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.