Another day another murder attempt on Honduras' Manuel Zelaya. The embassy in which he is sheltered was attacked with potentially deadly gas ... or was it? Catholic priest Andrés Tamayo who is with Zelaya and his supporters in the Brazilian embassy issued several impassioned statements. He was quoted thus in Honduran news outlet Teimpo:

"First came a helicopter and then a tank, which was a sign of a company, but was handled by soldiers," said Tamayo, who also suffered the effects of chemicals.

The priest, who observed when discharging chemicals, said a hundred citizens, who are in the building, most presented problems, such as dizziness, headaches, stomach and throat, vomiting and bleeding.

 

Truck allegedly delivering toxic gas to be used against Zelaya. Enough HCN to kill an army ... the army doesn't seem too nervous. (source: Teimpo.hn)

In the Mexican Nuestro Pais (h/t neoboho) Tamayo didn't mention the helicopter or the truck. But interestingly, the story picks up an emerging theme in recent Zelaya assertions: Israel is behind everything.

Military Armed Forces of Honduras, with the logistical support of Israel advisers, gases released from neighboring homes into the interior of the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, causing vomiting of blood to the refugees in the embassy.
[...]

He said that "people are vomiting blood, are closed to the airways, and cause other serious problems of intoxication" and therefore called on all nations "to stop this barbarism."

Zelaya also made a statement that was carried by several sources including Teimpo:

"They spread a toxic gas that the military used to evacuate people, here are sixty people all trying to breathe in the yard," said the president, who said he is using a gas mask and although it has a dry throat .

"There are people vomiting and urinating blood," said Zelaya.

Physicians were called to the scene including former Health Minister, Marco Rosa and Zelaya's personal physician Mark Rhodes. According to Teimpo:

Former Health Minister, Marco Rosa, confirmed a few minutes inside the Embassy of Brazil there are at least 25 to 30 people poisoned with some kind of gas.

Indicated, by means of television, outside the building, those affected with vomiting, headache, diarrhea and even nosebleeds
[...]
Initially, Rosa said he did not know if it was some kind of food or gas, but soon after confirmed that from inside it confirmed that they have found a hose through which the gas would be infiltrating.

So there's a group of people pissing/vomiting blood; Rosa finds a hose; a diagnosis is made; toxic gas! Let's pause for a moment and run down the symptoms that eyewitness sources within Zelaya's media team have reported:

-Vomiting
-Vomiting Blood
-Urinating Blood
-Dizziness
-Headaches
-Sore Throat
-Diarrhea
-Nosebleeds

Those conditions are no joke! Anything plus blood = not good. And don't forget, according to Tamayo, this attack began with gas delivered from a helicopter. Sure was lucky Zelaya had a gas mask ....

	Manuel Zelaya displays the "gas mask" that saved him. (source: Teimpo.hn)

Soon thereafter, the Zelaya media team held a press conference (h/t neoboho) identifying the gas:

Zelaya and his aides said at a news conference that a local public health specialist they identified as Dr. Mauricio Castellano took air samples near the embassy after the attack and determined that the gas contained HCN, an abbreviation for hydrogen cyanide. HCN can cause dryness and burning of the throat, shortness of breath, convulsion, coma and cardiovascular collapse.

Now why does hydrogen cyanide sound familiar again .... OH YEAH.

Its most infamous application was the use of hydrogen cyanide by the Nazi regime in Germany for mass murder in some gas chambers during the Holocaust.

So, Zelaya and his camp are alleging that the assault on the embassy was planned by Israeli advisers employing chemicals most infamously used to mass-murder innocent Jews. Way too cute.

According to OSHA, the ACGIH has assigned hydrogen cyanide a ceiling limit value of 4.7 ppm (5 mg/m(3)), which should not be exceeded during any part of the working exposure. The ACGIH limit is based on the risk of acute poisoning. 270 ppm is fatal after 6 to 8 minutes (181 after 10). That's some pretty toxic stuff - delivered by helicopter and in a big-ole water truck. Amazing nobody from the Honduran military bothered to wear protective gear! Not to mention the UN guys who showed up to inspect the place.

UN Guys looking pretty breezy for inspecting a embassy that has just been attacked with a toxic gas that may likely still linger in the air and on surfaces. Are they usually so careless if they think a situation may be toxic? (source: laprensa.hn)

Are we really supposed to believe that a medical professional goes to a compound where individuals are exhibiting the symptoms described and didn't send them immediately to the hospital? Bear in mind this is within 2 hours of the supposed gas attack - so even if the symptoms subsided, it would be INCREDIBLE not to send the people who complained of problems to the hospital to make sure they were OK. According to the Teimpo article linked above, there were ambulances standing by.

The attribution to HCN just makes this even more unbelievably incredible. WikiPedia indicates The United States standard cyanide antidote kit first uses a small inhaled dose of amyl nitrite, followed by intravenous sodium nitrite, followed by intravenous sodium thiosulfate.  Or you could just give 'em some milk - the treatment indicated by Tamayo. Wiki does mention different countries have different methods, I guess Honduras a bit more holistic than we in the states.

Another intreaguing question: why isn't anyone but Zelaya and his supporters echoing these assertions? Brazil has personnel in the compound - and their diplomats had the floor at a UN security council meeting specifically addressing issues at the embassy. Zelaya has alleged snipers were firing into the embassy windows, mind-altering death rays and gas attacks (before this one). Yet Brazil is insisting on a call for uninterrupted phone service? And what about the UN guys who inspected the compound - they didn't say anything either. Very odd. Very odd indeed.

One other factor to consider is that the compound is under scrutiny 24/7 by journalists. They are kept a few blocks away, but they see everything that comes and goes. If people were removed in ambulances, it would be reported. Their presence also makes it HIGHLY unlikely that an LRAD-X device (which is clearly audible at 300 yards) has been employed in the vicinity of the embassy since the big showdown on Tuesday.

The idea has been offered that Zelaya's assertions are likely true because nothing could possibly be in need of cleaning in the environs of the Brazilian embassy.

	The road in front of the Embassy on Tuesday. (there were curfews until Thursday). (src: laprensa.hn)
	The same area shown shortly after the "gassing" (src: elHaroldo.hn)

All that trash didn't pick itself up. And there is likely more trash this evening. Despite what the Zelaya propaganda machine is trying to project, the police are not blocking peaceful demonstrations. Earlier today, a rally of 6,000 peaceful pro-Zelaya demonstrators showed their support in a march passing the Brazilian embassy. So there may be more cleanup to come..

It is truly impossible for we in the United States to *really* know what's going on in Honduras. What we know for certain is that two sides are battling and seeking whatever advantage they can find. A key component of this is a propaganda war - the misinformation campaign is brutal right now. It is likely best not to take the word of either the interim government or Manuel Zelaya's team without official confirmation through more credible sources (such as Brazilian diplomats who's embassy is at the center of conflict - and who are likely to defend their sovereign territory).

I'm not professing to know for sure, but as the story sits right now something isn't adding up.