WHY THE COUP IN HONDURAS MATTERS
The significance of the coup in Honduras clearly has still not been appreciated by the mainstream media, who are giving it scant, and often inaccurate, coverage. The danger is that if successful the coup will provide a new model for rolling back the gains that the left, democratic and progressive movements have made in recent years in South and Central America. Not so many years ago the majority of Latin American countries had repressive military dictatorships, now the majority have democratic and popular governments - there must be no turning the clock back
The military regime has falsely claimed that they acted to defend the constitution because the elected President Manual Zelaya was trying to illegally to extend his term in office. The argument has been taken up sometimes naively, sometimes enthusiastically by the international media, for example Octavio Sánchez, writing in the Christian Science Monitor (a more respected mainstream newspaper than its name suggests):
What happened here is nothing short of the triumph of the rule of law.
To understand recent events, you have to know a bit about Honduras’s constitutional history. In 1982, my country adopted a new Constitution that enabled our orderly return to democracy after years of military rule. … …. Under our Constitution, what happened in Honduras this past Sunday?Soldiers arrested and sent out of the country a Honduran citizen who, the day before, through his own actions had stripped himself of the presidency.
These are the facts: On June 26, President Zelaya issued a decree ordering all government employees to take part in the “Public Opinion Poll to convene a National Constitutional Assembly.” In doing so, Zelaya triggered a constitutional provision that automatically removed him from office.
Constitutional assemblies are convened to write new constitutions. When Zelaya published that decree to initiate an “opinion poll” about the possibility of convening a national assembly, he contravened the unchangeable articles of the Constitution that deal with the prohibition of reelecting a president and of extending his term. His actions showed intent.
Our Constitution takes such intent seriously. According to Article 239: “No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years.”
This is a disingenuous and immoral argument.
Firstly, the 1982 constitution was imposed by an outgoing military Junta, and as such does not derive its authority from the Honduran people themselves; and in a democracy it is entirely legitimate for a political debate to take place about whether or not the constitution should be changed in the future. The Coup leaders are trying to conflate a suggestion for convening a consultative body to discuss future changes to the constitution with an entirely spurious claim on their part that the sitting President was trying to extend his term of office.
The poll which Zelaya planned to hold on 28th June was a consultative public vote on whether, on the day of the next presidential election (which was set for 29th November 2009) there should be a referendum on whether a constituent assembly should be convened. The referendum itself would also be non-Binding, and merely act as a persuasive recommendation to Congress (where there is not even a majority if favour of such a reform). All Zelaya was seeking to do was give the people a voice, rather than letting the constitution be the tool only of the oligarchy and the military.
Zelaya was acting entirely constitutionally because Public officials are specifically allowed to hold public consultations under the Citizens Participation Act 2006.
What is more, Article 239 covers the situation of a Head of State proposing specific changes to the constitution to allow them to extend their own period of office. Zelaya did not contravene this for two reason; i) he was not, and is not, a candidate for the 28th November Presidential election, and by definition calling for a referendum on the same day as that election could not possible extend his office, as another president would be simultaneously elected; and ii) calling for there to be a non-binding referendum on whether or not to recommend a constituent assembly to Congress is not in itself advocacy of any specific constitutional change; and is certainly not an actual attempt to change the constitution.
The coup leaders possibly sought five outcomes: i) to remove from office a reforming president who had started to redress the inequality in Honduran society, and who had boosted the dignity and self-respect of working people; ii) to demoralize and derail the democratic popular movement; iii) to isolate Honduras from the influence of the Bolivarian revolution and other reforming left and centre-left governments in the region; iv) to establish definitively that sovereignty of the Honduran state lay with the Military and not with the people; v) to start to roll back the tide of progressive change in Latin America – there is a tangible sense of solidarity and common interest of the Oligarchs and military leaders across Latin America, this is both a natural indigenous development, and also consciously promoted and developed by the USA through the School of the Americas and other institutional links.
Over the last three months, the people of Honduras have shown extraordinary courage and determination not to accept these outcomes: they have defied the police and army, they have broken curfews, they have thrown up anti-coup committees in every corner of the country, they have sought solidarity with democrats and social movements around the globe; and they have time and time again challenged the lies of the Coup leaders.
If the coup succeeds, then a precedent and a template for future coups to overthrow other democratic governments will have been established – (in the same way that the “Colour revolutions” have been orchestrated to overthrow governments outwith the Washington consensus).
That is why the international left needs to take every opportunity to publicise what is happening in Honduras; and to encourage the international isolation of the coup.
Lest we forget the US backed coup in Haiti in 2004 and the attempted coup backed by the US in Venezuela in 2002 and the ongoing US backed destabilisation programmes ongoing in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia,Ecuador, Nicaragua and Paraguay to name but a few.Not to mention the long and bloody US backed imperialist war in Colombia and the increasingly repressive neo liberal regimes in Peru and Mexico backed of course by the US.
Mercedes Sosa died yesterday and her funeral is ongoing today,the great Argentine singer, who gave hope to millions throughout Latin America and beyond suffering and in struggle against the brutal and bloody US backed dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia and many other places besides throughout the 70’s and 80’s.Her memory will live on just as her music and the struggle against the US imperialist backed militaries and oligarchies will always live on.
