Honduras Congress will NOT reinstate Zelaya

FAUSTA'S BLOG, 12/3/2009 - 111 out of the 128 members of the Honduran Congress present voted against reinstating deposed president Mel Zelaya. The vote came after an all-day session where the Congress reviewed several reports from the country’s institutions, including the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, and various members of the political parties, including pro-Zelaya.

Following the vote, the Congress issued an official statement. Read it here (translated by La Gringa)...

Recalling that Obama first took Zelaya's side...
Honduran Parliament to Obama: Pound sand
HOT AIR, 12/3/2009 by Ed Morrissey - The vote is a slap in the face to the Obama administration, which has insisted that the parliament conducted a coup by removing Zelaya from office. After getting slapped by Congress and its Law Library for misstating the facts of Zelaya’s removal, the State Department reluctantly agreed to recognize the regularly-scheduled Honduran presidential election and let Honduras’ parliament determine Zelaya’s status. The White House publicly expected Honduras to restore Zelaya in some capacity for a short transition period.

However, as statements by MPs on the floor show, Obama and his team miscalculated the depth of the insult felt by Hondurans over the US intervention:

Politician after politician insisted that they were right the first time when they voted to oust Mr Zelaya for ignoring a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum on changing the constitution.
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“My vote is [a lesson] for anyone who pretends to perpetuate himself in power. My vote is so that my son can look at me and say ‘Dad, you defended democracy,” said Antonio Rivera of Mr Lobo’s conservative National Party.

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Honduras Congress will NOT reinstate Zelaya

FAUSTA'S BLOG, 12/3/2009 - 111 out of the 128 members of the Honduran Congress present voted against reinstating deposed president Mel Zelaya. The vote came after an all-day session where the Congress reviewed several reports from the country’s institutions, including the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, and various members of the political parties, including pro-Zelaya.

Following the vote, the Congress issued an official statement. Read it here (translated by La Gringa)...

Honduran Parliament to Obama: Pound sand
HOT AIR, 12/3/2009 by Ed Morrissey - The vote is a slap in the face to the Obama administration, which has insisted that the parliament conducted a coup by removing Zelaya from office. After getting slapped by Congress and its Law Library for misstating the facts of Zelaya’s removal, the State Department reluctantly agreed to recognize the regularly-scheduled Honduran presidential election and let Honduras’ parliament determine Zelaya’s status. The White House publicly expected Honduras to restore Zelaya in some capacity for a short transition period.

However, as statements by MPs on the floor show, Obama and his team miscalculated the depth of the insult felt by Hondurans over the US intervention:

Politician after politician insisted that they were right the first time when they voted to oust Mr Zelaya for ignoring a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum on changing the constitution.
---
“My vote is [a lesson] for anyone who pretends to perpetuate himself in power. My vote is so that my son can look at me and say ‘Dad, you defended democracy,” said Antonio Rivera of Mr Lobo’s conservative National Party. [Emphasis added]

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Jim DeMint: What I Heard in Honduras

WALL STREET JOURNAL/OPINION, 10/10/2009 by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) - Our ambassador is the only person I met there who thinks there was a 'coup.' Let's release the State Department legal analysis. ∴ In the last three months, much has been made of a supposed military "coup" that whisked former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya from power and the supposed chaos it has created. ∴ After visiting Tegucigalpa last week and meeting with a cross section of leaders from Honduras's government, business community, and civil society, I can report there is no chaos there. There is, however, chaos to spare in the Obama administration's policy toward our poor and loyal allies in Honduras. Read more at WSJ...

Mr. DeMint, a Republican senator from South Carolina, is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Read More......

Is Obama's Handling of Honduras a View of Our Future?

AMERICAN THINKER, 10/5/2009 by Robert A. Bonelli - The United States is different from most other countries in many ways. One unique aspect of our country is that our elected officials, officers of the court, and the military, all pledge their allegiance to the Constitution and not to an office, individual or party. This assures continuity of the ideals set forth by the founders. ∴ The Supreme Court of Honduras in conjunction with their Congress and military reacted to defend the Honduran Constitution earlier this year, when President Manual Zelaya introduced a referendum to change the Constitution to permit him to run for another term outside of the term limits specified in their Constitution. Aside from his action being extremely unpopular, their Supreme Court ruled his move illegal and thus took action to defend their Constitution and, with the approval of their Congress, had their military remove him from office. ∴ The entire world condemned the Honduran leaders' corrective measure. It was not surprising to see countries not used to defending a written set of ideals react negatively to the Honduran action, but it is shocking to see the President of the United States and his administration join with these other nations in condemning the Honduran defense of their Constitution. ∴ The Obama administration went further and cutoff aid to this brave nation that did nothing more than take a stand that their government is subject to their people and not the other way around. Our history, our culture, our DNA clearly should have every American confused and frightened. Read more at American Thinker... Read More......

