Last Sunday, Honduras removed its would-be dictator, Mel Zelaya, who flouted court rulings by using intimidation to try to get Hondurans to change their constitution to allow him to extend his tenure in office. The country's Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Zelaya, which the military enforced by removing Zelaya. The country's legislature then voted almost unanimously to replace him with its legislative speaker, in accord with the country's constitution.
Now, Obama, who knows nothing about Honduran law, is ignorantly claiming that Zelaya's removal was "illegal," and demanding that Zelaya be reinstated as president. His demand is joined in by the Organization of American States, many of whose leaders, like Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, have either violated their own countries' constitutions, or likewise seek to eliminate term limits contained in their own countries' constitutions. ("A senior Obama administration official said the United States would probably move to suspend economic development and military assistance" to Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere).
Obama is quite wrong to claim that the removal of Zelaya was "illegal." The Honduran president forfeited his right to rule under Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution, which bans presidents from holding office if they even propose to alter the constitutional term limits for presidents. And the Honduran military, which acted on orders of the Honduran supreme court, expressly had the right to remove the president for seeking to alter the constitutional term limit, under Article 272 of the Honduran Constitution, as even left-leaning commentators have now admitted. The Honduran military's role in enforcing the court order does not make it a "coup" anymore than federal troops' role in enforcing the court-ordered integration of the Little Rock public schools in 1957 constituted a military occupation or takeover.
(Zelaya was a corrupt ruler who so mismanaged his country's finances so badly that it recently failed to pay many of its bills. His violations of his country's constitution were criticized by human rights groups and the Catholic Church as well as the legislature and judiciary).
What happened in Honduras was not "illegal," much less a "coup,” agrees the Honduran lawyer and former Minister of Culture Octavio Sanchez in his July 2 column in the Christian Science Monitor. He notes that under Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution, the President automatically lost his right to remain in office by seeking to extend his term in office: “According to Article 239: ‘No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform [emphasis added], as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years.’ Notice that the article speaks about intent and that it also says ‘immediately’ – as in ‘instant,’ as in ‘no trial required,’ as in ‘no impeachment needed.’ Continuismo – the tendency of heads of state to extend their rule indefinitely – has been the lifeblood of Latin America’s authoritarian tradition. The Constitution’s provision of instant sanction might sound draconian, but every Latin American democrat knows how much of a threat to our fragile democracies continuismo presents. In Latin America, chiefs of state have often been above the law. The instant sanction of the supreme law has successfully prevented the possibility of a new Honduran continuismo. The Supreme Court and the attorney general ordered Zelaya’s arrest for disobeying several court orders compelling him to obey the Constitution. He was detained and taken to Costa Rica. Why? Congress needed time to convene and remove him from office. With him inside the country that would have been impossible. This decision was taken by the 123 (of the 128) members of Congress present that day. Don’t believe the coup myth. The Honduran military acted entirely within the bounds of the Constitution. The military gained nothing but the respect of the nation by its actions.”
If Richard Nixon had been impeached and convicted for Watergate, and then refused to leave office, until being forced out by the military, would that have been a “military coup”? Of course not. But Obama and many in the press are taking essentially that position in demanding the reinstatement of Honduras’s would-be dictator.
The fact that the military carried out the Honduran Supreme Court’s orders in removing a would-be dictator, after he flouted the court’s rulings, does not make it a “military coup.” When court orders are defied by powerful government officials, troops are sometimes called out to enforce them, as happened in the U.S. in 1957 when federal troops forced Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus to stop blocking the court-ordered integration of Little Rock’s public schools. Indeed, Article 272 of the Honduran Constitution gives the military the power to remove a president even without a court order, if he seeks to violate the term limits prescribed in the Honduran Constitution. Even a legal commentator, Litho, at the leading liberal blog Daily Kos, which is run by a leftist Latin American immigrant, admits that the military’s action was “legal” in a “technical sense” under the Honduran Constitution.
Comments
Come on, Hans, how can you write that and still keep a straight face? A sitting President has been kidnapped by the military, expelled in his pajamas from the country, and left on the tarmac of a foreign airport -- and you say this was not a military coup? Why not impeaching him instead, if he had really violated his country's constitution? How can you condone such a barbaric and uncivilized behavior? It sounds that quite a few interests were being hurt there -- the coffee industry perhaps, as Honduras is the 8th world producer?
