Comments on: Obama Should Support Honduras Coup
John R. Thomson: What Happened Was Not A Standard Coup, And Zelaya's Return To Power Would Only Be A Victory For Chavez
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- Mr. Thomson is absolutely right. If Mr. Zelaya returns to power in Honduras, you can be 100% sure that he will follow every step indicated by Mr. Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan tyrant. Using fraud, deception, and brute force, Mr. Zelaya will impose his perpetual reelection upon the Honduran people, and he will become another dictator in Central America. Most politicians are talking now about the rights of Mr. Zelaya, however, what about the Honduran Constitution, that he was shamelessly violating. What Mr. Zelaya was doing in Honduras is a lot worse than what Mr. Nixon did during the Watergate affair.
If Mr. Obama helps Mr. Zelaya to return to power, then he will be giving the green light for another dictatorship in Latin America, and certainly, Mr. Obama will receive the blessings of Mr. Chavez and Mr. Correa, the two most dangerous presidents in South America. Both politicians have a sick hatred against the United States. Anyone can go to Youtube and hear several vulgar speeches given by Mr. Chavez just a year ago, in which he repeatedly screamed that American people are human excrement. In the same way, the president of Ecuador, Mr. Rafael Correa, also has a deep loathing of the American people, because his father spent 5 years in a U.S. prison for trafficking drugs.
We must be aware that not only the fate of the Honduran people is at stake here, but the freedom and the future of tens of millions of Latin Americans in several countries. And you can be sure that millions of American people, who have been seriously affected by the authoritarian measures already taken by the Latin Idi Amin of Mr. Chavez, will remember in the next U.S. elections. I will be one of them.
I was not a fan of former president Mr. Bush, but it seems that in this matter, Mr. Obama and Ms. Hillary Clinton need to learn from Mr. Bush. - Reply to this comment
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- Spoken like a true neo hypocrite.
Firstly, Mr. Chavez has done nothing to me or mine, neither has Me Zelaya, I have no problem with either.
On the other hand they must have killed someone you loved, or otherwise done something pretty bad to you personally, if not, then you are clearly brain damaged.
Second, fraud, deception, and brute force are tools used by every government that has ever existed, including and especially ours, you make no valid point there.
The rest of your first paragraph is moot hypocrisy.
Your fear of a "dictatorship" is really the fear of the rich finally being brought to heel under law, and you seem to ignore that the poor, who support and elected Zelaya are deserving of consideration.
Youtube speeches? We have on one hand a man referring not to all Americans, only to those who support meddling in his country POS-es (and he is right to do so), while in the US we have fake religious poseurs like Pat Robertson calling for Chavez to be murdered, but that is OK by you.
You say you have been "seriously affected", you must have owned oil stock in some nationalized oilfields, in which case you got what you deserved.
Going to vote neo in the upcoming election? Then we will all know that someone who goes by the name Ceres6 cast that single vote. So much for voter privacy.
Not a fan of Bush? Let's see, support of meddling in another country's affairs, support of abrogations of democratic principles when they conflict with your agenda, actually you might very well be Bush, lying to hide your identity.
- brianb: Read the whole article again... The interim president is from the same party as Zelaya. The Military? Zelaya tried to use them to impose his will on the Supreme Court and Congress... When the General refused the order to remove the ballots their Supreme Court had deemed illegal, he was fired. Humm, kind of reminds you of the Bush days, doesn't it? The difference? The Hondurans had the guts to stop it before someone got hurt.
- Without a doubt, brianbwb-2009, you speak like a full time moron. That Mr. Chavez and Mr, Zelaya have not done anything to a worthless idiot like you is not important. What is important is that Mr. Chavez has already slaved millions of people in Latin America, and the corrupt Zelaya was in the process of slaving the people of Honduras. I am not rich as you imply, but I care a lot about the Honduran and Latin American people. That Mr. Chavez and Mr. Zelaya have a deep hatred against the American people, and that they hope to help destroy the United States, without a doubt, insignificant to you.
Mr. brianbwb-2009, it is time you go need back to keep licking the boots of your boss, the tyrant Hugo Chavez.
