Situation in Honduras
A story that has reaped the world wind. A poor, small Central American country has been accused of organizing an illegal military coup on its president. Which was not a coup; we were just defending our rights and our country.
It all started when the ex president Zelaya order a referendum to put a fourth ballot on election day in November to have a constituent assembly. This referendum was deemed illegal by the attorney general, national congress and the supreme court. On Wednesday, June 24th, Zelaya fired his military chief of staff, general Romeo Vasquez because he refused to go along with and order handed down to him by Zelaya to accompany and support the illegal referendum.
The very next day, Zelaya had published in the official gazette that the referendum was no longer for a fourth ballot, but for the constituent assembly. In order for the public be unaware of this publication, he digressed the people’s attention to the ballots flown in by southern American countries leader. Ballots which were seized earlier that day by the attorney general. By doing this, he actually managed to round up followers of his movement.
Calm returned to the streets of Honduras, until Saturday, the day before the controversial referendum was to take place. Zelaya was being warned of the illegality of his actions. To these allegations he responded with these words, “Not even God himself can stop this referendum!” Due to these words, congress and the military were forced to take action.
Sunday morning, Manuel Zelaya Rosales is sent to Costa Rica by the military and signed a letter of resignation. Under the orders of the court, congress then named a new president and was sworn in for the duration of this presidential term, promising that on November 29, we will have our election day.
Today, June 29, the rest of the cabinet was named and sworn in, cabinet that will accompany the new president for the remaining 6 months. I cannot go without mentioning that Zelaya, once in Costa Rica, got in touch with his equivalent from the ALBA movement to act against the new appointed government.
Since then, the world has only seen and hear Zelaya’s point of view, due to the campaign run by Venezuelan TV station, TeleSUR. Giving an impression of a lack of democracy and totalitarianism by a certain group of wealthy people.
Supported by other countrymen, I have started this blog to be heard. We want the chance to fix OUR problems because wrongly elected a president and wish to amend our mistakes.
Zelaya broke constitutional order by trying to leave the judicial and legislative branches our government out of the picture. He has broken the law in numerous occasions. He has said publicly that hasn’t done anything wrong… I urge you to please study our situation before you judge us. We are a small country, we don’t have the resources that Venezuela might have… but we are a proud country and we are capable of identifying when somebody is doing wrong and wrongly representing our interests.
I not only ask that the international community please give us to explain our actions, also ask of general Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias and the rest of the ALBA members not to intrude in our country. We are not going lay quietly while you infringe on our sovereignty. Your retrograde way of thinking is not welcome here. And if Zelaya supports that way of thing, than he is no longer welcome either.
In the following hours and days, I will upload sites and addresses you can see to understand our decisions.
June 30, 2009 at 6:06 am
Thank you!
Please give us addresses on leaders we can contact to get our point of view across.
The coverage in the media is so biased, it is baffling for the sheer ignorance and lopsidedness. The only thing I can see is that people hear ‘coup’ and have a knee jerk reaction (it is arguable whether this is in fact a coup). Of course Clinton does not want to further disrupt US relations with the leftist-block either.
It seems many are too busy siding with Chavez, since they haven’t noticed that Zelaya defied the constitution, the electoral committee, the supreme court, congress and his own party (who have abandoned him), not to mention the majority of Hondurans. The truth may come to light with time, if, that is, Honduras isn’t invaded first.
Zelaya couldn’t change the constitution (presumably so he could run for another four years) by legal means – because he had no support from governing bodies, the supreme court or the people. So he tried an (illegal by all Honduran law) vote. Even if he is ‘re -instituted,’ since he has no support, he’ll have to resort to some other illegal means again to get what he wants. Hondurans are fed up with a president who by all accounts acts as a dictator above all law.
How can the world justify telling us what our law should be? the US has a constitution that its leaders respect. Even Bush, for all his unpopular decisions, had to respect the decisions of congress and seek their support. For example, if Bush had gone to war with Iraq, without congress, he would have committed an illegal act. So with Zelaya. How can you have a democracy without following the constitution of the rule of law? Laws are of the people, and Honduras is simply following our laws.
A number of details have gone unnoticed: 1) the ballots for this illegal vote conjured up by Zelaya that were flown in from Venezuela under the tutalege of Chavez (a fact everyone has ignored), and that were already filled out! and 2) Nicaraguans were being payed to flood into Honduras to inflate the vote!
3) On top of everything else, Chavez’ military threats to invade Honduras.
I do hope you will try to be less bias and look at the facts and what the people of Honduras want: simply a leader who follows the law. Respect our decision.
