An odd event has occurred. There has been a right-wing coup in Honduras that does not have any apparent support from Washington DC. The president has been kidnapped by the military and flown to Costa Rica. This is election day in Honduras, so this is truly remarkable. The president defied the country’s supreme court by putting a referendum question on the ballot that asked whether another referendum should be held later in the year to take away the one-term limit on the presidency. This appears to be the immediate provocation that caused the coup. On June 26th, I received the following statement from the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator John Kerry:
“America values its longstanding partnership with Honduras, but a push to rewrite the constitution over the objections of Honduras’s top court, legislature, attorney general, and military is deeply disturbing,” said Chairman Kerry. “The people of Honduras deserve a democratic process that is legal, fair and transparent. I applaud the Organization of American States (OAS), consistent commitment to fully respect members’ sovereignty, for calling an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in Honduras.”
Intentionally or not, Sen. Kerry sent a message that may have encouraged the coup-makers. On the other hand, he also sent a message of warning to the president that he did not have support for his referendum gambit. President Obama’s response to the coup also raises questions:
“I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya. As the Organization of American States did on Friday, I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference.”
He is concerned about the expulsion of the president, but he reiterates the position of the OAS on Friday, which was critical of the referendum. It sounds like the American position is that the president was to blame for defying the supreme court, but that that doesn’t justify a military coup which is just as illegal. That makes sense to me. In 2002, the American government openly sided with the coup-makers in Venezuela only to be humiliated when Hugo Chavez was allowed to continue on as president. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few days down in Honduras.
I wouldn’t call it a right wing coup. Many in the legislature and supreme court are hardly right wingers, and they seem to be unanimous in opposition to Zelaya. He seems to have a reputation as something of a nut.
Imagine if GWB had tried to change the constitution to allow himself another term…I’d be begging the joint chiefs to intervene.
Fair points, but his policies are populist and not to establishment Washington’s liking. He’s the type of leader we have traditionally encouraged militaries to topple and then rule by junta for half a century.
He’s actually a real nut, and he tried to hold an illegal election in order to set himself up as dictator. It sounds like the rest of the govt has things in control, and there is no chance of military rule. There is talk of bringing him back to impeach him properly.
No your a nut. Elections aren’t illegal and someone who is elected can’t be a dictator.
Actually, this one would have violated the constitution, which therefore makes it illegal.
The ballots were supplied by Venezuela. Hondurans don’t want to be under the thumb of Chavez, or the U.S. it turns out.
And “you are” is contracted as “you’re”.
The referendum called for a constitutional convention not an election. So the shit about ballots is irrelevant garbage, probably rumor mongering, not to mention guilt by association.
I’m not sure about that. I think, though I am not sure, that the Supreme Court ruled that only the assembly could put such an item on the ballot.
What he tried to do was put on the ballot the quesion as to whether the constitution should be amended to allow subsequent presidential terms.
By your standards, that’s illegal, yet a coup is legal?
He could have added it to the ballot in November, legally, but chose not to. This guy wanted a confrontation.
You are flat out wrong. The November referendum was what he supported.
What you are referring to is a public opinion poll on the November referendum which he was conducting prior to the coup.
The opinion poll has been suppressed since the coup.
link
It’s a military coup. The problem with the left-right framing is it tends to be done through a prism of brainless domestic US cheerleading.
What would
you call a military action involving the expulsion of the elected president and the murder of the left wing presidential candidate and the imposition of martial law?
I wouldn’t support of a coup against the government if the constitution were changed to allow a President to serve more than two terms, which is what the democrats proposed for Bill Clinton. Bloomberg changed the two term rule for mayor of Manhattan. Is Manhattan a dictatorship? Roosevelt was elected to serve four terms. We also might argue that term limits are undemocratic since it denies the American people the right to reelect a popular candidate.
This women is an authoritarian nutcase, and I don’t understand why people are being nice to her.
Would you have supported a coup against the US government in the early 50’s when the US constitution was amended to disallow unlimited presidential terms?
So much for your version of democracy.
As was said elsewhere on another blog:
“Oh sure military coups happen in a democracy all the time. Only in a true democracy would an elected President get kidnapped and dumped in a foreign country by the military. I mean we wouldn’t want to have any dangerous referendums in a democracy now would we. After all who could imagine a democracy wherein the people could actually express their preferences?”
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Cladded with a pijama, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya gave an international press conference from Costa Rica. He then confimed he was still the democratically elected Head of State of his country. Ousted President Zelaya called upon his fellow nationals to press the plotters by peaceful means and civil disobedence. In addition, Zelaya informed he would be attending a regional meeting as Honduran President tomorrow at Nicaragua. Regional coordination in expected to reject the coup in Honduras.Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Patricia Rodas, was taken hostages. Venezuelan and Cuban Ambassadors wer hurt when Minister Rodas was forcibly taken from her house and held captive at a military instalation. Congress is gathering to declare President Zelaya as incompetent to hold the post. A curfew is expected to be declared shortly in Honduras.
OAS has agreed to act swiftly on the current crisis. Honduran President, Manuel Zelaya has been taken to Costa Rica. During a telephone conversation with Telesur at 11:10 (VLT), President Zelaya spoke from San Jose Airport in Costa Rica. Ousted Zelaya explained how he was kidnapped and betrayed by military forces. Then he was taken as a hostage to Costa Rica on a military plane. He also explained his current status in Costa Rica was as guest and not as a political refugee. Zelaya who was still wearing his pijamas asked the US Obama administration to express its view over the coup against his goverment. Without US backing, this coup would not take root, Zelaya added. An international press conference is expected soon. In Honduras, the President of the National Congress, Roberto Micheletti, declared himself as provisional Head of State until general election were held by November 2009. Such political move does not count with a legal backing in the current Honduran Constitution.
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The ongoing coup has been fueled by military sectors that opposed the attempt to change presidential terms by a Constittutional reform. Zelaya was initially supported by conservatives but then rejected once his government followed a left leaning agenda and established close ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and joined ALBA. Pro government supporters of President Manuel Zelaya have been protesting at the presidential palace and confronted military personnel. Power supply has been disrupted. Radio Station are unable to broadcast on the current crisis. Opposition led Honduran channel 11 has been broadcasting cartoons instead of reporting on the coup. The local governmental TV station – Channel 8 -has halted its transmission.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
Congress names Micheletti as temporary president of Honduras
Según el decreto leído, Zelaya fue separado de su cargo como Jefe de Estado de Honduras y su puesto será ejercido por el actual presidente del Congreso, Roberto Micheletti, hasta que culmine el período presidencial. Las elecciones generales están previstas para el 29 de noviembre próximo.
Earlier news …
The President of the National Congress, Roberto Micheletti, red a letter that stated President Zelaya had quitted his post. However, President Manuel Zelaya immediatly responded by CNN stated such letter was fake and he had not resigned to the presidency. UN issued a press statement to reject the military led coup.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Now that is easily the funniest (and truest) thing I’ve read today. Thanks for the much-needed laugh, Booman!
I’m sure Obama and the administration will mouth all the appropriate tsk tsk platitudes agains the coup. I wouldn’t make much more of it than that.
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