Ros-Lehtinen Rips Obama on Honduras

Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:37 PM

Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is taking issue with the Obama administration over "concerns about the U.S. approach to human rights, democratic principles, rule of law, and constitutional institutions" as a result of the crisis in Honduras.


The Honduran army forced President Maneul Zelaya from office a week ago, sparking an outcry from the Organization of American States and other nations. Zelaya's ouster came as he was working to revise the Honduran constitution, and the country's new rulers have threatened to arrest him on nearly 20 charges, including treason.


President Barack Obama has said the United States will "stand on the side of democracy" to resolve the conflict, insisting that Zelaya is still the rightful Honduran leader.


"It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition rather than democratic elections," he said last week. "The region has made enormous progress over the last 20 years in establishing democratic traditions. ... We don't want to go back to a dark past."


In a letter to Obama, Ros-Lehtinen slams the administration's "mypoic" approach, saying "the U.S. stance from the onset appears to have been focused on supporting one individual, President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, irrespective of the Honduran constitution, rule of law, and democratic institutions. ... [T]here has been no apparent attempt by the U.S to discern the truth about the status of democratic and constitutional order in this Central American country, before making summary conclusions and issuing condemnations based on incomplete information."


Ros-Lehtinen says the Honduran crisis actually began in March, when Zelaya issued an executive order to hold a referendum on extending his term in office. Ros-Lehtinen says that move was unconstitutional. She also points to Zelaya's attempt in June to force "government employees to participate in the 'Public Opinion Poll to convene a National Constitutional Assembly,' which would have reportedly triggered Article 239 of the Honduran constitution requiring he be relieved of his duties and office. The U.S. failed to respond. This marked a serious failure in U.S. diplomacy and democracy advocacy. As such, many would argue, that the U.S. is complicit in the escalation of the constitutional crisis in Honduras."

Ros-Lehtinen ends the letter expressing the hope that the Obama administration "will not have the U.S. response hinge on unconfirmed reports and accusations by sources with a vested interest in ensuring a particular outcome that may, or may not, be in the interest of the United States."

Meanwhile, the Sandinistas are moving to the Honduran border.

TEGUCIGALPA, July 5 (Reuters) - Honduras' interim President Roberto Micheletti said on Sunday Nicaraguan troops were moving to the mutual frontier and urged Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to respect Honduran sovereignty.

He gave no further details about troop movements in Nicaragua which shares a border with Honduras to the southeast of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

His comments came as ousted President Manuel Zelaya attempted to fly home a week after he was ousted in a coup. Zelaya is a left-wing ally of Ortega and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

The interim government said it had contacted the Organization of American States to express its willingness to enter dialogue. The OAS earlier on Sunday suspended Honduras for refusing to reinstate Zelaya.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N05200016.htm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090706/ap_o...duras_coup

Quote:Zelaya called on the United Nations, the OAS, the United States and European countries to "do something with this repressive regime."

This is rich. Irony doesn't come any more amusing than this.

A leftist Central American leader begging the US to essentially interfere in the internal affairs of their country? LOL. When the shoe's on the other foot, I guess they don't mind the ol' Yankees stepping into the game, do they?

Zelaya deserves to get booted from his post, no doubt. He's another loony, arrogant Chavez will no regard for domestic law and wants massive, single-rule power by any means possible. The only issue here is that a military coup is an ugly - although immediately effective - way of dealing with this dirtbag, making it difficult for democratic governments like ours to fully endorse.

Arrest and prosecution would've been the better way to go, even if it still angered the likes of Chavez, Castro and UC-Berkeley.

Ghosts of Iran-Contra and Reagan's messes in Central and South America are piling up.

(07-06-2009 01:30 AM)RockyMtnRamfan Wrote:  Ghosts of Iran-Contra and Reagan's messes in Central and South America are piling up.

Wow....are you stupid.

(07-06-2009 01:30 AM)RockyMtnRamfan Wrote:  Ghosts of Iran-Contra and Reagan's messes in Central and South America are piling up.

If you just let out a little cry, your momma will change your diaper.

(07-06-2009 01:30 AM)RockyMtnRamfan Wrote:  Ghosts of Iran-Contra and Reagan's messes in Central and South America are piling up.

Yeah, and Ollie North is down there Brokering the Deal for Reagan's Ghost as we speak.

Do you have to work at being an Idiot or did it just come naturally (seems a natural talent to me)

You are such a child - - do YOU know anything about Coup's in these types of countries ????

Usually and that means 99% of the Time, if caught, the "Old Leader" is EXECUTED in a VERY UGLY WAY along with his Family.

These guys did not harm the Old President and even dropped him off in Friendly Territory.

Are you honestly more than 10 in both Age AND I.Q. ???

Geeze boy, you make Forest Gump look like a Rhodes Scholar in comparison.

.

He wouldn't know a "Ghost of Iran-Contra", if it sat in his lap and called him Mama. Ignorant Liberal.

Honduras has long standing memories of U.S. intervention in their political structure. It began with the United Fruit Co. in 1910, which eventually led to the CIA assistance in overthrowing the pro-Soviet Guatemalan government in 1954, in order to win back United Fruit's banana plantations in Guatamala, which were nationalized after the pro-Soviet government was elected by the people...

We have a long history of screwing over Latin-American countries in order to advance our interests. I can't believe anyone is actually debating this.

(07-06-2009 08:24 PM)dwr0109 Wrote:  We have a long history of screwing over Latin-American countries in order to advance our interests. I can't believe anyone is actually debating this.

It's called the "Monroe Doctrine"... which declares Central America off limits to European (foreign) influence.