I had been considering going to Honduras myself to try to parse this all out for myself, and of course, in solidarity. But I also am wary of engaging in disaster tourism or cultivating a savior complex. Luckily, other intrepid reporters have no such qualms--thank goodness for MB (and I don't mean the Muslim Brotherhood, if you're wondering). So I'll continue writing from here. And for "real" reporting, please see the links recommended in my earlier post.

**Short pre-fieldnote analysis break: What I hope you glean from this, dear reader, although I do not break it down at length here, is that things are even more complex than they might seem. People, here and in Honduras, are protesting the coup for all sorts of often contradictory reasons. While there are a few 1980s socialists and Chavez-lovers in the mix, many many Hondurans are not protesting for Zelaya but rather against the military coup. Many of the protesters don't even like Zelaya all that much, as with the AMLO protests after Calderón stole the Mexican election. Both sides rely on the rhetoric of legality as a basis of their argument, confusing (as is all too common everywhere) legality with morality. Both sides tend to posit the constitution as sacred, even though one side is generally in favor of changing it. The language involved is highly volatile, and by calling the military removal of Zelaya a coup I am necessarily positioning myself in the camp of those who oppose it, since those in favor argue it was a legal process (which indeed they made it by declaring it so). It's worth reiterating that pro and con fall clearly along class lines--and class lines are pretty clear in Honduras. By the same token it's worth reiterating (see earlier posts) that media claims of pro-coup popular opinion based on email or internet presence are highly skewed, since the majority of the country lacks internet access. Similarly complex is the lineup- just about every government in the world (including that most directly responsible for violence in general in Honduras and this coup in particular, the U.S.), along with the OAS, the UN, rumor has it the IMF(!), and other institutions have isolated the Micheletti government. Still, Obama/Clinton have not called for Zelaya's reinstatement, but rather have issued vague platitudes about democratic process, leaving the path open for working with Micheletti (slap on the wrist). And what does it mean that (to use the worn euphemism for you-know-who) masked, teargassed, rocked-throwing protesters in Tegucigalpa are aligned with the IMF(!?) on this one? It certainly doesn't mean that once this "crisis" settles down or in, we can all be friends. Neither option being presented in the media will bring anything resembling democracy. As it stands, Zelaya is supposed to return Thursday (as I write at 4:22am Wednesday, tomorrow) to Honduras. For some--including nearly the entire legislature, the military and judiciary--he will return a criminal; for others he will return a hero; for the majority, Zelaya is beside the point--the basic structures of violence in the society if anything will have been strengthened. Still, the uprising occurring in Honduras despite a near-total media blockout, extreme military violence and blockades preventing free motion in and out of the capitol opens new possibilities for change and new sites for much-needed global solidarity in which I hope everyone reading this blog will take part.**

There's too much for me to write all at once, so I'm going to go out of order and do today's fieldnotes first. Yesterday's? Yesterday's news. I will get to them soon, insha'alla.

I went to the Washington monument (el aguja, as it's known in Spanish) at 4, as directed by Mario's email this morning. It's a damn big place, and I didn't see anyone whose appearance shouted Honduran anti-coup protester. Quite the contrary in fact, but I don't need to tell you about DC tourists here. Nice public bathrooms! I wasn't sure where I was allowed to walk, so I waited at the base for a while, even as dozens of tourists came through the tank-blocking posts- how quick I am to self-police. Anyway, finally walking around I saw the big Honduran flag tied to a bike and two guys sitting by it up top by the monument. I went and introduced myself to them, one from Honduras and the other originally from Argentina--I'll call him Marco (until I get permission to do otherwise). Marco said he was born a day before (or was it after?) the military coup in '76, so he had to be there in solidarity. Mario showed up shortly after, and while we were talking a big red-haired guy on a bike with a pentagon gym tee-shirt came up and started talking to Marco, asking about the coup. The Honduran guy (whose name I forgot) said to me he thought he was a spy. I said he was too damned obvious to be a spy. Turned out he was some sort of provocateur, anyway. I drifted in and out of the conversation but at one point I heard him proudly saying, "well, for example, Israel has an model democracy and it doesn't even have any natural resources." I tried to tune him out- two years living that close to Israel's genocidal regime has made it very hard for me to listen to semejante blather and not want to resort to violence myself. Marco brought up all the important counterpoints- settlements, enormous U.S. military aid, stolen resources...the guy responded that if the Arabs would stop attacking them they wouldn't need any of that aid. Amazing disconnect. "But let's leave Israel out of this," he announced. He continued, saying something about how it's been proven over and over again that socialism doesn't work in Latin America (as if anyone were proposing socialism), and that if people would go with capitalism things would go much better. When Marco countered with the impact of the IMF policy on Argentina, he said that any country can choose whether or not to take the IMF's money, if they took it and it didn't work out that's their own fault. Sometimes I wonder if there really is a parallel universe that people come from, in which black is white and north is south and states and corporate capitalism are forces for good. Because that's not the world I inhabit. But enough of him.

