Honduras: Sides Harden, Logic Breaks Down, and Tragic Silliness Begins
July 26, 2009
by
Christopher Sabatini
Although President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya prefers to wear a white hat, there are no men in white hats in the escalating situation in Honduras. Unfortunately, now with the military’s statement supporting Costa Rican President Óscar Arias’ seven-point plan to resolve the impasse between the ousted President and the de facto government that replaced him, the implication is that again the men in the barracks will save the day. But by announcing its support and, in effect, contradicting the position of de facto President Micheletti, the military is again insinuating itself in politics and serving as a political broker. It was dangerous and wrong when it did it on June 28th, and it’s dangerous now.
As I wrote here earlier, de facto President Micheletti’s refusal to accept President Arias' San José Accord was a serious mistake. The stumbling block was the provision to allow President Zelaya to return to Honduras to a shorter mandate and with severely curtailed powers in a coalition government. Micheletti stated that he would not allow Zelaya to return to Honduras and then never budged.
The intransigence led to the breakdown in the talks and drove Zelaya—never a cool head to begin with—out of a sensible, moderate process and back into the arms of Presidents Chávez of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua. Zelaya swore he’d return to Honduras and on Friday led a caravan and a television crew briefly over the Nicaraguan border into Honduras then flitted back across the border to set up a camp on the Nicaraguan side. To anyone (myself included) who supported the idea that the events of June 28th were a coup and that Zelaya should be returned in a limited capacity, the clownishness of his actions made his stunt Friday and Saturday tough to watch.
But that’s precisely why Zelaya should be allowed to return to Honduras as a defanged President with a limited mandate: to close this chapter of his leadership. Forcing him to stay outside only gives him a platform (and a three-ring circus) he doesn’t deserve. And this I’ll wager: if this chapter isn’t closed, Zelaya will come raging back but this time not across a border with a ragtag caravan but through elections, as a martyr of the elite, with more angry popular support.
Perhaps it was this fear or disapproval of being forced to guard the border and confront protesters that provoked the Honduran armed forces to announce their support for the San José Accord. It appears also that U.S. congressional officials were behind the discussions and statement. We may (again myself included) agree in this case with the position and maybe even the outcome. But the mere fact that the military feels it has the right to assert a political position, contradicting the Honduran supreme court and the congress, only underscores the lack of institutions and civilian processes to resolve political conflicts. As much as we may secretly applaud any sign of sensibility inside Honduras right now that undercuts Micheletti’s shortsighted-bullheadedness, we can’t lose sight of the fact that it’s the military stepping into the breach here—the same military that rousted Zelaya out of bed and arrested him at gunpoint early in the morning on June 28th. At the time many of us denounced that as an undemocratic insertion of the military into constitutional politics—even if ordered by the Honduran supreme court. How now can we agree with the military’s new political voice?
Tags::
Coup in Honduras,
Honduran armed forces,
Micheletti,
Oscar Arias,
President Zelaya
military involvement
The military not opposing zelaya's return actually provides political space for micheletti to do the same. The irony is that this is not really an insertion into politics (that already occurred on june 28) but the opening to a return by zelaya presaged flexibility in san jose by the de facto govt. Its actually a rather bold stroke.
My side
Please read my blog more carefully. I'm not saying that the military is supporting Zelaya's return--which I think is necessary. I'm saying that by supporting the process or framework of the San Jose Accord they are again insinuating themselves into politics--which is not good. Yes, implied in that is that would also support Zelaya's return and it implies that it is contradicting Micheletti's intransigence that led to the break down of the accords. But that isn't my point. My point is that for the military--any military--to comment on such political matters is risky.
On the position of the Honduran armed forces
Mr. Sabatini, You are reading too much into the Honduran armed forces communiqué -- or haven't read it carefully enough. After a preamble in which they state their respect for the constitution and the laws -- you may feel this is said tongue firmly in cheek -- it proceeds to say: "...como institución respaldamos una solución a la problemática que atraviesa nuestro país, mediante un proceso de negociación en el marco del Acuerdo de San José. Así mismo, reiteramos nuestro apoyo irrestricto a los resultados de la misma, conforme a nuestra Constitución y demás leyes." At no time does the communiqué state that it supports the seven points of the San Jose Accord -- one of which stipulates Zelaya's return as president -- as currently being considered by the congress and supreme court. It says they support the process, as well as the results, according to the Honduran constitution and other laws. This is an important distinction. It is simply saying they will abide by the results of the negotiation, whichever those are. Later statements by the commander of the armed forces would seem to confirm this. The truth is that the world can force Honduras to take Zelaya back as president, especially if it is willing resort to economic isolation and to treat the Honduran constitution as a nuisance that stands in the way of a higher principle. No matter how it is spun, removing Zelaya from office was perfectly legal; kicking him out of the country was not. He has every right to return to Honduras, but no right to be president.
Honduras: Sides Harden, Logic Breaks Down, and Tragic Silliness
Mr Sabatini, You seem like an intelligent person trying to present both sides on this issue. You probably take pride in attempting to present both sides. Where as you are searching for shades of grey, I tend to view the world in black or white. It's very hard for me to come to the conclusion that the Military is now backing Mel and his return. I have not read anywhere that the Military supports the "7-point plan" as suggested in numerous articles. But rather they support the interim government in their negotiations. Requesting that the interim government continue talks is a far cry from insisting on Mel's return. But every news headline I have read to date touts this as the Military now supporting the return of Mel. What are your sources, I am not saying they are incorrect, but I would like to read them myself, not just some two paragraph blurb from Reuters that everyone assumes as a fact.
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