Latin American Experts: Zelaya Must Be Allowed Back Into Honduras
By Celia Canon-Talk Radio News Service
On Tuesday, experts from the Inter-American Dialogue warned that Honduras would continue to be unstable as long as ousted President Manuel Zelaya was not allowed back into the country.
“Zelaya is the elected President… If things degenerate further you won’t have good elections,” said Peter Hakim, President of Inter-American dialogue.
Hakim advised the international community to pursue “open negotiations involving [the] interim government.” Once an agreement is reached among the global community, Hakim advised Honduras to hold an election but warned that the quality of these elections depends on the stability of the country.
On June 29th, the Honduran military led a coup to overthrow President Manuel Zelaya. Armed forces intervened hours before a national referendum was due to take place to determine whether the constitution could be modified to allow the President to assume a second term, rather than the single term outlined in the country’s constitution. Zelaya was replaced by interim-President Roberto Micheletti.
Though the future of Honduras is nothing short of uncertain, many actors, including the international body Organization of American States, have gotten involved in the reestablishment of peace and stability in the Central American country.
“The OAS could take a strong position but then [it could be better to] not put the de facto Honduran government against the wall,” Hakim said
Genaro Arriagada, a Senior Fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, added that besides the obvious necessary changes that should be brought to the Honduran government and constitution, further changes should involve the OAS 2001 democratic charter which was adopted by member states in order to ensure the presence of democratic institutions in all countries of the Americas.
The Charter needs to be reconsidered, explained Arriagada, “because it gives protection to the government but not to the opposition to the government.”
4 Responses to “Latin American Experts: Zelaya Must Be Allowed Back Into Honduras”
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July 7th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Interestingly, the Honduran Constitution of 1982 does provide for loss of citizenship for those who “incite, promote or aid in the continuation or re-election of the President” http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Honduras/hond05.html (article 42):
ARTICULO 42.- La calidad de ciudadano se pierde:
5. Por incitar, promover o apoyar el continuismo o la reelección del Presidente de la República; y,
Further, Article 239 indicates that anyone who has held the office of chief executive cannot be president or vice president and anyone who proposes reform to that prohibition can be barred from holding public office for ten years:
ARTICULO 239.- El ciudadano que haya desempeñado la titularidad del Poder Ejecutivo no podrá ser Presidente o Vicepresidente de la República.
El que quebrante esta disposición o proponga su reforma, así como aquellos que lo apoyen directa o indirectamente, cesarán de inmediato en el desempeño de sus respectivos cargos y quedarán inhabilitados por diez (10) años para el ejercicio de toda función pública.
My educated guess on that provision is that it is aimed move at banning past military dictators from pursuing the office than it is a stricture contra re-election, per se.
Additionally, Article 374 bars any amendments regarding the length of the presidential term (amongst other things:
ARTICULO 374.- No podrán reformarse, en ningún caso, el artículo anterior, el presente artículo, los artículos constitucionales que se refieren a la forma de gobierno, al territorio nacional, al período presidencial, a la prohibición para ser nuevamente Presidente de la República, el ciudadano que lo haya desempeñado bajo cualquier título y el referente a quienes no pueden ser Presidentes de la República por el período subsiguiente.
As such, it is pretty clear why the Supreme Court of Justice ruled against Zelaya’s plebiscite proposal in the first place. It also means that if the vote had been allowed to happen it would have had no legal standing.
July 8th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Who are the “experts”"?! Hondurans deserve to be free! For Hondurans to be free, Zelaya must not be allowed to continue his criminal plans against the Honduran people. Who is going to stop Zelaya and Chavez from forcing Hondurans — through lies, manipulation, intimidation and fraud — to become enslaved as the rest of the unfortunate countries now suffering under the “socialims of the XXI century” (Marxism).
July 8th, 2009 at 10:42 am
By siding with Zelaya and against the rule of law and the human rights of Hondurans, the corrupt UN and OAS demonstrate again that, rather than defending human rights, they support dictators who trample on those rights. The world in general and the Americas in particular would benefit from the closing of both pernicious organizations. As a bonus, we would all save money and their fancy buildings could be put to better use!
To further empower and enrich itself, the UN helps promote evil schemes, such as Obama’s global warming/cap and trade Ponzy scheme, which will kill the U.S. economy. The OAS, with Insulza as Secretary General, has been helping Castro and Chavez enslave Latin Americans. Playing an active role in Allende’s Popular Unity, which sought to impose Marxism in Chile, Insulza has a long and shameful Marxist record.
Venezuelans, Bolivians, Ecuadorians, etc. have written open letters to Insulza begging him to defend them from Chavez, Morales, Ortega, Correa, and the rest of the Marxist thugs. Insulza has responded by declaring “transparent and democratic” the fraudulent elections of his Marxist friends. The UN and the OAS have become enemies of freedom and democracy and should be dissolved.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
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