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June 28, 2009
Honduran President wanting to Be Ruler Forever is Ousted by Honduran Armed Forces
Soldiers stormed the house of leftist President Manuel Zelaya in a predawn raid Sunday, arresting him and removing him from power amid a growing crisis over Mr. Zelaya's plans to try to get re-electe
The Honduran Supreme Court of Justice has confirmed that Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was detained this morning by the military in compliance with an order of the courts of law.
Obama Worked To Prevent Ouster of Honduras President
By Jay Solomon, Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Obama administration worked in recent days to prevent President Manuel Zelaya's ouster, said a senior U.S. official. The State Department, in particular, communicated to Honduran officials on the ground that President Barack Obama wouldn't support any nondemocratic transfer of power in the Central American country.
"We had some indication that a move against Mr. Zelaya was afoot," said a U.S. official briefed on the diplomacy. "We made it clear it was something we didn't support."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined Obama Sunday in criticizing the Honduran coup and calling for the restoration of the democratic process.
"We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation, and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue," Clinton said in a statement.
CARACAS, June 28 (Reuters)
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez on Sunday put his troops on alert over a coup in Honduras and said he would respond militarily if his envoy to the Central American country was attacked or kidnapped.
Giving voice to the deep fears that sparked the military’s action, retired Honduran general Daniel Lopez Carballo justified the move against the president, telling CNN en Espanol that Mr. Zelaya was a stooge for Mr. Chavez. He said if the military had not acted, Mr. Chavez would eventually be running Honduras by proxy.
Nicaraguan paper La Prensa Gráfica reports that the Venezuelan ambassador to the Organization of American States claims that the ambassadors for Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in Honduras were kidnapped, hooded, and beaten. OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza announced he will travel to Honduras.
Chavez warns Honduras with “war” if anything happens to the Venezuelan ambassador in Honduras....thank you to Fausta for the translation:
President Hugo Chavez has warned the Honduran military behind the coup today with “war” if anything happens to our ambassador in Tegucigalpa, or if the Venezuelan embassy is taken.
Chavez said that it would be “a declaration of war” and Venezuela would be forced to send troops. “The Venezuelan Armed Forces are on alert.”
“The military junta would be entering on a de-facto state of war. We would have to act even militarily. I wouldn’t be able to remain with my arms crossed knowing they are assaulting our ambassador.”
He then went on to say he’d teach those gorillas a lesson, and concluded by saying he would overthrow the president designated to substitute Zelaya. Globovision quotes Chavez as saying that “If they swear in Roberto Micheletti (the head of the Honduran Congress), we’ll overthrow him.”
An official statement of the Supreme Court of Justice explained that the Armed Forces acted under lawful grounds when detaining the President of the Republic, and by decommissioning the materials to be used on the illegal poll which aimed to bring forth Executive Power against a judicial order.
Other sources verified that the president of the Congress, Roberto Micheletti, will assume the presidency of the republic in a few hours.
Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was detained this morning by the military in compliance with an order of the courts of law.
President Roberto Micheletti, ... New Honduran president sworn in
Congress swiftly appointed its speaker Roberto Micheletti - a member of Mr Zelaya's Liberal Party, but an opponent of him - as acting head of state.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Soldiers stormed the house of leftist President Manuel Zelaya in a predawn raid Sunday, arresting him and removing him from power amid a growing crisis over Mr. Zelaya's plans to try to get re-elected. Mr. Zelaya called the action a kidnapping, and said he was still president of Honduras...
The Honduran Congress named its leader, Roberto Micheletti, to replace Zelaya following his military ouster and forced exile in Costa Rica. A resolution read on the floor of Congress accuses Mr. Zelaya of "manifest irregular conduct" and "putting in present danger the state of law," a reference to his refusal to obey a Supreme Court ruling against holding a constitutional referendum.
...Congress voted Sunday to remove Mr. Zelaya, and appointed Mr. Micheletti as the new chief executive, as is mandated by the constitution....In Honduras, television stations were off the air, and electricity was out in parts of the capital..
Reaction to the apparent coup was swift. U.S. President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" and called on all political actors in Honduras to "respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference," he said.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
Good for them for doing this. This was the Honduran Armed Forces working with the blessing of the Courts taking action against a tyrant. Zelfaya the president of Honduras was trying to stage an “auto-golpe,” meaning a self-coup where an elected leader takes over all powers and gets himself permanently in power. He had been told by the Courts and parliament that he couldn’t do it, but he was going to go ahead with the faux “referendum” anyway, so the authorities had every right to get rid of him.
Zelfaya is a stooge for Chavez.
