Saturday, July 04, 2009

Honduras and the OAS

Roberto Micheletti wasn't too happy after José Miguel Insulza's trip to Honduras, which was intended primarily as a finger-wagging exercise. So he announced Honduras is pulling out of the OAS (As boz notes, Micheletti actually is doing what Chávez kept saying he would do). Oddly enough, he was angry about the "unilateral" nature of the multilateral organization. Insulzia was, however, given a large number of documents so maybe for the first time we can actually discover the precise wording of the accusations and orders.

Apparently not noting the irony, the president of the Colegio de Abogados in Honduras said he believed Honduras should have the right to defend itself against the OAS charges.

14 comments:

Gabriel,  9:24 AM  

At this point they probably should just hold the elections early and be done with it. It could solve the problem relatively quickly.

Nell 1:15 PM  

Because moving up the date of national elections, specified in the Honduran constitution, would be a relatively minor transgression compared with the horrifying lawlessness of holding a straw poll.

Defensores de Democracia 1:19 PM  

Mr Weeks :

Thanks for your fight and struggle for Democracy and Freedom in Latin America. I support and back your posts about Honduras and other nations that may relapse into primitive dictatorships.

********************
********************

Happy Fourth of July

I believe in America and Future Mental Health. Happy Fourth of July !

Besides Limbaugh ..... There was another big radio demagogue in America : Father Charles Edward Coughlin in the 1930s.

This Nazi Priest preached the most horrible and cruel rants against Jews.

Guess what happened to this Idiot ??

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, This Popular Racist disappeared from the scene.

Rush Limbaugh shows signs of being tired and spent. ... This guy is eshausted in his Racism, his Hatred, his FearMongering and WarMongering.

Also DebtMongering and DeficitMongering.

One day Americans will realize that they are beginning to be tired of Limbaugh, Fox News and other idiots, so much Imbecility will be spent and worn. I believe in America.

America won't be conquered by Internal Wickedness, Evil and Hatred !

Happy Fourth of July

Milenials.com

Vicente Duque

Gabriel 1:59 PM  

Nell,

The situation is what it is. We can debate (and many likely will) for years to come who was responsible for this and how it happened but right now Zelaya has no support from any of the country's institutions. So how are you going to resolve this?

Anonymous,  2:01 PM  

The problem with the OAS is that Insulza is not seen as an impartial arbitrator. There have been many instances of undemocratic practices occurring in latin america over the years and nothing is done about it or even criticized, and now all of a sudden the OAS is trying to be relevant. Granted the actions of the Honduran govt. and military was not within the democratic framework. Frankly all parties should have to pay a price for breaking the constitution including Zelaya. Even Chavez should have to pay a price for interfering in the internal affairs of honduras and making military threats. Then again Insulza likes to cherry pick what is undemocratic.

Gabriel 2:04 PM  

KA,

Completely agree. Where was Insulza when Ortega stole last year's elections in Nicaragua? Or as Chavez continues to destroy Venezuela's already weak institutions?

Nell 2:43 PM  

All the institutions of Honduras that might express support for Pres. Zelaya's restoration are being silenced, arrested, forced into hiding, or dispersed with shots and tear gas.

The Congress' decree suspending constitutional liberties is preventing one of the country's major institutions, its people, from being able to freely assemble and express their opinions.

The video of soldiers shooting out the tires of the buses heading to Tegucigalpa speaks volumes.

The suppression of some radio and television stations, and the censoring of others, makes free and public discussion of the issues impossible.

And in this context, you want to pretend that Zelaya has "no support from any of the country's institutions"?

Maybe a continuation of the trade shutdown, and/or the expected official cutoff of U.S. aid on Monday, will make it clear to some of the businessmen and generals that they cannot return to the past.

