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Caribbean-Latin America
Obama says coup in Honduras is illegal
2009-06-30
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed.
As opposed to all the other times in Latin and South America? This is predictable. Bambi waited a day to see what Fidel and Oogo are saying, and now he's fallen into line. Then again, it's Bambi so this could all be just talk with no practical consequence.
"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there," Obama told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Zelaya, in office since 2006, was overthrown in a dawn coup on Sunday after he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.
In violation of the Honduran constitution, apparently. For some reason the latest version of that document doesn't want to re-elect presidents -- something about strongmen ...
The Honduran Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, and the country's Supreme Court said it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya.

The European Union and a string of foreign governments have voiced support for Zelaya, who was snatched by troops from his residence and whisked away by plane to Costa Rica in his pajamas.

Obama said he would work with the Organization of American States and other international institutions to restore Zelaya to power and "see if we can resolve this in a peaceful way."
This sounds very much like when we forced Haiti to take back that rapacious Priest-President whose name I can't remember, with disastrous results for Haiti.
"It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections," Obama said, noting the region's progress in establishing democratic traditions in the past 20 years.

Despite Obama's comments, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration was not formally designating the ouster as a military coup for now, a step that would force a cut-off of most U.S. aid to Honduras. Under U.S. law, no aid -- other than for the promotion of democracy -- may be provided to a country whose elected head of government has been toppled in a military coup. "We do think that this has evolved into a coup," Clinton told reporters, adding the administration was withholding that determination for now.

Asked if the United States was currently considering cutting off aid, Clinton shook her head no.

The State Department said it was unable to immediately say how much assistance the United States gives Honduras. The State Department has requested $68.2 million in aid for fiscal year 2010, which begins on October 1, up from $43.2 million. This covers funds for development, Honduran purchases of U.S. arms, military training, counter-narcotics and health care but does not include Defense Department aid, a U.S. official said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he did not believe Obama had spoken to Zelaya since the ouster. He said the administration had worked in recent days to try to prevent the coup from happening, and "our goal now is on restoring democratic order in Honduras."

Analysts said quick criticism of the coup by Obama and Clinton on Sunday pleased Latin American countries bitter about the long history of U.S. intervention in the region.

A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition he not be named said that by holding off on a legal determination that a coup has taken place, Washington was trying to provide space for a negotiated settlement. "If we were able to get to a ... status quo that returned to the rule of law and constitutional order within a relatively short period of time, I think that would be a good outcome," Clinton said.
Posted by:Steve White

#21  WHY IS MR OBAMA SUPPORTING A VENEZUELAN THUG AND PUPPET?

Ask instead "what kind of person would support a Venezuelan thug and puppet in favor of constitutional democracy?". When you answer that question you will know what kind of person Bammo is.
Posted by: Iblis   2009-06-30 16:27  

#20  Some of Europe is beginning to wake up and see how Mr Obama really is. Will USA wake up?
Posted by Lagom

Something like malaria eh Lagom? Once you've had it, the recurrent symtoms of headaches, fever, chills, shakes, nausea and vomiting, etc, are quickly identified and self-diagnosed. There are numerous species of the Tsetse. Like all other parasites, we are enduring this one as well. It too shall pass and we shall learn from it.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-06-30 14:55  

#19  To paraphrase that great American, Michelle Obama, "This is the first time I have been really ashamed of my country".
Posted by: Mercutio   2009-06-30 14:34  

#18  Half of us already knew or at least suspected, Lagom. The others are slowly beginning to catch on. The catch is that unless He does something 'Honduran', we are stuck with Him for the next few years.
Posted by: SteveS   2009-06-30 14:33  

#17  Addendum:

Mr Obama has today refused to implement further sanctions against the Government of Iran for its complicity in the slaughter of its own citizens.

Mr Obama is considering sanctions against the government of Honduras for its counter-coup against a would-be dictator.

Some of Europe is beginning to wake up and see how Mr Obama really is. Will USA wake up?
Posted by: Lagom   2009-06-30 13:46  

#16  Mr Obama now proposes sanctions against Honduras due to the defense of Honduras constitution against a would-be dictator. It makes one wonder what Mr Obama's designs are for the USA and the world.



The inconvenient truth for Mr Obama:

Honduras' now ex-president, Mel Zelaya, last Thursday defied a Supreme Court ruling and tried to hold a "survey" to rewrite the constitution for his permanent re-election. It's the same blueprint for a rigged political system that's made former democracies like Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador into shells of free countries.

Zelaya's operatives did their dirt all the way through. First they got signatures to launch the "citizen's power" survey through threats -- warning those who didn't sign that they'd be denied medical care and worse. Zelaya then had the ballots flown to Tegucigalpa on Venezuelan planes. After his move was declared illegal by the Supreme Court, he tried to do it anyway.

As a result of his brazen disregard for the law, Zelaya found himself escorted from office by the military Sunday morning, and into exile. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro rushed to blame the U.S., calling it a "yanqui coup."