- To Ceres6
I was out working, and just now have time to respond.
I am indeed worthless, as are you in the scheme of things, but the question remains unanswered what have they done to you that inspires you to support meddling in their affairs.
You say that you "care about the ..." well son, we've all heard that one, the neos always spout such as a prelude to causing their death and destruction, the old "save the village by destroying it" routine. It is obvious that the farmers, aboriginals, and other groups of the the marginalized poor, who overwhelmingly support Zelaya, and btw make up the vast majority of citizens there mean nothing to you.
It is their business alone to determine their affairs, if they don't like their position they will change it, and I still say it is their business and none of ours. The coup happened for one very good reason, those who carried it out, and those who back them knew that such a referendum would succeed, had they thought it would not, they would have let the politics take it's course.
Mr Chavez and his company have no need to "destroy America" as you put it, we have done that quite effectively ourselves, over the decades we have trodden on so many peoples around the world, that we have exhausted our own treasury and economy trying in vain to maintain hegemony. Our own house has been divided for so long that now it is reaching Lincoln's conclusion, it can no longer stand. It would be interesting to read your examples of what Chavez has done to "destroy America", I find it funny that the same neos who constantly spew rhetoric about the US being the "strongest country in the world" and such tripe, resort to panic over a small country on the other hemisphere, and what they do there.
And this one is extremely funny, you say "...but the freedom and the future of tens of millions of Latin Americans..." Just like in the US, the only ones truly free are the rich, and maintaining their positions and practices are not in the interest of the greater good.
But, contrary to your claim, the non rich people, who are the majority of the people there, are obviously of no consequence to you, only those who control the money.
If you call me worthless, its ok by me, at least I recognize this, and have no wish, as you so obviously do, to impose a hypocritical "American" agenda upon those who have been, and still are harmed by it, and wish to change their condition. It is their business, and their fight, not ours.
- To brianbwb-2009
In a good manner, one by one I will try to give an answer to the statements you make. Even though it is true that many Hondurans are poor, it is not right to say that the majority of Honduran people support Mr. Zelaya. There is a great difference between being poor, and being poor and slave. Are you aware, following Chavez techniques, what have happened in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua in the last 11 years?
Step #1: The president indicates that he wants to make a referendum to change the constitution.
Step #2: No matter what the results of the referendum, the president will say that he was given permission to change the constitution and to dissolve or transform Congress.
Step #3: The president removes from congress all the politicians from the opposition parties. From now on, everything the president proposes gets an automatic rubber stamp approval from Congress.
Step #4: Every 4 years, the president is automatically reelected. All the members in the Supreme Court are replaced by the president puppets. Every TV station, newspaper, or radio station that says something against the government, is attacked by a mob and later is fined and closed. All three branches of government are 100% controlled by the president.
No one has to be an Einstein to see that the Honduran people prevented the destruction of their constitution by Mr. Zelaya, and avoided becoming pawns of Mr. Chavez.
And you talk about corruption. There is corruption everywhere, not only in Latin America. Even in the United States there is a lot of corruption. Let me give you two examples: there are thousands of executives that were working for companies that were going bankrupt, however, each of them received millions of dollars in bonuses on top of their mega salaries. What about the corrupt people from Wall Street, that because of despicable greed, they dragged the economies of the entire planet to the ground because they wanted to make tons of money.
That?s why, It does not matter if you are Honduran or American, we cannot remain quiet if corruption affect our lives. I believe that Mr. Obama is doing something positive to help the U.S. economy, and to eliminate the corrupt practices mentioned above. However, I also believe that he is wrong not to support now the Honduran people, and permit that the tyrant Chavez gets away with the slavery of Hondura. When people lose all their freedoms, slavery is the right word to use. This is simply what he wants to do: he wants Honduran people to be his pawns, as he has already done in several Latin countries.
Although it is true that in the past, the U.S. government and multinational companies have taken advantage of most Latin countries, and they have greatly contributed to their poverty, that is not a reason not to do anything now. That?s why it is important to get involved. I am a US citizen, and I care a lot about what happen to Latin American people, and I will do my best to fight the evil and bloody practices of Hugo Chavez, and his puppet, Mr. Zelaya.