Right before 5pm about a half-dozen people showed up. Marco stayed behind finishing a sign that read "No Coup in Honduras" and we walked toward the Organization of American States building where a large group of anti-coup protesters had already formed. It was just across the lawn and the street, but it was a big lawn. At the corner, one of the organizers of yesterday's action at the embassy warned us that there were pro-coup people there too, and to avoid confrontation, which everyone quickly agreed to. "They have a right to express their opinions too," he said.

The two groups presented a study in contrasts. The golpistas had come in their designer clothes, sunglasses and handbags. The girls and women were meticulously made up, wearing high heels, and the men were for the most part obese. I of course have to mention that there is no natural link between body shape and political position, at least in the U.S. But in Honduras, it's...a little different. Poor people can't afford to get fat. And rich men--at least--often do. They look kind of like mid-century cartoons of business owners. Here, take a look:

and another, in which a member of the group (arguing with the anti-coup people) can be seen sporting a Banco Ficohsa (big Honduran bank no doubt behind coup) jersey:

Most of the signs of the very small group of golpistas were in English ("Honduran Congress=Heroes"), as were many of their chants ("Get the story straight, listen to our voice, read the whole story before you make a choice!") and propaganda. I won't spend time typing in the whole sheet they were passing out to motorists and passers-by, but here are a few bullet points:

• The majority of Hondurans are not in favor of Manuel Zelaya and are extremely proud of our congress and military for their stance in favor of democracy and peace.
• It is NOT ONLY in the interest of Honduras and its citizens that democracy prevails, but also in the interest of the world, including the UNITED STATES that no other countries align with Hugo Chavez (and his puppets) to build his empire against democracy/peace.
  [I'm not even going to begin to deconstruct that here, but just imagine me doing it, okay?]
• God Bless America, God Bless Honduras. God Bless our new President, Roberto Micheletti!
• VIVA HONDURAS! Peace and Democracy for all!!

One of their main arguments was that since it was done via "legal" channels, it was not a coup. On arriving, Marco noted to me that all of a sudden his sign ("No Coup in Honduras") had taken on a new meaning--denying the existence of the coup. I suggested he add "to the" but he decided on something less ambiguous:

I later ended up fixing it anyway, since a non-English speaker had picked it up and was waving it at passing cars.

From the side, I took some front pictures of the scene:

after a pic or two, a particularly self-important agent of the state very rudely ordered me back. If you see this man, please give him the evil eye for me:

Actually, he probably doesn't need it. He looks pretty unhappy already. I take it back.

I spent many pages writing down chants. Here they are, B for the pro-coup and P for the anti-coup. I'll give you a blender (expression borrowed from As'ad AbuKhalil @ http://angryarab.blogspot.com/) if you can guess what those letters stand for. Please note: my writing these slogans down does not constitute an endorsement of any of them. I'll get to that later.

P: Allá están (x2, pointing at Bs), los que venden la nación [There they are, the ones who sold out the nation!]
B: Se la vendió a Chavez! (pointing back) [(Zelaya) sold it to Chavez!]

P: ¡Zelaya sí, vendepatrias, no!/¡Zelaya sí, piratas no! [Zelaya yes! nation-sellers/pirates no!]

