No sir…It wasn’t. It wasn’t a coup. What happened in Honduras Jun 28th 2009 will come to be seen as an exercise in democracy and bravery by generations to come. This is the stuff that we only see in novels and movies. This time it happened in real life.
Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, seeking re-election against constitutional precepts, which call for a one-four year term, led an effort 5 months before his term was up to call for a constitutional assembly designed to modify the constitution to eliminate term limits, and in-fact, establish himself as a Chavez-like president-for-life.
The act itself was unconstitutional, and therefore illegal. The Honduran Supreme court declared it illegal, and so did the Congress, and the Electoral Tribunal College.
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez had provided Zelaya a template to remain in power, and become a de-facto dictator. This same template had already worked for Chavez himself, and other Chavez alumni like Evo Morales from Bolivia, and Rafael Correa from Ecuador, Now 5 months from his term limit, Chavez was exerting pressure on Zelaya to make his move. Chavez had provided much help to Zelaya through his axis-like group of countries called the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas or ALBA in Spanish and it was time to collect.
Chavez had provided with all the logistics and funding, including the boxes in which to conduct the illegal poll. The boxes were already rigged so the result was guaranteed.
But there was one problem.
How was he going to distribute the boxes through the country? There was an easy answer for Zelaya. Hand them to the military. They had the logistics to carry out such an enormous task.
Zelaya called in his military chief of staff General Vasquez. In his condition of commander of the Armed Forces, Zelaya ordered Vasquez to take the boxes out of storage at an Air Force base, and distribute them.
Vasquez expressed doubt citing the Supreme Court decree of illegality for that action. Zelaya became irate, and fired him on the spot.
That could have been the end of it, but a chain reaction took place that nobody could have predicted in this impoverished country.
The top officials of the Army, Air Force and Navy resigned in support of their boss.
Then the congress called an extraordinary meeting, locking themselves up to assess the mental health of the President. The president, displaying an abysmal show of ignorance, of the same constitution he was trying to change, went on TV to say that congress couldn’t depose him, that he had been elected by the people and only the people could take him out.
That afternoon, the president organized a mob, and stormed the Air Force base installations to remove the poll boxes and distribute them himself with his supporters. That was his second illegal act.
That evening the Supreme court issued an arrest order against him, and handed it to the military to carry it out. They went to his house and carried out the order.
The international press, liberal as it is, immediately called it a coup. Every country – including the United States – is calling it a coup. They have demanded that Zelaya be back in power. They have threatened to stop aid to this country.
Can they not see? These people stood up for their constitution. They did so alone, guided by the rule of law.
How disheartening it was to see President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton call it a coup.
Are they ignorant of the issues? Or do they themselves have a socialist agenda? They sided with Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Rafael Correa, and Evo Morales!
The United States of America have sided against the rule of law, against a group of brave citizens rejecting dictatorship. How can this be possible?
How can the United States not help those who are standing by their constitution?
How can we side with Castro and Chavez ? How?
For those familiar with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this is the equivalent of the Battle of Helm’s Deep. There was nothing but hopelessness.
How can the people of Honduras ever be expected to stand up for themselves when they were abandoned by everyone else to their own luck against the armies of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba? And to top it off, having the United States condemn them for defending their constitution? No, they won’t have a Gandalf to come in at dawn to save the day. They are alone.
We all know that President Obama is a liberal with socialist tendencies. But what we didn’t know was how far he would go to undermine freedom in the American continent and support those with socialist / communist agendas.
The Honduran’s heroic efforts will be written upon, studied, and will serve as a model to any other country who wants to break free of the shackles of dictatorship and socialism. But when they do it, they better know this: The United States of America will no be on your side. Not under President Barak Obama.
Jorge Castro
