Honduras: a report from inside

I just got another wake-up call to understanding how unreliable or lopsided official media coverage (and even their access to information) can be. This just in from a dear friend living in Honduras to do service work: "Just a quick update. As you may have heard, Zelaya, the ousted Honduran president is back in Tegucigalpa (the capital city). Although there is nothing going on here in San Pedro Sula, we are home under curfew from 4pm yesterday until 6pm today, as is the rest of the country.

It’s WILD, because earlier last night we channel-surfed the local channels watching what appeared to be a balance between the pro-Zelaya protest coverage and the Michelleti comments (head of the interim government). Later on, however, I listened to a guy outright lie to an English-speaking station on a phone interview. He claimed this is a human rights issue and that none of the pro-Zelaya protests were being broadcast—that these stations were being blocked.

He then said that over 70% of the Honduran people are for Zelaya, but everyone I’ve talked to from people at the airport, to the teachers at the school, to the people we've met out on the road all say that only a few people are for Zelaya and that Zelaya’s administration pay poor people to protest on his behalf. I’m sure I don’t know the full story, but I now have first-hand experience of how distorted the message can become."

In absence of the full story - in this case and in most others - may we send the best thoughts we can imagine for everyone concerned. With judgment and blame, we can be off-base. With hope and healing and intending the best for all, we use our power of nurturing and we'll never need to "take back" our messages or intentions. Peace.