Brilliant or lucky?

[jebbypal]

You have to admit, the orchestra tors of the Honduran coup are either the most brilliant public relations masterminds ever, or the luckiest bastards on the planet. First, their coup coincides with fallout of the Iran elections, and so it gets next to no coverage. Then, it continues longer than the Iran unrest, but coincides with a) health care reform and so it gets no coverage, and b)idiotic statements by Hillary Clinton

Not that I'm advocating that the US insert itself here. But seriously, is it so hard to at least present a front in the US media that we give unquestioned support to the correctly ELECTED president that was tossed out on his ass in his pajamas?

Oh wait, that might end up being very inconvenient to our public policy in the future in places that have oil...../sarcasm

Comments

[sam-arkand.livejournal.com]

The Honduran troubles are a wee bit more complex than that.

Zelaya was not arrested by the military and tossed out in a classic junta-led putsch. What he did was to try to get a nonbinding referendum on ending the presidential term limits in the Honduran Constitution. The Honduran Congress voted that it was outside his purview; the proper process (according to them) was to call a constitutional convention. Zelaya then tried to go ahead with the referendum over Congress' objections. The Supreme Court weighed in, saying it was illegal. According to some accounts, he had his supporters try to grab the ballots and hold the referendum over the objections of the other two branches of government.

It probably did not help that--at least according to some news reports I've read--the ballots were printed in Venezuela. In other words, pointing to a connection to Chavez. Whether or not Chavez was in fact providing support to Zelaya, the former Honduran president's actions did resemble Chavez' shenanigans when it came to solidifying power solely in the executive. The establishment panicked, consulted with the military, and decided Zelaya Had To Go.

Was it a wise decision? Having not read the Honduran Constitution, I have no idea if they have an impeachment process. They should have used that instead of "bum rush the show". Of course, they may also have been worried that Zelaya might have tried what that failed Mexican presidential candidate did a few years ago. Namely, organize massive demonstrations and have his representatives try to physically prevent the Mexican congress from forming (including actual fistfights in congressional chambers). The instigators may have wanted to send a clear honking signal that this wasn't going to happen there.

So. The fight is actually a squabble between the three branches of the Honduran .gov, against a murky backdrop of Chavezist power plays to become an influence in the region. Which, in fact, is a lot more interesting...