It is an irony that a few days ago, Mr. Obama, without hesitation, said to The Colombian President, Mr. Alvaro Uribe, that 8 years was enough to be president of his nation, because Mr. Uribe has been president for 7 years, and he may want to be reelected again. But what happened a few weeks ago. Mr. Obama had an encounter with Mr. Chavez. Although Mr. Chavez has been already president for 11 years, the only thing Mr. Obama told Chavez was to promise to the South American despot that he was not going to interfere in the Venezuelan affairs! Many people are feeling down and perplexed after witnessing the actions of Mr. Obama. At this pace, instead of being known as the Colossus of the North, the United States will gain the title of the Pussycat of the North.
You are wrong when you say that ?Mr. Chavez and his company have no need to destroy America.? Are you going to wait until all Latin American countries fall under Chavez, and become vicious enemies of the United States? Don?t you see the sick hatred of Hugo Chavez, Rafael Correa, Daniel Ortega, and Manuel Zelaya against the United States? If you cannot see that, then it is impossible for us to agree to almost anything. Maybe the only thing we will agree is that we care about our fellow Americans from different angles.
- brian, Hitler did nothing to the English while they were trying diplomacy...didn't mean he had no aspirations. You should try to be a bit less naive.
- Spoken like a true neo hypocrite.
- Yea, we're a terrible, terrible country. That's right. Why, we should be more like Iran and North Korea, and hey, how about Cuba.
So, just what country do you think is pure enough for you? I'd love to know.Do share. - Reply to this comment
- noloyalisti-name one part of the constitution Bush/Cheney shredded. Be factual now, if you can.
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- 1- Bushoccio used hundreds of signing statements diregarding laws passed by COngress.
2 - Bushoccio lied about intelligence he knew was false which goes against Presidential powers.
3 - Bushoccio tortured and rendered US citizens thus breaking treaties and conventions that were agreed to by the US, a breach of the constitution
4 - Cheney outed a CIA agent that was covertly working for nationa security. I believe treason is not allowed by our Constitution.
Should I go on?
- 1. signing statements are used by all presidents including Obama so far.
2. where the hell in the constitution do you read any of this one?
3. torture (if you call it such) was used against foreign combatants...not citizens.
4. There is no proof Cheney was involved, and there must be a trial to prove treason.
Try again you lefitst troll.
- 1- Bushoccio used hundreds of signing statements diregarding laws passed by COngress.
- Democratic elections??? HMM, really. Seems to me your messiah's buddy was nothing more than a dictator stomping all over their constitution. You know, like your messiah is doing.
As for military coup, any shots fired??
Sounds like the people of the country spoke. - Reply to this comment
- That said, your messiah should have kept his big, droning mouth SHUT!! PERIOD!!!!!
But NOOOOOOO, one of his would be dictator BFF's got his hind end handed to him so he had to open his mouth.Kinda like opening his mouth to Israel telling them not to build in settlements.
Now, his other BFF, chavez, is threatening to invade Honduras.
Yea, you elected quite the guy there. - Reply to this comment
- I guess you were pretty upset when the Bushoccio Cheney Crime Family was shredding the constitution on a daily basis.
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- Oh my God, a liberal and a socialist. You frightened little peanut brained conservatives. You wouldn't know freedom and democracy if it hit you on your little pointed heads.
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- The United Stated has supported enough right wing military dictators. And overthrown enough democratically elected presidents (like Haiti and Iran) throughout history. And had our CIA do mafia hits on enough presidents. What a sad, corrupt, criminal history of anti-democratic, anti-freedom campaigns by the US of A.
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- Yea, we're a terrible, terrible country. That's right. Why, we should be more like Iran and North Korea, and hey, how about Cuba.
So, just what country do you think is pure enough for you? I'd love to know.Do share.
- Yea, we're a terrible, terrible country. That's right. Why, we should be more like Iran and North Korea, and hey, how about Cuba.
