Monday, September 21, 2009

Why Are We Mistreating Honduras? Updated!

Via Memeorandum:


In Hillary's Honduras Obsession, Mary O’Grady writes:

Ever since Manuel Zelaya was removed from the Honduran presidency by that
country's Supreme Court and Congress on June 28 for violations of the
constitution, the Obama administration has insisted, without any legal basis,
that the incident amounts to a "coup d'état" and must be reversed. President
Obama has dealt harshly with Honduras, and Americans have been asked to trust
their president's proclamations.

Now a report filed at the Library of Congress by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides what the administration has not offered, a serious legal review of the facts. "Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied
constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a
manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the
government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system," writes CRS
senior foreign law specialist Norma C. Gutierrez in her report.

Why, under orders from the administration, is Clinton dealing so harshly with a country that we should be heralding as a democratic partner in the Americas? One would think that we would encourage Honduras as a counter-balance to Chavez’s Venezuela. Instead, against the opinion of the CRS and public opinion, we are using our might to crush democracy.

Under the Honduras constitution, that country was legally obligated to remove former president Zelaya from office. The Honduran Supreme Court followed the letter of their law. At worst, we should interfere in that country’s sovereign affairs; at best, we should extend our hand to our fellow democracy.

Update:

Fausta's Blog is reporting that former president Zelaya is back in Honduras and hiding out in the Brazilian embassy. No word on what he hopes to accomplish unless he is trying to provoke a confrontation.

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