Honduras Coup Leaders to Woo Washington

(AP)  The soldiers, politicians and businessmen who ousted left-leaning President Manuel Zelaya are taking their battle from Honduras into the U.S. political arena, waging a lobbying campaign to paint themselves as a bulwark against "dictatorship" and "communism."

Appealing to free trade supporters, they hope to nudge the Obama administration away from its threat to impose sanctions on the impoverished country, where export-assembly factories are dominated by U.S. firms and investors.

"I imagine there would be some reaction from them" to trade sanctions, Amilcar Bulnes, head of the Honduran Council of Private Business, said Monday.

The de facto government led by interim President Roberto Micheletti took pains to put together a lobbying effort that is diverse and representative. The team sent to Washington on Monday includes a Christian Democrat labor leader and a university law professor who is in an opposition party.

Zelaya's foes appear to hope President Barack Obama doesn't have the time or energy for this battle when he has weightier problems like his push to reform the U.S. health care system and turn around the economy.

"Honduras is a small, poor country," Bulnes said. "The world would look very bad if it takes out its wrath on this country."

The lobbying team left for the U.S. as Washington was turning up pressure on the Micheletti government by warning that Honduras could face severe economic sanctions if Zelaya is not restored to the presidency.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Micheletti on Sunday to say there would be serious consequences if his government keeps ignoring international calls for Zelaya's return - the key point that led to a stalemate in U.S.-supported negotiations over the weekend mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

Business executives say U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens has called them into meetings to warn that Honduras - heavily dependent on exports to the United States - could face tough sanctions if leaders continue to refuse Arias' compromise proposal for Zelaya to return as head of a coalition government. The U.S. Embassy said it would not comment on the meetings.

The European Union added to the pressure Monday by announcing it was suspending $93.1 million (65.5 million euros) in aid to Honduras. The EU's external relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, called the standoff over Zelaya "a crisis which Honduras can ill afford."

No government has recognized the Micheletti administration, and the United Nations and Organization of American States have called for the return of Zelaya, who was arrested and hustled out of the country by the army on June 28.

Micheletti vowed not to back down - and implied that Washington is betraying a staunch ally, one that let its territory be used as a staging area for U.S.-backed Contra rebels battling Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government during the 1980s and more recently sent troops to Iraq.

"We feel abandoned by several friendly countries," Micheletti said in a speech to cheering supporters. "We are going to demonstrate ... that we have the strength to hold out until the last moment."

Referring to Clinton's phone call, Micheletti suggested she send an envoy to Honduras to see that the government is not persecuting Zelaya's supporters, who have staged daily demonstrations demanding his return.

Micheletti vowed to stay in power until a scheduled Nov. 29 presidential vote, which the United States has suggested it may not recognize if it is held under a de facto government.

"We are going to go on with life, we are going to go on with our government, we are going to go on with the next presidential elections on Nov. 29," he said. "They have to respect us."

Business leaders - a key sector of support for Micheletti - also vowed to tough it out, hoping the U.S. government is as wary as they are of Zelaya, who has aligned himself with leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of Washington's biggest antagonists in the region.

Zelaya angered many people in Honduras by ignoring Congress' and the courts' objections to his effort to hold a referendum on changing the constitution, which many saw as an attempt to impose a Chavez-style socialist government.

"We prefer sanctions to Zelaya's return," said Adolfo Facusse, head of the country's National Association of Industries. He said restoring Zelaya to power would bring the "loss of liberty, dictatorship, communism."

[censoredagain]

The title of this piece shows a lack of journalistic objectivity and a lack of journalistic due diligence. The Honduran situation is not a coup nor does it meet the definition of a coup. This situation is one in which the Honduran Military exercised its authority in accordance with Honduran Constitution.

The Honduran Congress and the Honduran Supreme Court agreed that Zelaya violated Honduran Law and its constitution. They directed the Honduran Military to remove the criminal Zelaya from office. Any objective person looking at the facts will see that this was not a coup but an enforcement of Honduran Law. I admit the criminal Zelaya's expulsion from the country maybe not be legal but his removal from office is; so to use the word coup in the title of the article is dishonest propaganda.

Many people may not know nor realize that parts of the Honduran Constitution are not amendable and the part that defines the length and amount of presidential term is one of those non-amendable sections. So the mere fact that the criminal Zelaya used Venezuelan money and circumvented the Honduran Congress to attempt to hold an illegal election illustrates his lack of respect for Honduran Law, Honduran Government and the Honduran Constitution.

[Ceres6]

It is important for the American people and for the whole world, to be aware of what Mr. Manuel Zelaya planned to do: to become a dictator in Honduras. He did not care to betray his own people. The only thing that mattered to him was to please the Venezuelan tyrant Hugo Chavez, and to follow the guidelines of the Alba group, which consists of the countries of Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and other small Caribbean Islands. Every member in the group follows the governing style and the orders of Hugo Chavez. The first step in the process is to ask the citizens to go to a plebiscite to change the constitution. After the constitution has been changed, there is no way to stop that country from becoming a dictatorship. Nicaragua and Honduras are such poor countries that Ortega and Zelaya can easily buy million votes at $5 dollars a piece. As usual, the money to pay for the votes is obtained from Hugo Chavez. Thanks God, the corrupt Mr. Zelaya was stopped on time. This is precisely the reason why today there is a crisis in Honduras. The brave Honduran people had the guts to stop Mr. Zelaya, a Chavez puppet, and they prevented Honduras from becoming the next pawn of Hugo Chavez.

