THE HUMAN PARTY

What do we know for sure about the role of the US in Sunday’s (June 28) coup in Honduras?  To be honest, not very much.  However, historical precedent and official comments suggest that the US quietly accepted the possibility of a coup without tacitly supporting it.  Additionally, Romeo Vasquez, a general who led the coup, and the head of the Air Force, General Luis Javier Prince Suazo, both received training at the US School of the Americas, a school infamous for its role in the human rights abuses in the Americas over the last 40 years.

Early Sunday morning army troops broke into President Manuel Zelaya’s home and transported him to Costa Rica.  With the president out of the country, the Honduran congress read a forged resignation letter and swore in Roberto Micheletti, the head of congress, as acting President.  The army acted on what they claimed was a warrant from the Supreme Court to arrest President Zelaya for violating the constitution.  

The “constitutional violation” was a national poll that was to have been conducted Sunday morning to register the public support for a constitutional assembly to be convened in November.  The existing constitution explicitly bars changes to some of its clauses (such as whether or not a president can be reelected), although this is irrelevant for the wholesale replacement of the constitution through a constitutional assembly.  US media has been endlessly repeating that Sunday’s poll was to determine if presidential term limits should be amended, thus making the poll an attempt on Zelaya’s part to remain in power past his constitutionally allowed single term.  This is not the case.  Across Latin America we have seen leftist movements with strong nationalistic currents creating new constitutions in an effort to alter the balance of power within the country (i.e. to a more egalitarian and populist governance) as well as assert independence from the imperialist and neocolonialist relationship between said countries and the United States.  For the most part, these political moves have been met with strong popular support and have shown an unprecedented degree of democracy as a greater part of the populace realizes its agency.  We only need look at Chavez’ failed referendum in 2007 that would have extended his term limits to see that these so-called dictatorships are actually societies exercising their democratic rights to create a more just and egalitarian government.  

That being said, with a forged letter of resignation from Zelaya and carefully chosen words on the part of US officials, the coup shows hints of the US support that defined the failed coup against Chavez in Venezuela in 2002.  The New York Times reports that US officials had been in dialogue with Honduran officials on both sides of the coup regarding Sunday’s referendum.  If they truly wanted to stave off a coup, I should think that all they needed to say was that a coup would be met with economic isolation and aid cuts.  Thankfully, President Obama stated:

We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the democratically elected president there.  It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition rather than democratic elections. The region has made enormous progress over the last 20 years in establishing democratic traditions. ... We don't want to go back to a dark past.

The ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America) countries have pulled their ambassadors, as have Brazil and Mexico.  The OAS (Organization of American States) released a statement on Monday condemning the coup.  However, despite strong words against the coup from Obama, the administration is unwilling to officially label the coup as what it is as that would require them to cut aid to Honduras, a country with at least one major US military base and millions of dollars in annual aid.  

For the US, Honduras served during the 1970s, 80s and 90s as a very convenient ally against the leftist forces in El Salvador and Nicaragua with money and training flowing through Honduras to military and conservative elements in all three countries.  Given the recent election of Mauricio Funes in El Salvador from the leftist party FMLN and Daniel Ortega’s rule in El Salvador, Honduras remains one of the few US allies (despite its ALBA membership) in a region increasingly shifting to the left under the influence of Venezuela and the ALBA, an ally that the US surely does not want to lose to participatory democracy.  While recognizing Zelaya as the constitutional president, US officials have also stated the need to converse with both sides in order to resolve the current conflict. 

Honduras currently has a constitution passed in 1982, originating under a military dictatorship during a period of strong US influence.  The constitution itself has served to maintain power relations, keeping a select elite in power while at the same time ensuring military influence.  Under this aegis, Honduras remains one of the poorest in Central America with over 50% of the population living beneath the poverty line and an unemployment rate of nearly 30% (and that is not counting underemployment).  According to the United Nations report on Human Development, Honduras ranks 116th in the world on the Human Development Index, sandwiched between Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan.  Control over the population over the last 40 years has been brutal and violent and the US has taken a large number of refugees on temporary visas.  

President Zelaya, although elected as a centrist has been shifting to the left and increasing social spending.  He has won strong support from both labor unions and rural peasant and farmers’ organizations.  It was widely expected that the Sunday’s poll, although non-binding, would have cleared the way for a new constitution in spite of reactionaries control over the army, legislature, and Supreme Court.  

We applaud Obama’s condemnation of the coup but would like to see stronger US action against the instigators.  Given the public statements and international condemnation, it is politically impossible for the administration to support the coup although there may have been US elements behind it.  I highly doubt that the coup planners would have gone ahead had they not expected US support.

As of now, Zelaya intends to return to Honduras on Thursday to resume his elected position.  Facing international condemnation, it will be interesting to see what happens as the “transition government” have threatened arrest if he steps into the country.  There have been widespread reports of human rights abuses as civilians have gathered in the streets over the last 4 days to protest the coup as well as military detainments of other officials such as the Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas, the mayor of the city San Pedro Sula, Rodolfo Padilla Sunseri, various legislators, and for a brief moment, the ambassadors of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.  On a brighter note, it has also been reported that two military battalions have rebelled in support of Zelaya, reminiscent of Chavez’ return to power in 2002 when the coup failed.  Hopefully we will all see this debacle come to an end within the next few days and Zelaya’s presidency rightfully restored.  It would be a drastic blow to participatory democracy and national self-determination if the coup instigators retain their current hold on power.

I highly recommend Eva Golinger’s blog, chavezcode.com. She has been constantly blogging from the moment the coup occurred and she is a well-informed alternative news source.