Comments on: BREAKING NEWS: Honduran President Ousted in Military Coup

By: Joe Estep

Joe Estep — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:13:04 +0000

Never let morality keep you from doing what is right!
The Hondurans did the right thing. Any friend of the trio Hugo, Ebo, And Raul is no friend of liberty or freedom.
The world needs to just stay out of it.
Threats from Hugo and Noriega should be met with force if necessary. The OAS and the UN and any coutry that tries to help Zalaya should be ashamed.

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By: Julie Schwietert

Julie Schwietert — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:39:05 +0000

@Ernesto: Excellent analysis– reflects my own position.

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By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:16:49 +0000

My mom who is from Honduras is glad they kicked him out. I also lived there for a few years as a kid, and I’m glad they kicked his ass out, too. He’s a total jackass and would have found some way to circumvent the constitution and anything else stopping him from his power grab. Good riddance.

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By: Ernesto

Ernesto — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:10:53 +0000

If the removal process is supported by the constitution, then there was no need for the drama of a middle-of-the-night kidnapping.

If this was a legal process, then why not bring the president into Congress or the Supreme Court, read the charges, arrest him, impeach him?

If the Honduran people were so upset with the president, then the Sunday poll would’ve shown this. If, as some claim, the entire political establishment was against Zelaya and his support was dwindling, an impeachment was imminent.

Honduras should’ve allowed the poll, handed the president a huge defeat, impeached him, and given democracy a huge win. (Hey, many Americans did not like Bush, but they waited until election time to change the government. That’s the way a democracy works.) And, note, Zelaya’s term would have ended om January of 2010.

But that’s not what happened. The elite were afraid of the possibilities. Afraid of Chavez, mostly. So they took drastic, preventive action. And now they are the pariah of a continent. Deservedly so.

I never thought I’d see the day where so many leaders would all agree on something (even if there is hypocrisy in some of their words). This is an opportunity to put an end to military coups in Latin America. All extremism is wrong, whether it comes from the right or the left. So let the shunning begin and send a message that coups are a thing of the past and are unacceptable.

It’s not WHAT Honduras did but HOW they did it.

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By: Jacob Bielanski

Jacob Bielanski — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:51:25 +0000

Reuters carried the story with all the condemnations from the international governments (at least, they alluded to it)

Of course coups should always be condemned–most ironically by the U.S. (C’mon, guys, don’t overthrow your government…you know, the same thing we trained you to do in Nicaragua). But here’s my question: why, when the “people” are suffering high unemployment and severe poverty, is it so important to extend his term?

Wouldn’t that be like giving Bush another shot, because the economy was failing? 51% of the U.S. might say “FOUR MORE YEARS!”, but term limits are like tilling the soil…it keeps things fresh and allows a new crop to grow.

I love how leaders, like Zelaya, always like to circumvent constitutions by claiming the will of the “People”. Bush did it. Chavez did/does it. Probably every other unpopular, power-hungry leader has done it too. I don’t care if the guy is socialist, but he’s trying to circumvent the constitution for his own gains; I find that to be just as dangerous to democracy as a bloodless coup.

Coups are wrong, but Zelaya sure as hell doesn’t seem to be right.

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By: eileen

eileen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:29:43 +0000

Really? The leader of the OAS, Insulza condemned it, I’m surprised that the NYT didn’t pick it up. El Mercurio, my local (somewhat right-leaning) paper in Santiago reports “Insulza condenó hoy “severamente” el golpe militar y pidió la colaboración del mundo contra esta crisis política.” Insulza severely condemns the coup and requested world support against this political crisis.

The same article has Chavez blaming the United States and Obama for having “something to do” with the overthrow.

Thanks for this timely piece!

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By: Julie Schwietert

Julie Schwietert — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:34:27 +0000

Hal–

Interesting, right? Good thing Ryan’s fluent in Spanish!
Seriously, I think that the Times’ coverage of Latin America is, in general, more toward the right, which makes for a compelling comparative analysis of the news.

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By: Hal

Hal — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:27:38 +0000

This is SO different from what’s running in the New York Times right now. There’s no mention there of the condemnation coming from the world’s governments. Instead, they choose to emphasize Zelaya’s relationship with Chavez.

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