Manuel Zelaya (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The Honduran President was escorted from the Honduran presidency in June. In September, Manuel Zelaya quietly slipped back into the country and has been holed up within the Brazilian embassy ever since.
The military forced Zelaya out on June 28 because the President sought to hold a public vote to extend his term limit. It seems Manuel rather enjoys being President and doesn’t want to turn over the cushy job to a freely-elected opponent.
Hugo Chavez successfully extended his presidency of Venezuela indefinitely. The power-mad dictator first attempted to sieze power there twice in 1992. The coup d’état failed to thrust Chavez into power right away but did succeed in popularizing the man with the Venezuelan voting public.
Chavez was slapped on the wrist for his treasonous act with a two year imprisonment, followed by a pardon in 1994. After the pardon Chavez organized a socialist party in the country in preparation for the 1998 elections. Chavez won the presidency with 56 percent of the vote. Soon after Chavez’ inauguration a new constitution was approved. By February of 2009 the Venezuelan dictator was able to remove all provisions limiting his time in office. Chavez can remain “president for life” as long as he keeps winning elections.
The Honduran military is preventing Zelaya from doing the same in Honduras. The Honduran Constitution limits Zelaya to one four-year term – similar to the term limit that once existed in Venezuela. It seems to me the military, sworn to protect the rule of law, was merely doing its job when it escorted the President from office at gunpoint. Zelaya was about to hold an unlawful public vote to gauge support for a November referendum that would remove the term limits from the Constitution, Chavez-style.
Upon the removal of Zelaya, the Honduran Congress named Roberto Micheletti as the interim president. Micheletti is a member of the country’s Liberal Party – the same one that Zelaya represented. The Honduran Supreme Court said it ordered the military to remove Zelaya. The system of checks and balances worked in Honduras to remove a would-be dictator.
Chavez, an outspoken ally of Zelaya, has backed his neighbor to the north. On the second day of his exile Zelaya flew to Nicaragua on a Chavez private jet to meet with the Venezuelan dictator. Chavez has been demanding the return of Zelaya to power ever since.
“The bourgeoisie and the empire are attacking Alba [Chavez’ trade club that includes Honduras] on its weakest flank,” said Chavez in his Marxist rhetoric immediately after Zelaya was deposed. “We know they are preparing new offensives in Central America, the Caribbean and South America so we must be ready 24 hours a day.”
Obama has backed Zelaya and condemned what has been termed a “military coup” since the start. “We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there,” said Obama on June 29.
Had Obama recognized the situation in Honduras he could have sided with the country’s Supreme Court and Congress. Instead he has exacerbated the situation there by aligning the United States with Chavez. Why does Obama sympathize with the Venezuelan dictator and his pawn in Honduras?
Comments
Why does Obama sympathesize with the Venezuelan dictator & his Honduran pawn?
Why does Obama drag his feet in bringing our troops home when Iraq is at the point where our troops can finally come home?
Why did warmonger Obama send 26k more troops to Afghanistan & then after that send 13k more troops there & now have more troops in Iraq & quagmire Afghanistan than there was when warmonger Bush was president?
Why did Obama say that he would end indefinite detention & then have 50 poeople given indefinite detention at Gitmo with more detained indefinitely at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan?
Why does Obama fight a judges ruling that 3 men at Bagram must have their day in court?
Why are there people detained in Afghanistan that aren't even from Afghanistan?
Why did Obama say that he would end the use of warrantless wiretaps & then expand the use of it?
The answer to all of the above: He is not the man he made himself out to be when he ran for president. He duped us.
JK - Typical of communist apologists for dictatorship and destruction of human liberty. You really are devoid of any substance, with no legitimacy and your profanity should be expunged.
So here's the thing. Why hasn't anyone taken an action-by-action approach to analyzing the Honduran (insert favorite descriptive term depending on which side of the issue you are on: "coup against" or "legitimate removal of") Zelaya? It would seem that if there is a Constitution in Honduras and it speaks to how to legitimately remove a President, then it should be a simple enough task to bounce what happened off what the law says CAN legally happen to remove a sitting President. It doesn't really matter whether Chavez supports Zelaya or whether Zelaya was about to hold a poll to see if he could get himself re-lected. All of that is nice background and there have been no end to the stories supportive of both the interim government and Zelaya. But I've yet to see a point-by-point analysis of the legitimacy of the actions taken on the fateful day Zelaya was removed. Arguments on both side of this issue may have merit, but as to the legitimacy of Zelaya's ouster, only one can be right
Hi Brian, sorry to reach you this way but I didn't see an email. Thought you might be interested in a homegrown style of Libertarianism that we show in our film "Skatopia: 88 Acres of Anarchy". It's a fun, scary and inspiring look at one visionary's attempt to live a life following his own rules. He runs a skateboard "farm" in Appalachia, a hot bed of informal libertarianism. Volunteer punk skaters, local hillbillies, tradesman all come for a chance to live with fewer rules. In turn, they help build the park. The screening is at 6:30p at the Malco Theater in Hot Springs as part of the HOt Springs film festival. The filmmakers and "subjects" will be there for a Q&A afterwards, not to mention an afterparty. I can send you more info or check out the film website www.skatopiathemovie.com. Our main subject, Brewce, speaks very articulately about his lifestyle and would make a great interview. Thanks for your time! Laurie House,Director
Hi Laurie
That does sound interesting. I'll check out your site.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!