Poll: Wide Majority of Hondurans Oppose Coup d’Etat, Want Zelaya Back

A perfect thread to bookmark for future use.

Thank you, Downwinder.

The article notes that these results are from the officially certified election polling firm.

From the article:

"This is the first survey to be made public since a July Gallup poll showed a plurality of Hondurans opposed the coup d’etat and Roberto Micheletti, and a plurality wanted Zelaya back as president. What is interesting from this survey is that opposition to Micheletti and the coup increased between early July and late August from mere pluralities to a punishing majority: evidence that the nonviolent civil resistance movement has worked effectively to strip legitimacy from the coup regime. As of late August, only 17.4 percent of Hondurans favor the coup d’etat, only 22.2 percent believe Micheletti should remain as president, and only 33 percent oppose the restitution of President Manuel Zelaya.

"And those were the numbers before Micheletti’s very unpopular 'state of siege' decree of September 29 began to divide his supporters even further."

(the article's emphasis)

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3511/poll-wide-majority-hondurans-oppose-coup-d’etat-want-zelaya-back

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The article also notes that opposition to the coup has grown to a punishing majority (53% to 60% on various questions) despite the coup's fascist shutdown of the opposition or neutral press, and the constant pro-coup, anti-Zelaya propaganda from the coup-approved media. Giordano is very correct, I think, to draw the conclusion that the anti-coup resistance has been extremely effective: its protests, meetings, and word-of-mouth communication, and its courage and persistence in the face of brutal repression have succeeded at informing and inspiring the people and also at organizing (very difficult in those circumstances). This is surely one of the two chief reasons that the coupsters are now willing to "compromise" and are finally talking to the OAS. The other is the international--and particularly the Latin American--solidarity among leaders, peoples and institutions, in support of Zelaya and in adamant opposition to the coup. But without this awesome resistance movement within Honduras, and with the US wobbling around, at first (less so, lately), the golpistas might have taken McCain/Negroponte/DeMint's advice to stick it out.

What this poll also shows is that, no matter what happens now, at the official level, the people of Honduras are never going back to their former servitude. They have "arrived" on the revolutionary stage, and they will defeat the purpose of the coup, revealed by a Honduran junta general (in a report on the coup by the Zelaya government-in-exile), who stated that, by this coup, they were "preventing communism* from Venezuela reaching the United States."

When we get our democracy back, we will owe the Honduran people.

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*("communism," in this context, means: transparent elections, maximum citizen participation in government and politics, universal free medical care, universal free education through college, the country's resources being used to benefit the people, equal civil and human rights for all, adherence to the "rule of law," the "sovereignty of the people" (as opposed to Corporate Rule), peaceful, cooperative relations with other countries, and other aspects of the Bolivarian Revolution that began in Venezuela with the Chavez government.)

the people of Honduras have had to absorb.

What are the chances they would have in any sense the same depth of solid, intelligent courage, and ability to know the oppressors and continue to resist, suffering GREAT loss, as they have.

I think many here are accustomed to instant solutions, easy answers, followed by violence against the other if they don't get them. They are the weak ones who would go up in a puff of smoke immediately!

we shall find the answer to your conjecture.

Al's reply, enjoy.


Reliable Poll....you serious
Submitted October 7, 2009 - 9:41 am by Se Inteligente Honduras (not verified)

Please, you really expect anyone that lives in this country to believe what you are saying, this is insane. I want to see the base for this poll, where was it conducted? Was it during one of his PAID followers demonstrations, or did you just go ahead and pay them during the poll was conducted. OR better yet, when was this conducted. Also, WOW making a big deal on a pole on 1,470 people, WOW, very big number to decide and condem a Constitutional Government. Now, just so your readers also can know a little history, the old Supreme Court, controled by that president, approved that polling company, of course they would be able to poll the elections, this man did not plan on having any so what did he care if the people assigned to to the job had any idea what they were doing. DONT FOOL THE PEOPLE WITH FALSE INFORMATION, or at least give them the whole truth. HONDURAS DOES NOT WANT THAT MAN BACK, as everyone seems to care for him so much, take him into your country and see what happens. SHOW MY COMMENT, or you just print the ones in favor of the crazy man.

* reply

@ "se inteligente Honduras"
Submitted October 7, 2009 - 9:58 am by Al Giordano

"Se Inteligente Honduras" - You're clearly upset by the results. They shatter your delusion about what Hondurans really think about the regime.

I think you should use some "intelligence" and click the link in the story to the full poll results (in Spanish) which appears in my story and fully discloses the methodology used.

I'm a former professional pollster, and I find COIMER & OP's methodology not only sound, but superior to that of most polling firms in Latin America, and very transparently disclosed.

If you can read Spanish (rather than just use a few words to imply that you can) you should have already clicked that link and found out that your crazy conspiracy theory that the pollster somehow surveyed "paid" people in "demonstrations" is demonstrably false. The pollsters went to people homes in every corner of Honduras utilizing the state of the art opinion survey techniques that lead to an accurate poll.

Don't talk to me about "crazy" men when you are screaming in ALL CAPS and otherwise ranting like one yourself. You don't like the poll results therefore, according to you, they can't be true. That's delusion, kiddo. And it calls into question the sanity of all your conclusions about what is happening in Honduras.

Your comment is most welcome here. It demonstrates so well the denial and refusal to consider the facts that are a trademark of pro-coup extremists like yourself: cheering brutal repression, press censorship and anti-democracy while using the words "democracy" and "freedom" as mere slogans.

Thank you, sir, for coming here and embarrassing yourself with such a childish rant. You make my case for me. Mil Gracias!

If this poll is right, Zelaya's Liberals are going to lose the Presidency, but they may do well in Congress, where their leader will be...Michiletti. Life is so full of twists and turns....