Nothing Shocking About This Coup

Over at the Miami Herald, an opinion piece on what happened in Honduras that Obama, Hillary, the United Nations, and the Organization of American States should read before making pronouncements

The greatest tourist attraction in Central America has always been politics. Diplomats stop by every few years, take a couple of snapshots of what’s going on at the presidential palace, and then profoundly declare their opinions, devoid of context or history. This week’s favorite diplotourism destination is Honduras, where the army Sunday arrested President Manuel Zelaya and booted him across the border to Costa Rica. In the Polaroid analysis, it’s pretty clear what happened: ”A return to barbarism in our hemisphere,” as Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández put it.

She had plenty of company. ”The action taken against Honduran President Mel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and thus should be condemned by all,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law.”

The OAS Permanent Council voted ”to condemn vehemently the coup d’etat staged this morning against the constitutionally established government of Honduras.” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded “the reinstatement of the democratically elected representatives of the country and full respect for human rights.”

Here’s a question for all these new-found defenders of Honduran democracy: Where were you last week? Perhaps if some of these warnings about sticking to the constitution had been addressed to President Zelaya, the Honduran army would still be in the barracks where it belongs.

It boils down to: power hungry president doing something unconstitutional and being deposed, with his own party approving of him being thrown out of power. You see what Hillary and the OAS stated. They came out on the side of the un-Democratic and un-Constitutional.

  • Obama called it an illegal coup: “We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there,”
  • The OAShas given Honduras an ultimatum to return Zelaya to power or Honduras’ membership will be suspended.
  • The United Nationshas demanded that Zelaya be returned to power.
  • Then you have nations like Spain recalling their ambassador, and their king condemning the “coup.” Go figure, a king is against democracy. Taiwan’s ambassador condemns the “coup.”

Funny how so many on the left want to see a president who violated the constitution returned to power. They say they are pro-democracy and pro-rule of law, but, when push comes to shove, they show their true colors. Just like with Iraq, where most of these same people were rooting for the mission to fail.

  • Fausta wants to know what was on those referendum ballots, which were printed in Venezuela.
  • Flopping Aces has a great editorial cartoon, and wonders why Obama will meddle in Honduras and Israel, but not Iran.
  • Ed Morrissey highlights a break between the New Republic and the Obama cabal.
  • The Hill points out that Obama is starting to catch flack for his handling of the Honduras affair.
  • Over at The Jawa Report, Howie is wondering what Obama has against presidential term limits.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove

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