The constitution did not require impeachment for the president to cease holding his office -- he automatically did so by unlawfully seeking to extend his tenure, under Article 239.
And the military's role in his removal was expressly sanction by Article 272 of the constitution.
How do you expect a budding dictator who ignores court rulings to be removed? By asking him nicely -- or with appropriate force?
(The founding fathers took up arms against the King of England. They didn't just send him a letter asking him nicely to stop violating their liberties).
In the U.S., federal marshalls enforce court orders against recalcitrant litigants and officials, by force if necessary.
In Honduras, the military has that responsibility under Article 272, when the president seeks to extend his time in office in violation of term limits.
In response to Andrew's question: I don't think there's an impeachment provision in the Honduras constitution.
Some wire service stories have said it doesn't have one, and the Cato Institute blog, in a post by Juan Carlos Hidalgo, suggested as much.
It sound like a poorly-written constitution -- giving the military the ability to remove the president for certain alleged abuses of power, but not providing any clear impeachment remedy.
Having said that, it's hard to argue that there has been an illegal military coup, as would be needed to justify cutting off U.S. aid to the country.
In this case, at least, the military didn't act on its own initiative, but did the bidding of the courts.
Andrew: I am an American sitting in Honduras, monitoring the situation in person. Are you an authority on the Honduran Constitution and the legal process here? No, I suspect not. Have you ever been to Honduras?
The former President is no favorite here. Thousands and thousands of Hondurans are in the streets peacefully marching to show their support of THEIR constitution - against the wrath of the world, including Chavez, Noreiga, and Castro. Oh, and add OBAMA and CLINTON to that nice left wing mix who are asking a democratic country to not follow its Constitution.
In the meantime, let's all focus on a poor country doing what their laws allow while ignoring North Korea and Iran, who have nuclear capability to destroy us all.
Can you people not see you are sheep following a dangerous path off the face of a cliff? The people in Honduras believe in their democracy and are supporting it. When did the Americans stop doing so? 233 years ago was a long long time ago......
Is the absence of an impeachment procedure an excuse to uncivilized, brutal, behavior? Can you show me an article in that constitution that says that the President cannot be given 5 minutes to get dressed before being expelled from the country? It doesn't matter how you spin it, this doesn't look quite right to me and to many, for instance. Are our standards of human conduct this low? This is not politics, its just an objective assessment of what is right and what is wrong. Good try, friends, I know this is hard to spin.
The wrath of Noriega? Who is in prison in an excellent case of Double Jeopardy...
The Honduran constitution is a bad joke that should be changed, as it was the result of the Incapaz regime. It says that a two-thirds Congress majority is required to sack a military chief. This causes the military chief to be a law onto himself. It's well-known that the first years of the constitution featured figurehead presidents with that Moonie general running things whilst ceding the southern part of the country to the ousted Nicaraguan National Guard.
Thank you for a great article, Hans Bader! All informed and honest Americans and Latin Americans agree with you.
Many of us wish we could have done what Hondurans are doing before the thugs working for Castro and Chavez enslaved our countries.
Hondurans have CRIED FOR FREEDOM and all honest and informed Americans all Latin Americans are elated to hear that cry! We all want freedom from Castro, Chavez and the rest of the Marxist thugs who are destroying Latin America – Ortega, Morales, Correa, etc. In the U.S., we want to defend ourselves from Obama, another Marxist seeking to destroy the U.S.
Many of us have suffered under those Marxist thugs, who get elected through lies, manipulation, intimidation and fraud, promising to “help the poor” and with CHANGE and YES WE CAN slogans. Chavez, FARC and possibly Iran pay for overwhelming media propaganda on their behalf.
Once elected, they proceed to destroy the country’s economy and institutions (like what Obama is doing).
It's despicable that, rather than defending the human rights of Hondurans and Latin Americans, Obama is siding with the Marxist thugs who are trampling on those human rights and working with drug cartels and Islamic terrorist to destroy the U.S!
