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Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Is Deposed

The Honduran Congress's response to the situation is looking more and more justified all the time.

From the article: But Mr. Zelaya declared the vote on his own and had Mr. Chávez ship him the necessary ballots from Venezuela. The Supreme Court ruled his referendum unconstitutional, and it instructed the military not to carry out the logistics of the vote as it normally would do.

The top military commander, Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, told the president that he would have to comply. Mr. Zelaya promptly fired him. The Supreme Court ordered him reinstated. Mr. Zelaya refused.

Calculating that some critical mass of Hondurans would take his side, the president decided he would run the referendum himself. So on Thursday he led a mob that broke into the military installation where the ballots from Venezuela were being stored and then had his supporters distribute them in defiance of the Supreme Court's order.
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Arresting a rogue president who leads a mob and breaks into the facility where balloting materials are kept, to hold an illegal election isn't a coup. It's the prevention of a coup.

I think it says a helluva lot when our government sides with the likes of Castro, Ortega and Chavez.
 
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From what I understand the Honduras constitution was written by the military junta before they handed over power to civilian goverement around 20 years ago. So it's obvius that they and the political and economic elite that benefited from the constitution doesn't want it change. But maybe it can be intersting to see what the people believe about the constitution even if it's against the constution, ecpecially sens the people had no part in writing it.
 
jamesrage said:
Politician who tried to commit treason tossed out of office by the military. Sounds like a good thing. If only something similar would happen to those who in office who tried to sell this country out.
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You would prefer military rule to living under Obama:lol:?
 
Bergslagstroll said:
From what I understand the Honduras constitution was written by the military junta before they handed over power to civilian goverement around 20 years ago. So it's obvius that they and the political and economic elite that benefited from the constitution doesn't want it change. But maybe it can be intersting to see what the people believe about the constitution even if it's against the constution, ecpecially sens the people had no part in writing it.
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And whats really telling is that there are not even following the consitution they claim to defend. The consitutional thing to do would be to impeach him.
 
Red_Dave said:
You would prefer military rule to living under Obama:lol:?
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Doesn't Honduras have a line of succession? The United States does. I imagine that if it is a senator or congressman removed we would simply just hold another election to fill that seat or in some states allow the governor to appoint someone to that seat.
 
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apdst said:
I've got plans to go to Honduras on a fishing trip. I hope this doesn't screw it up.
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Check with the State Department.
 
donsutherland1 said:
At the time of the coup, the Congress had not impeached the President. Instead, Bloomberg.com reports, the Congress was "moving toward impeachment proceedings." Had the Congress actually impeached the President and then the military removed him on account of his refusing to leave office, there would be no constitutional issues. Unfortunately, that is not what happened.
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Seems to me there is nothing to impeach. His term was up wasn't it? Well then he was just a citizen.
 
jamesrage said:
Doesn't Honduras have a line of succession? The United States does. I imagine that if it is a senator or congressman removed we would simply just hold another election to fill that seat or in some states allow the governor to appoint someone to that seat.
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Well if does have a line of succession they seam to have no intension of following it [as with the rest of the consitution]
 
American said:
Then wait till his last day is up, and send over the boys in blue to pick him up.
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Well the referendum was non-binding so i dont see how the boys in blue are necessary but he has already said that if reinstalled he wouldnt seek a second term. A return to normality would be perfectly fesiable but its one the Junta appears to have no interest in taking.
 
Red_Dave said:
Well if does have a line of succession they seam to have no intension of following it [as with the rest of the consitution]
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His removal was only 4-5 days ago.
 
Red_Dave said:
Well the referendum was non-binding so i dont see how the boys in blue are necessary but he has already said that if reinstalled he wouldnt seek a second term. A return to normality would be perfectly fesiable but its one the Junta appears to have no interest in taking.
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Zelaya broke into a military instulation to steal ballots and hold his illegal election, against a court ruling. He purdy well broke the law.
 
jamesrage said:
His removal was only 4-5 days ago.
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But we already know they have no intension of following the consitution as the consitutional thing to do would have been to impeach him.
 
Agnapostate said:
That's not correct. Do you have a more reliable source?
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You are correct.

Prior to the coup, the Congress was moving toward impeaching President Zelaya. However, it had not impeached the Honduran President when the military moved to remove him. After the coup, the Congress "ratified" his removal.

Zelaya Seeks UN Help to Regain Presidency in Honduras (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

That does not change the nature of the situation, namely that a coup took place at a time when the President had not been constitutionally removed from office. Had the Congress impeached the President and then the military had enforced the impeachment order, then the situation would not have amounted to a coup. But that's not what happened.
 
jamesrage said:
Doesn't Honduras have a line of succession? The United States does. I imagine that if it is a senator or congressman removed we would simply just hold another election to fill that seat or in some states allow the governor to appoint someone to that seat.
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According to NYT, the president of the Senate has stepped in as interim president. So possibly this is a little better than your classic Banana Republic coup.
 
donsutherland1 said:
You are correct.

Prior to the coup, the Congress was moving toward impeaching President Zelaya. However, it had not impeached the Honduran President when the military moved to remove him. After the coup, the Congress "ratified" his removal.

Zelaya Seeks UN Help to Regain Presidency in Honduras (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

That does not change the nature of the situation, namely that a coup took place at a time when the President had not been constitutionally removed from office. Had the Congress impeached the President and then the military had enforced the impeachment order, then the situation would not have amounted to a coup. But that's not what happened.
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I suppose their military must be under a different type of control than ours.
 
Whats with the new trend in relatively bloodless and at least tacitcly supported coups where the military step aside? This the the second one recently (if it plays out like that)...

This is all very civil and gentlemanly... strange.
 
Sturmrabe said:
Whats with the new trend in relatively bloodless and at least tacitcly supported coups where the military step aside? This the the second one recently (if it plays out like that)...

This is all very civil and gentlemanly... strange.
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Indeed. Why, it almost resembles the rule of law when a sitting Executive violates his sworn duties under a national constitution.

Honduras was not a coup. It was the rule of law.
 
celticlord said:
Indeed. Why, it almost resembles the rule of law when a sitting Executive violates his sworn duties under a national constitution.

Honduras was not a coup. It was the rule of law.
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Well I have to agree that this is TECHNICALLY a coup... but its really not in the spirit of what it means to have a coup d'etat...
 
Sturmrabe said:
Whats with the new trend in relatively bloodless and at least tacitcly supported coups where the military step aside? This the the second one recently (if it plays out like that)...

This is all very civil and gentlemanly... strange.
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Only if the military steps aside. We shall see.
 
celticlord said:
Indeed. Why, it almost resembles the rule of law when a sitting Executive violates his sworn duties under a national constitution.

Honduras was not a coup. It was the rule of law.
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Well celtic, I think don may have made a good point, but I agree that it didn't look like the usual coupe since the congress was going to get rid of him anyway. I suppose their after-action was a formality to give legitimacy to the military action. I wouldn't want this to become a precedent though.
 
donsutherland1 said:
You are correct.

Prior to the coup, the Congress was moving toward impeaching President Zelaya. However, it had not impeached the Honduran President when the military moved to remove him. After the coup, the Congress "ratified" his removal.

Zelaya Seeks UN Help to Regain Presidency in Honduras (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

That does not change the nature of the situation, namely that a coup took place at a time when the President had not been constitutionally removed from office. Had the Congress impeached the President and then the military had enforced the impeachment order, then the situation would not have amounted to a coup. But that's not what happened.
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If the President of The United States broke into the registrar's office to steal ballots and hold an illegal election, do you believe that he should be arrested?
 
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