- Mr. President Micheletti, here's a message from real Americans since our liberal socialist president will not...congratulations to you, your citizens and your Supreme Court for successfully overthrowing a leftist liberal socialist thug. Your constitutional succession to hold on to democracy and prevent the spread of dictatorship is to be commended. We envy you as we too are heading towards being one of the poorest countries due to a single party congress and presidential dictatorship. Apparently due to the lack of education on history, free entitlements, handouts, spreading of the wealth the majority of our citizens here have been brainwashed into surrendering their democracy and constitution. I can only hope they will wake up before it's too late. Any ideas?
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- Name one part of this that makes it a military coup. Zelaya was told by Congress and his Attorney General that what he was doing was illegal. A hearing by the Supreme Court ruled it to be illegal and unconstitutional. He ordered the general in charge of Honduras' armed forces to distribute the ballots, and when that general refused to obey an illegal order confirmed by the Judicial and Legislative branches, Zelaya fired him and siezed the ballots from an Air Force base. The Supreme Court reinstated the general and ordered Zelaya to cease. He did not so the Supreme Court ordered the military to arrest him. The Congress then impeached him.
The Constitution of Honduras has written in stone that the one year term limit can never be amended. They believed in this so much that for an elected leader to even suggest it the penalty is immediate removal from office and a 10 year ban on holding another office. Furthermore, the violator also loses his or her citizenship. - Reply to this comment
- What part of democracy do you not get? Sheesh!
Oh, hey, the supreme court and congress spoke? Well, the h*ll with the public! - Reply to this comment
- Obama is not for democracy . Impeachment is the best way to solve Obama problem !!!he behaves like african dictators!!!
Though It is clear that Mr Zelaya was spiting on the constitution of his country and you find some institutions through the world backing the dictators appetites of Mr Zelaya.Do you think hondurians people dont need democray?
the world must congratulate the strengh of the democratic institutions in hunduras!! - Reply to this comment
- From what is reported it sounds like the courts, the legislature and even members of his own party were opposed to Zelaya's plans to extend his presidency. He even had to get voting papers shipped in from Chavez. If this was going to be another drawn out military coupe with a general as dictator they wouldn't have bothered perparing for elections in the fall. So what else is a country supposed to do if their leader decides to toss out the constitution and call a referendum when whe it was illegal for him to do so? Stand by and get railroaded? Would any of you want to live in a country with that kind of leader? Unless of course, you are one of his adamant supporters for life.
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- Deposed Honduran prez accused of drug ties
July 1, 2009 - 12:49am
By FRANK BAJAK
Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA (AP) - The regime that ousted Manuel Zelaya in Honduras claimed Tuesday that the deposed president allowed tons of cocaine to be flown into the Central American country on its way to the United States.
"Every night, three or four Venezuelan-registered planes land without the permission of appropriate authorities and bring thousands of pounds ... and packages of money that are the fruit of drug trafficking," its foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, told CNN en Espanol.
"We have proof of all of this. Neighboring governments have it. The DEA has it," he added.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Rusty Payne in Washington said he could neither confirm nor deny a DEA investigation.
Zelaya was traveling from New York to Washington and could not immediately be reached to respond to the allegations.
In an interview Tuesday evening with The Associated Press in Tegucigalpa, interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti was asked about Ortez's allegations and said only that it would be up to prosecutors to present any evidence.
Honduras and other Central American nations have become major transshipment points in recent years for Colombian cocaine, particularly as Mexico's government cracks down on cartels.
The drugs arrive in Honduras on noncommercial aircraft and, increasingly, in speedboats, from Venezuela and to a lesser extent Colombia, according to the Key West, Florida-based Joint Interagency Task Force-South, which coordinates drug interdiction in region. The boats tend to make short hops up Central America's coast.
In its most recent report on the illicit narcotics trade, the U.S. State Department said in February of Honduras that "official corruption continues to be an impediment to effective law enforcement and there are press reports of drug trafficking and associated criminal activity among current and former government and military officials."
The report did not name names.
Drug-related violence appears to be up in Honduras.
Homicides surged 25 percent from some 4,400 in 2007 to more than 7,000 in 2008 while more than 1,600 people were killed execution-style, suggesting drug gang involvement, according to the Central American Violence Observatory.