I guess it was to be expected from Obama. As his parents, relatives, friends and mentors, Obama is a U.S. hating Marxist. As such, he sides with Marxist dictators and would-be dictators who seek to enslave their countries and destroy the U.S.
Zelaya behaved illegally and the Honduras military acted under the orders of the country's Supreme Court to remove that president, and to elevate the person next in line under the Honduras Constitution. This is Constitutional Democracy in action combating illegal behavior by a sitting President. That's why Obama does not like it!
Zelaya was implementing in Honduras the strategy devised by Castro and implemented by Chavez and the rest of the Marxist thugs to gain absolute power.
I agree with Hans, I live in Honduras. Mel basically went against the law and against the constitution whenever he pleased. He needed to be physically stopped, he had a paid mob doing lots of his dirty work. Chavez has been spending his oil money here fast and furious to make sure he adds Honduras to his flock. We have said NO, and will continue to say NO to Chavez, Castro, and Ortega NOW and Forever!!
Will will continue to follow our constitution.
Gonzo
We should be demanding that Obama be impeached and that the UN and the OAS be dissolved.
By siding with Zelaya and against the rule of law and the human rights of Hondurans, Obama and the corrupt UN and OAS demonstrate again that, rather than defending human rights, they support dictators who trample on those rights.
The world in general and the Americas in particular would benefit from Obama being impeached and from the closing of the OAS and the U.N. As a bonus, we would all save money and their fancy buildings could be put to better use!
To further empower and enrich itself, the UN helps promote evil schemes, such as Obama’s global warming/cap and trade Ponzy scheme, which will kill the U.S. economy. The OAS, with Insulza as Secretary General, has been helping Castro and Chavez enslave Latin Americans. Playing an active role in Allende’s Popular Unity, which sought to impose Marxism in Chile, Insulza has a long and shameful Marxist record.
You know, you all see the U.S. trained and indoctrinated Honduran military as the Vanguard that will maintain the course that serves to maintain oligarchy rule over there... you have every right to support that if you want, but don't claim it's democracy. A constitution where the military chief is as difficult to remove as it is to amend constitutions in most countries is not one that has civilian control in mind. Instead it's an anti-democratic system designed to constrain things and maintain the course designed to maintain the oligarchy's stranglehold.
The Honduran constitution was promulgated at military gunpoint and it is as the coup itself - a product of violence. It is not a democratic constitution at all. Honduras should not be considered a democracy as long as this constitution is in effect.
Now it's your right to argue against democracy. That's what they do in China, they argue that it's necessary.
Dear Antonio:
One day, Mr. Micheletti will be expelled from the country in his boxers. Then, you will tell me whether it was right or wrong. Remember: "Don't do onto others what you don't wish others to do to you." They will. If you want to get rid of a bad president, do it right, with elegance, lawfully. Brutality won't get you far, my friend.
Zelaya was replaced by a democratically-elected legislature with 123 out of 128 votes.
That's democracy.
Honduras has apparently had democracy since 1982.
A constitution that had provided democracy for that long -- in a region where many other countries still suffer under authoritarian regimes (and others, like its neighbors El Salvador and Guatemala, have only recently emerged from civil wars) -- should be respected.
And that constitution was violated by Zelaya, who was a danger to democracy.
Why on Earth is Obama denouncing Honduras, rather than dictators like Cuba's Castro or Venezuela's Chavez -- both of whom back Zelaya?
The society of this country still dreams with the Cold War. Get over it and stop justifying oppression on the name of freedom and democracy.
No one has mentioned that in the weeks leading up to the events of last Sunday, Mr Zelaya had been repeatedly warned that he would be arrested if he did not desist from his illegal and unconstitutional actions. Previous writers have shown that what happened last week WAS legal under the HONDURAN constitution. The only "mistake" the military made (and that only because of the impression the world received from it) was to remove Mr. Zelaya from the country. And THAT was done in an attempt to avert the violence and bloodshead that almost surely would have resulted had he been incarcerated inside the country. So far that goal has been accomplished, but may God help us if we are forced to take him back. Finally, no one seems to be paying any attention to the literally 100's of thousands of Hondurans who are demonstrating peacefully all over the country in support of the government and constitution,and against the return of Zelaya or that polls show 80+% of Hondurans against that return
Mr. Bader, thanks for your objectivity, regardless of what others may coment your article reflects the true facts. Nine out of every ten Hondurans are extremely happy with the removal of Mr. Zelaya.
