Obama Tried To Stop Honduras Coup

Buried in a Wall Street Journal article is the news that President Obama tried to stop Sunday's coup in Honduras:

The Obama administration and members of the Organization of American States had worked for weeks to try to avert any moves to overthrow President Zelaya, said senior U.S. officials. Washington's ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, sought to facilitate a dialogue between the president's office, the Honduran parliament and the military.

The efforts accelerated over the weekend, as Washington grew increasingly alarmed. "The players decided, in the end, not to listen to our message," said one U.S. official involved in the diplomacy. On Sunday, the U.S. embassy here tried repeatedly to contact the Honduran military directly, but was rebuffed. Washington called the removal of President Zelaya a coup and said it wouldn't recognize any other leader.

Obama said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned," and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Zelaya's arrest by the military should be condemned.

"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read.

President Manuel Zelaya's replacement, congressionally designated successor Roberto Micheletti, mentioned the American president by name in response to a threat from Venezuela's Hugo Chavez: "Nobody, not Barack Obama and much less Hugo Chavez, has any right to threaten this country."

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Comments

[wilsonveteran]

Gee words did not work again. Where is the Obama magic I thought everyone was suppose to listen to our kind dear leader. What Obama cannot effect anything with our enemies or our allies. What has happened to that silver tongue that has America so entranced that they will give him anything. Doesn't the rest of the world know he is the one and they risk the wrath of God by not listening.

[ExxonMcBushCo]

Typical and unoriginal tripe.

[marshhen]

Sorry, your comeback is lacking in fact and intelligence

[IcedTee63]

Grapes are pretty sour huh?

[reggieb]

Let's invade every country. You pay for it and send your kids.

[wilsonveteran]

You mean Obama can't change this just by saying it. Isn't he the one. I mean I still get that thrill up my leg when he speaks. I thought once he was President the whole world would bow done to him. He was going to change it all.

[anothervoice]

Tell that to a certain pirate to two.

[AntonioSosa]

The coup in Honduras is a message to the Marxist thugs who are destroying Latin America (Castro, Chavez, Ortega, Morales, Correa, etc.) and to the would-be tyrants like Obama. It's a message of hope for freedom and democracy in the Americas.

[lightningbolt]

The only Marxist thug among the people you mentioned is Castro. The other guys you mentioned are democratically elected leaders who are part socialist and part capitalist, but certainly not Marxist.

[magic3400]

One thing about Repubs...t­hey use titles, names or descriptions and the don't know what the meaning of the word actually is...I call it Rebonics.

[Knowbetter]

You just lost all credibility with that post.

[hucklecat]

Since when does a military coup send a message of hope and freedom? Out of the frying pan and into the fire.... (or if you speak Spanish AntonioSosa: "De Guatelmala a guatapeor".

[Republicrats]

Good, diplomatic channels were tried and failed, its on Honduras now as it should be, we state our case and they listen or dont', we don't need to go throwing our military in to another place in the world!

[SvrWx]

I read an analysis on WSJ regarding this issue. I thought it was well done and it basically says that President Mel Zelaya tried to go around the consititution to get re-elected. And the Honduran Supreme Court and military stopped him. Here's the link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623220955866301.html

[PATina]

That's pretty much what I got as well.

[tailgateshirts]

They could have just said "NO" and that would have been the end of it.

The guy put in place doesnt even conform to their Constitution if you want to be technical, he wasnt born in Honduras

[ManwithaParachute]

Not an argument. Have you read their constitution? Do you have a link?

[SvrWx]

They had said no. As per the link above:

"Calculating that some critical mass of Hondurans would take his side, the president decided he would run the referendum himself. So on Thursday he led a mob that broke into the military installation where the ballots from Venezuela were being stored and then had his supporters distribute them in defiance of the Supreme Court's order.

The attorney general had already made clear that the referendum was illegal, and he further announced that he would prosecute anyone involved in carrying it out. Yesterday, Mr. Zelaya was arrested by the military and is now in exile in Costa Rica."

In the United States, we may have had the police arrest him, but what he did was buck his supreme court and defy his attorney general. Although it might have been a better choice to do this peacefully, I don't think Zelaya would have allowed it.

[SayWhatYouWill]

Since when does an opinion article from the Wall Street Journal by some right-winger have any value?

If you want facts, read or watch European news about this coup.

[RoloTomassi]

Incorrect; he was trying to run a referrendu­m--NON-Bin­ding, at that--to see if he had public support for changing the term limits.

