Who is to blame for the coup in Honduras? (1 Viewer)

[sam04u]

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Honduran soldiers rousted President Manuel Zelaya from his bed and exiled him at gunpoint Sunday to Costa Rica, halting his controversial push to redraw the constitution but spurring fresh concerns about democratic rule across Latin America.

Coup Rocks Honduras - WSJ.com

Thus far the military coup has been met by widespread international condemnation and also somewhat severe anti-coup protests within the capital which has resulted in the death of atleast one person.

Zelaya's term was ending and as per the constitution of Honduras could not run for office again in the following election. Zelaya attempted to follow in the footsteps of Chavez who successfully reformed the Venezuelan constitution and has now been victorious in many elections and has done much to benefit the oil rich nation.

He attempted to "legally" reform the constitution with ballots being delivered by the military for a referendum, however the wording in the constitution which seeks to prevent something like this happening is ambiguous enough that the military denied the order and instead forcibly removed Zelaya from power and extradited him. His successor was selected from Zelaya's party.

From the Honduran constitution:
"No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform, as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years."

 

[jb_nc]

cia

 

[A High Way Man]

Evergreen International Airlines

 

[katie tully]

The coupists.

 

[Ben Netanyahu]

Israel

 

[Crestwood's_G]

george bush jr and sr

 

[sam04u]

cia

The growing socialist tendencies in Latin America are being watched very closely by the west. The Cold war never ended it just went underground.

You would have to be stupid to not consider the possibility of outside influence knowing the history of U.S intervention in Latin America.

Sometimes one has to wonder whether or not these intelligence agencies have more power than the governments. They're unelected and have the ability to instigate coups, civil unrest, assassinations, etc.

 

[Ben Netanyahu]

george bush jr and sr

junior and senior!?!?!

OUTRAGEOUS!!!

 

[sam04u]

george bush jr and sr

Israel

The coupists.

Evergreen International Airlines

I appreciate the humour but this is a serious debate.

 

[A High Way Man]

CONFIRMED: Obama has ordered the CIA to instigate uprisings in Iran, Honduras and China

 

[Ben Netanyahu]

MAN THE PORTS!

or whatever they say

idk

---

ok srs bsns: whats a honduras?

 

[Ben Netanyahu]

you really can't expect us to say much about a country we know almost nothing about

 

[sam04u]

CONFIRMED: Obama has ordered the CIA to instigate uprisings in Iran, Honduras and China

The civil unrest in Iran is a lot more perculiar. Especially when you see all the faux activism in favour of Mousavi by sympathisers of Israel. Whether the CIA was responsible or not remains to be seen.

 

[sam04u]

you really can't expect us to say much about a country we know almost nothing about

Facts:
Small nation state in Central America.
In the sphere of influence of Venezuela.

Nothing else you need to know really that isn't in the OP.

 

[A High Way Man]

The civil unrest in Iran is a lot more perculiar. Especially when you see all the faux activism in favour of Mousavi by sympathisers of Israel. Whether the CIA was responsible or not remains to be seen.

ok m8 wat about the lebanese electionz? CIA?

 

[bigboyjames01]

ill be honest, I dont care.

 

[katie tully]

ill be honest, I dont care.

me neither

i had to google that shit to find out where this place even is

i question the validity of its existence

 

[rama_v]

Coup Rocks Honduras - WSJ.com

Thus far the military coup has been met by widespread international condemnation and also somewhat severe anti-coup protests within the capital which has resulted in the death of atleast one person.

Zelaya's term was ending and as per the constitution of Honduras could not run for office again in the following election. Zelaya attempted to follow in the footsteps of Chavez who successfully reformed the Venezuelan constitution and has now been victorious in many elections and has done much to benefit the oil rich nation.

He attempted to "legally" reform the constitution with ballots being delivered by the military for a referendum, however the wording in the constitution which seeks to prevent something like this happening is ambiguous enough that the military denied the order and instead forcibly removed Zelaya from power and extradited him. His successor was selected from Zelaya's party.

From the Honduran constitution:
"No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform, as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years."

I'm more inclined to believe that most of the facts about the legitimacy of the coup are wrong. The coup is most definitely a coup - there has been bloodshed and basic civil liberties have been denied. There is no justification for it. The main difference this time is that, for the first time in a long while, the US has not sided the coup-plotters and has advocated for the return of the president in conjunction with the OAS. Expect some big developments soon. Here's a useful link:
The Field: Al Giordano Reports the United States

 

[loquasagacious]

It's an interesting situation in that the army appears to be enforcing the constitution, a role we are perhaps more used to seeing in say Turkey.

Given Honduras does not have this tradition I am loathe to suggest that the military is acting solely to uphold the constitution. It remains to be seen what other motivations may emerge but in the meantime kudo's to the coup leaders for their masterfully effective, cheap and temporary runway denial strategy.

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

It was the Russian government. The Honduras were getting too powerful and defiant.

Edit: On the one hand, a one term limit is pretty stupid and I feel sort of sorry for Zelaya in that he's basically done nothing wrong (as far as we know). Even if he planned to follow in Chavez's footsteps in destroying the economy, Honduras is such a different country that he wouldn't survive two terms anyway. I'd prefer the people forced him out instead of the government. On the other hand I have to give props to how organised and peaceful the coup-leaders have been.

Loq: The comparison to Turkey's anti-Islamist coups seems unjustified (though the Turkish coups themselves were certainly justified) since it was not just the military ousting him but also many branches of government and a large portion of Honduran citizens.