Or at the very least, be balanced and show the majority perspective.
June 30, 2009 at 6:08 am
The “resignation” is dated June 25th, and not even CNN believe what that letter said because it was obviously not true about Mel’s health condition.
When Mel arrived in Costa Rica, he was received by Oscar Arias himself, and ALL presidents of America (from Canada to Argentina) sided with him, not just ALBA presidents.
Spain’s president offered his troops, and Mexico’s president remind honduran troops that they are under command of the legitimate president of honduras, which is still Zelaya.
The referendum, a non biding exercice, was asking the voters if they wished to have a fourth ballot in november in which they were asked to have a Constituyente. They were being asked to being asked.
Oscar Arias changed his own constitution (without referendum or poll) so he could re-elect. Uribe from Colombia was also trying to change that rule, but no one made coup d’etat on them.
The Congress said he leave the country and named a succesor, but they didn’t aknowladge he was taken by military force into exile, without a formal trial.
The De Facto Goberment in Honduras used the military to control Goverment Offices and telecomunications, censored tv and radio stations, and the ones that were not closed were not broadcasting any news about what was happening in main cities.
Electricity and Internet were cut down at many times during Sunday and Monday, and violent reprression happened in Tegucigalpa against unarmed protesters.
June 30, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Unarmed protesters? Did you see what went on in the streets? A couple hundred of people causing riots, burning wheels, and breaking glass windows. Those were NOT pacific protesters.
“The referendum, a non biding exercice, was asking the voters if they wished to have a fourth ballot in november in which they were asked to have a Constituyente. They were being asked to being asked.” . . . The day before this referendum was to take pleace, it was published in “La Gaceta,” our official newspaper, that this referendum was for the constituent assembly, to take place the very day the referendum took place. Does that tell you something?
I am a university student of Honduras, living, studying and working in my beloved country. I share my time between the capital, Tegucigalpa, and San Pedro Sula, the industrial capital. The reason I’m taking time off from work is to let people outside know what really is going on here, from within.
My family is hard-working, starting a business from scratch, ambitious and dedicated. We are from the working class, not from what our problematic ex-president likes to call the elite cupola that rules the country. It is very ironic that he speaks of the “pueblo”, when he has never been part of the “pueblo.” He is from one of the richest families in the department of Olancho. And that family’s wealth should very much be looked into. He didn’t even finish his college studies; quite embarrassing to have such a president.
I am apolitical, therefore am not biased by convenience. The overall feeling when Roberto Micheletti took over the presidency of my country was relief. We now have the least of the worse in power. We have noticed how the International community is against or reproving the act of taking the puppet known as Manuel Zelaya, “Mel,” out of the country. For his personal safety we believe it was the best idea.
His fight to put the “hear what the “pueblo” has to say” procedure, the referendum to keep himself in power, was concluded as illegal. We are not against changes. We need changes and we ask for them. What we are against is illegality. What we are against is having another country running us through a weak minded character. What we are against is lies that offend our intelligence. Mr. ex-president Manuel Zelaya never published what the cost of the procedure he wanted was. Either he was taking money destined for other much more important causes or he was receiving money from an outside country – we all know which one – to get his way. Both are illegal, both are wrong, and both are not accepted by us. This was just the cherry on the icing. In three years of his presidency he has done nothing. Why did he wait until six months before he had to turn over his mandate? What is it that he really wants? Could he have become drunk with power? Could he have wanted more and more? Why did he sack the head of the Armed Forces for refusing to allow the Armed Forces in the conducting of this fake referendum? It had already been declared illegal, and the Armed Forces owe themselves to the Constitution, not to a man.
It is a grand shame that it had to come to this crisis for the country to understand who they put in power. Maybe this will help us understand that we should not vote for colors, but for people. We are satisfied that this gentleman is not the president of the country anymore, yet we resent that fact that he is victimizing himself to the international community, which will obviously lead to sanctions or other actions that we, as a poor country, are not ready to deal with. We would all appreciate international committees to analyze from within the country, not based on what one corrupt man has to say. As a country we stand very united and very satisfied. The small group of people that stood besides nearly orphaned ex-president Zelaya is being excited by him to cause riots. We do not want him here. We want peace. Why is he insisting so much on dividing this country? Again, I ask, what is it that he really wants?
Whatever reply or comment anybody might have on what I have written can be made through my personal e-mail: stefamurillo@hotmail.com. My name is Estefanía Murillo Martínez. I am 22 years old and a student of Communications and Publicity in UNITEC, campus of Tegucigalpa.
July 7, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Nice!