Honduras, Coup or Justice?

July 6, 2009

Lots of crazy things to talk about, so let’s just start one at a time. About a month ago, Mauricio Funes, the first “leftist” elected to the presidency of El Salvador, became President. Everyone is very interested to see how it all works out, and how different of a government he will run from all the previous governments.

Also, in other political news, the whole Honduras “coup” is and has been ALL over the news here since it happened. It has really hit home here, because in a military that is traditionally conservative and a leader elected who is liberal, there is a latent fear of something similar here. To me, this has all been VERY interesting to see how the media plays it, as well as the US. For those of you who haven’t stayed upon it, here is a quick recap. Now former President of Honduras, Miguel Zelaya, will end his term in office this January. The Honduran Constitution, as do many Latin American Constitutions, limits the terms that a President can be reelected due to the recent history these countries have with military dictatorships; one person who slowly acquires all/majority power in a country, as Chavez is doing at the moment. Former President Zelaya decided that he wanted to change the Constitution, so he asked the Honduran Congress support him in a ballot to call a Constitutional Assembly, to rewrite the Constitution so that a president could be reelected (ring any bells there, Chavez). He then wanted to hold the referendum himself with the military, but the Supreme Court ruled it illegal according to the Constitution. Both said it was illegal, even his own party who later called for an investigation into his mental fitness, so he turned to the military to get help in the referendum to put on himself. The head of the military said no as well, so….he fired him. In the end the Supreme Court ordered the General’s reinstatement and the Attorney General ordered the confiscation of the ballots sent from, you guessed it, Venezuela. The Attorney General also said that he would issue an arrest warrant for anyone who continued the illegal ballot. Zelaya then supposedly organized the break in of the air force base where the Venezuelan ballots were housed of the said referendum. End of the story, the Attorney General eventually issued the warrant for the arrest of Presidente Zelaya and it was signed by the Supreme Court. The Court sent the military to remove him from office, and then sent him to Costa Rica. None were hurt in the process. The arrest warrant was based on “acting against the government, treason, abuse of authority, and usurpation of power.”

http://www.libertaddigital.com/documentos/orden-de-captura-de-la-fiscalia-17057381.html

There are articles roaming around as well that the Honduran confiscated from him were modified to the point that it would have allowed him to stay in power with the making of the new Constitution all at once. They say that this was why the government acted so quickly to arrest him. But once again, nothing concrete as of yet on that account.

The Congress then appointed the next in line, President of Congress (the Vice had already resigned in 2008), member of the same liberal party as the ex-president, as President.
Here comes my personal opinion in a few words, what a TRAGEDY, for the Latin American people. Honduras had a primetime chance to legally remove a President from power who wanted to defy the Constitution and remain in power without the assent of the rest of the ELECTED/CONSTITUTIONAL government. And, Congress and the Court blew it. They were so concerned with keeping the peace after his arrest, that they sent him to Costa Rica, and that’s when the arrest basically turned into to a coup/kidnapping in the eyes of the international community. The government says they did it to keep down the bloodshed, but they didn’t think out the consequences fully of sending a citizen out of the country. For this reason this is a tragedy, the Congress should have removed him in due time and due process, however difficult because of his actions, and proved to the world that Democracy can work in the face of Presidents who don’t want to heed the law they are sworn to protect. The tragedy is that they had correct motive and faulty procedure. Reading en El Heraldo, one of Honduras’ newspapers, and listening to many commentaries in El Salvador, public sentiment seems to be pretty much in line with what I just described….ok maybe they didn’t use the word tragedy, but seeing it basically like I said.

That being said, was this a coup as many “leftist” Latin American Presidents are calling it? Here is the supremely erudite definition of coup d'état from Dictionary.com:

“The sudden overthrow of a government by a usually small group of persons in or previously in positions of authority.”

In reading the actual definitions, in the basic, generalized sense, I think it has to be admitted that it there was a forced change of EXECUTIVE, but not of STATE, and up until the final sending to Costa Rica, it complied with Honduran law. So, the branch of the government with the power to remove the president, stayed intact, as well as the Supreme Court. Was the change affected by a small group? Nope, everyone but the president and his guards participated. Was it performed by a group by a group that previously held power? Nope. Was it sudden? Well this whole controversy started months ago with the Congress and the Supreme Court ruling against it, so I’d say no. Was the political catalyst a force already in a position of less power? Here is a Yes, but they were ELECTED, so we are now talking IMPEACHMENT and not a COUP….Bill Clinton anyone?

I hope in the end that the Constitution is upheld in Honduras and that they hold out until the people elect their new president in November as was originally intended. This story is huge all over Latin America, because it is a litmus test for how future governments will put up with power hungry executives, and how a country can follow its Constitution and fight off the sanctions of the international community at the same time. If only he’d gone to jail instead of Costa Rica.

Check out a decent article here from the Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623220955866301.html

This ended up being much longer than I expected….I’ll post on the rest of my stuff here with my life in the next few days.

Thanks to all who have donated to our Community House fund, WE ARE ALMOST THERE!!!! Let’s finish it off so that we can start repairing!!!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=519-124

"Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed."

From the interesting Legislator of Arizona, Barry Goldwater