Coup in Honduras

[LChoy]

While we wait for Jay Bouwmeester news, there are some really smart and opinionated people on CP. Just curious what CP's thoughts are on this development in Honduras

Background:

President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras has been ousted from office and sent into exile amid a power struggle over his plans for constitutional change.

Mr Zelaya planned to hold a non-binding public consultation on 28 June to ask people whether they supported moves to change the constitution.
Mr Zelaya's critics said the move was aimed at removing the current one-term limit on serving as president, and paving the way for his possible re-election.
The consultation was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court and Congress, and was opposed by the army.
At dawn on 28 June, between 200 and 300 troops came to Mr Zelaya's home, and, in his own words, told him to surrender or they would shoot him.
He was driven to the airport and put on a flight to Costa Rica. Later on Sunday, the speaker of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, constitutionally second in line to the presidency, was sworn in as interim leader.
International condemnation was swift and near-unanimous. Obama and Hugo Chavez both supporting the ousted President

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8125726.stm

My 2 cents: It's curious to see Obama and Chavez being on the same team for a change. It appears ordinary Hondurians weren't very happy with Zelaya's before this, but are now caught in the middles between the country's military and courts supporters, and those that are loyal to Zelaya. IMO, while there was fears Zelaya wanted to model his governing system similar to Chavez, a Coups probably wasn't the best way idea. They were once very frequent in South America, but there hasn't been one since the 90s and the international community has shown that it's not acceptable.

[icarus]

Is it really a coup if they get rid of the president and let the vice-president take over? Sounds like they just didn't like the one guy. On the one hand if the president wants to do something the Supreme Court rules illegal then he shouldn't be allowed to do so. At the same time, I can't see having troops show up to depose the head of state as legal either.

[CaptainCrunch]

I don't know if its a coup so to speak. Its one of those rare instances where the military gets involved to defend the consititution in a South American Country.

Its refreshing to see that some non descript col. didn't take power right Libya?

[zuluking]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I don't know if its a coup so to speak. Its one of those rare instances where the military gets involved to defend the consititution in a South American Country.

So when will that happen in the US? They should hurry up about it.

[CrusaderPi]

Originally Posted by zuluking

So when will that happen in the US? They should hurry up about it.

Absolutely! I'm totally not looking forward to the forth and fifth terms for President Hugo W. Chavez. Oh wait... that was taken care of already.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by zuluking

So when will that happen in the US? They should hurry up about it.

Except the U.S. doesn't need the army to defend the constitution internally, they have a system of checks and balances that limit presidential powers.

Those checks don't really exist in some of these other nations where the consititution is whatever is defined by the el jefe and his buddies during a midnight hooker, coke and binge drinking party.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Except the U.S. doesn't need the army to defend the constitution internally, they have The Patriot Act which effectively tramples constitutional rights and gives agents of the state license to do so with great efficiency.

Fixed that for you.

[driveway]

I was in Honduras for a while about six years ago, which I'm almost sure is before this president took power. At the time, the country was still recovering from Hurricane Mitch and was by far the poorest and least developed nation in Central America - at least, as far as I could see - there could easily be statistics which prove me wrong.

I'm not sure what to think about this - on the one hand, the nation's constitution is clear and with both congress and the courts on the same side, you have to think that the "will of the people" is that this president NOT get a second term.

On the other hand, military intervention into a political matter is a dangerous precedent to set - unless the military is acting at the behest of a democratically elected congress.

I'm not sure what to think about this, but I'll be watching with the one-sixtieth of my attention not devoted to the Jay Bouwmeester.

[Nage Waza]

I lived there before, during and after Hurricane Mitch, and Driveway is pretty close with his observations (although I believe Nicaragua was much lower on the 'development totem pole'). Carrying a pistol around is still a reasonable thing to do there, so the fact the military stepped in does not surprise me. I don't think the nation want's to be like Venezuela, but what do I know.