That's a huge difference, and I got the very strong feeling that the WSJ article was biased towards the usual suspects who would hold an interest in corporate affairs in that nation.

[PR one]

I'm sure the Wall Street Journal can give you a good analysis as to why it was good to invade Iraq. Can give you a good analysis to invade Iran and which ever analysis they give you is the correct one. Give me a Break.

[AntonioSosa]

Kudos to the courageous military in Honduras! With Castro as the model and with the assistance of Chavez and the rest of the Marxist thugs who are destroying Latin America, Zelaya was about to take control of the Legislative and the Judicial bodies in Honduras. He was about to become another Marxist dictator like Chavez, Morales, Correa, Ortega, etc. The patriotic military stopped Zelaya, is giving civil society the space to establish a working democracy, and is now only working to safeguard our nation from the threats of Venezuelan and Nicaraguan armed forces. Power is held in our three powers of the state, the Legislative, the Judicial and the Executive. “The three are working perfectly, all we need now is for the would-be tyrant to be called by his name,” said a Honduran.

[PATina]

Chavez, Morales, Correa, Ortega,

These are all democratically elected leaders... not dictators.

[lightningbolt]

The media has done its job pretty well brainwashing people into thinking these people are dictators.

[rssrai]

I suppose you think that military dictators are okay? That is what Hunduras in effect has now. President Zelaya was helping the people in Hunduras, but the military were not happy that their power was being taken away.

[AntonioSosa]

The Honduran military DOES NOT want power. They prevented Zelaya to become a dictator. Democracy is working in Honduras. "The Honduran congress has appointed a new leader, as per the Honduran constitution.

[Gainsbourg69]

How the hell can the new latin american left destroy countries that have been in shambles for most of the last century?

[PATina]

I want to read up more on Honduras current events... but does anyone know what caused the coup? Was the president ineffectiv­e... too effective.­.. just not liked???

[Tommygun264]

I heard it was just a big group of loud pigeons. That's how these things get started sometimes.

[BlackBuddha]

That's ridiculous­...

It was mocking birds.

there is a difference.

[SurrealPumpkin]

I don't, and wish I did. I have a school friend who now lives in Honduras. I haven't heard from her in a while.

[mrpotatoe]

As I understand it, President Zelaya attempted to "re-write" the Honduran Constitution pertaining to Presidential term limits (he wanted to run again, and continue being President.­). When the military wouldn't 'join in,' Zelaya fired the top commanding general. After a period of reflection, the Honduran Supreme Court endorsed the Military removal of Zekaya (the coup) and announced his replacement by the former Vice President.

Hard for me to render an opinion about political correctness here. Is there a concise rulebook somewhere (like with the NFL or even the 'legal' moves in MMA) that can help a concerned citizen contribute anything positive? Thank providence, I'm just watching..­.

P

[Nonamnesiac]

There was a non-binding vote which Zelaya initiaed and supported proposing to change the Constitution to end or alter terms limits. It wasn't even binding. I guess Obama needs to find out if there was any CIA involvement in this military coup and if so, he needs to immediately dismiss all CIA officers involved and all who gave any support to thye coup and then a prosecution of those CIA officers. Otherwise Obama, who is also commander-in-chief over the CIA actually supported the coup, as he's unwilling to discipline criminal activity by CIA officials who oppose his policies.

[WorkingClass]

He wanted a referendum to see if the people wanted a referendum on term limits. I know it sounds weird but that was his crime. He was kidnapped the day the vote was scheduled.

[expathonduras]

The President began moving to the radical left.... he joined alliance with the ALBA group ( Chavez, Oretga..et­c).

Later he raised minimum wage in Honduras over 60%..... he also was planning on having a 15th month salary....­.

The tipping point was the Presidents campagin for the special election to change the Consitution. The Constitution can only be amended by Congress on a non-election year.... but President wanted to take advantage of the election to use it as a justification for a change in the government­/constitui­on... he is looking to run for another term ( which is not allowed by current constitution.

The Congress and Supreme Court ruled the special to be illegal and unconstitution and ordered the voting materials to be seized. The military had the matierals in their posesion.. until Mel personaly arrived with a group of 2000 supporters to retrieve the materials. Mel fired his Military Chief of Staff.....­and top generals in all branches of the government quit as a protest.

Mel than insulted the Supreme Court, Congress and even the military..­.........n­othing was going to stop him from having his election..­.

Congress was afraid that Mel would dissolve Congress after the election results.

Problem is that Mel did not have enough support...­....... and people dont want to be part of the Chavez ideals...