July 22, 2009

Did Zelaya Pull a Bank Heist Before Skedaddling?

Hatched by Dafydd

The Washington Times reports that Honduran prosecutors have witnesses and a surveillance video indicating that then-President Manuel Zelaya or Chief of Staff Enrique Flores Lanza may have done exactly that.

More precisely, prosecutors claim that on June 24th, somebody went to the Central Bank of Honduras and "withdrew" $2.2 million equivalent in Honduran lempiras; the money was driven to Lanza's office, allege the witnesses. A second withdrawal of $550,000 equivalent was ordered by Lanza some hours later, according to government documents the Times says it obtained.

Supposedly, the cash was to be used during the "referendum," which the Honduran supreme court declared illegal; but I don't know for what. One would expect that ordinary government expenses for plebescites would be handled by means other than ferrying bags of currency around Tegucigalpa. The obvious implication (if the accusation is true) is that Zelaya was trying to "buy" his own illegal vote.

But this is more a tease than an accusation; I am not yet convinced by the Times' reporting that this really happened, or that if it did, Zelaya himself had anything to do with it. But I believe there is enough evidence at least to warrant posting a heads-up; it will be interesting to see whether the antique media ever catches up with this story -- and catches on to the pathetic astroturfing they've engaged in nonstop since he fled the country, trying to make it appear that a "grassroots" groundswell of support was erupting from the bowels of massed humanity, crying out for Zelaya to return in triumph.

Will they investigate the charge? Will they even bother reporting it? I think it's worth the risk of getting burned by a bum lead, if this turns out to be nothing, in order to test the mettle of the media: Will we see one word of this in the Washington Post, the New York Times, or CNN?

Keep watching the skies...

Earlier posts on Big Lizards and Hot Air's rogues' gallery:

Cross-posted on Hot Air's rogues' gallery...

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, July 22, 2009, at the time of 5:27 AM

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Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Did Zelaya Pull a Bank Heist Before Skedaddling?:

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Da Coyote

Robbed a bank and escaped with millions? Heck we did better 40 years ago when a senator killed a woman and paid the MA authorities to cover it up. That's no crime.

Get serious. Let's look at a real crime - like Sarah Palen spending money to defend herself against false accusations.

The above hissed in response by: Da Coyote [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2009 3:37 PM

The following hissed in response by: Da Coyote

Robbed a bank and escaped with millions? Heck we did better 40 years ago when a senator killed a woman and paid the MA authorities to cover it up. That's no crime.

Get serious. Let's look at a real crime - like Sarah Palin spending money to defend herself against false accusations.

The above hissed in response by: Da Coyote [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2009 3:37 PM

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