extra time for the killer hill on the same road, I arrived early to observe the rally and press conference at 3007 Tilden, the big "Intelsat" office building that houses the Honduran embassy. I'd written my ANN (and CNA/NNOC) activist friend Nestor in LA last night asking for Honduran contacts in DC, and within 20 minutes I was connected to all the right people (gracias, Nestor). So I sat down and waited. Feeling conspicuous (and not really knowing if that was a problem) I went and sat on a log in the adjacent park and wrote about the previous afternoon:

Yesterday, anxious for talk, I walked the block and a half to the Honduran restaurant/bar on Georgia. I walked in, hoping for a pollera, and found instead a blasting World Cup match projected onto a retractable screen covering the entire front section of the restaurant. The waitresses ranged in age from late teens to early 30s and all wore low-cut orange polo shirts and barely-there white denim minis. I remembered how my young friend Dulce Cristina (oops, just caught myself almost forgetting her pseudonym) had worked in Dallas (see "Give her an oxycontin!") at a restaurant where she had to wear an outfit like that and hated it. Due to the montón de machos mexicanos. The male workers didn't seem to have a uniform, or perhaps I was just so transfixed by the waitresses' clothes that I forgot to notice. I sat down at the bar with a bunch of guys, who transfixed by the screen, seemed indifferent to my presence.

My strategy in shambles, I found myself needing to order a drink without really wanting one. I also faced the challenge of having only ten dollars cash to my name, until my new credit union clears the hold on my account. "Ummm..." I stalled "agua con gas, por favor?" I repeated myself, figuring the male bartender (in Honduras they're usually women) couldn't hear me over the noise. "You want water?" he said, sounding annoyed. "Yes, please," I meekly responded. I quickly agreed to accept a menu. Luckily, among the $12 and $14 soup and meat dishes, there were $1.25 pupusas. Nervous about looking like too much of a cheapskate, I ordered two.

After a few minutes watching the game I asked the guy next to me "that's Honduras playing, right?" He said yes. "With everything going on today - and they're playing futbol?" He laughed. I rolled my eyes, recalling the countless people who died during hurricane Mitch because the tv stations didn't want to interrupt the big game with a hurricane warning.

The rally was supposed to happen at one, and the press conference at 2. When I finally reached the organizer at 2:15 or so, I discovered most of the ralliers had been at the White House and were now heading to the embassy at 3. In the meantime, based on conversation with the folks trickling in, I wrote down some information which may help clarify things (much of which is being reported elsewhere):

• CNN is reporting that all the emails they're receiving are in favor of the coup. Problem with that is, the masses of people against it don't have email access because (duh) this is a class war, and they're lucky if they even have electricity.
• There is an order of arrest against all the members of the Zelaya cabinet. They, as well as his family and close friends and associates, are in hiding in various embassies and private residences.
• Following today's meeting in Managua, SICA (El Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana) countries are recalling ambassadors, closing borders, cutting trade, and the EU is talking suspending economic treaties.
• The U.S. ambassador in Honduras is refusing to take Micheletti's calls.
• Roads to the capitol are blocked; this is significant because the majority of people who would want to protest are from the periphery.
• Institutionalized religion, both The Church and evangelical churches, has generally been on the side of money/the coup, although there have been notable exceptions of bishops and pastors who have taken the side of the popular organizations.
• Several Honduran ambassadors have really been risking their careers by speaking out in favor of Zelaya (of course he appointed them, but that doesn't guarantee loyalty). Among them are the ambassador to the Organization of American States and the UN ambassador. [the logical strategy for Micheletti et al would be to get pro-coup ambassadors to speak out in its favor in the exterior, but that's looking less likely to happen as the international condemnation grows]
• All non-sycophantic media in Honduras has been shut off, starting with the president's official channel and an independent channel that had been reporting favorably on the poll that was supposed to take place yesterday.
• **Here's the crux of the dispute**: Zelaya wanted to hold a vote yesterday (which allies are terming a "poll") asking citizens whether there should be a cuarta urna; 4th ballot box in the upcoming general elections in November. The first ballot box would be for the president, the second for the congress, the third for mayors, and the fourth (if approved) would ask simply whether a national assembly (made up of members of different "interest groups" including indigenous, peasant and other organizations) for revising and reforming the constitution should be constituted, sí o no. If the vote were yes, that would not mean that Mel could continue in office. It could mean that he could run again later, but only if that were one of the constitutional reforms that the assembly members voted for. Currently, the constitution has certain articles known as "articulos petrios", or articles written in stone. The constitution specifically states that it is unconstitutional to change any of these laws. **This is the "legal" basis on which the opponents of Zelaya justify the coup**. One of these articles states that a president may never run for reelection, and may only have a four year term in office. This policy is in large part an understandable attempt to prevent the return to the decades of prolonged military dictatorships (and ironically is the justification for the current incipient one). If voted in, the assembly itself (if I understand correctly) would not meet for another four years. This is strategic because whoever wins the upcoming election will be right wing. It's one of those tweedle-dee/tweedle-dum elections, and there's hope that in four years there may be a less reactionary candidate to oversee the assembly.
• In some parts of the country, including Liberal Party stronghold San Pedro Sula, the vote went on all day long with citizens voting in droves, even though everybody knew it wouldn't be counted.
• The vote was hugely popular among the poor, because it was seen as a "voice" for people who can't tweet CNN to express their outrage.
• Micheletti has called for a "gran dialogo nacional." This cracks me up, because it's exactly Maduro's words, and as it turns out, Mel's too. All of this great national dialoguing, and not a whole lot's getting resolved.
• Critics on the left have been calling for constitutional reforms for over two decades. One of the big problems is that independent candidates are prohibited from running, resulting in a pro-corporate, stale two-party system (remind you of anything?). Another thing some would like to see is a change from proportional representation to a system with electoral districts, in order to make representatives more accountable to local voters.
• Why, my interlocutors ask, were all the groups of power so afraid of a non-binding poll?
• Among Hondurans in particular (more than the Salvadorans and other lefties who were there) the sentiment seemed to echo my assessment yesterday (or rather, vice versa) that there's a lot that Zelaya can be criticized for, but none of that justifies his violent removal from power in a military coup d'etat. For them, it was more about standing up against the coup than standing up for Zelaya.

I haven't even begun the saga of the day, and it's long, but it's getting late and I'd like to post something. Keep tuned for more, and pictures.