by whatname

Created on: August 23, 2009

August 22, 2009

Analysis of 2009's political crisis in Honduras

1. Introduction

Coup d'tats in Latin America and military dictatorships in the region seemed to belong to an increasingly distant past. In spite of the political unrest and corruption in several Central and South American countries, undesirable situations such as the one that is developing in Honduras, which has been labeled by the international community as a military coup, a regression in democracy, and a threat to the political stability of several countries of that region, seemed improbable. The progress in electoral processes' transparency, the end of active militarism, and the submission of governors to democratic institutions made us believe that it would be unnecessary for a country to have to consider, much less execute, the forceful removal of a democratically elected president. The events that are currently taking place in Honduras prove us that the potential for a return to marked and violent internal divisions, violations of human rights, and abuses to the Constitution continues to exist, in spite of claims of adherence to the Republic's Constitution and to the ideals of democracy from all parties involved. In this paper I will discuss the current Honduran crisis, its possible causes, the main actors involved from all sides, and the responses and interventions of the international community. I will provide information about events that took place, while sharing my opinions about particular aspects of them.

2. Detention and expatriation of President Zelaya

On June 28 2009, members of the Honduran military entered the Honduran Presidential House, disarmed the Presidential Guard and arrested President Jos Manuel Zelaya. They immediately sent him to Costa Rica, while the Honduran parliament assigned a replacement acting president, Roberto Micheletti, who, as the president of the National Congress, according to the Constitution, had to temporarily assume the functions of the Head of State in the president's absence[1]. The order of the president's expulsion from Honduras was given by the Honduran Supreme Court[2] and was carried out by the Honduran armed forces, while claiming that their actions were done according to their constitutional duty to the Republic. As an anonymous blogger on the Honduran crisis writes, the Armed Forces want everyone to know that whatever they end up doing, it will be by the book. Which, they continue to protest, was what they thought

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