Constitutional Crisis in Honduras

The recently kicked out President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya is trying to return to power in Honduras with the help of the international community, the U.N, and the O.A.S.

Zelaya was kicked out by the military over a week ago and power was transferred to the Roberto Michletti, who was the President of the Congress. Because there was no Vice-President, the next in line for the Presidency goes to the President of Congress much like the Presidency would go to the Speaker of the House in the U.S in the absence of the Vice-President. It is also important to note that Michletti is a part of the same political party as Zelaya.

I hesitate to call the situation a coup d'état because the removal of the President was supported by both the Congress and Supreme Court of Honduras. Also, Zelaya was repeatedly ignoring orders from the Supreme Court declaring the vote on a referendum that he wanted "illegal." When the military refused to obey the orders of the President, he fired the head of the military. The Supreme Court reinstated the head of the military and then decided to kick out the President on the day that a vote was to take place.

The international community quickly condemned the "coup" and demanded that a President that has lost the legitimacy of Congress, The Supreme Court, and the military be returned to power. This President was kicked out by the government 6 months before his term was to expire. The government must have seen him as an extreme threat to Democracy considering that every President has one term in office only and that this rule is one of the hardest parts of the Constitution to change.

The new President, Michletti has stated that he will only be President until a new one is sworn in which would be decided by a Presidential Election scheduled in November. The new government is not without fault as it has made some mistakes on its own and has suspended some constitutional guarantees through a curfew. The curfew is supposedly temporary, and the constitutional guarantees suspended are only done during the hours of the curfew, but it is a little unsettling for a democracy to claim to be on the side of the Constitution while also suspending constitutional guarantees. The new government has also shut down some Pro-Zelaya media stations.

If the new government does not follow the Constitution, they could lose legitimacy in the eyes of the people of Honduras and may lose power themselves. A similar situation happened in Venezuela in 2002 when Hugo Chavez was temporarily kicked out by a coup in Venezuela. The new government changed so many rules, so quickly, that the military changed it's mind and brought Chavez back to power. The new Honduran government would be smart to learn from the mistakes of others.

Zelaya now is increasing the tension within the country trying to fly back into the country. Hugo Chavez has been nice enough to let him borrow one of his planes so he can fly around the world gaining support from the international community and try to re-enter the country of Honduras. The new government has issued arrest warrants for Zelaya and has stated that they will arrest him if he tries to enter the country. The new government has decided that they would rather he stay outside and has refused to let him enter the country.

Here is CNN video of Zelaya trying to return yesterday.



The interim government has now lasted for over a week. Which speaks to the legitimacy of the the new government. I don't see how Zelaya can come back into the country and restore order. He would be the lamest of all lame duck Presidents and I fear that Zelaya being reinstated would only lead to more bloodshed and an even deeper crisis in the Government of Honduras.

I'm glad that the methods Chavez used to gain more and more power in Venezuela have not worked in Honduras.