A Measure of Misplaced Patriotism

While I am happy that Mr. Zelaya is gone and I see that there were few, if any, good options to ridding Honduras of this man, other than by force, I think it is unwise to publicly celebrate his ousting.

By Marco Cáceres
There is a decree before the Honduran Congress to declare June 28, 2009 "Day of the protection of democracy and defense of freedom in the country". The measure, proposed by Congressman Eliseo Mejía Castillo of Cortés, would recognize the date as a working civic holiday. Congressman José Ángel Saavedra of Copán has expressed his opposition to the decree because he believes that it would open up a "huge wound that is beginning to heal". Thank you Mr. Saavedra for your dose of sanity and just plain common sense.

At a time when President Porfirio Lobo is emphasizing unity and national reconciliation in Honduras, pushing the creation of a "Truth Comission" to gather information about the events that led up to and transpired during and since June 28, and trying to convince foreign governments to normalize diplomatic relations with Honduras, about the last thing that the country needs is an official holiday glorifying the overthrow of a democratically-elected president that has resulted in the loss of lives, the destruction of property, the damaging of relationships with other nations, the deterioration of the national economy, and the tarring of the Honduras' image abroad.

It may be that Honduras dodged a huge bullet by disrupting a series of events that may have been leading the country toward a long-term socialistic dictatorship akin to what exists in Venezuela. It may be that Honduras preserved its imperfect democracy. Many Hondurans are understandably grateful and relieved, and I believe they should be. But that's not the point.

While I am happy that Mr. Zelaya is gone and I see that there were few, if any, good options for ridding Honduras of this man, other than by force, I think it is unwise to publicly celebrate his ousting. There is a significant segment of Honduran society that feels betrayed, insulted, and disempowered by what occurred on June 28. Why would anyone wish to go out of their way to rub it in their faces? It's like deliberately running up the score in a game. It's not only bad form and mean-spirited, but foolish and short-sighted... because by doing so you would provoke a backlash that could well result in more violence, destruction, and instability. Nobody wins. Everybody loses.

Mr. Mejía would do well to reflect a bit on the potential consequences of his thoughtless excercise in nationalism or so-called "patriotism"... It is sadly misplaced, and it is irresponsible.