Anyone listening to English-speaking Hondurans?

Steve Sailer has a theory that the American media is biased in favor of English-speaking foreigners (who make up the upper classes of non-English nations).

There is some truth here, but it doesn’t seem to hold up with Honduras. The overwhelming majority of English-speaking Hondurans support the recent change in government, but the mainstream media is siding with the leftist Zelaya who was kicked out for trying to make himself president-for-life.

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Someone who claims to be a woman from Honduras posted the following comment (to another blog post):

We are happy with what happened with Mel Zelaya, the majority of Hondurans don't want him back. It was obvious as to what he wanted to do. His relationship with Chavez, the ballots being printed in Venezuela are enough to know what his real intentions are. We are not Venezuela and we are not Cuba and that is thanks to the people that defended our Constitution. Mel is the problem in Honduras, not the solution.

I just hope the world respects what we have done, good or bad we are defending what we believe in and we just have to hold for 5 months till the next elections.

Comments

[Kevin K]

Greg Weeks has been posting some useful information, if you are interested :

http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/

[Peter A]

Steve's still basically right. Certainly the media's coverage of Kosovo and Russia has been heavily influenced by the opinions of pro-Western English speaking locals. Maybe Central America is a little different because there is a ready supply of left-wing English speaking apologists already living in the US who tend to influence journalists more than English speaking Hondurans. Or more likely Honduras is just so small and insignificant that most journalists are too lazy to do anything other than read "military coup" and instinctively jump on their Democracy soap-box. If elite English speaking globally oriented Hondurans are really opposed to Zelaya you'll see the media backtrack over the next few weeks, I'm quite sure.

[Peter]

"The overwhelming majority of English-speaking Hondurans support the recent change in government"

I'm not sure about Honduras, but both Nicaragua and Costa Rica have substantial numbers of English-speaking people along the Caribbean coast. Honduras probably does too.

[Winston Smith]

This exception does not disprove the rule because it is special in the sense that it was the army that changed the government. I think a lot of liberals really live in fear that the army will take over the US. Thus, they don't support the coup - english or no english.

[dbp]

All things being equal, the media will side with English-speaking foreigners because they are easier to understand and relate to.

But, if there is a leftist or anti-American involved--they will instinctively side with them.

[Dennis Mangan]

Yup, Honduras has many native English speakers on the Caribbean coast. They're all black.

[The Undiscovered Jew]

Sarah Palin is resigning as Governor of Alaska.

WTF?!

[Truth]

I want the Army to take over the US.

[Gannon]

I don't know much about Honduras, but in Latinamerica the upper class tends to be relatively white, whereas the middle and lower class tends to be mestizo/Indian. Although there are no clear limits, and some mestizos are upper class, the elite is always much whiter than the common men (Argentina excepted, where the common man is white too). It is the more educated, whiter elites who speak English (Just like myself). Obviously, with who will side the media, with the mean white opressors or with the poor Mestizo/Indians who want to create socialist paradise? The funny thing is that even a lot of the leftist leaders form the Mestizo/Indian movements are white too.

[Richard Hoste hbdbooks.com]

This is OT but who cares about anything else right now

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090703/ap_on_re_us/us_palin_resigning

[Ric Locke]

Pah. The educated classes throughout Central America speak English because that's the language of trade and tourism in the Western Hemisphere. And "educated classes" does not just mean the academic twits and Government drones, it means the owners and operators of shops and factories and many of their employees.

Regards,
Ric

[whiskey]

The Army did not stage a coup. The President did, violating the Constitution of Honduras by advocating amending it by Plebiscite. Ballots printed in Venezuela and flown in by Chavez.

The Congress and Supreme Court ORDERED the Army to exile Zelaya. As it stands, the constitution of Honduras is clear -- immediate dismissal for advocating amendment by referendum.

FWIW, the interim President is from Zelaya's own Party. So it's more a personal thing, something Obama would like to do (rule by fiat). They avoided a Castro/Chavez, and Liberals LOVE LOVE LOVE communist hereditary tyrants. Same with the media.

[Peter A]

Here is what the mainstream media is writing:

"Even so, there is no evidence of Hondurans clamouring for the president’s return with anything like the enthusiasm of outsiders.

That is because most have tired of his rule, and blame him for the constitutional crisis that preceded the coup. It was precipitated by his attempt to emulate Mr Chávez by organising a referendum to call a constituent assembly, which he seemed to hope would allow him to remain in power beyond January, when his four-year term ends. Under Honduras’s constitution, only Congress can call referendums and it was against one. Mr Zelaya went ahead anyway. When the head of the armed forces refused to carry out an order to distribute the ballot papers, the president sacked him. The Supreme Court reinstated the general, and the electoral tribunal ordered the ballots to be confiscated. In response, Mr Zelaya led a group of supporters to an air force base where they carted off the ballots. He instructed public employees to collect signatures for the constituent assembly. Hours before voting was to begin, the army seized the president."

That's from The Economist this week. You don't get more mainstream than that. It's ridiculous to say the mainstream elitist media supports Zelaya. For the most part it doesn't.