Obama and Hillary are completely and openly on Chavez side.
A special hat tip and thank you to Fausta and also for her translations to English of the news articles on this.
* Fausta's blog
Posted by Wild Thing at June 28, 2009 05:55 PM
Comments
I was just reading this article in WSJ. Uncanny how I could see this very thing happening here. "Mr. Zelaya called on unions, workers and peasant and indigenous organizations to demonstrate peacefully for his return." This is eerie. Of course Obama is pulling for Zelaya, they have friends in common, Chavez. This is shaping up to be another lost opportunity as our President backs the wrong faction.
Posted by: Jim at June 28, 2009 06:29 PM
Thanks Chrissie, I'd heard he was sequestered in Costa Rica, unconfirmed. This should give despots in Venezuela a high pucker factor.
"We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation, and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue,"Clinton said in a statement.
Which Communist Party Comrade Hillary, looks to me like dialogue failed, does this mess up your plans?
Posted by: Jack at June 28, 2009 06:44 PM
Of course barry supported the commie, but lost anyway. France, Germany, and now Honduras heading to the conservative side of life...Cause it works. Military Coup...Do ya think......
Posted by: Mark at June 28, 2009 07:47 PM
We call on all parties in Honduras and all over the world to SUPPORT the supreme court and the millitary force's decision, they are doing their job by enforcing the rule of law and by taking away Mr. Zelaya are giving the Honduras citizens a piece of dignity. Mrs. Clinton is invited to visit Honduras and to see with her own eyes how so many human rights have been taken away from Honduran citizens to this day, please support for the right to vote...We don't need another Fidel Castro not in this century!
Posted by: Santa Costenita at June 28, 2009 07:55 PM
Hmmm... Idea for a Headline: "U.S. Military Seige of D.C. Ends with the Deposition of Barack Obama's Regime." now if we could just see "U.S. Navy Launches EMP Attack on Beijing."
Posted by: JohnE PFC U.S. Army at June 28, 2009 10:10 PM
"President Manuel Zelaya intended to hold a "nonbinding" public referendum, on June 28, on whether to call National Assembly to rewrite the constitution, to take place concurrently with this year's elections. Opponents claim that Zelaya, considered center-left ideologically, intended to allow his own re-election, something which is strictly forbidden by the current constitution. The intended referendum was rejected by Congress and ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, and provoked a serious political crisis in the country...There is contention over whether or not the events constitute a coup d’état. The Honduran Constitution states that any citizen (including the president) who breaks this law or proposes reforming it, and any others who support such a person directly or indirectly, are immediately removed from any public charge and are ineligible for a period of 10 years.[53] There is, however, no constitutional process for impeachment or removal of a president. The military acted under the instruction of the Supreme Court of Justice, and their actions were ratified by the Liberal-majority National Congress. Zelaya is a member of the Liberal party. The National Congress named and ratified Roberto Micheletti, the next person in line for the presidency, within hours. The 3 state powers (Legislative, Judicial and Executive) are meant to act as checks and balances of each other, with the constitution being the basic law."
This is just in from Wikipedia. Notice the last sentence about "Checks and Balances" maybe barry and all the sheeple who voted for him can learn about this from the Hondurans because they won't listen to us Conservatives. Sounds like obama's just shooting blanks.
Posted by: JohnE PFC U.S. Army at June 28, 2009 10:28 PM
A constitution: Not just "another piece of paper," is it?
Posted by: Anonymous at June 28, 2009 11:21 PM
Jim, I would really like for this
to happen here. This was done with
order and not chaos from what I
read, fast and it was done.
Your right Jim, once again Obama and
Hillary too both back the wrong person.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 28, 2009 11:26 PM
A constitution: Not "just another piece of paper" or a "living document" is it? (Looks like our founding fathers knew what they were talking about.)
Posted by: Anonymous at June 28, 2009 11:28 PM
Jack, yes Hillary picked the wrong horse
to bet on....again.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 28, 2009 11:32 PM
Mark, I would go for that, I sure would.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 28, 2009 11:35 PM
Santa Costenita, welcome to Theodore's
World.
Unfortunately Freedom and dignity is not
a part of what Hillary Clinton is about.
I do wish your country all the best as
do all here.
And I agree with you,.."We don't need
another Fidel Castro not in this century!"
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 28, 2009 11:39 PM
JohnE PFC U.S. Army, I like that headline.
Good point, we no longer have checks and
balances in our country. It really sickens
me.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 28, 2009 11:42 PM
Anonymous, yesss a Constitution that the
courts and their Congress take seriously.
How wonderful that would be if one day it
would once again happen here.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 28, 2009 11:45 PM