They've already done incalculably more damage to the rule of law than anything Zelaya did or contemplated. The longer they continue artificially suppressing the opinions of the people who elected Zelaya and who want to conduct the next presidential elections in as normal an atmosphere as possible, the more damage they will do to the very institutions they are currently disgracing.

Gabriel,  2:54 PM  

"The people" voted for Congress and the SC is the legitimate one. As well as the Attorney General. And the electoral tribunal. They have all made clear that Zelaya broke the law.

So unless you propose that Zelaya close down Congress and the judiciary we return to my question, what is Zelaya going to return to?

The Attorney General has made clear Zelaya will be prosecuted if he returns. The SC has made clear they will order his arrest.

What, exactly, will be accomplished with Zelaya's return?

Better to just accelerate the elections and let the people decide who will fix this mess.

Anonymous,  3:42 PM  

"All the institutions of Honduras that might express support for Pres. Zelaya's restoration are being silenced, arrested, forced into hiding, or dispersed with shots and tear gas".

Yeah...they should be exporting their repression apparatus to Iran where, in spite of all the repression the government, is not being able to silence the opposition. Or maybe the lack of support to Zelaya is happening just because Hondurans are ungrateful for all the great deeds of this man.

please, do not abuse our inteligency...

Justin Delacour 4:03 PM  

The problem with the OAS is that Insulza is not seen as an impartial arbitrator. There have been many instances of undemocratic practices occurring in latin america over the years and nothing is done about it or even criticized, and now all of a sudden the OAS is trying to be relevant.

Not seen as an impartial arbitrator by whom? By ultra-rightist wingbats who wouldn't mind seeing the continent return to dirty wars and military juntas?

What you're saying is that the OAS doesn't suffiently criticize Chavez, Ortega, Morales or Correa for your taste.

In reality, though, it's just not true that the OAS doesn't criticize the policies of leftist governments when they're controversial. Insulza specifically criticized the non-renewal of RCTV's broadcast license and the refusal of the Ortega government to allow OAS observers in the country's last mayoral elections.

It just so happens that, in the view of the hemisphere, those alleged transgressions don't represent the kind of dangers to the region that a coup does.

Justin Delacour 4:07 PM  

The problem with the OAS is that Insulza is not seen as an impartial arbitrator. There have been many instances of undemocratic practices occurring in latin america over the years and nothing is done about it or even criticized, and now all of a sudden the OAS is trying to be relevant.

Not seen as an impartial arbitrator by whom? By ultra-rightist wingbats who wouldn't mind seeing the continent return to dirty wars and military juntas?

What you're saying is that the OAS doesn't suffiently criticize Chavez, Ortega, Morales or Correa for your taste.

In reality, though, it's just not true that the OAS doesn't criticize the policies of leftist governments when they're controversial. Insulza specifically criticized the non-renewal of RCTV's broadcast license and the refusal of the Ortega government to allow OAS observers in the country's last mayoral elections.

It just so happens that, in the view of the hemisphere, those alleged transgressions don't represent the kind of dangers to the region that a coup does.

Anonymous,  4:16 PM  

The other irony here is that Gregg Weeks believes that he knows better the law in Honduras then all the legal experts and juridical institutions there.

Steven Taylor 4:24 PM  

The other irony here is that Gregg Weeks believes that he knows better the law in Honduras then all the legal experts and juridical institutions there.

I have seen this type of criticism before (and have had it leveled at me as well). The problem with such logic (such as it is) is that it is basically stating that whatever happens within a given country cannot be criticized or analyzed by anyone outside that country because, after all, the people in that country understand the situation better than do outsiders.

This is utter nonsense.

And when did a coup-plotter ever do anything other than claim legal and constitutional protection for what they initiated?

Gabriel 8:23 AM  

Steve,

That's true but it's also true that whatever anyone may think of any particular ruling, the fact remains that Honduras's SC is the ultimate arbiter of what's legal or not. Zelaya could disagree all he wanted with the judiciary's rulings. What he couldn't do was simply ignore them.

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