The Honduran presidential election’s home stretch is replete with threats, censorship, lies on the part of the de facto president and an embarrassingly compromised role played by the United States. It is difficult to imagine an effective democracy emerging from these conditions that can heal the divisions caused by the Honduran coup d’etat.
At this stage, deposed President Mel Zelaya’s return to power is almost secondary, although it is worth noting that agreements weren’t honored and the White House has played a contradictory role. The Obama administration has recognized Zelaya’s ambassador as the legitimate representative of the country and, at the same time, been active in the process that has undermined him.
All of Latin America should worry about the U.S. double-speak that, in the long run, is supporting a government created when the military forced the exile of a democratically elected president. Whether due to hypocrisy or ineptness, to date, the Obama administration is rewarding the coup.
We believe that the U.S. wants a democratic solution to the crisis. The problem is that the conditions for an open process don’t exist. For example, there are the threats made by de facto President Roberto Micheletti to charge anyone using the media to encourage voters not to participate in the upcoming election when absentiism is part of the political landscape. Or, consider the situation of the interference with or shutting down of media outlets, as happened with Honduran TV Channel 36.
Despite all this, Micheletti has wrapped himself in the cloak of constitutionality, choosing what he wants to respect and ignoring the rest. The height of absurdity is his temporary withdrawal from office between November 25 to December 2 to put the election in the best light, but threatening to retake the presidency if there are any incidents.
Micheletti’s manner is authoritarian and paternalistic, with some comical aspects worthy of the some of the bizarre dictatorships of the past. This is an inauspicious beginning to a democratic, post-electoral period. Eventually Zelaya and Micheletti will both be irrelevant in the country’s next chapter, but the polarization fueled by the re-election ambitions of one and dictatorial intransigence of the other will linger on.
Healing this open wound and governing for the good of all Hondurans will be a difficult task left to the next president.
The Honduran presidential election’s home stretch is replete with threats, censorship, lies on the part of the de facto president and an embarrassingly compromised role played by the United States. It is difficult to imagine an effective democracy emerging from these conditions that can heal the divisions caused by the Honduran coup d’etat.
At this stage, deposed President Mel Zelaya’s return to power is almost secondary, although it is worth noting that agreements weren’t honored and the White House has played a contradictory role. The Obama administration has recognized Zelaya’s ambassador as the legitimate representative of the country and, at the same time, been active in the process that has undermined him.
All of Latin America should worry about the U.S. double-speak that, in the long run, is supporting a government created when the military forced the exile of a democratically elected president. Whether due to hypocrisy or ineptness, to date, the Obama administration is rewarding the coup.
We believe that the U.S. wants a democratic solution to the crisis. The problem is that the conditions for an open process don’t exist. For example, there are the threats made by de facto President Roberto Micheletti to charge anyone using the media to encourage voters not to participate in the upcoming election when absentiism is part of the political landscape. Or, consider the situation of the interference with or shutting down of media outlets, as happened with Honduran TV Channel 36.
Despite all this, Micheletti has wrapped himself in the cloak of constitutionality, choosing what he wants to respect and ignoring the rest. The height of absurdity is his temporary withdrawal from office between November 25 to December 2 to put the election in the best light, but threatening to retake the presidency if there are any incidents.
