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Obama backing would-be dictator in Honduras
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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?
