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US expat - no Honduras coup - 'exclusive'
An American expatriate in Honduras, who started there with the Peace Corps several years ago, has this to say:
The Ex president had said several times that it did not matter to him what the Supreme Court and the Congress thought He was going to carry through his referendum, even went to the extreme of robbing funds from other ministries to pay for the referendum. Most people are extremely confused by the Response of Obama, Obama was extremely popular down here, and for him to denounce this action without researching it seems like a betrayal to them. Chavez and the OAS are seen as leftest enteties who are or were trying to illegally influence Honduras's internal politics. (sic per e-mail)More at my personal blog, including a gander at why, as well as how, Obama has mishandled this. And, I've asked my correspondent to weigh in with further details as he wishes.
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My sense is that, however well intentioned, Obama's handling of this was a ham-fisted rush to judgment.
July 1, 2009 12:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Your Expat friend doesn't sound convincing to me. I mean, look at the very long list of authorities calling it a coup, OAS, United Nations, every country in North, Central and South America, most countries on the planet, and on and on and on.
An unidentified Yank living where? Roatan? Tegucigalpa? Says it's not a coup. On what basis? How does he/she know?
Let's be honest. President Mel is unpopular with the Honduran ruling class because he signed on to ALBA, which is a direct threat to all those sweet deals with IMF, World Bank, CAFTA and so on. But isn't it about time that the economic development model starts addressing social development instead of market development?
I'm curious about one thing though. Is the expat community in Honduras worried about their property taxes increasing? Ask your friend.
July 1, 2009 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, if the country's Supreme Court (and Congress) declares that what the President is doing is illegal, is it really a military coup if the President is arrested?
July 1, 2009 1:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well normally the police arrest people not the army. This is definitely an old fashioned banana republic coup. Obama is handling it quite prudently, in ways that will weaken Chavez's anti-American stance. There is no future for the USA in continued backing of the local white elites in countries like Honduras.
July 1, 2009 2:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Do they not have an impeachment proceeding? Whipping out the military seems like an extreme response.
July 1, 2009 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
impeachment process was removed from constitution in 2003. the source gave no explanation as to why.if you want to verify, I found the info after googling "honduras constitution" and don't have time to look for it again. good luck
July 1, 2009 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
A couple of points.
We can all probably agree that Pres. Zelaya is an idiot who is/was attempting a power grab ala Chavez. However, be that as it may, he did listen to the Supreme Court re the referendum on term limits and made it a non-binding one instead of a binding one. The concern by the power elite in Honduras was that even a non-binding resolution would set the ball in motion for a Chavez like government and Zelaya had to go. And in typical Banana Republic fashion the military made it happen with the approval of the Honduran Senate. It's a coup no matter how you slice it.
As to Obama's response, so far so good. He has thrown Chavez off his game. He has muted the cries by some in the region that this was once again US/CIA backed overthrow. And Acción Democrática ( a opposition party in Venezula), issued a statement on Monday that was full of irony: “Hugo Chávez has become the George Bush of Latin America.”
July 1, 2009 9:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
You see, all of this has nothing to do with Honduras. It's all about the big picture and the big game.
Honduras is a banana republic (as we're constantly reminded), which is another way of saying: SHITHOLE that isn't worth thinking of seriously. I hope realize that soon.
Honduras is simply getting caught in the wheels of a big cosmic game between Obama and Chavez, you see.
So if we have to dispense with principles in the name of the big picture, so be it. We can cover it up with the formalities of military arrest vs policy arrest.
Bottom line: Honduras simply doesn't matter, period.
July 1, 2009 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
One the other hand, Lalo, Honduras doesn't exist at your pleasure. It's 7.5 million sons and daughters would not agree that Honduras simply doesn't matter, of course.
Also, the "big picture" is not Chavez v. Obama at all, it's the future economic development of Latin America. Will that continue to feed the lifestyles of the rich and famous, or change to answer the needs of its people?
July 1, 2009 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of course not.
The true big picture is a wave of "presidents" across Latin America who followed the lead of Chavez and modified their constitutions so that they can run for office indefinitely.
And the true big game is that of appearnces. US has been helping Honduran military and for Obama it is more important to avoid an accusation of "interfering" from Chavez than to be honest about what's going on in Honduras.
July 1, 2009 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Your ignorance on this subject is astounding.
July 1, 2009 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
As is the typical thoughtfulness of your comments.
July 1, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
A short helpful op-ed analysis that might help you better understand the background your friend appears to be trying to get across:
By ALVARO VARGAS LLOSA
New York Times, June 30
All becomes clearer when you know that Zelaya was elected as a center-right president and that he has changed in office to be very supportive of and in sympathy with Chavez. If your friend believes that his election was fair, then he is probably sort of seeing it from the p.o.v. of a large minority, if not the total majority that originally voted for Zelaya; I bet he is hearing support for the "coup" or whatever one prefers to call it, from a lot of people, and that a lot of Honduran citizens do not think of it as a "coup." But they are going to have to get used to the idea, because the OAS is treating it as a coup:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/artappraiser/2009/06/honduras.php#comment-3514591
But I can also imagine that some less educated/poorer/working class people who do not keep up with news and politics might have originally voted for Zelaya simply because he said he was going to get tough on crime or similar, not knowing or understanding his center right beliefs. Those very same people might support Zelaya moving toward Chavez, if they had any awareness he was doing so. You might ask your friend a rhetorical, if he thinks a Chavez supporter would win a theoretical new election, and to keep in mind if he is only thinking of urbanites he might not be getting the full picture (not making any presumptions about who your friend talks to, just making a suggestion about a pitfall to avoid, one that may be obvious to him.)
July 1, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink