The coup d’etat in Honduras
Well. I would say that if the behemoth just to the north has a military base in your country, and funds your military and major pro-US parties, then you probably do have to get their permission before overthrowing the government
By Richard Seymour on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 - 660 words.
So, is the six month old Obama administration taking ickle baby-steps towards its first coup? Eva Golinger thinks so. The background:
Supposedly at the center of the controversary is today’s scheduled referendum, which is not a binding vote but merely an opinion poll to determine whether or not a majority of Hondurans desire to eventually enter into a process to modify their constitution.Such an initiative has never taken place in the Central American nation, which has a very limited constitution that allows minimal participation by the people of Honduras in their political processes. The current constitution, written in 1982 during the height of the Reagan Administration’s dirty war in Central America, was designed to ensure those in power, both economic and political, would retain it with little interference from the people.
Ah yes, the Reagan years, during which time Honduras was the base for CIA training of Nicaraguan death squads. This was also the era during which John Negroponte was helping flood the country with military aid so that Battalion 316 could murder and torture dissidents. Proceeding:
Zelaya, elected in November 2005 on the platform of Honduras’ Liberal Party, had proposed the opinion poll be conducted to determine if a majority of citizens agreed that constitutional reform was necessary. He was backed by a majority of labor unions and social movements in the country. If the poll had occured, depending on the results, a referendum would have been conducted during the upcoming elections in November to vote on convening a constitutional assembly. Nevertheless, today’s scheduled poll was not binding by law. In fact, several days before the poll was to occur, Honduras’ Supreme Court ruled it illegal, upon request by the Congress, both of which are led by anti-Zelaya majorities and members of the ultra-conservative party, National Party of Honduras (PNH).
Zelaya has been irritating the country’s ruling class for some time with his support for Chavez and the ‘Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas’, and his calls for drug legalisation, but the attempt to maybe, pending a possible future referendum, democratise the system a little was a step too far. The Miami Herald, naturally enough, vocalised the propaganda of the would-be putschists a couple of days ago, namely their speculation that the aim might secretly be to try to remove the cap on presidential re-elections and thus have some sort of elected dictatorship just like that Chavez monster. So, to forestall the possibility, the military has installed an unelected dictatorship. The White House is denying any involvement in the coup. Is it a plausible denial? Back to Eve Gollinger:
Another major source of funding in Honduras is USAID, providing over US$ 50 millon annually for “democracy promotion” programs, which generally supports NGOs and political parties favorable to U.S. interests, as has been the case in Venezuela, Bolivia and other nations in the region. The Pentagon also maintains a military base in Honduras in Soto Cano, equipped with approximately 500 troops and numerous air force combat planes and helicopters. Foreign Minister Rodas has stated that she has repeatedly tried to make contact with the U.S. Ambassador in Honduras, Hugo Llorens, who has not responded to any of her calls thus far. The modus operandi of the coup makes clear that Washington is involved. Neither the Honduran military, which is majority trained by U.S. forces, nor the political and economic elite, would act to oust a democratically elected president without the backing and support of the U.S. government.
Well. I would say that if the behemoth just to the north has a military base in your country, and funds your military and major pro-US parties, then you probably do have to get their permission before overthrowing the government. The Honduran army will presumably now have a brief to deal with the protesters, the social movements, the labour organisations, and everyone else who has been inconvenient in backing Zelaya and might now try to resist the coup. They’re calling it a ‘bloodless’ coup… for now.
Update: well, well.
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How is it a military coup when the supreme court and the parliament over ruled the presidents call for the referendum. Personally, i don't care whether the government is right or left but it seems to me that if the "coup" was happening to a right wing president you would be hailing the army for stopping a fascist. The partisanship on the right and left make me sick to my stomach. There is no common sense left. I think this is what Orwell meant when he spoke of positive and negative nationalism.
In politics, to demonize a person or country is the easiest way to drive a plot. It should also be the absolute last recourse for intelligent analysis. You, Mr. Seymour, have fallen into that partisan trap and have wasted my time with your article.
My leftist instincts automatically led me to believe that the coup was a bad thing. However, the whole situation became less black and white after reading this point of view from a former guerrilla in El Salvador: http://czarnykotblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/view-of...
I'm not saying that the coup is right, just that this is more complicated than we'd like to think.
The far left has no agenda. They resort to excusing dictators and imams on past injustices. Not saying the far right and their Xenophobic racist agenda is any better.
Even if the actions taken by the president were undemocratic. Meaning they would lead to a less democratic state, because he has aligned himself with Chavez and others, the left are up in arms.
No values, no morales, no better than the far right. In fact many fascists in the early 1900's rose to power with a somewhat socialist agenda. Look at Hitler, you could not call him a capitalist in any sense of the word.
Here's another perspective, this time from inside Honduras itself….
http://czarnykotblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/direct-...
To be left wing shouldn't mean that you are blind. You should at least open your eyes and admit to what you see. I live in Honduras and teach here. Most of what you say is stuff you are repeating like a parrot and you have no idea how stupid you sound from here.
Megan Mills