Quote of the Day
Jul. 1st, 2009 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribFrom Foreign Policy Blog:
An illegal referendum has met an illegal military intervention, with the avowed intention of protecting the Constitution. Zelaya's civilian opponents, meanwhile, are celebrating. For the past week, the Honduran Congress has waxed lyrical about the armed forces as the guarantors of the Constitution, a disturbing notion for Latin Americans. At the very least, we are witnessing in Honduras the return of the unfortunate role of the military as the ultimate referee in political conflicts among civilian leaders, a huge step back in the region's consolidation of democracy.
That's why Zelaya, though he bears by far the greater responsibility for this crisis, must be reinstated in his position as the legitimate president of Honduras. The Organization of American States, the neighboring countries, and the U.S. government (which is still enormously influential in Honduras) should demand no less. They should also call upon all political actors in Honduras to take a deep breath and do what mature democracies do: allow the law to deal with those who try to step outside it. If Zelaya must be prosecuted for his harebrained attempt to subvert the Honduran Constitution, then let the courts proceed as rigorously as possible. And the same applies to the coup perpetrators. If Honduras is to have a decent future, its politicians and soldiers, in equal measure, must learn that the road to democracy and development runs through the rule of law.
An illegal referendum has met an illegal military intervention, with the avowed intention of protecting the Constitution. Zelaya's civilian opponents, meanwhile, are celebrating. For the past week, the Honduran Congress has waxed lyrical about the armed forces as the guarantors of the Constitution, a disturbing notion for Latin Americans. At the very least, we are witnessing in Honduras the return of the unfortunate role of the military as the ultimate referee in political conflicts among civilian leaders, a huge step back in the region's consolidation of democracy.
That's why Zelaya, though he bears by far the greater responsibility for this crisis, must be reinstated in his position as the legitimate president of Honduras. The Organization of American States, the neighboring countries, and the U.S. government (which is still enormously influential in Honduras) should demand no less. They should also call upon all political actors in Honduras to take a deep breath and do what mature democracies do: allow the law to deal with those who try to step outside it. If Zelaya must be prosecuted for his harebrained attempt to subvert the Honduran Constitution, then let the courts proceed as rigorously as possible. And the same applies to the coup perpetrators. If Honduras is to have a decent future, its politicians and soldiers, in equal measure, must learn that the road to democracy and development runs through the rule of law.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 12:56 am (UTC)Problem: the "coup perpetrators" did so at the request of the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress. In other words, their action was legitimate law enforcement. To prosecute them for the countercoup would be ex post facto persecution of the worst kind, and it would mean that the next time a Honduran President attempted a coup-from-above, the military would just stand idly by and let democracy die in Honduras.
The situation is not morally symmetrical. I just hope that when this is all over, Honduras remembers how the world turned on her in her hour of need, and in particular how the Organization of American States, her supposed friends, attempted to re-impose tyranny.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 02:53 am (UTC)Your remarks also betray a gross ignorance of history - Honduras, like all of South and Central America, has a long (too long) history of the military deciding which government is legitimate or not.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 05:22 am (UTC)The viewpoint stated can be held (I think justifiably) even in the light of CA/SA's history.
A counter statement would be, now that Congress _has_ impeached Zelaya, with no evident pressure from the military to do so, how do three wrongs (reinstating an impeached President) make a right?
no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 01:32 pm (UTC)So we let him back in as the Ex-President, and hold immediate elections for a new guy and you (rest of world) back the f off."