P: ¡Aquí está el pueblo, allá la burguesía!/¡Aquí la democracia, allá la desgracia! [Here is the people, there is the bourgeoisie!/Here is democracy, there is disgrace! pointing at the other group for "there"]

B: ¡Democracia sí, comunismo no! [Democracy yes! Communism no!]

P: ¡Morazán vive, la lucha sigue! [Morazán lives, the fight continues! -Morazan is a Central American independence hero]

B: ¡Sí se puede! ¡Ya se pudo! [Yes we can! We already did!]

P: ¡Zelaya, amigo, el pueblo está contigo! [Zelaya, friend, the people/nation is with you!]
This one was repeated numerous times, el pueblo being replaced at different moments with the names of different countries, the whole of Latin America, the EU, and Obama. When one middle-aged guy in a suit heard another guy saying Obama, he responded in a mocking but humorous tone "¡el imperio está contigo!" [The empire is with you!] and proceeded to lecture him. "No sacrifices esencia for forma, ¡hombre! Diles Corea, Cuba, quien sea pero no Obama! Es el pueblo que manda." Don't sacrifice essence for form, man! Say Korea, Cuba, whatever, but not Obama! It's the people [not the rulers that matter].

P: ¡Democracia sí, golpistas no! [Democracy yes! Coup-supporters no! -somehow on this one, the high-heeled group joined in- I guess accusing Zelaya of trying to engineer a coup to stay in power a la Chavez, or rather their version of Chavez...it was interesting that on several occasions their chants coincided, each trying to shout the other side out using the same words, contesting their meanings through volume alone--and the anti-coup group, being about 5 or 6 times as large as the other, always won]

Side note- a whole lot of the protesters, today and yesterday, were Salvadoran. There's a real sense of Central American citizenship/solidarity, but it often resulted in comical mistakes, like when the passionate speaker couldn't pronounce Micheletti's name right, or when another denounced the military repression in El Sal- I mean, Honduras. This contrasted with the 5 or 10 pro-coup protesters, who were definitely Honduran/Honduran-U.S. elite.

At some point, the School of the Americas Watch folks (http://soaw.org/) spoke. They had a good presence and were really on top of the fliering- they had come the day before all ready on short notice with reliable information. Check out their website for info on the U.S. military training and support that the coup leaders received.

P: ¿Qué queremos? ¡Restitución inmediato de Zelaya! [What do we want? The immediate restoration of Zelaya to power!]

P: ¡Mi comandante Zelaya se queda, se queda, se queda! [Mi commander Zelaya stays, he stays, he stays!]
[I was rather taken aback at this one, but it is a pretty common feature of Central American (and hey, Zapatista too) progressive and radical politics to embrace military hierarchy as a way of opposing it. Not as common in Honduras, I think, and in fact it was a Salvadoran saying this--apparently at some point someone corrected her and she started replacing comandante with presidente. Still...]

At one point a bus full of schoolkids drove by. Stopped at a light, they cheered wildly, and for their efforts were rewarded by a Honduran flag (the two sides were having a flag war), which they flew out the window as they drove off.

P: Se ve, se siente, ¡Zelaya presidente! [You see it, you feel it, Zelaya is president!]

B: ¡Chavez no, Honduras sí! [(Hugo) Chavez no, Honduras yes!]

At one point, I notice that the tall guy on the pro-coup side had an AU Washington College of Law bag. Just as I was noting this down, a man on the anti-coup side was shouting at the other side that it was pure ignorance to call Zelaya a communist. In response, tall guy came up to him, and, towering above with an authoritative voice dripping with sarcasm: "Es ustED que me está diciendo ignorante a MÍ? UstED? UstED?" [YOU are calling ME ignorant? YOU? YOU?] The translation alone doesn't do justice to the violence of the attack, which was very clearly about class and class alone. His victim didn't escalate, but the insult was so grave that I thought momentarily of pulling rank. But in my shorts, decades-old victory shoes and tank top I wasn't feeling the symbolic capital to back up my relative academic/institutional status. I was pretty sure in this setting class outranked rank. In any case, what a misplaced feeling- who the hell am I to be saving people? I felt personally punched in the stomach for the old guy, his disparagement seemed so complete, but I think his gut was stronger than mine.

