Ousted Honduran President Chooses Own Country As Grave Marker
Ousted President Manuel Zelaya said Saturday that he would return to Honduras to retake office following last week's military-backed coup, despite warnings of a potentially deadly confrontation with the current government that could turn bloody...for Zelaya.
Approximately 10,000 supporters are prepared to act as funeral pallbearers should Zelaya step from the plane at the Tegucigalpa Toncontin Regional Airport. He will be guided to the airport by the Honduran Civil Aviation Authority which has staunchly backed the current government. It is unclear whether Tegucigalpa air controllers will offer assistance to the exiled president by way of landing instructions or whether they will provide an alternate landing site, possibly into the side of one of the mountains near the city.
The interim government has taken to radio and television airwaves with jingles, part of a campaign to win over those who have yet to choose sides. Roberto (Bobby) Micheletti, the interim president vows that his jingles will turn the tide in his favor and garner additional support from people currently favoring Zelaya.
One jingle making the radio station rounds in Tegucigalpa portrays Zelaya as a male prostitute who is deeply involved in drugs and alcohol.
"It is a catchy little tune," admitted Manuel De Los Angeles, former Vice President of the poor Central American nation. "My children will not stop singing it."
1 comments:
I frequently quote from the following which was published in the Christian Science Monitor by Octavio Sánchez, a lawyer, and a former presidential adviser (2002-05) and minister of culture (2005-06) of the Republic of Honduras:
..... On June 26, President Zelaya issued a decree ordering all government employees to take part in the "Public Opinion Poll to convene a National Constitutional Assembly." In doing so, Zelaya triggered a constitutional provision that automatically removed him from office ..... His actions showed intent.....
According to Article 239 [of the Honduras Constitution]: "No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform , as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years."
Notice that the article speaks about intent and that it also says "immediately" – as in "instant," as in "no trial required," as in "no impeachment needed."
Continuismo – the tendency of heads of state to extend their rule indefinitely – has been the lifeblood of Latin America's authoritarian tradition. The Constitution's provision of instant sanction might sound draconian, but every Latin American democrat knows how much of a threat to our fragile democracies continuismo presents. In Latin America, chiefs of state have often been above the law. The instant sanction of the supreme law has successfully prevented the possibility of a new Honduran continuismo.
The Supreme Court and the attorney general ordered Zelaya's arrest for disobeying several court orders compelling him to obey the Constitution. He was detained and taken to Costa Rica. Why? Congress needed time to convene and remove him from office. With him inside the country that would have been impossible. This decision was taken by the 123 (of the 128) members of Congress present that day.
Don't believe the coup myth. The Honduran military acted entirely within the bounds of the Constitution. The military gained nothing but the respect of the nation by its actions .....
This so-called coup was constitutional - dura lex, sed lex.
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