Honduras former president's bizarre behavior an embarrassment to Obama administration

November 10, 12:30 AMOrlando Republican ExaminerBlas Padrino

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Honduras ousted president Manuel Zelaya’s erratic behavior continues to block a negotiated solution to his country’s constitutional crisis. Two days after he signed on to an agreement which left the matter of his reinstatement in the hands of the Honduran National Congress, he insisted that the agreement required his immediate reinstatement, even before the Congress had an opportunity to convene.
Mr. Zelaya argued that, since the agreement required the various sectors of Honduran society to submit names of individuals to institute a unity government by last Thursday, he must be returned to the presidency by then. His side refused to submit any names for consideration and simply declared the agreement broken. His most recent pronouncements are to the effect that it is too late for the presidential elections that will be held in less than three weeks to be valid, even if he is reinstated. The pro-Zelaya organization “Resistance Front against the Coup d’état” has stated that its members will boycott the elections and take actions to try to impede them. One independent left-wing candidate, Carlos H. Reyes, said that he will withdraw from the running. However, another left-wing candidate, Carlos Ham, from the Democratic Unification Party has not decided whether to withdraw. Neither major party candidate – Elvin Santos of Zelaya’s own Liberal Party and Porfirio Lobo from the opposition Nationalist Party – intends to withdraw from the race.
The National Congress was waiting for the Supreme Court to provide its opinion on the reinstatement issue. Tonight, there are reports that the Court will not weigh in on the matter because there is a pending petition for a writ of amparo (a process akin to habeas corpus) on Zelaya’s behalf in connection with the Court’s earlier arrest warrants against the ex-president. That should clear the way for the Congress to debate and vote on Zelaya’s reinstatement.
Of course, his current posture indicates that, at this late date, his priority is to disrupt the electoral process at all costs. It appears that he is putting his gigantic ego before the interests of his country. Undermining the electoral process could only lead to chaos and constitute a setback for Honduras’ democracy.
For the Obama Administration, its initial support for Zelaya has been a costly mistake. Now that the United States has finally distanced itself from the ousted president and committed to support the elections, Zelaya’s schizophrenic behavior has become an embarrassment for the Administration. As the Organization of American States meets in Washington tomorrow to discuss the situation in Honduras once again, it is time for our State Department to take a definitive position of support for the November 29 elections, with or without Zelaya, and ask the other OAS members to do the same. Already, Obama’s Latin American policies have resulted in Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez taking a bellicose attitude towards its neighboring nation of Colombia and the U.S. The Venezuelan dictator declared that he is readying his country for war. Recently, he sent thousands of troops to the Colombian border. Severing ties with Chavez’s ally Zelaya will send a clear message that the United States will not be intimidated by Chavez’s threats.
(Above right: at left Manuel Zelaya, at right Roberto Micheletti. Photo courtesy of La Prensa).