As political leaders begin to make statements bordering on the ridiculous, let me briefly recap what has happened in Honduras.

Former President Manuel Zelaya, ally of Venezuelan thug in chief Hugo Chavez, sought to illegally hold a referendum on changing the Honduran constitution. This could have allowed him to run again in violation of the country’s current term limits. It’s a classic trick of would-be-dictators and luckily did not succeed. While some in the media and elsewhere are labeling this a coup, I would not not. It’s rather a ‘coup’ in the same sense as Turkey has experienced several times whereby the military removed leadership that was violating the country’s laws.
Some may argue that the military’s removal of the president by force was not democratic. Indeed, on the surface it would seem to be illegal, however given that the president was pressing on with his illegal actions, declared so by the supreme court, congress and the military, it was in fact a fairly reasonable and foreseeable response. While of course, I do not encourage such actions by any military in general, in the case of Honduras, the constitutionally mandated checks on presidential power had failed. Since Zelaya blatantly continued his illegal activity, we can in fact be thankful that he was ousted before having a chance to rewrite the constitution and turn the country into an even poorer, worse off Venezuelan satellite. Indeed, according to top-secret Chirol sources in Honduras, there were rumors of several hundred Venezuelan trained paramilitary forces poised to enter the country from Nicaragua during the referendum to create unrest of somehow aid the process. Thus, the Honduran military has been deployed to the border in large numbers, so I am told.
My sources indicate that the former vice president did not want to assume the presidency as it would not allow him to run for president in the next election per Honduran law. Therefore, president of congress, Roberto Micheletti, has been named acting president as he would be next in line. Given that the military has not attempted to take power and has in fact followed Honduran law in terms of who would assume power, its actions can hardly be condemned but rather seen as defending the rule of law.
Barring unforeseen changes or new evidence coming to light, this author applauds the Honduran military and is happy to see another blow against the leftist fascism creeping through Central and South America, emanating from Caracas. It should therefore come as no surprise that Venezuela has even threatened military action in response! My prediction is that Zelaya will end up in Caracas living off the oil money that rightfully belongs to the Venezuelan people and serving as a living ‘martyr’ of Yankee imperialism, giving speeches and rallying support for Chavez. I also strongly disagree the remarks of both President Obama and SecState Clinton who were quick to condemn the action.

Comments to this entry
Munro Ferguson
June 29, 2009
12:18 am
ADenisJ
June 29, 2009
3:28 am
Brand X
June 29, 2009
5:55 am
Grant
June 29, 2009
11:04 am
Besides that, the fact remains that an elected leader was apparently forced out of office which is never a good trend to start. However I do note with great annoyance that Chavez still blames the United States for the affair even though our president and state dept. were generous enough to continue to recognize Zelaya as president.
Eddie
June 29, 2009
1:23 pm
Eddie
June 29, 2009
1:26 pm
Chirol
June 29, 2009
1:52 pm
One fun fact is that the ballots for the referendum were made in and shipped from Venezuela!! Probably all pre-voted too.
Chief Wiggum
June 29, 2009
2:22 pm
In January of this year, Democrat Representative José Serrano introduced HJ Res 5, a measure to repeal the 22nd Amendment, which provides the only term limit on federal office — the Presidency. The amendment, added in 1951, restricts anyone from seeking a third term in office. Who ever thought we would be having the "President for Life" argument again here? It has a nasty third-worldishness about it.
Eddie
June 29, 2009
2:27 pm
Thomas
June 29, 2009
6:20 pm
I'm given to distrust blogs as a source of news in general so without some kind of corroboration, this is kind of a non-starter.
Chirol
June 29, 2009
7:05 pm
Brand X
June 30, 2009
12:11 am
Chirol
June 30, 2009
2:18 am
To be clear, my preferred method would have also been democratic, i.e. that the president himself would have respected the rule of law. But in the context of Central America, I think this is about the best we could hope for and given that the intention of the military seems to be to protect the constitution, NOT to seize power, I'm ok with this.
Also, awesome post by Michael Waller on the subject here. If you haven't heard of him or read his work, do so. His blog is updated infrequently but worth the wait.
Brand X
June 30, 2009
5:32 am
Kit
June 30, 2009
4:53 pm
Munro Ferguson
June 30, 2009
10:47 pm
Darin
July 1, 2009
12:22 am
He was going to put to referendum to change the constitution to allow the president to serve two terms correct? But before he even made it that far, the military stepped in. That's a coupe in my book.
Now said referendum was illegal to hold to begin with. I think that's a problem. Constitutions need to be modified but stay within the original intensions and guidelines. A constitution that establishes no way of updating itself is a bad constitution.
Had his term ended yet refused to vacate the office and then the military stepped in, it would have been a great day for Honduran democracy. But as I understand it, that's not what happened.
tdaxp » Blog Archive » What is happening in Honduras?
July 1, 2009
1:03 am
bobby gibson
July 1, 2009
1:14 am
As i write this email, all that stands between me, my family, our orphans, the other Americans, and the good people of Honduras from being under mob rule are the brave soldiers and police standing in the streets being hit by rocks, bottles, and curses. Apparently most of the leaders of the paid mobs were sent in by Venezuela, and his other dictator friends. Zelaya has ordered them to return to their quarters, while Chavez has called for rebellion in Honduras.
We may owe our lives to those brave men, so don't critize them unless you want to releive one of them for a shift. President Obama has thrown his support to Chavez and the thugs roaming the streets of Tegucigalpa. While i am thankful to be a U.S. citizen by birth, and i think it is the greatest country on earth, I am ashamed of its president. He is more like a rock thrower than a peace maker. I wish that we had some congressmen in the U. S. as brave as the ones here.
Bobby Gibson
bobbyhonduras@yahoo.com
T. Greer
July 1, 2009
4:11 am
"I am not sure I buy this.
The opposition would be in the right if they had waited. If they had waited until the Honduran congress had impeached the President. But they didn’t. Instead, the military broke the standstill. It was not the courts, nor the congress that removed Zelaya from power, but the military. They produced a court order seeking his arrest — after they had arrested him. Congress produces a letter of resignation (mostly likely forged or produced under duress) after Zelaya is gone.
And what does the interim government do once they take power? They shut down dissenting media outlets, refuse international media access to the country, break up protests, issue a curfew and send tanks down the street.
Yes, what Zelaya was doing was illegal. Yet in cases of democratic governance, fire should not be used to fight fire. The abandonment of democratic institutions before they have been tested by the opposition cannot be supported. Nor can any coup that removes a democratically elected leader before it is given the authority to do so. Post-hoc approval by the remaining branches of the Honduran government is not enough to justify this coup.
T. Greer
July 1, 2009
4:12 am
Chirol
July 6, 2009
12:31 am
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N05200016.htm
Thoughts On Obama And Honduras « Hidden Unities
July 7, 2009
7:24 pm