In a recent column, I condemned the military coup that has overthrown the democratically elected government of Honduras and sent President Manuel Zelaya into exile in Costa Rica.
In response, I heard from several people, including one Honduran citizen, who insisted that this change of government was perfectly legal, and who scolded me for daring to suggest that it was anything but proper and praiseworthy.
If I am to be scolded for condemning the coup, then so are the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, and the Organization of American States, whose views on the matter were a strong influence on mine. Obviously I am in good company.
More noteworthy still is the fact that a top attorney in the Honduran army has admitted that the military coup was in violation of the law.
The Miami Herald quoted Col. Herberth Bayardo Inestroza as saying, "We know there was a crime there. In the moment that we took [Zelaya] out of the country, in the way that he was taken out, there is a crime. Because of the circumstances of the moment this crime occurred, there is going to be a justification and cause for acquittal that will protect us."
Inestroza's "logic" in justifying the coup despite its inherent illegality brings back memories of the Bush administration's "logic" in justifying its own crimes against the Constitution and humanity.
That doesn't make it right.
My Honduran correspondent told me that he wants democracy in his country, and he accused the ousted Zelaya of being anti-democracy.
But Zalaya had been democratically elected. And he was militarily (not democratically) ousted.
As George W. Bush never seemed to understand, you cannot spread democracy at the point of a gun.
No comments:
Post a Comment