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      “The Mexican army has carried out forced disappearances, acts of torture and illegal raids in pursuit of drug traffickers, according to documents and interviews with victims, their families, political leaders and human rights monitors.”

In a detailed exposé published on the front page of last Thursday’s Washington Post, reporters Steve Fainaru and William Booth draw on testimonies from victims, their family members, political officials and human rights monitors to illustrate some of the brutal tactics that the Mexican Army has employed in its efforts to combat drug related violence. Horrific and heartbreaking stories from rural and urban communities, including Puerto Las Ollas, Guerrero and Tijuana, Baja California, are representative of too many of the abuses that have occurred.

The coup deposing democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya that took place in Honduras on June 28, 2009 has been condemned by the Organization of American States and governments from around the world --including the United States.  Now the U.S. government needs to stay on the right side of history and make its message unmistakable.  Will you take action to help ensure that the White House stands firmly for democracy in Honduras and our Congress joins the deafening chorus signaling, in no uncertain terms, that coups are a ghost of the past and will not be tolerated?

*Please call your congressional representative. Tell her/him to support the Delahunt-McGovern House Resolution on Honduras!

     “I urge all leaders in the Americas to see the Honduran crisis for what it is: an urgent call for the profound social and institutional changes our region has delayed for far too long.”

This is how Costa Rican President Oscar Arias closed his strongly worded op-ed, which was published in the Washington Post on Thursday, July 9th.

LAWG calls for the restoration of democratic order in Honduras, including return of democratically-elected leader Manuel Zelaya and the restoration of full civil liberties and freedom of the press.

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Honduran President Zelaya and announced, following the meeting, that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has agreed to act as a mediator and has been accepted by both President Zelaya and the leader of the de facto government, Roberto Micheletti.

“But it has been my view for several days that the most useful role we could play is to convince all that are directly concerned, not only President Zelaya, but also the de facto regime, the OAS, the UN, everyone, that we needed to have a process where the Hondurans themselves sat down and talked to each other,” said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the daily press briefing. “And that is – that’s been my goal, and I believe that we are on the brink of that happening. I’m hoping that it actually occurs soon. So we have tried through our good offices to get people to this point. And we’re very grateful for the willingness of President Arias to serve in this position, and we’re also appreciative of the efforts of the OAS as well.”

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/july/125753.htm