June 29, 2009
Weirdness In Honduras
The Honduran military has overthrown President Zelaya and shipped him to Costa Rica....but...it does not appear to actually be what we normally think of as a coup.
Fausta explains...
It seems that the President of Honduras ordered the military to administer a plebiscite to amend the constitution in a manner directly in violation of said constitution. The amendment in question? He wanted his term limits removed. As I understand it, the military refused to carry out illegal orders, the congress more or less impeached the president with the blessing of the supreme court....and he was removed....but not imprisoned or killed.
The fact that Chavez is deeply upset is reason enough to pause and reflect on whether our governments condemnation of this action is not wrong headed (though it is perhaps, understandable). Military ousters of civilian governments, particularly in Latin America, are worrisome as they often lead to a very dark place. However, it does not appear that this is a military takeover as they reportedly acted on a congressional and supreme court request and the elected legislature has appointed a successor....from the same party as the ousted president.... Also, the military does not seem to be running the country.
Whenever a military overtly "assists" in the transfer of power in any capacity beyond security, it is good and proper to be skeptical, but this doesn't seem right now to be anything but the institutions of a republic working as designed.
And yes, I'm thawing out the crow....just in case.
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Fausta explains...
It seems that the President of Honduras ordered the military to administer a plebiscite to amend the constitution in a manner directly in violation of said constitution. The amendment in question? He wanted his term limits removed. As I understand it, the military refused to carry out illegal orders, the congress more or less impeached the president with the blessing of the supreme court....and he was removed....but not imprisoned or killed.
The fact that Chavez is deeply upset is reason enough to pause and reflect on whether our governments condemnation of this action is not wrong headed (though it is perhaps, understandable). Military ousters of civilian governments, particularly in Latin America, are worrisome as they often lead to a very dark place. However, it does not appear that this is a military takeover as they reportedly acted on a congressional and supreme court request and the elected legislature has appointed a successor....from the same party as the ousted president.... Also, the military does not seem to be running the country.
Whenever a military overtly "assists" in the transfer of power in any capacity beyond security, it is good and proper to be skeptical, but this doesn't seem right now to be anything but the institutions of a republic working as designed.
And yes, I'm thawing out the crow....just in case.
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