U.S. moves toward formal cut off of aid to Honduras

REUTERS, 8/27/2009 - WASHINGTON: U.S. State Department staff have recommended that the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya be declared a "military coup," a U.S. official said on Thursday, a step that could cut off as much as $150 million in U.S. funding to the impoverished Central American nation.

The official, who spoke on condition he not be named, said State Department staff had made such a recommendation to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has yet to make a decision on the matter although one was likely soon. Read more at reuters... Read More......

U.S. Cancels Visas of Four Honduran Officials

WASHINGTON POST, 7/29/2009 by Mary Beth Sheridan - The U.S. government revoked the visas of four members of Honduras's de facto government Tuesday, escalating the pressure on officials there to reinstate the president, who was kicked out of the country a month ago. Read more at Washington Post...

Added: PAJAMAS TV - Jennifer Rubin Reports: Sen Cornyn & Rep Rohrabacher, Are We Undermining The Honduran Constitution? (6:06) Read More......

Honduran talks snag on proposal for unity govt

BREITBART NEWS, 7/18/2009 by Marianela Jimenez - SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP): Honduras' interim government rejected a mediator's proposal to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya and form a national unity government, throwing negotiations on settling the political crisis into doubt Saturday night. ∴ Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who is mediating the U.S.-backed talks, said both sides agreed to hold more talks Sunday, but he acknowleged they were far apart over how to end the dispute over a June 28 coup that toppled Zelaya and send him int exile. ∴ "We have to make an effort to bring the positions closer," Arias, who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending Central America's civil wars, said at the end of Saturday's round of talks. Read more at Breitbart... Read More......

WSJ: Honduras at the Tipping Point

O'Grady, 7/6/2009: Why is the U.S. not supporting the rule of law?
∴ Mr. Chávez is demanding that Mr. Zelaya be reinstated and is even threatening to overthrow the new Honduran president, Roberto Micheletti. He's leading the charge from the Organization of American States (OAS). The United Nations and the Obama administration are falling in line.

Is this insane? You bet. We have fallen through the looking glass and it's time to review how hemispheric relations came to such a sad state. Read it all at WSJ's Opinion Journal...

Related
(Hat tip: Jack) A letter from Florida Congresswoman, Ileana Ros, to President Obama regarding the events taking place in Honduras (PDF) Read More......

A 'coup' in Honduras? Nonsense.

ALG Liberty Alert (via email/hat tip: Linda Weimer), 7/2/2009 By Octavio Sánchez - TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS: Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and much of the media have condemned the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this past weekend as a coup d'état. That is nonsense. In fact, 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. After more than a dozen previous constitutions, the current Constitution, at 27 years old, has endured the longest.
It has endured because it responds and adapts to changing political conditions: Of its original 379 articles, seven have been completely or partially repealed, 18 have been interpreted, and 121 have been reformed.

It also includes seven articles that cannot be repealed or amended because they address issues that are critical for us. Those unchangeable articles include the form of government; the extent of our borders; the number of years of the presidential term; two prohibitions – one with respect to reelection of presidents, the other concerning eligibility for the presidency; and one article that penalizes the abrogation of the Constitution.

During these 27 years, Honduras has dealt with its problems within the rule of law. Every successful democratic country has lived through similar periods of trial and error until they were able to forge legal frameworks that adapt to their reality. France crafted more than a dozen constitutions between 1789 and the adoption of the current one in 1958. The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since 1789. And the British – pragmatic as they are – in 900 years have made so many changes that they have never bothered to compile their Constitution into a single body of law.

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 [emphasis added], 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."

Notice that the article speaks about intent and that it also says "immediately" – as in "instant," as in "no trial required," as in "no impeachment needed."

Continuismo – the tendency of heads of state to extend their rule indefinitely – has been the lifeblood of Latin America's authoritarian tradition. The Constitution's provision of instant sanction might sound draconian, but every Latin American democrat knows how much of a threat to our fragile democracies continuismo presents. In Latin America, chiefs of state have often been above the law. The instant sanction of the supreme law has successfully prevented the possibility of a new Honduran continuismo.

The Supreme Court and the attorney general ordered Zelaya's arrest for disobeying several court orders compelling him to obey the Constitution. He was detained and taken to Costa Rica. Why? Congress needed time to convene and remove him from office. With him inside the country that would have been impossible. This decision was taken by the 123 (of the 128) members of Congress present that day.

Don't believe the coup myth. The Honduran military acted entirely within the bounds of the Constitution. The military gained nothing but the respect of the nation by its actions.

I am extremely proud of my compatriots. Finally, we have decided to stand up and become a country of laws, not men. From now on, here in Honduras, no one will be above the law.

Octavio Sánchez, a lawyer, is a former presidential adviser (2002-05) and minister of culture (2005-06) of the Republic of Honduras.

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Americans for Limited Government is a non- partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms,private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org. Read More......