Will Obama blackmail Honduras into installing a bullying would-be dictator?
Who knows. But we DO know for a fact that Obama stands with the likes of Chavez, Ortega, the Castros, and Morales. Dictators ALL.
There are so many uninformed so called experts here who want to broadcast their own "facts" over those that actually happened. Defenders of their own agendas but based on biased rubbish.
Mel was the creator of his own demise. He broke the law. It cannot get any simpler than that. After they hauled him out from under his daughters bed he was politely informed that he was under arrest for violating the constitution, no bloodshed no beatings.
My opinion on his so called exile was for his safety but also to allow him time to dig a deeper hole for himself, which thankfully he is doing very well.
What is astonishing is that these so called experts turn a blind eye to his excesses since being removed. Before cancellation of his government credit card he ran up $80,000 in charges.
He has to answer as to why he let a Venezualan military transport land at Toncontin and to how he had so many dollars stashed away in his home!
Viva Honduras, I have so much admiration for the people here !
A very good and balanced article. Thank you. I live in the US but travel to Honduras 2 or 3 times a year on business. I stay with Honduran family. Everyone I talk to is very happy with the arrest and banishment of the want-to-be dictator. Noone wants to see military involved in presidential succession but Mel was out of control. His 'non-binding' referendum would have been just the beginning. The ballots were printed in Venezuela, and probably filled out too. Then you put your thugs on the streets so normal people are afraid to vote. Then you declare that you represent the will of the people and democracy, after all 'the referendum' (never again referred to as non-binding) was unanimous...
"The founding fathers took up arms against the King of England. They didn't just send him a letter asking him nicely to stop violating their liberties."
Actually, they wrote him several nice letters then used force. In the case of the Hondurans they had a written constitution that served in the place of nice letters so they skipped straight to the force. Good work by the Hondurans.
Perhaps the Hondurans should send Barry a message that he and his Thief of Staff can't fail to understand. "Get forked!"
Obama is pure scum. This corrupt left-wing traitor is systematically destroying the American Dream for middle class people. It's no surprise that Benedict Obama supports left-wing Chavez thugs. The man is truly vile.
Obama is smarter than you guys. He stands for democracy and what happened in Honduras last Sunday is far from democracy. Wake up, guys!
Obama is a moron, everything he touches breaks
If a military coup is to succeed, it has only a 24 hr. window of opportunity. This one is doomed. Facts:
- No country in the world has recognized the new "government".
- Most unfortunately, today 2 Hondurans died because of the repression by the military.
- The World Bank has frozen loan transfers.
- The country was kicked out of the OAS, further isolating the country and coup leaders.
- Exports and trade came to a standstill.
- Human rights situation is dire: media outlets closed, opposition leaders detained, constitutional guarantees suspended, curfew imposed, freedoms curtailed. All signs of lack of control of the situation and utter chaos.
- No country in the region (including the US) can afford to let this coup to succeed.
Has all this suffering and hardship made the country more free and democratic than it was before the coup? The answers is obvious, friends.
Zelaya's ouster was a democratic decision.
As attorney Octavio Sanchez noted, the decision to replace Zelaya with the current president "was taken by the 123 (of the 128) members of Congress present that day."
Doesn't sound like a military coup to me.
But to the legion of dictators and autocrats represented in the UN and the OAS, it apparently does.
I am Honduran born and raised.The only freedoms Hondurans have ever truly had is that of working for big corporations in sweatshops just to live a devastatingly poor life. The rich are afraid of losing the control they have always had while thousands of children die of simple preventable sicknesses like diarrhea and malnutrition. I wonder when those who are rich and living a great life at the expense of the exploitation of their fellow humans are going to develop a conscience. And when all journalists are going to do some honor to their profession and refuse to propagate fallacious information to serve the dominant class. It does not take half a brain to see that the "freedom" that Hondurans are allegedly trying to defend by "supporting" the coup is the only one most of them truly have: To be exploited and kept perpetually in misery by foreign corporations and the local oligarchy which is mostly made up of business people of foreign descent.
shame it hasn't happened yet in venezuela and/or nkorea, marxist scum needs to be flushed
So when is the MSM going to ratchet up the heat on Barry over his support for a dictator and against all common sense?
