COUP MAKERS BEWARE!

Aug 17, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

A stunning rebuke has been given to intended coup makers within the Region. The outgoing President of UNASUR- Union of South American Nations- Michele Bachelet has sounded an ominous warning to those plotting undemocratic regime changes within the Region.

She has made it clear that UNASUR will not recognise any government which emerges out of elections held by coup makers. This forthright position send a clear and unequivocal message to coup makers and their allies that regimes which emerge from the toppling of democratically elected governments will not be respected even if the regimes themselves are achieved through elections.

It is well drilled practice of coup makers to ride the storm of protests and isolation that follow a coup and to appease the international community with promises of free and fair elections down the line. We have seen it before in Fiji, in Pakistan and in Haiti where coups take place, the de facto junta promises elections and following those elections, recognition is given to the new regime.

In Haiti we had a situation where the Americans took the President of that country out and installed an interim administration. A new government was installed but the democratically elected President, Jean Bertrand Aristide, was effectively exiled and not restored to power.

In Fiji, there have been military coups, leading to de facto governments which have subsequently held elections only to have the results of those elections overturned by other coups. When the governments that emerge from these post coup elections are recognised, it makes a mockery of the initial isolation of the de facto regimes.

That drill is not going to succeed anymore. The governments that emerge from these post coup elections are however not now going to be recognised, thereby placing a serious spoke in the wheels of those who wish to restore legitimacy to their governments.

USASUR therefore stands in defence of democratic governments and has made it emphatic that it will not recognise any government which emerges following a coup, even if that government is via the ballot box. This position effectively isolates the present coup makers in Honduras who may have been hoping that they could hold out in negotiations and force fresh elections in that country without having to reinstate the ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

The ousted Honduran President has not yet been reinstated. The Organisation of American States is negotiating with the coup makers in Honduras who may have felt that with the Americans still treating the situation as an interruption of democracy, it gives them some negotiating room.

The position of the Americans is not clear cut. On one hand, if they treat the coup as an unconstitutional regime change, they will be forced to implement sanctions. This can adversely affect the ongoing negotiations and force the de factor administration to cut off discussions. On the other hand, the de facto administration can interpret the failure of the Americans to impose sanctions as being supportive of the coup.

With this declared position of UNASUR, the de facto rulers in Honduras will now see the writing on the wall. No government that emerged without the reinstallation of Manuel Zelaya is going to be recognised, and this is a position which should also be embraced within the Caribbean Community even though the region has limited relations with Honduras.

The position taken by UNASUR represents a positive development in international law and one that Guyana should push CARICOM to adopt. The region does not always have to follow what the OAS or the Americans dictate. As a community of sovereign nations, it is the responsibility of CARICOM to decide how it will treat, first, with regime change outside of the ballot box and secondly, whether it is prepared to recognise governments that emerge from elections following coups.

While President Manuel Zelaya is the ultimate winner by this stance adopted by UNASUR, it is also important that Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole emphasise the importance of democratic government and thus support this principle so well enunciated by Chile’s Michele Bachelet.

Coup makers have now been put on notice. They face permanent international isolation unless they reverse their actions. Regime change must come through free and fair elections, not by unconstitutional regime change.