The Honduran army has ousted leftist President Manuel Zelaya and exiled him, in Central America's first military coup since the Cold War. US President Barack Obama and the European Union expressed deep concern after troops came for Zelaya, an ally of socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, around dawn and took him away from his residence. It's believed he upset the army by trying to seek another term in office.
Speaking on Venezuelan state television, Chavez – who has long championed the left in Latin America – said he would do everything necessary to abort the coup against his close ally.
A military plane flew Zelaya to Costa Rica and CNN's Spanish-language channel said he had asked for asylum there.
Pro-government protesters burned tires in front of the presidential palace in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, and two fighter jets screamed through the sky over the city.
Honduras, an impoverished Central American country, had been politically stable since the end of military rule in the early 1980s, but Zelaya's push to change the constitution to allow him another term has split the country's institutions.
Zelaya fired military chief General Romeo Vasquez last week for refusing to help him run an unofficial referendum on Sunday on extending the four-year term limit on Honduran presidents.
Zelaya told Venezuela-based Telesur television station that he was "kidnapped" by soldiers and called on Hondurans to peacefully resist the coup.
OBAMA CALLS FOR CALM
The EU condemned the coup and Obama called for calm.
Honduras was a staunch US ally in the 1980s when Washington helped Central American governments fight left-wing guerrillas.
"Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference," Obama said.
It was the first successful military ouster of a president in Central America since the Cold War era. An opposition deputy said Congress would chose Roberto Micheletti, the head of Congress, as acting president later on Sunday.
The country's Supreme Court last week came out against Zelaya and ordered him to reinstate fired military chief Vasquez. The court said on Sunday it had told the army to remove the president.
"It acted to defend the rule of law," the court said in a statement read on Honduran radio.
The global economic crisis has curbed growth in Honduras, which lives off coffee and textile exports and remittances from Honduran workers abroad. Recent opinion polls indicate public support for Zelaya has fallen as low as 30 percent.
1 comments:
FYI: I live in Tegucigalpa
What is really a coup? Or why I lost faith in international news.
Personally I am very sorry now, seeing news on the internet because the opinions of people (say, journalists) whom fall in ignorance of the constitution of Honduras. The news, with not half the facts, are giving judgments against the movement to preserve the constitutional order in Honduras. Deposition of Zelaya was to preserve this order, not demolish it.
Anyone who has lived in Central America, lived or studied its history knows that a coup happens when a president was deposed by force and put in his place a military junta. This has not happened in Honduras. Appointing a temporary president so we can get to elections in November and thus maintain order, preserve the constitution and prevent armed conflict (that was cooking) if Zelaya was able to change the constitution.
The political crisis, whose outcome by force I regret, reached a "point of no return" with the presidential ruling about “the public opinion poll” to call the Constituent National Assembly. The day before the popular consultation (as it was called) the executive (Zelaya) approved the following law:
"Instructions to all units and organs of government: Secretary of State, decentralized and devolved institutions to enter and actively implement all the tasks assigned to them for completion of the project entitled: Survey of public announcement of Assembly National Constituent Assembly which is an official activity of the Government of the Republic. "
Read with emphasis the National Constituent Assembly. For those who don’t know the purpose of this group would re-organize the country (the state powers, the constitutional form, etc). For this the first step is to dissolve the National Congress, the Supreme Court (the other two branches of the state).
"The ALBA is just like a mutual aid society for autoperpetuación in power. They were elected democratically by promises to fight corruption, but most as soon as they took office, focused all their energy on changing the constitution to stay in power indefinitely. "(La Prensa)
It seems that they are all following the same script. Act 1: Introduction to the country as an idealistic -whether leading a military coup attempt, like Chavez, or leading violent protests such as Evo Morales and seize the headlines to instantly become the center of national attention.
Act 2: After winning the presidential election, to change the Constitution to introduce a clause that allows re-election.
Act 3: Just passed the Constitution, to bring forward the next presidential election.
Act 4: Once reelected, accusing United States, the Church and the oligarchy of an assassination attempt, and use this pretext to imprison opposition leaders and closing media critics, paving the way to govern with no opposition, and assume absolute powers. (Taken from La Tribuna News)
Democracy does not imply permanency in power. Zelaya was an unpopular president, who came from the right and left with the left, this year he could not even pass the national budget.
In these difficult days the Honduran people need understanding and support from regional bodies and the democracies of the hemisphere to strengthen institutional normality, eliminate authoritarianism and restore "a climate of social peace, dialogue and understanding. But journalists like sharks smell blood and ignore the claims of the people, preferring broadcasting the speeches of Zelaya.
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