Latam leaders, PPP condemn coup in Honduras

Jun 30, 2009 News

…Venezuela halts trade

Cuba’s charge d’affaires, Jorge Rodriguez Hernandez, and Venezuela’s Ambassador Dario Morandy, have come out strongly against the coup that toppled Honduras President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday.
The Honduran military arrested President Zelaya at his home and flew him out of the country to Costa Rica.
They argued that they were protecting the constitution in the face of a November 29 referendum that President Zelaya had called to extend his term in office.
Addressing a media conference at the Cuban Embassy in Georgetown, the Cuban charge said that his country as well as the other members of the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America (ALBA have come out against the coup.

From left, Venezuela’s Amabssador Dario Morandy, Cubas Jorge Hernandez and Commercial and Economic Consul in the Cuban Embassy, Pedro Ortega

“The format of the coup in Honduras is the same used against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in 2002, when they kidnapped President Hugo Chavez and invented a renunciation to justify their bloody actions against the democracy,” said Ambassador Morandy.
“Zelaya’s government is a member of ALBA. We trust that the condemnation of all governments and peoples of the world and the multilateral agencies will allow for the early restoration of the democracy in Honduras”
Ambassador Morandy said that his government has already decided that it will not be co-operating with the new Honduras regime. It has already halted trade and other arrangements with Honduras.
Both Morandy and Rodriguez said that Zelaya was a popular president and if as the coup leaders argue, that he was foisting himself on the people, then they should have allowed the referendum. The people would have decided. “It is a lie that Zelaya was seeking re-election,” Ambassador Rodriguez said.
Zelaya had attended the ALBA meeting in April before attending the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad.
In the wake of the coup, the Organisation of the Americas is to meet on Thursday to decide on a course of action against Honduras, unless Zelaya is reinstated.
And Mexico’s Ambassador Fernando Sandoval said that his government has expressed its deep concern for the recent events in Honduras.
“(The government of Mexico) calls upon all parties concerned to restore as soon as possible, the rule of law, democratic values and institutionalism, and particularly, to allow the return of President Manuel Zelaya to Honduras.”
Meanwhile, the people of Honduras are threatening a general strike in the wake of the abduction and expulsion of their president. Ambassador Rodriguez said that although there is a news blackout in Honduras, word is filtering out that the people are blocking the streets.
He said that there have been multiple arrests.
In the region, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua have condemned the coup. The ruling People’s Progressive Party has already condemned the coup.
In a statement, the PPP said that it condemns the coup that has ousted Zelaya.
According to the party, experience has also shown that a military coup is like a curse to a country as it affects development and often leads to bloodshed. The putschists inevitable attacks the people, the PPP stated.
The party is calling on governments in the region and beyond not to recognise the military regime and calls for the immediate re-installment of the democratic government of President Zelaya.
Meanwhile, the Rio Group considers that the rupture of the constitutional order inadmissible and unacceptable and constitutes a practice that Latin America and Caribbean societies have categorically rejected.
The Rio Group reiterates that strict compliance with democratic values and principles and the unrestricted respect to the constitutional order and the rule of law must prevail above any political difference.
The body also calls upon the political actors in Honduras to avoid violence. It demands the immediate and unconditional restoration of the legitimate and constitutional President.