THERE WAS A COUP IN HONDURAS

Jul 20, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

My attention has been drawn to an article published in this newspaper under the name, Sir. Ron Saunders. The article is entitled, Honduras: A Coup Provoked, and makes some of the most ingenious contentions imaginable about the situation in Honduras.

In it, Sir Saunders made the following claims:

1) Within the confines of the Honduran Constitution, there was no coup at all.

2) It is being argued that he was removed from the Presidency in keeping with the Constitution and the law because he usurped the law in an attempt to keep himself in office.

3) Mr. Zelaya sought to alter the Constitution to extend his term.

4) The Congress subsequently impeached Mr. Zelaya.

These things are presented as facts by Sir Saunders. Unlike President Zelaya however, he shall be afforded the opportunity to provide the proof that there was no coup, the removal of Zelaya was in keeping with the Constitution, this was the same Constitution which Mr. Zelaya sought to alter, and finally that the democratically elected President was impeached.

The international community, except for the United States of America, which is treating this conflict as an interruption of democracy, has labeled this action against President Zelaya as a coup. There was indeed a military coup against President Zelaya. But the Americans are not classifying it as that because to do so would involve triggering immediate sanctions, and this they are opposed to because they have their agenda in Honduras.

Mr. Zelaya did not usurp the Constitution. The so-called referendum he had planned was not done under the Constitution.

It was in fact done under a law which was passed and approved by the very Congress which Sir Saunders wants us to believe impeached the President.

President Zelaya did not seek to extend his term. The Constitution of Honduras prohibits the extension of the terms of the President or for that matter a public vote to amend the constitution to extend the term of the President.

What was being attempted, however, was not an amendment to the Constitution but a non-binding referendum to determine whether during the 2009 elections, there should be a separate ballot to decide whether there was support for a Constituent Assembly.

The people were simply being asked, “Do you agree that, during the general elections of November, 2009, there should be a fourth ballot to decide whether to hold a Constituent National Assembly that will approve a new political constitution?”

This was not about altering the constitution of extending the term of the President. It was about asking the people whether they wanted a Constituent Assembly to be established so as to draft a new constitution, something that is permissible under the present constitution. The draft constitution would have still required the assent of two thirds of the Congress for it to become law.

How, therefore, could this question of whether there should be a Constituent Assembly be construed as an attempt to alter the Constitution to allow Mr. Zelaya a third term?

There is no question at all that this referendum could have extended the term of the President. The term of the President expires in 2010 and since elections were soon due, it meant that by the time the Constituent Assembly was established and by the time it completed its work, there would have long been a new President.

The non-binding referendum that was being attempted by the President was done under the Civil Participation Act of 2006 which was approved by the very National Congress which we are now being told impeached the President. It was therefore legal.

This writer is not aware that Mr. Zelaya was impeached. This writer is aware that there was a coup and that a bogus letter of resignation was presented to the Congress.

To cloak what has happened in Honduras with a veneer of legitimacy is highly unfortunate. What has taken place in Honduras is a backward step for international law, and for democracy in Latin America.

But what is even more unfortunate is the position adopted by the US administration, blowing hot and blowing cold over what has taken place. But then again that country is not alone in that respect.

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THERE WAS A COUP IN HONDURAS

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