In the last 12 months Hugo Chavez is acting berserk in Latin America, he is like a bull in a china shop. Unfortunately, it seems that the Obama administration is deaf, and it is not listening to all the commotion that Chavez is creating. I hope the Obama administration understand how critical is the situation in every country that is a member of the Alba group, and also in the free country of Honduras. Even though drug trafficking in Venezuela and Honduras is a serious problem, there is another problem of much greater consequences. The tyrant Hugo Chavez is out of control, he is the absolute owner of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government in Venezuela. In this year alone, he has silenced dozens of newspapers, radio stations, and television stations that were defending democratic principles in the country. Those citizens that speak up are simply intimidated, arrested, or they just disappear. It is no wonder that the city of Caracas has become one of the most dangerous cities in the world. There are weekends in which 130 people are murdered. Many Americans probably still remember that just a year ago, in several vulgar speeches, Hugo Chavez was screaming that American people were human excrement. Anyone interested can verify this in Youtube.

It is very disappointing to see that the only thing Mr. Obama has done, is to promise timidly to Mr. Chavez that he will not interfere in the Venezuelan affairs. It was distressing to see that the most powerful person in the planet, was acting like Bambi in front of a voracious hyena .Three weeks ago when the Honduran crisis exploded, in less than 24 hours the Obama administration sided with the tyrant Chavez and the useless OAS. The Organization of American States, under the leadership of José Miguel Insulza, has become a servant and lynchpin of Hugo Chavez. There is very little time left to prevent the Honduran people from becoming servants of Mr. Chavez and his dictatorial Alba group. There is no question that if the country of Honduras becomes another dictatorship, millions of people will find Mr. Obama responsible for that tragedy. If he is in favor of democracy, it is difficult to understand why he has not challenged firmly and clearly the gradual destruction of democracy in Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. Mr. Obama silence in this respect is difficult to bear.

[HonduranOne]

elheraldo.hn and proceso.hn Honduras Newspapers online are reporting the eviction of the Venezuelan Embassy in Honduras within 72 hours.
Managua,

Nicaragua
.

Political sectors of Nicaragua have disapproved that the ex- president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya Rosales, uses the Nicaraguan ground to call to the Hondurans to the insurrection with a view to retaking the power.

According to a publication of the Nicaraguan newspaper the Press, the rejection of the opposition politicians is well-known and have described the call as Zelaya as an irresponsibility act and demands the ex- agent chief executive to him to respect the hospitality that has offered him.

?It seems to Me a barbarism and a great irresponsibility to be basically making a call, that in fact is a call to a bloodshed. Also it is a barbarism to say that from it is going here to direct to a column of people close friend to him, to go towards the border of Honduras?, mentioned the metropolitan newspaper to the ex- chancellor and present deputy by Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC), Francisco Aguirre Sacasa.

Since Zelaya Rosales is not in put in a home Nicaragua as, the attention by the declarations cannot be called him that would be worth well that the asylum retired to him; nevertheless, the deputy Aguirre still indicated that as ?invited he is forced to behave? and not to continue acting under the diplomacy of the Dawn.

The Nicaraguan newspaper appointment to other parliamentarians, like Eduardo Montealegre, of Nicaraguan the Democrática large stone bench (BDN), that showed ?Nicaragua cannot become a nest of terrorists, nor in an insurrection space. Therefore I ask to him ex- president Zelaya who goes away of Nicaragua, that is going away to another side to be calling to invasions, but that do not do it here. We do not want war, in the Central American towns we do not want death nor blood?.

?If it wants to speak military that one goes away to another country, to perhaps it wants it Venezuela to lodge and to allow that him?, expressed Montealegre.

In addition, it assured that the legislative chamber will analyze the laws to determine if some legal action exists that can be promoted to restrain the abuses that Zelaya is committing in Nicaragua."

In addition Nicaragua is looking at bringing charges against Zelaya for promoting a war from thier country.

"Political sectors of Nicaragua have disapproved that the ex- president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya Rosales, uses the Nicaraguan ground to call to the Hondurans to the insurrection with a view to retaking the power.

According to a publication of the Nicaraguan newspaper the Press, the rejection of the opposition politicians is well-known and have described the call as Zelaya as an irresponsibility act and demands the ex- agent chief executive to him to respect the hospitality that has offered him.

?It seems to Me a barbarism and a great irresponsibility to be basically making a call, that in fact is a call to a bloodshed. Also it is a barbarism to say that from it is going here to direct to a column of people close friend to him, to go towards the border of Honduras?, mentioned the metropolitan newspaper to the ex- chancellor and present deputy by Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC), Francisco Aguirre Sacasa.

