LUMPENPROLETARIAT  Another Honduran citizen and indigenous rights leader has been assassinated, apparently, by USA-backed neoliberal Honduran death squads, including the poison pens of Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration, determined to proletarianise, to push indigenous Hondurans off their lands, where they’re self-sufficient, and push them onto the mercy of a capitalist mode of production and exploitation, where they face poverty and dependency.

The internationally renowned environmental and indigenous rights leader Berta Cáceres (c. 1973-2016) was not the first and, outrageously, Nelson García will likely not be the last indigenous leader to be assassinated by the forces of transnational capital and neoliberalism.  Twelve environmental defenders were killed in Honduras in 2014, according to research by Global Witness, which makes it the most dangerous country in the world, relative to its size, for activists protecting forests and rivers.

And, now, indigenous rights leader Nelson García was assassinated yesterday, 15 MAR 2016, “shot dead in the face by unidentified gunmen as he returned to his family home in Río Lindo, north-west Honduras – about 100 miles south of La Esperanza where Cáceres was murdered at home on 3 March.”  Honduras is a very different place since President Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton helped overthrow the Central American nation’s democratically-elected center-left president Manuel Zelaya in 2009.  Listen to (or download) breaking coverage here. [1]

Messina

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[Partial transcript of actual radio broadcast by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and Flashpoints]

FLASHPOINTS—[16 MAR 2016]  “Today, on Flashpoints, the brutal assassination of Nelson García, an indigenous rights leader in Honduras and a member of the same rights group as slain activist Berta Cáceres.  Also, an in-depth follow-up report on the continuing dangers the world faces at Fukushima, Japan.  And we’ll feature our regular on-air presentation of Electronic Intifada with Nora Barrows-Friedman.  I’m Dennis Bernstein.  All this, straight ahead on Flashpoints.  Stay tuned.”  (c. 0:50)

[brief intro theme music break]

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “And you’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio.  I just want to urge you to stay tuned.  Later on in the broadcast, we will be joined by Beverly Bell for the latest in the tragedies of Honduras and the killing of indigenous leaders there.  A second murder and many lives are now hanging in the balance.  That’s coming up later on in the broadcast.

“But first I wanted to continue our dialogue on Fukushima, remind people exactly how dangerous it is, see if we can get some more information about what’s going on with the people closest have faced.  (c. 1:45)  [SNIP]

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  [SNIP]  (c. 42:05)

“You are listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio.  And, uh, I don’t know how to say this.  We now turn our attention to another terrible assassination, the assassination of Nelson García.

“Now, this is a member of the same indigenous rights group, as murdered activist Berta Cáceres.  This is in Honduras.  This is a very lethal situation.  And the danger is only getting worse and more widespread.

“Joining us to talk about it is Beverly Bell.  Beverly welcome back to Flashpoints.  And tell us what happened here.  This is, this is just two weeks after the late night [i.e., early morning] murder of Berta.”  (c. 43:01)

BEVERLY BELL:  “Yes.  Hi, Dennis.  We’ve gotta stop meeting like this.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “I’m sorry.”

BEVERLY BELL:  “The news in Honduras keeps getting worse.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “I’m sorry.”

BEVERLY BELL:  “Yeah.  What happened yesterday was that the Honduran government declared its second stage of war.  (c. 43:19) [SNIP]

[SNIP]  (c. 59:59)

Learn more at FLASHPOINTS.

[This transcript will be expanded as time constraints, and/or demand or resources, allow.]

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THE GUARDIAN—[16 MAR 2016]  Another indigenous activist has been murdered in Honduras amid an escalating wave of repression against the relatives and colleagues of renowned campaigner Berta Cáceres, who was murdered less than two weeks ago.

Nelson García, 38, an active member of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (Copinh) was killed on Tuesday after a violent eviction carried out by Honduran security forces in a nearby Lenca indigenous community.

García was shot dead in the face by unidentified gunmen as he returned to his family home in Río Lindo, north-west Honduras – about 100 miles south of La Esperanza where Cáceres was murdered at home on 3 March.

García spent the morning with the Río Chiquito community where more than one hundred police and military officers helped evict dozens of families from land which local politicians claim doesn’t belong to them. Their simple timber houses and crops were destroyed using heavy machinery yesterday morning, according to Copinh.

Cáceres co-founded Copinh 22 years ago amid growing threats to Lenca territory from loggers, farmers and state-sponsored projects.

Last year, the activist won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her opposition to one of the region’s biggest hydroelectric projects, a cascade of four dams in the Gualcarque river basin, including the Agua Zarca dam. The river is sacred to the Lenca people and the proposed dam would cut-off food and medicine supplies to nearby communities.

Cáceres was shot dead at her home after suffering years of intimidation and threats against her life linked to her activism.

Since then, there has been growing fears for the safety of her colleagues and family members who have been subject to harassment and intimidation by the authorities.

Learn more at THE GUARDIAN.

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Also see related Lumpenproletariat articles, relevant to the USA’s 2015-2016 presidential campaigns, such as:

• “The Green Party’s Dr. Jill Stein on Democracy and Ranked Choice Voting“, 21 MAR 2016
• “Activist and Indigenous Leader Nelson García Assassinated“, 16 MAR 2016
• “Activist Berta Cáceres Assassinated“, 3 MAR 2016
• “Hillary Clinton, US/NATO, & the Lynching of Gaddafi“, 3 MAR 2016
• “Historical Archive: Third Party Challenge to Unconstitutional Prop 14“, 2 MAR 2016
• “Black Agenda Report: On the USA’s Black Electorate, Circa 2016“, 1 MAR 2016
• “Hillary Clinton for USA Presidency: Pros and Cons“, 13 APR 2015
• “My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency (2015) by Doug Henwood“, 29 FEB 2016

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[1]  Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving:  Flashpoints, hosted by Dennis Bernstein, for Wednesday, 16 MAR 2016, 17:00 PDT.

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[21 MAR 2016]

[Last modified  20:53 PDT  21 MAR 2016]

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