Comment by Fleabite — 5 October, 2009 @ 9:51 am
Also, though, the coup matters because
(i) it is part of a growing militarisation of the region - more US bases in Colombia, the far-right arming themselves in Bolivia (and attempting to bring down the government last September).
(ii) The level of popular resistance and the dynamic between Zelaya and the people fighting the coup. In general the mass movement has been very strong - resisting a military coup for over three months is no small matter - but Zelaya’s tactics are much more conservative. If he agrees to elections, effectively the coup will have been a success, because they will take place in a situation where the army have been in the streets for weeks and the media silenced in order to intimidate the population.
There is an analysis by an activist in Tegucigalpa translated into English here - http://thecommune.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/latin-americas-future-is-being-played-out-in-honduras/
Comment by David — 5 October, 2009 @ 10:27 am
David
I have no doubt that you mean well, but your analysis is way off base, and frankly unhelpful to the resistance struggle.
You accuse Zelaya of “conservative tactics”. The US State Department on the other hand have accused him of being “provokative”.
Zelaya said in an interview before the coup:
“I thought I could make changes within a neoliberal framework. But the rich would not concede a penny. They wanted everything for themselves. So, logically, to make changes it was necessary to rely on the people”
It was precisely because “RELYING ON THE PEOPLE” is EXACTLY what he then went on to do that caused the oligarchy to launch the coup. What provoked them was not the prospect of Zelaya seeing out his last remaining months in office, but the planned consultative referendum on convening a constituent assembly.
The constituent assembly, had it been convened, would have redrafted the constitution, decisively shifting power from the oligarchy to the people.
Zelaya refused to back down, so the army stopped the referendum by staging a coup on the morning of the vote.
During his three months in exile, this “conservative” Zelaya allied himself with Venezuela, Cuba and the LatAm left, and made three attempts to re-enter the border, at great personal risk.
The first attempt involved trying to land by plane under threat of being shot down.
The second attempt was to cross from the Nicaraguan border on foot. I was with the president’s family on the Honduras side of the border, and they showed great personal courage in confronting the armed soldiers, police, snipers and hooded gunmen of the coup regime. At military checkpoint after military checkpoint, the first lady and her family simply challenged the army to open fire as we defied them went through. There were moments when I thought I may not live to tell the story.
The third and successful attempt to return involved Zelaya trevelling secretly to the capital on foot, car and tractor.
This is hardly evidence of a president with a “conservative” mindset!
Inside the country, his family (with his support) have been at the forefront of the resistance - on the streets with the people, risking their lives every day.
In fact this morning I received a message from the president’s daughter ‘Pichu’ saying that she had just visited her father at the Brazilian embassy. The atmosphere inside the embassy is very optimistic, and Zelya specifically spoke about how the Resistance has made them strong.
Further, Zelaya has stated that the pre-condition for negotiations with the regime is an end to the blockade aoround the embassy, the restoration of civil liberties, and the reconnection of Radio Globo and Channel 36.
The analysis of the Honduran struggle contained in the report you linked to is a particularly awful example of ultra-left posturing, which departs so far from reality that even the role played by Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales is denounced as “disgraceful”!
Comment by Calvin — 5 October, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
Let the people of Honduras resolve what belongs to be resolved by Hondurans. Zelaya is another puppet of Hugo Chavez he hides behind a double face. Is not the people that support Zelaya the most, is the people that DONT WANT HIM BACK.
Comment by Constant Gina — 5 October, 2009 @ 1:34 pm
…which is of course why the army staged a coup to stop the Honduran people being consulted about their own consitution.
The only thing contant about Constant Gina and the other little fascistas is their constant lies.
Comment by Calvin — 5 October, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
Yep, ultra-left posturing from the safety of imperialist countries is endemic. Funny sort of “conservative” who goes back to a country which is dangerous for him.
Comment by Mark Victorystooge — 5 October, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
The coup leaders have offered to open negotiations with Zelya.
Zelaya’s pre-conditions are:
1. A restoration of civil rights, including the right to organise and demonstrate.
2. The restoration of Radio Globo and TV channel 36, and all other idependent media.
3. An end to the military seige of the Brazilian embassy.
I’ve just heard moments ago via the president’s daughter on a facebook message, that Zelaya’s negotiation team is to include not only his ministers, but also representatives from the National Resistance Front. The Resistance will choose its own representatives.
This is clearly an important development and reflects the healthy dynamic between the street and the president and his government. And it’s hardly a “conservative” tactic for an elected president to give seats at the table to the popular movement. Pretty extraordinary, I’d say.
Comment by Calvin — 5 October, 2009 @ 6:56 pm
One minute mobile phone video of President Zelaya and his supporters making their own entertainment at the Brazilian embassy. Check out the musical instruments!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftMyAOEaE0w&feature=player_embedded
Comment by Calvin — 5 October, 2009 @ 7:11 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1tnw_Js8cI&feature=player_embedded
Brilliant Al Jazeera report on the resistance activists imprisoned in maximum security jails.
Comment by Calvin — 6 October, 2009 @ 1:04 am
#9
I already spotted that one, I have it scheduled for publication here 9:00 am tomorrow morning.
Comment by Andy Newman — 6 October, 2009 @ 1:06 am
Nice. Things are moving fast now. Decree suspending constitution lifted this afternoon (Honduras time), and coup leader Micheletti now talking about Zelaya retaking office (but not power).
Comment by Calvin — 6 October, 2009 @ 1:15 am