When will the MSM start hauling Barry over the coals for his blatant double standards (Israel, Iran, Honduras)?
R and Robin, although I suspect you two are the same person...it is unusual that while you may harp on about democracies you willfully ignore the very simple fact that the removal of the former president was DUE to the democratic foundations of the country being followed.
Mailman
Honduras has dealt a blow to Chavez, Obama, and the global left! US Army take notes.
As other people have said the 1982 Honduran constitution was not drafted democratically. In the 1980s Honduras was run by a US-backed government which while formally elected, used military death squads to kill opposition supporters and scare people into not voting for the opposition parties.
Can you name me another democracy where heads of government are restricted to one term in office? Or where it's 'dictatorship' to hold a referendum on whether to change the constitution?
In some states in the U.S., like Virginia, governors are limited to one term. Some democratic countries also limit their presidents to one term.
Does Duncan McFarlane seriously argue that that makes the United States "undemocratic"?
Thus, it was not "undemocratic" for Honduras's constitution to prevent Zelaya from seeking another term.
The arguments against Zelaya's removal get lamer and lamer.
So the Honduran constitution is null and void because it was enacted "at gunpoint"? Like the constitutions of Japan and Germany?
Zelaya seemed to be playing along since he was trying to amend the bogus constitution.
The majority of his own party also wanted him gone. Were they held "at gunpoint"?
It is so infuriating and frustrating that people will judge our country without knowing all of the facts. Only a person who has been living here the last 3 years can possibly comprehend that what was done was in accordance to Honduran law and to our constitution. We Hondurans should solve our own problems and NO COUNTRY has the right to interfere in our internal affairs. We Hondurans will decide what we want for Honduras!
Obama's just engaging in serial hypocrisy. After all, as Joe Biden just announced, we can't interfere in the affairs of sovereign nations like Iran or Israel, but pressuring a poor neighbor to reinstate their corrupt ex-presidente, the one who tried to install himself as "president for as long as I care to hold the office" is just fine.
Does this mean there any American constitutional amendments that Obama's thinking about ignoring or overturning?
Mr. Bader,
Thank you for your article.
It is crazy to me how Chavez, the Castro Twins, Ortega could ever become the advocates for democracy in Honduras!!! They need to preach that in their own country... Wait that would be the end of them.
Obective shmective. Leftist, right wing, Obama this Obama that. Fact Honduras is surrounded by socialist leaning governments: Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala (Social Democrat). Fact, for democracy to have a chance, there needs to be an educated majority and that majority needs to be the middle class. Fact, in Central America this is not the case, and the trend proves it. Fact, Zelaya is not detained, and Honduras gave up its chance to prosecute him yesterday by not letting him land. Look, Zelaya, Chavez, and socialism is just as bad if not worse than the captilism that in its deregulation led us to this global economic crisis. Of course the Latin countries are trending to the left, they are all poor and the rich are super rich and they are few. This is nothing more than the alegorchy trying to hang desperately to what thy've had. Heros? NO! Fear that power shifts left: YES! Obama should read your article and fact check it, but frankly Honduras could trun red and so what.
"Can you name me another democracy where heads of government are restricted to one term in office?"
What is the significant difference of limiting a head of government to one term as opposed to two?
And yes, it sounds draconian that, to even suggest changing that article of the Constitution, you can lose your seat. Does anyone know if there is a way that the people can initiate a Constitutional amendment without the aid of their government? That would seem to easily circumvent the law and protect the article itself from change by the government.
Thank you for your informed and balanced account of recent events in Honduras. I live in Honduras during the winters, and am in close contact with many Hondurans and expats. I completely and fully support the interim (LEGAL) government in their attempts to protect Hondurans and their constitution from the meddling of wannabe dictators. Honduras has stood strong in the face of mis-informed international opposition and I regard her as the "little mouse that roared". Roar on, little mouse, roar on!!
