Links to today’s show transcripts:
Brother of Honduran President Is Arrested for Cocaine Trafficking as Migrants Flee Violent Drug War
The brother of Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández has been arrested in the United States for drug trafficking and weapons offenses. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman accused Tony Hernández of being “involved in all stages of the trafficking through Honduras of multi-ton loads of cocaine that were destined for the U.S.” Hernandez is also accused of providing heavily armed security for cocaine shipments transported within Honduras, including by members of the Honduran National Police and drug traffickers. Dana Frank is a professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her new book is titled, “The Long Honduran Night: Resistance, Terror, and the United States in the Aftermath of the Coup.”
“It Is Not a Natural Disaster”: Dana Frank on How U.S.-Backed Coup in Honduras Fueled Migrant Crisis
As the United States continues to face criticism for tear gassing asylum seekers on the U.S.-Mexico border, we look at the crisis in Honduras and why so many Hondurans are fleeing their homeland. Honduras has become one of the most violent countries in the world because of the devastating drug war and a political crisis that stems in part from a U.S.-backed 2009 coup. Dana Frank is a professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her new book is titled, “The Long Honduran Night: Resistance, Terror, and the United States in the Aftermath of the Coup.”
Honduras: As Berta Cáceres Murder Trial Nears End, Will True Perpetrators Be Brought to Justice?
Eight men are on trial in Honduras for the murder of environmentalist Berta Cáceres, who was gunned down in her home in La Esperanza in 2016. A verdict is expected this week. The assassination of Cáceres came a year after she won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work protecting indigenous communities and her campaign against a massive hydroelectric dam project. Dana Frank is a professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her new book is titled, “The Long Honduran Night: Resistance, Terror, and the United States in the Aftermath of the Coup.”
How Tear Gas Became a Favorite Weapon of U.S. Border Patrol, Despite Being Banned In Warfare
As the Trump administration continues to defend firing tear gas into crowds of asylum seekers, we look at the history of tear gas, which is banned in warfare but legal for federal authorities and police to turn on civilians. Border authorities’ use of tear gas has spiked under the Trump administration, with the agency’s own data revealing it has deployed tear gas over two dozen times this year alone. Customs and Border Protection told Newsweek Tuesday it began using tear gas under the Obama administration in 2010. The agency’s use of tear gas has now reached a seven-year record high. Stuart Schrader, lecturer in sociology at Johns Hopkins University is interviewed. He has studied how tear gas went from a weapon of war used in Vietnam to being deployed by law enforcement at home. His forthcoming book is titled “Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing.”
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.