The same tall young man, at another point during the rally (which lasted 5 hours- at least until I called it quits), threatened to call Homeland Security on the other side and have them deported. He apparently relayed this great idea to one of the (white) U.S. agents keeping us from the public space in front of the OAS, who responded by saying that they all (both sides) looked the same to him. Hopefully I'll have a picture of this border-protecting golpista up here soon.

Around the time this was happening, the police/agent/whatever-he-was decided it would be a good idea to break folks up. Although it was probably a good idea to keep tall guy from getting violent with the coup protesters, the cop seemed to think it fair to give each group half the total space, despite the vast difference in numbers. There was some initial disagreement over this, but both sides quickly seemed to adapt to the idea of their side, so that when a couple newcomers arrived with an El Salvador and FMLN flag and tried to install themselves in the empty space, the anti-coupers immediately self-policed them into "their" space. The cop then came in to make sure that they only held their flags upright (apparently waving them around was a threat to national security). And when three heavily made up Honduran teens in soccer jerseys appeared shouting "Fuera Zelaya," the anti-coup folks called a cop over right away to direct them to their proper side. "¡Son del otro equipo!" a man in front of me shouted with delight.

The coup-supporters repeatedly broke into the national anthem. It was a competition of nationalisms, what with the flags, anthems, and pious claims to democracy.

P: La democracia: ¿se encuentra en las urnas o en las tanques? [Democracy: Is it found in voting booths or tanks?]

B: (in English) He was impeached! He was impeached! He was impeached!

P: ¡Zelaya sí! ¡Antojitos no! [I needed an explanation for this one. Apparently Antojitos is a DC-area restaurant owned by a rich conservative Honduran supporting the coup. A whole slew of chants and taunts evolved around this theme]
P: ¡Atiendan a los clientes que las pupusas se están quemando! [Attend to your restaurant clientele, your pupusas (yummy Honduran food) are burning!]

B: Zelaya broke the law!/Mel Broke the law! [repeated ad nauseum]

P: ¡Carcel a Micheletti por corrupto! ¡El presidente de los mareros! [Prison for Micheletti for corruption! The president of the gangsters! -I think this one was a taunt rather than a chant, but the marero reference particularly charmed me]

P: (to Bs) ¡Ustedes fascistas/golpistas son los terroristas! [You fascists/coup leaders are the terrorists!]

7pm (3 hours after I got to the aguja, 2 hours after getting to the OAS), the pro-coupers went back to the national anthem again. Our reporter friend on the inside came out to tell us Zelaya was stuck in Nueva Jersey, due to weather. Up until then I hadn't even realized he was at the UN in New York- something of a disconnect, which I blame on extended jetlag. So we were waiting for him? Just then it started raining and two of the three cops immediately pulled out their matching parkas. The third had apparently forgotten his, and he stood, stoic, through nearly two hours of downpour. I have to admit I admired him a little bit.

P: ¡Golpistas fuera! [Coup supporters out!]
B: (simultaneously) ¡chavistas fuera! [Chavez followers out!]

B: sounded like Sosa but was probably: Insulza traitor! Insulza traitor!

...following this, the Bs accused the Ps of being traitors. One middle aged woman in the P (anti-coup) group shouted "¿Los golpistas nos llaman traidores? ¡Traidores ustedes!" [The coup supporters call US traitors? YOU'RE the traitors!] She followed with a string of impressive insults--reminding me somewhat of the captain in Tintin--that came out so fast I couldn't keep up. Vendepatrias was high on the list.

7:10 Pro-coupers singing national anthem again. Anti-coupers made up lyrics mocking the restaurant along with the tune.

The Salvadorans were calling each other compañera/o, a linguistic egalitarianism that I'm particularly fond of. It can be a translation from "comrade" and is used in socialist/communist circles (but by no means exclusively, in contrast to the English term) but it also means companion and can mean partner (as in life partner) but doesn't necessarily mean that, and there's something tender and untranslatable about it.

