Honduras: Reclaiming the American Sphere of Influence

Mark of New Jersey

Mark is a Founding Editor of The League of Ordinary Gentlemen, the predecessor of Ordinary Times.

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6 Responses

  1. Chris Dierkes says:

    excellent piece man.Report

  2. North says:

    Great piece Mark. I’d like to add that I think the Obama Administration threaded this needle relatively well and that Hillary in particular seems to have done some good yeoman(woman?) work on this affair.Report

  3. Old Gregg says:

    Can you defend, or point me to a defense of the idea that military had legitimate constitutional concerns? That’s not my understanding of things, but maybe you know something I don’t.Report

    • The military was acting at the behest of the Honduran Supreme Court (and to a large extent the legislature as well), after Zelaya had repeatedly refused to obey the court’s orders that he not proceed with a blatantly unconstitutional referendum so long as he was President (overturning term limits). Under the Honduran Constitution:
      “Article 239 — No citizen that 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.”

      My emphasis. Under the Honduran Constitution, Zelaya’s actions immediately rendered him no longer the President. Whether this is a wise Constitutional provision, whether it was appropriate for the military to be the body that removed him and whether it was appropriate to send him into exile are entirely different issues, but the letter of the Honduran Constitution is quite clear. This was not a case where a President was just arbitrarily removed without any legal authority; indeed, if the rule of law was to have any meaning, he likely had to be removed.Report