Obama and Honduras

This morning the President of Honduras was ovethrown in a military coup. the coup came about because the president was trying to overturn the Honduran constitution so that he could be allowed another term. To that end, the president had scheduled a nationwide referendum to get the people to express support for his effort for another term. The referendum had been challenged as illegal and the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the challenger, finding the proposed election illegal. the Honduran congress had voted against holding the referendum and the military had refused to assist in setting up the polling places since all branches of government had ruled the referendum illegal. Nevertheless, the president persisted in his plan to hold the referendum with support from no one other than Hugo Chavez and Castro in Cuba. The OAS had asked last week for the parties to try to resolve this in a peaceful way, but the president did not even hold meetings with the opponents of the referendum (which included the majority of his own party) and went ahead with plans for the election. As a result, this morning, prior to the start of voting, the military overthrew the president. The president was unharmed and sent out of the country. No casualties have been reported in the coup, although it is still early and reports continue to trickle in from Tegucigalpa. Still, the coup seems to have been relatively bloodless. In short, the military in Honduras has stopped the president from acting ini an illegal manner -- it has prevented the president from going forward with an illegal attempt to gain another term despite the restrictions in the Honduran constitution.

Contrast this with recent events in Iran. There, the government acted illegally in rigging an election for president of that country. Protesters were cut off from the outside world and later arrested, beaten or killed. Unlike Honduras, the mullahs in Iran did not act to support the law, but rather to cement their claims to power. This was very different from event in Honduras.

This brings us to the reaction from President Obama to both happenings. In Iran, Obama first announced how pleased the USA was with the vigorous democracy shown by the Iranian election (even though an idiot could have told him that the elction would be rigged). Next Obama said little or nothing to support freedom, democracy or the rule of law until ten days into the protests in Iran when many had already been killed in the fighting. Finally, once it seemed clear that the mullahs had gained the upper hand, Obama denounced their actions. On the other hand, with little clarity on the exact situation in Honduras, obama announced the US gravely concerned with the events in Tegucigalpa. Indeed, the three biggest sources of criticism of the coup coming from outside Honduras have been Hugo Chavez, Cuba and Obama. That should tell us something. and the something it tells us is not good about the way Obama conducts US foreign policy.