28.6.09

Honduras: Another "Failed State" South of US Borders










By John W. Lillpop

What is it about democracy and rule of law that is so repulsive to third-world banana republics?

Now the pitiful state of Honduras has officially joined the ranks as a "failed state" next to Mexico, the swine flu center of the universe.

As reported, in part, at AOL:

http://news.aol.com/article/secretary-soldiers-arrest-honduran/546931


"TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (June 28) - Soldiers seized the national palace and flew President Manuel Zelaya into exile Sunday, hours before a disputed constitutional referendum. Zelaya, a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said he was victim of a coup.

"Hours later, Congress voted to accept what it said was Zelaya's letter of resignation, but Zelaya said the letter wasn't his and vowed to remain in power.

"The Supreme Court said it was supporting the military in what it called a defense of democracy, and the Honduran ambassador to the Organization of American States said the military was planning to swear in Congressional President Roberto Micheletti — who is next in line to the presidency — to replace Zelaya.

"Zelaya was arrested shortly before polls were to open in a referendum on whether to change the constitution. The Supreme Court ruled the referendum illegal and everyone from Congress to members of his own party opposed it. Critics said Zelaya wanted to remove limits to his re-election.

"Tanks rolled through the streets and hundreds of soldiers with riot shields surrounded the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Zelaya, at the airport in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose, called the military action illegal.

"There is no way to justify an interruption of democracy, a coup d'etat," he said in a telephone call to the Venezuela-based Telesur television network. "This kidnapping is an extortion of the Honduran democratic system."

Blah, blah, blah.

As could be expected, tinhorn dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela voiced his opposition to the "coup."

President Barack Obama, the most radical Marxist in the hemisphere, was equally outraged as reported in the referenced link:

"President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by Zelaya's expulsion and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the arrest should be condemned.

"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read."

President Obama would be well advised to quit meddling in the affairs of third-world states and focus instead on securing our borders to keep renegades from Mexico, Honduras, and other failed states from invading America!