Honduras' Lesson to the World on Democracy and the Rule of Law

Waking up a president, stripping him of his office, and shipping him off to Costa Rica in his pajamas is not often thought of as a model for democracy. In fact, it’s more reminiscent of the Nixon era, where military coups and dictators ran amuck in the hemisphere. The superficial facts of the Honduran crisis have led the world to condemn what they are calling a military coup. But, does the crisis in Honduras represent a "step back" into the brutality of dictatorial rule and end of democracy in the region? The answer is simple: No.

After being removed from office, ex-President Mel Zelaya of Honduras appealed before his friends at the UN to be reinstated to his office, as their “humble servant” in his small corner of the world. Nations in the UN's General Assembly were aghast that a ruler could possibly be removed from office by the military, congress, and supreme court. (Poor picked on Zelaya!) There was no explanation to accept other than crying Zelaya's claims that he was wrongfully removed from office, and that his desires to take back the presidency were only to preserve democracy and the rule of law in Honduras. (He promised that he was playing nice and it wasn't his fault.) He knew that those buzz words would perk the ears and tug the heart strings of many, including the U.S.

In order to see through the dense foliage of Zelaya and Chavez’s rhetoric, we need to evaluate it for what it is, and underneath all of those flowers is a lot of funk.

The Facts:

• Zelaya sought re-election which is prohibited by the Honduran Constitution (Article 239).
  
• Zelaya decided that in order to get around this obstacle, he would conduct an illegal vote on a referendum to call a Constitutional Convention.
  
• When the military said they would not participate, Zelaya fired the Army General.
  
• After he fired the Army General, Zelaya provoked and gathered a mob that marched into the military base to retrieve the illegal ballots that had arrived from Venezuela.
  
• There is evidence that the referendum results were already in…before the vote took place.

*In addition, 18 other crimes were brought against Zelaya by the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court.
By insisting on backing Zelaya, the U.S. has finds itself among such company as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Ecuador's Correa, and the ex-Sandanista, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega. The company should tell us a lot about the flowery rhetoric echoing through the OAS and the UN. Yet the world seems to have set Zelaya on a pedestal as the new poster child for democracy.

The New Defenders of Democracy!

Raul Castro, Manuel Zelaya, Hugo Chavez

The interim government’s only illegal action was to actually take Zelaya to Costa Rica. (But who wouldn’t want a free trip to Costa Rica? And you get to fly in your pajamas!) They took what their constitution admonished seriously, that all citizens “have the obligation to collaborate in the maintenance or reestablishment of the [constitutions’ validity] (Article 375).” The leaders and citizens who abided by their constitutional duties in Honduras should be lauded for their actions to enforce their law by removing Zelaya from office.

Arguably, the interim government that enforces the rule of law and their constitution stands to be the martyr for the cause of democracy and liberty. This small government had the courage to take a stand against a rogue president, who overstepped his constitutional rights and broke the law.

While Zelaya continues to do the Hokey Pokey at the Honduran-Nicaraguan border and meeting with other state leaders, the interim government continues to stand alone against the pressure of the world. Rather than dancing along to the tune of Latin American neo-populism with Zelaya, the “free world” should be taking a few steps back.