Friday, July 24, 2009

Awaiting Zelaya's return

It will be miraculous if Mel Zelaya re-enters Honduras without violence erupting in some manner. He has been making a public point of emphasizing calm, saying that he will be waving a white flag when he arrives.

The Honduran Defense Ministry released a troubling statement in response:

“No podemos responsabilizarnos por la seguridad de personas que, por fomentar la violencia generalizada en el país, están sujetos a ser atacados, inclusive por sus mismos partidarios, con el exclusivo propósito de constituirlos en mártires”

"We cannot be held responsible for people who, in order to foment generalized violence in the country, are subject to attack, including by their own supporters, with the exclusive purpose of making them into martyrs."

This is one of the oldest excuses for violence in the book, though I think more commonly made after the fact. If anybody dies, it is not the military's fault because leftists just kill each other in order to make us look bad. And even if we did kill a few, they were here to foment violence so we had no choice.

6 comments:

Slave Revolt,  8:49 AM  

Does the US really want to ignite the death squad policies from decades past?

Really, this is to the point that authentic democratic reform and involvement can bring stability to Honduras. The Obama administration has been functioning along old lines of ideological extremism that is undergirded by an undemocratic conception of human society and the work that will need to be engaged in the coming decades.

It appears that the US intention is to thwart democratic socialism from making further inroads, and then try to challenge alba countries through constant desabilization.

So what if this means millions of deaths and a reversion to dictatorship.

Those damned slaves, they can't simply accept their lot in life as super-exploited worker bees.

Anonymous,  8:50 AM  

If Zelaya really cared about the rule of law and peace he would accept that a legitimate institution (the Attorney General) has ordered his arest, and would simply turn himself in and request a trial.

Of course Zelaya acts as if he is the only legitimate institution Honduras. So instead of following the law he decides to surround himself with his supporters and dare the authorities to stop him. Just as he did when he stormed that military base to recover the ballots the judiciary had ordered be impounded.

Nell 11:07 AM  

It will be miraculous if Mel Zelaya re-enters Honduras without violence erupting in some manner.

The basic point of this post -- that the military seeks to displace responsibility for its violence onto the (past and likely future) victims -- is correct, and welcome.

But, Greg, you've undercut it by the way you've phrased the opening sentence, which obscures the source of the violence.

Violence isn't going to "erupt" "in some manner". Soldiers are going to fire on unarmed people, using any provocation or none.

Hondurans peacefully accompanying the legitimate, elected president into the country have a constitutional right to do so. They are not obliged to respect the decrees of a coup regime.

It's also worth bearing in mind that the people who have, at great risk, opposed the coup inside Honduras are autonomous, self-motivated actors. They're not being manipulated, Svengali-like, by Zelaya -- they're a mobilized population that's taking yet another step to defend and expand democracy.

Anonymous,  1:54 PM  

If Zelaya really cared about the rule of law and peace he would accept that a legitimate institution (the Attorney General) has ordered his arest, and would simply turn himself in and request a trial.

If the coup government of Honduras really cared about the rule of law, they would have follwoed procedure with an arrest warrant while Zelaya was still in Honduras, rather than bundle him into a plane - in violation of the constitution - and send him out of the country.

Nell 2:43 PM  

The talks failed due to the coup regime's intransigence.

Zelaya is going to go to the border with his family.

If the State Department and this administration sincerely want to see Zelaya restored to his rightful office, and are determined to prevent harm to unarmed, peaceful supporters of the constitutional order, then they should order Amb. Llorens and the U.S. commander at Palmerola/Soto Cano to meet and accompany the president at the border.

It goes without saying that they must revoke visas for Gen. Vasquez and all others participating in and supporting the coup. Ignoring a thinly veiled death threat and folding their hands and tut-tutting over Zelaya's trip home sends a loud message to the rest of Central and Latin America that coups are back.

Justin Delacour 5:26 PM  

If the State Department and this administration sincerely want to see Zelaya restored to his rightful office, and are determined to prevent harm to unarmed, peaceful supporters of the constitutional order, then they should order Amb. Llorens and the U.S. commander at Palmerola/Soto Cano to meet and accompany the president at the border.

It goes without saying that they must revoke visas for Gen. Vasquez and all others participating in and supporting the coup. Ignoring a thinly veiled death threat and folding their hands and tut-tutting over Zelaya's trip home sends a loud message to the rest of Central and Latin America that coups are back.


Well said.

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