At 7:15 or so I have a long conversation with Chief Dean Sayers and his compañero from the First Nation of Ojibways who's in DC to meet with Obama to fix the border crossing issues his tribe has had since the Patriot Act. He thinks Obama's great, and they both have high hopes that everything will be resolved to their satisfaction...I don't want to write all these notes down, as I feel like I should stay on topic and finish (for FSM's sake it's 2am), but I can't help myself...They're trying to fix their border passes, because they're neither US nor Canadian citizens and are supposed to be able to cross freely as First Nationals. Compromise-just transcription here, no analysis:
"Our governments have a blood quantum genocidal policy. They're legislating us into history"
"It's a breath of fresh air listening to your president. His story is so much like ours" [reminds me of the Nubian tour guide in Aswan who told me his people the Nubians expect great things from Obama]
"We've been in a recession since the 1600s so we know what you're going through."
He then referred to the visitors. "Our prophesies told us they were coming. Our ancestors have guided us to this point [of meeting Obama]."
The chief's compañero says: "you tell history the truth." A sort of speak truth to power thing. Chief Sayers had a long black ponytail and a black tee-shirt with a long arrow and the word TRUTH printed above it, both in white. He was arrested with all 2300 members of his tribe in a mass action last year. They are going to court in Canada about it, but he says that his tribal court has served the Canadian government a summons too. The International Lawyers Guild will be observing the proceedings or the former. He says to stay tuned.

Okay, back to coup-verage

B: ¡No fue golpe! ¡Es la ley! ["It wasn't a coup! It was the law!" totally shouted out by chants of Zelaya! Zelaya!]

I have to note that with all this talk of law, I couldn't help thinking about Plunder again and again.

B: (pointing to OAS building) ¡Traidor! ¡Traidor! ¡Traidor! ¡Traidor! [traitor]

P call: ¡Qué viva Honduras! [Long live Honduras!]
P&B response: ¡VIVA!
P call: ¡Qué viva la democracia! [...Democracy!]
P&B response: ¡VIVA!
P call: ¡Qué viva Zelaya!
P only: ¡VIVA!
P call: ¡Qué viva Michael Jackson!
scattered laughter

P: ¡El Salvador apoya a Honduras! ¡Guatemala apoya a Honduras! ¡Colombia apoya a Honduras! ¡Toda América Latina apoya a Honduras! ¡La Unión Europea apoya a Honduras! ¡Obama apoya a Honduras!... ¿Quien no apoya a Honduras? ¡El doctor barriga! [All the countries/regions and Obama support Honduras! Who doesn't support Honduras? Doctor beerbelly/fatso! -making fun of the other side's corpulence]

I notice the bored cop smacking gum, Britney-like, two hands on belt clip, ready to protect the jewels.

8pm Sonia, the most energetic woman I think I know, jumping up and down while chanting.

p: Ooh! Ah! [kind of mock-gorilla-like] ¡Zelaya no se va! [Zelaya's not leaving!]

A guy on the anti-coup side shouts to the other side, "¡No se oyen nada muchachas! ¡Tomen miel para que no pierden la voz!" [We can't hear you at all girls! Have some honey so you don't lose your voices!]

At this point the really serious rain starts. I know this because my writing is increasingly blurred and difficult to read. For some reason I'd decided to use a red pen, which is difficult for me. In '93 I embodied a particular Korean aversion to writing the names of living people I like in red pen, as red ink is only used post-mortem. So I kept having to write not-exactly-names but hints, or just telling myself (and not believing a word of it) that it was just a superstition. So anyway, at this point my notes are red and blurry, kind of like my eyes at 2:30am as I continue writing. Some of the protesters had brought a huge flag that was just blue and white stripes, nothing in the middle (and thus symbolizing all of Central America). Earlier this had annoyed one of the cops, trying to give each side half the sidewalk. "There's 40 feet of flag over there! Go move where the flag is! Come on, sir, [threateningly] don't keep playing a game with me!" At this point the flag became a shelter. I note in my blurry red notebook: "Flags. They're good for something." "El pueblo, says one man, laughing, "¡tiene su campamento! [the people/nation has its tent!]

While it's still possible to do anything, folks start singing la Marcha de la Unidad Popular. Everyone knows the words...
"y en su clamor mil voces de combate se alzarán
dirán canción de libertad
Con decisión la patria vencerá..."

Why does it always have to be about la patria? But I digress. In the rain, things quieted down a little and the guy in the suit (who used to live 3 blocks down from me in the Mission!) who made fun of the Obamaphiles earlier took the opportunity to exhort his fellow protesters "Miren yo no sé cómo van a ganar la revolución si le tienen miedo al agua. ¡Canten!" [Look I don't know how you're gonna win the revolution if you're afraid of water. Sing!] He then broke into Sopa de Caracol (ay!)

P: (at Bs)Títeres de la burguesía!" [Puppets of the bourgeoisie. Marxist terminology, absent in English everyday discourse along with analysis, is quite common in Spanish]

8:13ish, rain had calmed a bit, a huge surge in the crowd indicated the possible arrival of Zelaya. Somewhat earlier, the Honduran ambassador, who had stalled in addressing the crowd the previous day for several hours (presumably while figuring out his official position) came over to the anti-coup side and shook some hands. A very strong statement (and I'm not being sarcastic).

P: Con tanques y metralla, ¡el pueblo no se calla! [Even with tanks and armor, the people won't shut up]

and then it started pouring again. The flag was by no means water-resistant, and I was wondering how the hell I was going to get home in the dark soaking wet on my bike, with no light, helmet, or sense of direction.

P: (to Bs) ¡Milicos! ¡Milicos! ¡Milicos! [my ex-neighbor explains to me that this is South American derogatory slang for Military, but since it's South American, it's Mexican, it's Honduran, it's Latin American]

conversation snippet: my ex-neighbor to a nice woman next to me:
"Usted es Hondureña?" [You're Honduran?]
"No, yo soy Salvadoreña. Solidaria siempre." [No, I'm Salvadoran. Always in solidarity.]

8:30 it's dark, raining in sheets. The pro-coupers are visibly weakening, which animates the anti-coupers. "¡Fuera! ¡Fuera! ¡Fuera!
¡Fuera golpistas! Por terroristas!"

and then, as the rain melted the other side's resolve:
"¡Son de azucar! [They're made of sugar! -repeatedly]

As the pro-coupers hid under some trees, the others quickly moved to take over the space, a little territorial victory that put everyone in great spirits. My pen stopped writing for the third time, and the paper was all too soggy. At this point I was scribbling on the cardboard on the back of the pad. One incredibly sweet young man held a placard up between my head and the flag-tent so I could write. It was pretty silly, me writing about how he was protecting my writing while he protected my writing. But he seemed quite happy to do it, and it wasn't like either of us was going to be more or less drenched either way.

8:35 Sonia jumping up and down again, somehow inspires everyone else, soaked to the bone and shivering, to jump up and down with her, shouting "echando brincas golpistas" [send the coup-supporters hopping? I admit I don't know this expression and am probably translating poorly] in celebration of the pro-coupers finally giving up and leaving.

P: Aquí estamos, y ¡no nos vamos! Vino la lluvia ¡y nos quedamos! Y ¡a Zelaya esperamos! [Here we are, and we're not leaving! The rain came, and we stayed! And we'll wait for Zelaya! -all rhyming, of course]

8:37 HUGE thundercrack, nearly simultaneous lightning. I try to appreciate the Opposite of Egypt, although I'd been missing all the cats earlier in the day too.

Shortly thereafter, although the still substantial crowd seemed determined to wait for Zelaya, I headed out with some new friends to find the Metro. And somehow it's 3:17 and these are only fieldnotes. I don't think I'll have time to write up all the necessary analysis, much less translate into academese, but hopefully I can throw something more "professional"-sounding now that I'm on the official talking head list. I'd much rather be an "expert" on this than in the reprehensible immigration court system.