U.S./U.N. Plot Against Anti-Communist Honduras

AIM, 7/1/2009 by Cliff Kindaid - The people of Honduras are pleading for media fairness and understanding of how they saved their democratic system of government from an international conspiracy based in Venezuela and Cuba. In desperate messages to the outside world, Hondurans want America to know they do not want former President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya returned to power through the intervention of the United States and the United Nations. ∴ On Tuesday the leftist governments of Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez sponsored a United Nations resolution that condemned the people of Honduras for resisting the spread of communism by evicting a would-be dictator. Many people in Honduras view "Mel" as a puppet of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who is destroying the democratic system and the opposition in that country. Read more at Accuracy in Media...

Related...
Reuters: Honduras rulers reject world pressure to reverse coup
Get Liberty: A Great Day in Honduras Read More......

In Honduras, Freedom Restored - For Now

UPDATE: BREITBART, 6/30/2009 - WASHINGTON (AP)—The White House says it sees no acceptable solution to the ouster of the president of Honduras other than returning him to power. ∴ White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that State Department officials have been in touch with ousted President Manuel Zelaya, and the White House is continuing to work on the situation. ∴ Gibbs says that if Zelaya does come to Washington, he'll most likely meet with officials at the State Department. ∴ The White House spokesman says there are no plans to recall the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, because having a representative there is important.

AMERICANS FOR LIMITED GOVERNMENT (ALG) NEWS BUREAU, 6/29/2009 by Robert Romano, Senior Editor (Hat tip: Linda Weimer and Lee McLaughlin) - The story out of Honduras is that the people of that stalwart little country have now taken it into their own hands to preserve their democracy in the most courageous action since they established their constitutional republic nearly three decades ago. Just as former Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales prepared to seize full power in direct violation of the nation’s Constitution, the military leadership – with the backing of the people – removed him from power. ∴ Unfortunately, Barak Obama, after encouraging the Zelaya coup with his complicit silence, has now condemned the people’s move to uphold their Constitution and preserve their freedom. And, as expected, the mainstream media has joined Mr. Obama in censuring the restoration of democracy by censoring the full story. Yet, what actually occurred in Honduras is a case study in the survival of freedom against the most oppressive odds.

Earlier this year, in the face of strong public opposition, Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales declared that he would stage a referendum to have the country’s constitutional term limits law overturned, thereby allowing him to remain indefinitely in power. The people of Honduras had adopted the single, four-year--term limit as part of their Constitution in January of 1982. Significantly, the term limits provision is one of only eight “firm articles,” out of 375. By law, cannot be amended.

The Supreme Court of Honduras declared the Zelaya referendum unconstitutional, his own Liberal Party came out in strong opposition, and the public overwhelmingly opposed his power grab. Despite this, Zelaya, a leftwing politician with strong ties to Cuba’s Castro and Venezuela’s Chavez, scheduled the referendum for Sunday, June 28. At midnight, Wednesday, June 24, the strong-arm president gave a televised speech accusing his opposition of promoting “destabilization and chaos” by attempting to thwart his unconstitutional referendum.

As the situation in Honduras continued to deteriorate, the Zelaya’s attorney general called for his ouster; his Defense Minister resigned; he fired the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for stating that he would refuse to send out troops to put down public protests; the chiefs of the army, navy, and air force resigned; and the country’s Supreme Court ordered the nation’s army and police not to support the unconstitutional referendum.

Through all of this, Barack Obama abetted the Zelaya power grab through his calculated silence. Yet, the brave people of Honduras – enduring almost unfathomable duress – stood firm in support of their Constitution and the term limits embodied in it. Now that the will of the people has triumphed over tragedy, we believe the time has come for Mr. Obama to concede the defeat of his partner and policy, and for the U.S. media to support those who, putting principle above personal safety, have let freedom ring. We applaud the Freedom Fighters of neighboring Honduras.

xxx

Dear Friend of Liberty,

As you may just becoming aware, after attempting to dismantle the Honduran Constitution, President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales has been ousted by the Republic of Honduras' Supreme Court and Congress.

Even if Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton do not respect the independence of Honduras, we here at Americans for Limited Government applaud the ouster of any president of any nation who would so brazenly violate the principles of constitutional limited government.

Please contact your Senators and Congressmen now and urge them to make statements in support of Honduran freedom and independence. The Capitol switchboard number 202-224-3121. They need to act now to show American solidarity with the people of Honduras.

Sincerely,

Robert Romano
Senior Editor
ALG News Bureau

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Linda Weimer wrote,
The article below [above] should be an encouragement to each one of us. We can do this, too!!! The news regarding Cap & Tax is sounding a hair better, and is sounding as if it might face tougher opposition in the senate. We must keep the pressure on, keep bombarding their offices with calls and emails. We just can't let up. They need to know we will do all in our power to replace them. We must follow Jeff Kropf's lead with our state legislature as well, and keep the pressure on them, with all these tax bills they have in mind for us. We are making a difference! Have a blessed week, and keep fiercely fighting. Linda

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Oregon's U.S. Congressmen

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