http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20090809_Turbulence_in_Honduras_must_be_allayed_quickly.html Posted on Sun, Aug. 9, 2009
Turbulence in Honduras must be allayed quickly By Maurice Lemoine The reaction was unanimous - from the Organization of American States to the United Nations, from the European Union to President Obama. Everybody condemned, without qualification, the June 28 coup that deposed Honduras' head of state, Manuel Zelaya, and removed him by force to Costa Rica. Miguel d'Escoto, president of the U.N. General Assembly, called for Zelaya to be reinstated without delay in the office and functions to which he had been appointed by the will of the people; no other option would be acceptable to the international community. Doubts had been expressed about Zelaya's legitimacy. Some claimed that he had sought, unconstitutionally, to amend the country's 1982 constitution so he could seek another term of office in the presidential elections coming in November. But this was not true. The constitution remains in force until further notice, and the head of state cannot stand for reelection. With 400,000 signatures to support him, Zelaya had planned only to organize a voluntary survey on election day to find out whether Hondurans wanted a Constituent National Assembly to be convened at some point. A peculiar feature of the present constitution is that it contains a number of articles that are effectively set in stone, including Article 4, which prohibits reelection of the president and which cannot be amended under any circumstances - a curious rule to impose on the people, who are supposedly the source of all state powers. Zelaya was ousted not for seeking reelection, but merely for contemplating reform of the basic charter. Zelaya made three big mistakes: >From a base in the center-right Liberal Party, he severed his ties with Honduras' ruling political and economic elite. He increased the minimum wage 60 percent. He joined the Bolivarian Alliance, which includes Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela, and other governments that advocate breaking with neoliberalism. Through this coup, the right has simply attacked the weak link in that organization. President George W. Bush supported the attempt to overthrow Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in April 2002. Obama joined the condemnation of the man who led the Honduran putsch, Roberto Micheletti. But while Obama declared that Zelaya alone is president of Honduras, his secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, suggested that Costa Rica's president, Oscar Arias, act as mediator - keeping the left and center-left Organization of American States out of the picture. Powerful anti-Zelaya forces are at work in Washington. The Pentagon has a strategically important military base in Honduras, in Palmerola. It has already lost its base in Manta, Ecuador, which was closed at the request of the president, Rafael Correa. Hugo Llorens, the U.S. ambassador to Honduras appointed by Bush in September 2008, was director of Andean affairs at the National Security Council in 2002 and 2003, covering Venezuela at the time of the coup. Just before June 28 in Honduras, Llorens attended meetings with "military officials and opposition leaders." Zelaya has rejected Arias' proposed national-reconciliation government - which would reinstate Zelaya as president, but without any real power. So has Micheletti, to the annoyance of Clinton, who offered him a chance to emerge from the crisis in pole position. Was this Washington duplicity or a difference between the White House and the State Department-Pentagon partnership? If order is not restored, and if Honduras succumbs to violence, Obama's standing will be seriously impaired in Latin America, where he had been welcomed with sympathy and hope. ------------------------------ Maurice Lemoine is a journalist and an expert on Latin American politics. He can be contacted atlemo...@agenceglobal.com. This article was translated by Barbara Wilson and distributed by Agence Global. <http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=phillycom&guid=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fopinion%2F52804407.html><http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=phillycom&guid=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fopinion%2F52804407.html> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
