A supporter of Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya writes a poster during a march in Tegucigalpa, July 1, 2009. The Honduran interim government said on Wednesday there was "no chance at all" of Zelaya returning to power after a coup last weekend, defying international pressure to restore the leftist leader. The poster reads, "El Heraldo, the newspaper supporting the coup." (Edgard Garrido/Reuters)
In Honduras, a media crackdown
Media situation in Honduras reflects larger battle in region between leftist leaders and oligarchs.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — At the Channel 36 TV station in this sweltering capital, the buzzing, hectic atmosphere of a news network has been replaced by an ominous silence.
The doors are held shut with huge industrial padlocks, bored-looking soldiers stand on the sidewalk and the journalists are nowhere to be seen.
Since taking power Sunday after a coup against elected-president Manuel Zelaya, the new administration has shut down a major TV station, several radio stations and a newspaper. It has also cut off signals from some international networks, including Venezuela-based Telesur.
Meanwhile, those media outlets still running heap praise on the regime of Roberto Micheletti. “Defending the Constitution,” blears the headline in one newspaper reporting the consolidation of the new government. “Zelaya Out, We Want Peace,” says another.
Such control of the media is perhaps a predictable development from a government that came to power after the elected head of state was forced out of his home at gunpoint and taken on a plane to neighboring Costa Rica.
But the media battle over the Honduras coup also reflects larger news-related issues as leftist governments have risen to power in the region.
Longstanding commercial networks controlled by wealthy families have often had head-on collisions with leftist leaders, who accuse them of undermining their governments.
In reaction, business interests accuse stations controlled by leftist presidents of demonizing the rich and dividing nations along class lines.
“The media across Latin America has become much more polarized in recent years. There is more of an atmosphere of saying, “You have to be with us or against us,” said Elan Reyes, president of Honduras’ journalist association.
In power, the left-leaning Zelaya had a fiery relationship with the dominant TV channels in Honduras, which are controlled by some of the nation’s richest families.
When they criticized him for raising the minimum wage by more than 50 percent, saying he was clobbering business, he lashed back, alleging that they were part of an “elite group” of oligarchs who want to keep the poor downtrodden.
Fighting for control of the airwaves, he set up a government Channel 8, which celebrated his achievements and loyally showed him traipsing through poor villages hugging corn growers and banana workers.
Recent on The Americas:
Cuba's public "privatization" debate
Nick Miroff - Cuba - February 9, 2010 06:29 ET
Cuba's Communist Party newspaper has been publishing unusually frank criticisms of Cuban socialism.
Chickens: made in Brazil, sold in Iraq
Seth Kugel - Brazil - February 8, 2010 06:51 ET
Brazil's exports to Iraq have exploded in the last year and poultry is leading the charge.
Chile safeguards its food export success
Lezak Shallat - Chile - February 7, 2010 09:18 ET
Traveling to Chile? Don't even think about sneaking in an apple and cheese.
The Fantastic Five: Best photos of the week
News Desk - General - February 6, 2010 11:02 ET
Best pictures include bodybuilding in Lima, the America's Cup and a dog sled race in Old Quebec.
Costa Rica: A woman in charge?
Alex Leff - Costa Rica - February 6, 2010 09:54 ET
Costa Rica could elect its first female president. Given its progressive laws on women in politics, it's a wonder it's taken this long.
The "miracle babies" of Mexico City: 25 years later
John Enders - Mexico - February 5, 2010 10:29 ET
As survivors are pulled from Haiti's rubble, a look at the fate of the newborns saved after Mexico City's 1985 earthquake.
On Location: Sinaloa — The front lines of Mexico's drug war
Ioan Grillo and John Dickie - Mexico - February 4, 2010 09:13 ET
A fight to make salt the artisanal way
Nadja Drost - Colombia - February 3, 2010 11:24 ET
Can Colombia's indigenous Wayuu turn their centuries-old salt-mining into a source of jobs and education?
Full Frame: Portfolio of a young and restless photographer
Lisa Wiltse - Full Frame - February 3, 2010 07:36 ET
A photographer focuses on women and children from Bangladesh to Bolivia to the Philippines.
Mexico considers clamping down on Twitter
Michael E. Miller - Mexico - February 2, 2010 06:58 ET
Mexicans are using Twitter to avoid drunk-driving checkpoints. Drug cartels might be using it too. Does that justify restricting social networking sites?
Culture shock: living with the Mapuche
Pascale Bonnefoy - Chile - February 1, 2010 06:36 ET
An exchange program gives middle school students from Santiago their first contact with indigenous Mapuche.
Opinion: Haiti's recovery starts with human rights
Kerry Kennedy and Monika Kalra Varma - Worldview - January 31, 2010 10:10 ET
Haiti needs real change, not promises of aid that go unfulfilled.
Manioc flour, served up with a song
Seth Kugel - Brazil - January 30, 2010 10:02 ET
A manioc flour salesman in the Amazon aspires to musical fame. His customers aren't so convinced.
Otto: Not Che Guevara
Alex Leff - Costa Rica - January 29, 2010 06:58 ET
Costa Ricans are confused about whether a libertarian candidate for president is on the right or left.
Special Report
Thomas Mucha - Commerce - January 28, 2010 17:24 ET
20 correspondents, 20 countries and a world of pain. Meet the ground truth of the global economic crisis.
Opinion: Haiti's tragedy belongs to the environment
Stephan Faris - Worldview - January 28, 2010 07:24 ET
Deforestation made the country poor, and the destitution exasperates environmental degradation.
Mexico's brewing battle over abortion
Lauren Villagran - Mexico - January 27, 2010 19:56 ET
A debate over a woman's right to choose divides Mexico's capital from the countryside.
Canada's spin on "homegrown" extremism
Sandro Contenta - Canada - January 27, 2010 06:30 ET
Shareef Abdelhaleem, found guilty of plotting mass murder in Toronto, sought to profit financially from his terrorism.
Venezuelans protest closure of TV station
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - January 26, 2010 08:22 ET
Students march against the shuttering of an opposition TV station popular as much for its soap operas as its news reporting.
Watch GlobalPost videos:
Reporter's Notebook
As the countdown to the 9 p.m. curfew approaches, the rush begins in this sweltering Central American city. People scurry down the sidewalks and...Read more >
Panic is spreading through the Mexico City streets faster than the killer flu virus. Every pharmacy in my neighborhood has already sold out of face...Read more >
While throngs of cheering crowds greeted President Barack Obama from Germany to Turkey, his visit to Mexico looked a little different. Instead of...Read more >
Featured: Special Projects
Oceans:
Assessing their health
After the Fall:
20 years since the Berlin Wall came down
Life, Death and the Taliban:
Videos and stories
Study Abroad:
Students report from the road
Living in the Shadows:
An intimate look at China's migrant workers
A World of Trouble:
The global economy in 20 hotspots
Comments:
No Comments.
Login or Register to post comments