First off to Fay, If u are not one of the middle class how´d you learn english. I am a Honduran lawyer who cries every day when she sees that everything I learned about international law is TP with which the international community is wiping its arse. Obama is a disgrace to the american people. His economy is worse going on terrible Hillary has done nothing right in the international community. Could this government be the downfall of the american empire? We hondurans have made a choice. We will stand by it come what may. But I will say this to everyone who is meddling in our internal affairs: "DON´T TREAD ON US"
Fay, please do not speak with hatred. There are no sweat shops in Honduras. For your information, the people that give their time to the poor are middle class and above. They dedicate their time to raise money for Guarderias infantiles and Ruth Paz. These are the two major ones. Please be more cautious with what you say because if there weren't any businesses then who would employ most of the people. The maquilas have been leaving because of our government. 200,000 jobs have been lost. You must be government paid with a beaurocratic job. Please stop dividing our nation!
President Pussy
Evil m***** f*****
who will our armed forces ultimately obey?
president votefraud or our supreme court
we all know the answer.
perp walk coming, give it time
Thanks Hans for being one of the only reporters in the world that is giving an accurate account of what happened in Honduras. It seems clear that the international powers have there own plans for Honduras becuase they certainly are not listening to the people of Honduras. The current government has the support of the vast majority of Hondurans, so the international community needs to let them, as there own free nation, work this out under their laws.
If, back when Hillary Clinton was working for the Watergate Special Prosecutor Team, Richard Nixon had pulled some stunt to prolong his tenure, and the Supreme Court had ordered the military to pull his tuchus out of the White House while Congress voted to impeach him and remove him from office, she'd have cheered, instead of condemning the removal of the "democratically elected" president.
For your info Andrew,
- No need for other nations to recognize this "new" government. It's something Hondurans have to solve by themselves.
- 1 (not 2) person was killed because those demonstrators were carrying guns and they fired first, and because Zelaya decided to return eventhough he was advised not to in order to avoid precisely this.
- The World Bank froze its loan to us way before Zelaya was thrown out because of Zelaya himself, which ran the country's resourses like he ran his ranch.
- The OAS is Chavez's playground. He financed half of those representatives' governments with his petrodollars.
- Exports and trades are back no normal.
- Human rights situation was already dire during Zelayas' administration. I had to carry a gun with myself at all times for protection. Crime and organized crime peaked during Zelayas' time. I was always afraid of being kidnapped and asked for a ransom like my next door neighbors. They were freed but left the country and sold their house.
You guys do need to realized that just 8 hours later after Zelaya's outster, a new civilian president was swore in. The constitution remained unchanged, the Supreme Court was still in office, so how can you call this a military coup if no military is in charge? So he was thrown out with force and still in pijamas, but if you would have seen his relently behavior for the past 2 years, he had it coming, and well deserved. We did him a favor in throwing him out, now he's out playing victim for the world. I'd give him an Oscar for his performance at the U.N.
The curfews are not so great but I prefer those for the time being, since crime rate has gone way down ever since. During Zelaya's it was unbearable. Venezuelan's planes fill with cocaine and petrodollars landed everyweek. Drug related massacres ocurred everyweek, like in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. And, the worst part, Zelaya's goverment did not care. They only care about their damn 4 urna to stay in power and enslave or population.
Just to say that my friend ED here below is exactly correct and telling the truth. I have lived in western Honduras for almost 15 years, and GOD BLESS THE LAST REMAINING TRUE PATRIOT DEMOCRAY IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE!! Vamos adelante Catrachos!
I just checked the Factiva news database (Dow Jones alternative to Lexis Nexis), and I found only FIVE accounts of the situation in Honduras that even mention Article 239; but there were more than 2,000 with the words "Honduras" and "coup" in the last month. That is scandalous. The news media are worse than useless to leave out such essential information.
Ya dejense de papadas, el nuevo gobierno violo el articulo 3 de la Constitucion, y lo seguiran violando. Picaros, ladrones avorazados. se pelean el pais como que fuera un pastel.
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