Jun 282009
Congratulations to the OAS Permanent Council for producing a strong statement that does not mince words about what happened in Honduras today, correctly calling it a “coup d’etat” and “an unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order,” and making clear that “no government arising from this unconstitutional interruption will be recognized.”
June 29th, 2009 at 9:21 am
I usually don’t follow Honduras’s politics so I have nothing special to say about it. Instead I’ll throw in a bucketful of cold water by finding, as I often do, the most boring and uninspiring angle to the story, wrapped in historical bladdy-blah. As it happens, in Colombia we once had an unconstitutional referendum that violated the law of the land, just like the one Zelaya was trying to convene, and it ran quite smoothly. I’m talking about the “septima papeleta” in 1990, an informal referendum on whether Colombia should call a constitutional assembly. At the time, Colombia’s constitution was quite explicit in prohibiting constitutional assemblies, so any attempt at convening one would go against the constitution. If you like, Colombia’s current constitution is (or was) itself unconstitutional. Then again, most constitutions are because most are born as rejections of the previous order. Unlike Zelaya’s referendum, Colombia’s “septima papeleta” had significant consensus so that all the key actors supported it to the extent they could. For instance, the Supreme Court dutifully pretended to be busy doing something else (I don’t recall if it had a doctor’s appointment, or if it had to pick the kids from school, or whatever) while the thing went on. The Army decided that it was OK that other people also took a crack at the whole violating-the-constitution thing. (Funny how the Honduras army suddenly got the hots for the Constitution.)
Why am I bringing this up? I honestly don’t know. Maybe there are two things to mention. 1. I still have to understand why Zelaya miscalculated so badly the support for this move and 2. Convening informal referenda is not exactly the worst offense imaginable. In my list it ranks below winning elections through armed intimidation, but I digress.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:53 am
lfm when the septima papeleta I was too young. Thanks for alerting about this, I will delve into the matter. take care.
June 29th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
To LFM: I think the Supreme Court actually allowed it at one point, in writing, by using a different interpretation of the constitution and the law, but that doesn’t mean all courts in all countries have to be willing to do the same in every situation. The Court had previously shot down other attempts throughout the decades, so it’s not like it was so simple and easy to do that
You can’t copy and paste what happened in Colombia to Honduras.
Regards,
Marcos
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Im from Honduras, and Im a middleclass 26 year old man. There is a lot of things that happen here that you may not know, but the constitution has been violated by pretty much everyone. A quick example would be us having a panama president (Ricardo Maduro) last president before Zelaya. Well the constitutions states that in order to be a Honduran president you must be a Native Honduran, and not only you but your parents as well. They let it pass, why? because he (Maduro) knew how to play his part. Agree with the high elites and you will be ok. What happened with Mel Zelaya? he did not agree with them. Instead he went to the poor and needed people and tried to help em in many ways. Ofcourse the high elites did not like that. So thats when it all began. LA PRENSA (owned by a high class honduran), a big newspaper here in my country beshed Manuel Zelaya from the begining. In the 3 and a half years he has been president, I have never seen an article thats says good things about Manuel Zelaya. And Manuel Zelaya`s main goal was not to be reelected, his main goal was to change some things in the constitution. Mel Zelaya is a great guy, hes the only president Ive ever seen that actaully goes visit the poor villages and helps them out, the only time politics visit them is when they are promoting their campains for presidency, and after they are elected they never see them again.
They are accusing Manuel Zelaya with some crimes, but they are not true, they have all been a plot from Micheleti`s group to take Zelaya down. I hope you read this article and it helps people understand a little about Honduras and how Michelettis followers dont want our country to grow any further. Sorry for my bad grammar