Since Zelaya Rosales is not in put in a home Nicaragua as, the attention by the declarations cannot be called him that would be worth well that the asylum retired to him; nevertheless, the deputy Aguirre still indicated that as ?invited he is forced to behave? and not to continue acting under the diplomacy of the Dawn.

The Nicaraguan newspaper appointment to other parliamentarians, like Eduardo Montealegre, of Nicaraguan the Democrática large stone bench (BDN), that showed ?Nicaragua cannot become a nest of terrorists, nor in an insurrection space. Therefore I ask to him ex- president Zelaya who goes away of Nicaragua, that is going away to another side to be calling to invasions, but that do not do it here. We do not want war, in the Central American towns we do not want death nor blood?.

?If it wants to speak military that one goes away to another country, to perhaps it wants it Venezuela to lodge and to allow that him?, expressed Montealegre.

In addition, it assured that the legislative chamber will analyze the laws to determine if some legal action exists that can be promoted to restrain the abuses that Zelaya is committing in Nicaragua."

[andylance1]

The Obama administration is threatening to punish Honduras with loss of economic aid if they don't join the Chavez cartel. Clinton reminded President Micheletti about the consequences for Honduras if they fail to surrender to the forces of Chavez, which would (have) a significant impact in terms of aid and consequences, potentially longer-term consequences ... for the relationship between Honduras and the United States.

Obama's foreign policy is turning out to be a much bigger disaster than their terrible legislation on climate change (energy tax) and the potential economic disaster if they pass Obama's health care plan.

[USSAmerikan]

The spirit of Lempira, the indian chief who fought against the Spanish oppressors is alive today in the hearts of Hondurans who refuse to yield to the neo-Stalinism slavery that Chavez promises, through his puppet Zelaya.
Today, the church, the private sector, industrial concerns, the opposition party and Zelaya's own party are in agreement with the actions of the Supreme Court of Honduras and their Congress... The military followed orders, removed a man who was hell bent on violating the article in the constitution that prohibits any person from serving more than one term and states unequivocally that any person in office who tries to modify the article in question is violating the law and is to be removed from office. Pretty simple, folks.
The protesters? They are Ortega's thugs, mareros (gang members on the Sandinista payroll). Reportedly, several buses filled to the hilt with them, were seen heading north from Ocotal, Nicaragua, en route to the Honduran border just a couple of days after Zelaya's removal.
Who was behind Zelaya, a man with Bush-like approval ratings because of his support for the drug trade and his Marxist centralized economic horror approach? Chavez, the man who has professed his hatred towards us in more than a few occasions, the same man who orchestrated the travesty in Nicaragua's elections last November, where no international oversight was allowed and tens of thousands of ballots were found in La Chureca, the largest dump in the country. One of the men elected, Alexis Arguello, was found dead after he threatened to leave the party... Ortega's henchmen tried to make it look like a suicide, but a 90-degree shot to the heart is pretty hard to do by yourself, especially leaving no burn marks... You figure it out.
So now Obama is OK with the imposition of a leftist dictatorship like the one in power in Venezuela and Nicaragua? How many people will he be sentencing to death? Carter's support of what history proved was the wrong side, in Nicaragua, resulted in 50,000 human lives killed, maimed and tortured. Is that how Obama wants to be remembered?

[northerner4-2009]

What kind of dope you on, Orangerappler?

In reference to the main story line: I was always under the impression that the US Gov't wanted to rid the world of Communism and its effects, but here, the very same US Gov't is trying to get an avowed communist back into power.

Does this mean that for all the years of anti communist babble in Congress, and all the kids in the services who willingly gave their lives, the meaning of the oratory and sacrifice of lives is zero and the communists win after all?

Sad days, my friends, sad days for America, the supposed 'Bastion of Freedom' and 'Bulwark of Democracy'.

Your country was the result of the overthrow of a foreign imposed governing system, and now when the Honduran people want to exercise their rights and overthrow their communist leaning government - your government disallows the move. Odd behavior, friends - very odd.

[casionova]

Zelaya was democratically elected for a four year term and no one disputes this. He didnt get to serve the term because of a coup.

Why do you hate democracy? The cold war is over, the commies are gone. Welcome to the 21st century.

[casionova]

@ Sacky_Is_Here_4ever Shouldnt a parrot like you be on the Foxnews website picking up your talking points? If you are so naive as to think Obama is a communist then you are a brainwashed ideologue. Ha ha your president is a commie! So if you think that when are you planning the civil war? ;oP

Asking for a vote is not "a coup on the Honduran constitution", thats called democracy, you clearly dont understand it, it means people power, and the people who elected him dont care what you think about him, but you are such a facist you think you have more right to pick their leader than they do.

@ by AwwCmonWhatIsThis July 21, 2009 8:37 AM EDT
When elected officials break the law, casionova, they don't just get off because they were elected...they are subject to the laws of the land and their Constitution just like the people are...

He didnt break the law, he proposed a constitutional change, which required a majority. Thats democracy, like the democracy that fairly elected Obama your President.