Day one: The coup that wasn’t
On Sunday, June 28, before dawn, more than a dozen Honduran soldiers surrounded the residence of President Manuel Zelaya. They arrested the controversial president and disarmed his security guards. Zelaya was escorted from his home outside the capital, Tegucigalpa, to the airport and expatriated to Costa Rica.
The local news media immediately reported that Zelaya had been sent into exile. Zelaya supporters called it a coup and protested at the presidential palace. The international media called it a coup. Venezuelan Marxist Hugo Chavez released a statement in support of Zelaya saying, “This coup will be defeated and it will be defeated by the people of Honduras and through its will.”
By 11:50 that morning, President Barack Obama released a statement in support of the exiled Leftist Zelaya. The U.S. president called on all sides in Honduras to respect democracy and the rule of law. Obama said, “Any disputes must be settled peacefully through negotiations that are free from outside interference.” This was a strange response considering President Obama initially remained silent during the slaughter of democracy protesters in Iran and refused to denounce the brutal regime. He even announced that he would not meddle in Iran as the “debate” for the future of the country was in progress.
At 3:15 on Sunday Hillary Clinton said the action taken against Honduras’ president should be condemned by everyone.
It wasn’t until later on Sunday that the rest of the story was leaked out on blogs. Piece of Work in Progress deciphered the news:
You won’t really grasp it from the AP article, but the Honduran coup is about President Zelaya’s extra-constitutional attempt to extend his term. He would be out of office in January, but he wanted a referendum to permit him to run again. The Supreme Court stated that would be unconstitutional. The army general who was to have distributed the ballots refused, and was sacked by Zelaya. The military then snatched Zelaya from his villa and shipped him off to Hugo (or Costa Rica).
Retired Honduran general Daniel Lopez Carballo justified the move against the president, telling CNN en Espanol that Mr. Zelaya was a stooge for Mr. Chavez.
Day two: Obama stands with Chavez
President Obama on Monday called the action “not legal,” and announced that Zelaya was still the legitimate president. Latin American expert Monica Showalter at Investor’s Business Daily described the situation:
There was a coup all right, but it wasn’t committed by the U.S. or the Honduran court. It was committed by Zelaya himself. He brazenly defied the law, and Hondurans overwhelmingly supported his removal (a pro-Zelaya rally Monday drew a mere 200 acolytes).
Yet the U.S. administration stood with Chavez and Castro, calling Zelaya’s lawful removal “a coup.” Obama called the action a “terrible precedent,” and said Zelaya remains president.
In doing this, the U.S. condemned democrats who stood up to save their democracy, a move that should have been hailed as a historic turning of the tide against the false democracies of the region.
President Obama had sided with the Marxist leaders Hugo Chavez, Raul Castro, Evo Morales, and Daniel Ortega in support of Zelaya. It was a strange day in American foreign policy.
Day three: The right stands for freedom
On Tuesday Newt Gingrich attacked Barack Obama for siding with the regional Marxists in attacking the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress for protecting the nation’s constitution. Gingrich blasted Obama for opposing the “coup” in Honduras, which the former GOP leader insisted would have kept in place a “Leftist dictatorship.” Newt tweeted:
Having Castro call for defending democracy should convince any reasonable person that Honduras was on the edge of a leftist dictatorship.
Later in the day the U.S. co-sponsored legislation with Marxist regimes Venezuela and Bolivia in support of the tin-pot Leftist dictator-wannabe Manuel Zelaya of Honduras.
Day four: The media continues to misreport the situation
On Wednesday the new Honduran government said it would arrest Mr. Zelaya if he returned to Honduras.
Former President Manuel Zelaya had already met with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro and Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez during the Central American integration meeting in Managua.
Charles Krauthammer offered this advice to Obama: “Look a rule of thumb here is whenever you find yourself on the side of Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega and the Castro twins you ought to re-examine your assumptions.”
Honduran news agency El Heraldo urged Obama not to succumb to the whims of Chavez.
Meanwhile, the U.S. media reported on “continuing protests” in support of ousted President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. A few dozen Marxist supporters were attending these pro-Zelaya rallies. But the U.S. media was not reporting on the tens of thousands of Hondurans who were demonstrating in support of the Micheletti government that had replaced the Zelaya administration.
Day five: Honduran protestors demonstrate against Obama, CNN
Hondurans protested CNN’s coverage of the political crisis. They claimed CNN was ignoring the corruption of the Zelaya administration. Pro-government protesters also carried signs directed at President Obama saying, “Obama, help us to defend our democracy, constitution and freedom. Do not support the following Chavez.” The protests fell on deaf ears in Washington.
Day six: The OAS tries diplomacy
On Friday, July 3, Miguel Insulza, the president of the OAS, traveled to Honduras in a desperate attempt to try to solve the situation through diplomacy. However, 15 representatives of the Supreme Court told him Zelaya’s ousting was “irreversible.”
Day seven: U.S. helps kick Honduras out of OAS
On July 4, America’s Independence Day, the U.S. joined other OAS member-states in unanimously deciding to suspend the right of Honduras to participate in the OAS for ousting Zelaya. In a press release the State Department said their goal remained to include the restoration of the democratic order in Honduras.
Day eight: Chaos!
Pro-Zelaya protesters marched to the national airport before his announced return to Honduras. But the pro-government military refused to allow Zelaya to land at the main Honduras airport. Zelaya instead landed in Nicaragua on his way to El Salvador, and vowed to try again Monday or Tuesday. At the airport the Leftist Zelaya supporters clashed with police. There were reports that two people were killed. And the mainstream media posted bloody and staged photos from the airport. Blogger Hunter Smith confirmed that the photos were staged.
The Salesian Catholic Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez of Honduras also spoke out on the political situation. He told the exiled President Manuel Zelaya to stay away.
In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez praised Barack Obama for his stand in support of the ousted Leftist leader Zelaya.
Day nine: Foreign thugs at pro-Zelaya rally
The Honduran government announced that the military did not shoot the protester at the pro-Zelaya rally on Sunday. This was not reported by the American media. Minister of Defense Adolfo Lionel Sevilla said that the bullet that killed a young man at the demonstration Sunday in the Toncontín airport did not come from a military weapon. The direction the young man died did not coincide with the trajectory of the direction of the bullet from the armed forces. This was also ignored by the Western press.
The Honduran government also said they had identified Venezuelan, Cuban, and Nicaraguan protesters at the pro-Zelaya rallies.
Day ten: Obama offers stumbling explanation
In Russia, Barack Obama attempted to explain why he was backing the ousted thug in Honduras during his speech to Russian students. Obama forgot to mention that the Honduran congress removed the country’s president because he was attempting to illegally extend his tenure in office — attempting a bloodless coup — in usurpation of that country’s constitution.
John McCain countered Obama on Honduras saying that President Manuel Zelaya clearly “was in violation of his country’s constitution.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Manuel Zelaya in a private meeting in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, in Honduras interim leader Roberto Micheletti told reporters, “We are open to dialogue. We want to be heard.” The two factions agreed to hold talks in Costa Rica after pressure from the Obama administration. It looks like the pro-Chavez Zelaya’s calls to the White House paid off. The Obama administration continued to threaten the Micheletti government with sanctions.
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