In October, Zelaya proposed legalizing drug use as a way of reducing the violence. He also had pledged to double the country's police force, which reached 13,500 last year, up from 7,000 in 2005, according to the State Department report.
(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
By FRANK BAJAK
Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA (AP) - The regime that ousted Manuel Zelaya in Honduras claimed Tuesday that the deposed president allowed tons of cocaine to be flown into the Central American country on its way to the United States.
"Every night, three or four Venezuelan-registered planes land without the permission of appropriate authorities and bring thousands of pounds ... and packages of money that are the fruit of drug trafficking," its foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, told CNN en Espanol.
"We have proof of all of this. Neighboring governments have it. The DEA has it," he added.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Rusty Payne in Washington said he could neither confirm nor deny a DEA investigation.
Zelaya was traveling from New York to Washington and could not immediately be reached to respond to the allegations.
In an interview Tuesday evening with The Associated Press in Tegucigalpa, interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti was asked about Ortez's allegations and said only that it would be up to prosecutors to present any evidence.
Honduras and other Central American nations have become major transshipment points in recent years for Colombian cocaine, particularly as Mexico's government cracks down on cartels.
The drugs arrive in Honduras on noncommercial aircraft and, increasingly, in speedboats, from Venezuela and to a lesser extent Colombia, according to the Key West, Florida-based Joint Interagency Task Force-South, which coordinates drug interdiction in region. The boats tend to make short hops up Central America's coast.
In its most recent report on the illicit narcotics trade, the U.S. State Department said in February of Honduras that "official corruption continues to be an impediment to effective law enforcement and there are press reports of drug trafficking and associated criminal activity among current and former government and military officials."
The report did not name names.
Drug-related violence appears to be up in Honduras.
Homicides surged 25 percent from some 4,400 in 2007 to more than 7,000 in 2008 while more than 1,600 people were killed execution-style, suggesting drug gang involvement, according to the Central American Violence Observatory.
- Deposed Honduran prez accused of drug ties
- Even though the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress unanimously removed Zelaya, who was intent on following his buddy Chavez's lead and setting himself up as dictator-for-life and trashing the Honduras constitution in the process, we knew we could count on socialist Obama to come to his rescue. Democracy and rule of law no longer matter to Obama. One must seriously wonder what his motives are.
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- What part of democracy do you not get? Sheesh!
Oh, hey, the supreme court and congress spoke? Well, the h*ll with the public!
- Anytime Dumbama,Hillary,castro and chavez of Venesuela agree,Watch Your backs,Marxsism is on the march to USA. I hope N O T .
- ubrew: By your views, if the South were allowed to run a referendum on creating their own nation because they couldn't stand homosexuals, blacks, latinos and anyone who was not a church-attending Christian and lets just say for the sake of argument, that Bush would have forced our military to support and even distribute the referendum ballots... Now, let't imagine that the Supreme Court ruled it illegal, as well as Congress... Would you have been against the FBI nabbing the loon?
- The Congress decides if a referendum is to take place. They decided against one. The Supreme court agreed. Where are you missing on this? This is the same procedure we have in the United States for a change in the Constitution, and if a President were to try to change the Constitution in his favor in this manner here, he would be kicked out too.
- What part of democracy do you not get? Sheesh!
- Why am I not surprised to read that the NRO supports military coups over democratic elections?
Hey, NRO, what about America? When will you be promoting a coup here? I need to know when to leave the country. - Reply to this comment
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- Name one part of this that makes it a military coup. Zelaya was told by Congress and his Attorney General that what he was doing was illegal. A hearing by the Supreme Court ruled it to be illegal and unconstitutional. He ordered the general in charge of Honduras' armed forces to distribute the ballots, and when that general refused to obey an illegal order confirmed by the Judicial and Legislative branches, Zelaya fired him and siezed the ballots from an Air Force base. The Supreme Court reinstated the general and ordered Zelaya to cease. He did not so the Supreme Court ordered the military to arrest him. The Congress then impeached him.
The Constitution of Honduras has written in stone that the one year term limit can never be amended. They believed in this so much that for an elected leader to even suggest it the penalty is immediate removal from office and a 10 year ban on holding another office. Furthermore, the violator also loses his or her citizenship.
