New Honduran Government Seeks to Prove Legitimacy

In Tegucigalpa, the morning of Monday, June 29 was calm. Shops and businesses were opening as usual, giving little sign of the political upheaval of the previous day.

In the early hours of June 28, members of the Honduran military stormed the Presidential House. President Jose Zelaya was evicted from the premises at gunpoint and flown out of the country. As the population began to wake up, many areas were without electricity. The supply was reportedly switched off to prevent Zelaya´s supporters from broadcasting propaganda. Nationwide bus services were canceled for June 28, in an attempt to stop radicals from taking advantage of the power vacuum.

President Zelaya´s ousting follows weeks of heated criticism from the population. On June 28 Hondurans were due to vote in a referendum on the addition of a ´fourth box´ to November´s election. The fourth box would allow constitutional change. Zelaya´s critics had feared that he would use the fourth box to attempt to hold on to power beyond the end of his term. Under the current constitution, only one Presidential term is permitted.

On June 22 the Honduran Supreme Court ruled that no referendum could be held 180 days before or after an election. Under this ruling, the proposed referendum on June 28 would have been against the law. In a speech on the evening of June 25, the former President showed his contempt for the legislature, telling supporters: “We will not obey the Supreme Court. . . [The court] only causes problems for democracy.”

Zelaya was elected in 2005 in a close race with National Party leader Pepe Lobo, promising to tackle Honduras´s street crime and high poverty rates. During his Presidency, he has sought to break long-standing ties with the U.S.A. and ally himself with the Latin American left. His plans to introduce unspecified constitutional change had provoked fears that he wished to establish a Socialist Dictatorship, following similar moves by the Venezuelan, Bolivian and Colombian leaders in recent years.

Zelaya´s Vice-President, Elvin Santos, resigned late last year in order to stand as a candidate in this November´s elections. No replacement was ever appointed. Zelaya´s successor was immediately named as the Speaker of Congress, Roberto Micheletti.

Micheletti insisted that the transition was “absolutely legal.” He cited Zelaya´s insistence on going ahead with Sunday´s referendum as a clear breach of the law and a threat to the constitution. “The army has complied with the constitution,” he said. Congress has ruled that Micheletti will hold office until January 27, 2010 – the day that the Zelaya Presidency was due to end.

For most of the afternoon of June 28, national television broadcast the swearing-in of the new President. Micheletti has promised that the elections scheduled for November will still take place. Only hours later, Micheletti declared that a curfew would be in force from 9pm to 6am on the nights of June 28 and 29.

In the course of the day, a letter surfaced in which Zelaya said he had officially resigned as the Honduran leader. Zelaya now claims that the letter was forged. The exiled President has urged his followers not to rest until he is peacefully restored. Overnight, following his instructions, a small group of protesters defied the curfew to show their support by chanting and burning tires.

Scenes turned ugly on the afternoon of June 29, as the pro-Zelaya demonstrators demanded the return of the elected leader. Police stepped in to break up the protest, using riot gear and water cannons. The demonstrators appeared badly organized, numbering a couple of hundred at the most. There were reports of two shootings which have proved impossible to verify.

It is too early to tell in which direction Micheletti will steer the country. But, internally at least, things are continuing as normal. Only a few police check-points on routes into the city give any sign of the events that have provoked such ripples internationally.

Zelaya addressed a meeting of the United Nations on June 30, which backed a resolution calling for his reinstatement. The U.N. has “firmly and categorically” urged all countries not to recognize any government in Honduras, except one headed by Zelaya. The resolution echoed statements from Washington and the European Union, which have insisted that Zelaya remains the democratically-elected head of state and urged for his return to office.

The key issue in this debate is the manner in which Zelaya was removed from power. His enforced exile, at gunpoint, and the restrictions placed upon broadcast media in the wake of his removal have left some questioning the validity of the new government.

While the events in Tegucigalpa have generally been peaceful, tension in the Honduran capital remains high. Armed soldiers still guard the Presidential Residence, and there are sporadic patrols by military helicopters. Micheletti has dismissed criticism from abroad that the ousting of Zelaya constitutes a coup. “These were democratic events,” he stated, emphasizing that Zelaya´s decision to go ahead with the planned referendum was in clear breach of the law.

From 10am on June 30, thousands of Hondurans gathered in Tegucigalpa´s Central Park to defend the new government. The protest kicked off with prayers and a passionate rendition of the Honduran national anthem. Elisa Rodriguez from the College of Law explained that the protesters were here to demonstrate their support for the new government and also to inform the international community that Honduras remains a democracy. “The international community needs to understand that we don’t want to reinstate ex-President Zelaya,” she said.

Prudencio Acosta, a reserve in the Armed Forces explained that he was attending the protest because he believed in defending the constitution and the law, something that formed part of his duty in the Armed Forces. “The ex-President thought [the people] were stupid and would tolerate whatever he wanted to do. We respect the law but our ex-President thought he could break it. The Armed Forces wouldn’t let him do so and that is why the military made the decision to exile him.” He stressed repeatedly that Honduras wanted peace. “We want peace and liberty to live and work in Honduras, to carry on with our daily lives.”

At around 1pm, the current President, Roberto Micheletti arrived and spoke to the enormous crowd. He promised in front of God and everybody before him that Honduras would hold its elections on November 29 as previously planned. The President´s speech was followed by another from General Romeo Vásquez, who was greeted with cheers of ‘thanks’ for what the military had done. He said the Armed Forces had only done its duty, which was to uphold the constitution. Both speeches were televised live on state television.

Across Latin America, government leaders are also refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the new government. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened military action following reports that the Venezuelan Ambassador to Honduras, Armando Laguna, was attacked by “hooded military agents” and left at a roadside. Mr Laguna´s Cuban and Nicaraguan counterparts, as well as Honduran Foreign Relations Minister Patricia Rodas were also beaten, according to reports. Speaking after an emergency meeting with Mr Zelaya and other Latin American leaders (Nicaragua´s Daniel Ortega and Ecuador´s Rafael Correa) Chavez stated that should reports of violence against his ambassador be true, it would be the de factor beginning of a war. The Venezuelan military has apparently been placed on stand-by, but with the attention of the United Nations focused on the region, it seems unlikely that this is any more than an empty threat. When questioned about Hugo Chavez’s threat to send in military troops, Mr Acosta answered: “We are men, we will defend the constitution.”

º In the U.S.A., the Wall Street Journal for June 29 reported that President Obama is “deeply concerned” by events in Honduras, and has called upon Micheletti to “respect the rule of law.” Additionally, the European Union has urged a return to “normality.”

The firm line taken by Washington could prove to have far-reaching consequences. Honduras, a nation where 70 per cent of the population is poor, reportedly relies on $200 million of U.S. development aid annually. The World Bank has already put subsidies to Honduras on hold.

Zelaya is tentatively scheduled to return to Honduras on Thursday, July 2, accompanied by members of the Organization of American States. Government officials here vow to arrest Zelaya upon arrival.