President Obama on Monday called the action "not legal," and claimed that Zelaya is still the legitimate president.

There was a coup all right, but it wasn't committed by the U.S. or the Honduran court. It was committed by Zelaya himself. He brazenly defied the law, and Hondurans overwhelmingly supported his removal (a pro-Zelaya rally Monday drew a mere 200 acolytes).

Yet the U.S. administration stood with Chavez and Castro, calling Zelaya's lawful removal "a coup." Obama called the action a "terrible precedent," and said Zelaya remains president.

In doing this, the U.S. condemned democrats who stood up to save their democracy, a move that should have been hailed as a historic turning of the tide against the false democracies of the region.

The U.S. response has been disgraceful. "We recognize Zelaya as the duly elected and constitutional president of Honduras. We see no other," a State Department official told reporters.

WHY IS MR OBAMA SUPPORTING A VENEZUELAN THUG AND PUPPET?
Posted by: Lagom   2009-06-30 12:59  

#15  I am amazed. Does Mr Obama have that little respect for liberty and the law?

If so, it is frightening to have such an unscrupulous man in charge of the US with few limits on him from the US legislature and press.

A lot of us agree.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2009-06-30 10:35  

#14  Â“The Honduran Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, and the country's Supreme Court said it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya.”

Obama has no desire for yet another anti-US Tinhorn with unchecked power in the region. And given the circumstances surrounding Zelaya’s removal this is, at worst, a Coup-Light. But in order to get a resolution there needs to be cooperation amongst the other OAS toads. So before reading too much into his response, one should view his “transition by military force” rhetoric for what it is…you guessed it…appearance.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2009-06-30 10:12  

#13  It's going to get a LOT worse Lagom. Obama has only been in office for 5 months and is in first gear of his journey to gut capitalism and democracy.
Posted by: ed   2009-06-30 09:58  

#12  Are not the Honduras officers sworn to loyalty to their Constitution, but not any specific government official?

Is this not also the case with the US Military Oath I found on Wikipedia:

I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic

It is amazing to see your US President criticize this as a coup when it is in fact the Honduras legislature, courts and military acting together to defend their constituted government by acting to prevent a dictatorship from being formed due to an illegal act by the Honduras president.

I am amazed. Does Mr Obama have that little respect for liberty and the law?

If so, it is frightening to have such an unscrupulous man in charge of the US with few limits on him from the US legislature and press.
Posted by: Lagom   2009-06-30 09:54  

#11  Hopefully our military is as smart as Hounduras'. Posted by: Parabellum

Your military will do exactly as it is told by POTUS and I suspect we all know why. Barry controls the congress. Congress controls the Posse Comitatus Act. Enough said.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-06-30 09:12  

#10  Obama's gonna pull the exact same trick in a few years, so he had to set a 'precident' now.

Hopefully our military is as smart as Hounduras'.
Posted by: Parabellum   2009-06-30 08:43  

#9  2016?

Here I thought the world was suppose to end in 2012, about the time the next electoral college results were due out.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-06-30 06:42  

#8  Already worrying about 2016, Glorious One?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-06-30 05:14  

#7  Hint: In the event of an actual coup, President Zelaya would have been shot in his bed and his corpse hung from the highest ventana del palacio by his own sash. Not flown business class to a cozy guest house in Costa Rica.

Just ask the officer corps of the Bangladesh Rifles. Although it may be some time 'til they get back to you with their answer.
Posted by: Seafarious   2009-06-30 02:29  

#6  "Why do you think it's illegal, Mr. President?"

"Because it's a coup!"

"Ok, why do you call it a coup?"

"Because it's illegal!"
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2009-06-30 02:14  

#5  I think that this is a big moment of truth where Obama has stripped off his mask and revealed his true nature. No turning back now. Now it is just a race to see if Obama can get enough control to squash our freedoms before we can get control back to the people.
Posted by: Jumbo Slinerong5015   2009-06-30 02:07  

#4  WTF is wrong with that dipshit president of ours?

Other than that he's a communist socialist, America-hating a$$wipe doing everything in his power to sabotage free enterprise and turn our Republic into the next Zimbabwe, I can't think of a thing, OS.
Posted by: PBMcL   2009-06-30 01:01  

#3  Simply put Olahblahblah is a wanna-be dictator, he sees nothing wrong with ignoring the Constitution, or any laws that don't suit him.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-06-30 00:48  

#2  Hondurus made the best with what they have considering that little dictator squirrel they locked out, let's support it. He was a scumbag destroying all that took but 50 years to make. Support mu army in this.
Posted by: newc   2009-06-30 00:48  

#1  he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking illegal constitutional changes

Fixed it for you.

It is unconstitutional in Honduras to force through a change in Honduras constitution without TWO consecutive Congresses voting for it to be allowed to come to a popular vote.

The president was proceeding despite Congress telling he cannot do so, and the Supreme court telling he cannot do so and ORDERING him to stop the illegal plebiscite.

WTF is wrong with that dipshit president of ours?
Posted by: OldSpook   2009-06-30 00:22  

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