- Democratic elections??? HMM, really. Seems to me your messiah's buddy was nothing more than a dictator stomping all over their constitution. You know, like your messiah is doing.
As for military coup, any shots fired??
Sounds like the people of the country spoke.
- "Beware the coup d?état. They often cause more problems than they solve and are never totally peaceful; indeed, they typically trigger bloodshed either during or after the event.
So what should be our view of Sunday?s ouster of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya? We should support it..."
Typical neo bloodlust. The author seems to enjoy causing bloodshed by backing the causes of it. What was happening in other people's countries is the business of those countries, not ours to support or condemn.
If a law was passed in the first place, it should have been passed by a vote of the people, or their representatives. Any law that prohibits another vote of the people to change, or amend it is a denial of the so-called democratic principles the neos are so fond of trumpeting, but in reality seek to deny those principles to anyone who doesn't follow their fascist agenda.
Had this been a fascist president, aligned with the neos, and continuing to enslave the majority of the people, this same author would be condemning the ouster, so it is clear that his opinion is not based on principle, but on right wing ideology.
Also, the neo's support of Bush's repeated abrogations of the US constitution and international law makes it clear that they don't have even the least bit of credibility to comment on the rule of law.
Lastly, it is still a valid question about Chavez, what has he done to the US, that should convince me that he is a threat, so far I see nothing, in fact, we should take his example, and take back our oil fields and other vital infrastructure components from the hands of greedy private interests, as those interests are in direct conflict with the public interest.
The author continues to deny humanity with the comment "noit one informed Honduran". which is a lie, the millions of the poor who support Zelaya are only too well informed, they know they can choose between "the meddling of Chavez" or "the meddling of the US", the latter being most adversarial to their interests.
So why the coup? Because those who did it, and those who backed it knew that Zelaya would have been successful in his referendum, having the support of the majority of the people.
Like most neos, this author basically posits that poor people are not people, and don't deserve representation.
- this was not a military coup, we have a new president, militaries d o not lead anything, what was done in Honduras was legal and necessary. It was Zelaya who did not obey anyones ruling, he disobeyed everyone and thought he owned Honduras and was above everyone and everything. You should get your facts right, I know I do because I live in Honduras and know exactly what happened and what led to it. Unfortunately you listen to irresponsable news channels like CNN who do not know crap or are paid by Chavez.
- Name one part of this that makes it a military coup. Zelaya was told by Congress and his Attorney General that what he was doing was illegal. A hearing by the Supreme Court ruled it to be illegal and unconstitutional. He ordered the general in charge of Honduras' armed forces to distribute the ballots, and when that general refused to obey an illegal order confirmed by the Judicial and Legislative branches, Zelaya fired him and siezed the ballots from an Air Force base. The Supreme Court reinstated the general and ordered Zelaya to cease. He did not so the Supreme Court ordered the military to arrest him. The Congress then impeached him.
- This is NONE of our Business!! PERIOD!!
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- That said, your messiah should have kept his big, droning mouth SHUT!! PERIOD!!!!!
But NOOOOOOO, one of his would be dictator BFF's got his hind end handed to him so he had to open his mouth.Kinda like opening his mouth to Israel telling them not to build in settlements.
Now, his other BFF, chavez, is threatening to invade Honduras.
Yea, you elected quite the guy there.
- AMEN THIS WHAT IS WRONG IN AMERICA NOW. ALL OF OUR SO CALLED LEADERS THINK THE CAN SOLVE EVERYONES PROBLEMS AND I DON'T THINK WE HAVE A ONE THAT HAS SENSE ENOUGH TO GET OUT THE RAIN.
- You are completely wrong, because Chavez is growing, his money is buying many countries and apparently your president does not care. So, don't be surprised when USA goes into a left tyoe of government, and your freedom will be cut, the leader will do as he pleases, does not respect anyone, uses your tax payment as his personal finances, drgutraffiking grows, many dead, and worst of all, you eill not be able to say what you think becuase you lose your freedom of expression.
- That said, your messiah should have kept his big, droning mouth SHUT!! PERIOD!!!!!
