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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Honduras Supreme Court Judge Defends President Ouster |
| 2009-07-03 |
| July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Honduras’s military acted under judicial orders in deposing President Manuel Zelaya, Supreme Court Justice Rosalinda Cruz said, rejecting the view of President Barack Obama and other leaders that he was toppled in a coup. “The only thing the armed forces did was carry out an arrest order,” Cruz, 55, said in a telephone interview from the capital, Tegucigalpa. “There’s no doubt he was preparing his own coup by conspiring to shut down the congress and courts.” Cruz said the court issued a sealed arrest order for Zelaya on June 26, charging him with treason and abuse of power, among other offenses. Zelaya had repeatedly breached the constitution by pushing ahead with a vote about rewriting the nation’s charter that the court ruled illegal, and which opponents contend would have paved the way for a prohibited second term. She compared Zelaya’s tactics, including his dismissal of the armed forces chief for obeying a court order to impound ballots to be used in the vote, with those of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. “Some say it was not Zelaya but Chavez governing,” she said. The arrest order she cited, approved unanimously by the court’s 15 justices, was released this afternoon along with documents pertaining to a secret investigation that went on for weeks under the high court’s supervision. Zelaya said yesterday he had no plans to seek re-election when his four-year term ends in January. In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais the day before his overthrow, he said the non-binding vote, which included a question on allowing re- election, would only benefit his successor. Cruz acknowledged that the interim government faced a “very difficult” task trying to sway the U.S. and other countries to recognize its authority. “But as a sovereign and independent nation, we have the right to freely decide to remove a president who was violating our laws,” she said. “Unfortunately our voice hasn’t been heard.” The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution yesterday calling for Zelaya’s reinstatement and asking that no government recognize the interim replacement appointed by congress, Roberto Micheletti. The U.S. was a co-sponsor of the measure. The U.S. also joined 33 other countries in an emergency session of the Organization of American States yesterday to demand Honduras reinstate Zelaya within 72 hours or face suspension from the Washington-based group. Zelaya said he will return to the country this week, with OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza and Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez. Cruz said the military decided to shuttle Zelaya out of the country for his safety and that of other Hondurans because riots would’ve erupted had he been held for trial. “If he had been allowed to stay in the country, there would’ve been blood on the streets,” she said. Although lawmakers were moving toward impeachment proceedings against Zelaya for trying to conduct the poll, the ouster allows him to portray himself as a “victim,” said Rafael Lopez, a senior Honduras adviser to the Washington-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems. “No country on earth” can legally force an elected official into exile without a formal proceeding, he added. “The Honduran government can’t just take any citizen to an airport and kick them out, let alone a president.” David Matamoros, a member of Honduras’ Supreme Electoral Tribunal, also defended the military’s action. He said Zelaya originally called the vote a plebiscite, then, when that was barred, shifted to describing it as a poll, creating uncertainty as to its legal standing and his intent. No government agency was willing to conduct the vote, he said. All the ballots and equipment for the illegal poll were flown in on a Venezuelan plane, he said. The court ordered the materials confiscated. Still, he acknowledged the interim government’s hold on power was tenuous. “Now we have the international problem,” he said in a phone interview from Tegucigalpa. “How do we convince people this was in our best interest after the president was kicked out of the country in his pajamas?” |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 The administration is going the reverse opposite direction on this case. It must back down NOW or risk having a military situation in the south that will be hard to justify. Reverse order, Obama. New elections are to be heald very soon. |
| Posted by: newc 2009-07-03 23:06 |
| #3 The following 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 ..... |
| Posted by: Vigilante 2009-07-03 22:42 |
| #2 Article 239: "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 [emphasis added], 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." |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-07-03 14:02 |
| #1 “The Honduran government can’t just take any citizen to an airport and kick them out, let alone a president.” The president is not just any citizen. As president I suggest this precedent is applicable: "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it" |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-07-03 05:05 |