At approximately 10 a.m. today, government prosecutors entered the offices of Cable Color in Tegucigalpa in an apparent attempt to silence television Channels 11 and 36 and Radio Globo in Honduras. Human rights observers from Cofadeh are now on the scene to observe the regime’s action, believed to be an attempt to silence opposition media in the country. Cable Color is a serious, professional company that provides a wide range of communications services, including critical services to Channels 11 and 36 and Radio Globo. Live coverage of events is being aired now (links provided below). Resistance front leaders, protestors and international media are now arriving on the scene.
Watch Canal 11 live here (recommended).
Watch Canal 36 live here.
Listen to Radio Globo here.
There is also report of a missing journalist from El Tiempo newspaper in San Pedro Sula.
Anyone with contacts in international human rights organizations and media is strongly encouraged to distribute this news as widely as possible.
This appears to be a new phase of media repression in Honduras, with the regime ramping up efforts to silence the opposition. It may also portend a new phase of heightened physical violence against the opposition.
A history of media repression to date by the coup regime can be found at the Reporters Without Borders website.
Since the coup, Radio Globo has taken the lead in market share in Honduras and is the first radio station to reach the important milestone of 1 million listeners per day in the country. As noted by Reporters Without Borders:
Radio Globo, one of the few Honduran broadcast media still criticising the de facto government, reported on 4 August that it could be forced to shut down as a result of a complaint brought before the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) by lawyer José Santos López Oviedo on behalf of the armed forces. The complaint accuses the station of "sedition" and openly urging citizens to revolt.
Government CONATEL representatives are accompanying government prosecutors at Cable Color. According to news reports, they are looking for a "pirate signal" and may confiscate equipment. This is the second attempt by CONATEL to close Cable Color since the coup, and its representatives are refusing to say who filed the complaint leading to today's action.
Update: The government agents have left, and protesters have mostly moved on to other demonstration sites for the day. The action appears to have been part of a pattern of intimidation by the coup regime against local media. Cable Color is owned by Honduran businessman Jaime Rosenthal, as are Canal 11 and El Tiempo newspaper, which have been providing a generally balanced view of events in the country. Today's action appears to be part of a long-standing attack against Rosenthal by Otto Reich and a shadowy, right-wing organization linked to Reich called the "Arcadia Foundation." There's plenty of background in a well-researched article here.