[spectre] Brigas as well 2.

[Louise Desrenards]

Famous on Brigads of the death in Nicaragua, John Negroponte, CIA Director
Bush senior's
personnal man-weapon in seventies, then an ambassador in Honduras, is the
present as new ambassador of
America hope to stop "sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses" sent by
Mr Bush junior to Iraq people : 2.

http://www.maryknoll.org/GLOBAL/ALERTS/no_negroponte.htm
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Copyright © 2003


USA July 17, 2001

Stop Human Rights Obstructer John Negroponte
Act immediately to prevent Senate approval of
Negroponte for Ambassador to the UN


This alert is circulated by the:
Nicaragua Network
Witness for Peace
Quest for Peace
Please contact the Nicaragua Network for more information at 202-544-9355 or
nicanet at afgj.org.


Alert Includes:

1. Introduction
2. Background on John Negroponte, nominee for Ambassador to UN
3. Suggested actions (mailing or calling your senator)


1) Introduction
 George W. Bush's presidency has begun with a return to the Reagan-era
agenda. Of concern to those of us in the Latin American solidarity community
has been his unapologetic attempt to revive Cold War diplomacy through the
nomination of former Iran Contra criminals to key diplomatic posts.
Reagan-era Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams has been selected as
the National Security Council's senior director for democracy, human rights
and international operations (a post which does not require Senate
approval). Some might remember that Abrams pled guilty to two misdemeanor
counts of lying to Congress during the Iran Contra hearings and was
subsequently pardoned by George Bush, Sr.

Though we cannot prevent Abrams' return to prominence, we can keep out
former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras John Negroponte who played a significant
role in the CIA-sponsored terrorism of Hondurans during the Nicaraguan
Contra War. The Bush administration has officially nominated Negroponte to
be U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is
preparing to hold nomination hearings before the close of July.

This nomination is particularly egregious now that the international
community has issued a vote of no confidence in U.S. human rights promotion
by dropping our country from the UN Human Rights Commission. John Negroponte
deliberately falsified State Department human rights reports throughout his
time in Honduras. U.S. missionaries and many people of faith and conscience
were murdered by the CIA-trained Honduran Battalion 3-16, which Negroponte
at best overlooked and at worst oversaw. His nomination is an outrage, but
sadly, it will pass through with minimal resistance unless constituents do
something about it.

2) Background of John Negroponte
The New York Times credits John Negroponte with "carrying out the covert
strategy of the Reagan administration to crush the Sandinista government in
Nicaragua" during his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from 1981 and
1985. He oversaw the growth of military aid to Honduras from $4 million to
$77.4 million a year. In early 1984, two U.S. mercenaries, Thomas Posey and
Dana Parker, contacted Negroponte, stating they wanted to supply arms to the
Contra army after the U.S. Congress had banned governmental add. Documents
show that Negroponte connected the two with a contact in the Honduran
military. The operation was exposed nine months later, at which point the
Reagan administration denied any U.S. government involvement, despite
Negroponte's contact earlier that year. Other documents uncovered a scheme
of Negroponte and then-Vice President George Bush to funnel Contra aid money
through the Honduran government.

In addition to his work with the Nicaraguan Contra army, Negroponte helped
conceal from Congress the murder, kidnapping and torture abuses of a
CIA-equipped and -trained Honduran military unit, Battalion 3-16. No mention
of these human rights violations ever appeared in State Department Human
Rights reports for Honduras. The Baltimore Sun reports that Efrain Diaz
Arrivillaga, then a delegate in the Honduran Congress and a voice of
dissent, told the Sun that he complained to Negroponte on numerous occasions
about the Honduran military's human rights abuses. Rick Chidester, a junior
embassy official under Negroponte, reported to the Sun that he was forced to
omit an exhaustive gathering of human rights violations from his 1982 State
Department report. Sister Laetitia Bordes went on a fact-finding delegation
to Honduras in May 1982 to investigate the whereabouts of 32 Salvadoran nuns
and women of faith who fled to Honduras in 1981 after Archbishop Oscar
Romero's assassination. Negroponte claimed the embassy knew nothing, but in
1996, Negroponte's predecessor Jack Binns reported that the women had been
captured, tortured, and then crammed into helicopters from which they were
tossed to their deaths.

According to the Los Angeles Times, shortly after Negroponte's nomination
was decided, the U.S. government revoked the visa of General Luis Alonso
Discua Elvir, who was Honduras' deputy ambassador to the UN. General Discua
was the commander of the Battalion during Negroponte's tenure as ambassador.
He has publicly claimed to have information linking Negroponte with the
battalion's activities. His testimony would be invaluable in illuminating
Negroponte's collusion with Honduran opponents on Capitol Hill. In 1994, the
Honduran Human Rights Commission charged Negroponte personally with several
human rights abuses.

On August 27, 1997, CIA Inspector General Frederick P. Hitz released a
211-page classified report entitled "Selected Issues Relating to CIA
Activities in Honduras in the 1980s." This report was partly declassified on
October 22, 1998, in response to persistent demands by the Honduran human
rights ombudsman. You can read parts of the document on the National
Security Archives website. Only senators and their staff who have security
clearance can read the report in its entirety. It is absolutely critical
that every senator read and consider the entire report before approving
Negroponte's nomination. Negroponte is highly respected in diplomatic
circles as "a man who speaks five languages but knows when to keep silent."
Due to his urbane temperament and broad support in the professional
diplomatic field, it will be very tempting for senators to whisk his
nomination through.


3) Suggested Actions
In order to effectively oppose Negroponte's nomination and its tremendous
repercussions, grassroots activists must be vigilant in persistently
communicating their opposition with their senators. At this moment, staffers
for senators on the Foreign Relations Committee are gathering materials and
issuing subpoenas for the hearing on Negroponte's nomination. Due to their
placement on the Foreign Relations Committee, the following senators'
support is particularly important:

Joseph Biden (D), DE, Chair 202-224-5042, senator at biden.senate.gov"
Barbara Boxer (D), CA 202-224-3553, senator at boxer.senate.gov
Christopher Dodd (D), CT 202-224-2823, senator at dodd.senate.gov
Richard Lugar (R), IN 202-224-4814, senator_lugar at lugar.senate.gov
Sam Brownback (R), KS 202-224-6521 senator at brownback.senate.gov
Paul Sarbanes (D), MD 202-224-4524, senator at sarbanes.senate.gov
John Kerry (D), MA 202-224-2742, senator at kerry.senate.gov
Paul Wellstone (D), MN 202- 224-5641, senator at wellstone.senate.gov
Charles Hagel (R), NE 202-224-4224, senator at hagel.senate.gov
Robert Torricelli (D), NJ 202-224-3224, senator at torricelli.senate.gov
Gordon Smith (R), OR 202-224-3753, senator at smith.senate.gov
Lincoln Chafee (R), RI 202-224-2921, senator at chafee.senate.gov
Bill Frist (R), TN 202-224-3344, senator at frist.senate.gov
Russell Feingold (D), WI 202-224-5323, senator at feingold.senate.gov
Craig Thomas (R), WY 202-224-6441, senator at thomas.senate.gov

If you don't live in one of these states, please still call your senator as
the nomination will go to the Senate floor for debate and vote if it is
approved in the Foreign Relations Committee.

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