For once I can say - there was no coup. The military did the right thing. The president Zelaya wanted the general to organize a referendum (not approved by the Congress/Supreme Court/etc) to change the constitution so that he can run for another term. The general refused to break the law. So the president fired the general. So Zelaya was going to find someone else in the military to force a referendum to change the constitution, a move rejected by not only the Supreme Court but the Congress as well. The military did the right thing and removed the retard before the country descended into chaos. And they didnt kill him or torture him, they just peacefully sent him to Costa Rica. There was no foreign involvement in this. Well, I suppose Chavez wanted his henchman to remain in power, well too bad!

Bravo, Honduras, bravo. The world is looking at you, with inspiration and awe. Its very rare when a country deposes a corrupt leader in a proper way. I'm impressed.

I know some countries are already calling it a coup, criticizing the chain of events, calling for "order" ( ), but so far I dont see anything wrong. A rule of law, following the Constitution - thats how it should be. And if the leader tries to go and override the law, Congress and Supreme Court, in any country in the world, police needs to remove such an idiot from power before any harm is done to the country.

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Here's a comprehensive article on this. Considering that Honduras is a very poor country, I am surprised they've handled this well. Note the areas in bold - anything wrong with deposing the corrupt leader? I dont think so.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8123126.stm

quote:

Honduran leader forced into exile Troops in Honduras have ousted the president and flown him out of the country after a power struggle over plans to change the constitution. After arriving in Costa Rica, deposed President Manuel Zelaya said he had been kidnapped by soldiers in a "coup". Mr Zelaya, elected for a non-renewable four-year term in 2006, had wanted a vote to extend his time in office. His arrest came just before the start of a referendum ruled illegal by the Supreme Court and opposed by Congress. There had also been resistance within Mr Zelaya's own party to the plan for the vote. 'Arrested in pyjamas' Congress swiftly appointed its speaker Roberto Micheletti - a member of Mr Zelaya's Liberal Party, but an opponent of him - as acting head of state. The day's drama began at dawn on Sunday when soldiers stormed the president's residence in the capital, Tegucigalpa, an hour before polls were to open. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in Costa Rica on Sunday 28 June 2009 Mr Zelaya was taken to an airbase outside the city and rumours swirled over his whereabouts. The BBC's Stephen Gibbs, in the region, says armoured vehicles were on the streets and troops fired tear gas to disperse the president's supporters outside his home. Several hours later Mr Zelaya turned up in Costa Rica and said troops had "kidnapped" him in his pyjamas. He insisted he was still the rightful president and urged Hondurans to resist those who had removed him. "This was a plot by a very voracious elite, an elite which wants only to keep this country isolated, in an extreme level of poverty," he said. Later the Honduran Supreme Court said it had ordered the removal of the president, who had been due to leave office next January. Then Congress produced what it said was Mr Zelaya's letter of resignation, which it voted to accept. The ousted president dismissed the letter as a fake. There was international condemnation of events in Honduras: Took office in Jan 2006; beat ruling National Party candidate Has moved Honduras away from its traditional ally the US Enjoys the support of Venezuela's leftist President, Hugo Chavez A civil engineer and rancher by profession • At an emergency meeting in Washington, the Organization of American States said it was a "coup" • Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, blamed "the Yankee empire", and threatened military action should the Venezuelan ambassador to Honduras be attacked; President Evo Morales of Bolivia described Mr Zelaya's removal as "an assault on democracy" • The White House denied any involvement; President Barack Obama urged Honduras to "respect the rule of law" and a State Department official said America recognised Mr Zelaya as the duly elected president • The European Union called for "a swift return to constitutional normality" in Honduras The military's dramatic move came after President Zelaya sacked the chief of the army, Gen Romeo Vasquez, on Wednesday for refusing to help him organise the referendum. A day later, the Honduran Congress approved plans to investigate whether the president should be declared unfit to rule. In an interview with Spain's El Pais newspaper published on Sunday, Mr Zelaya said a plot to topple him had been thwarted after the US refused to back it. The Central American country - an impoverished coffee and banana-exporting nation of more than 7 million people - has experienced military coups in the past. Soldiers overthrew elected presidents in 1963 and again in 1975; the military did not turn the government over to civilians until 1981.

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I am deeply annoyed by the world condemnation of the "coup". People are fucking retarded. Hypocrites, ingorant fools. Zelaya was the one who was breaking the rule of law, not the people who ousted him (according to the instructions by their Congress).

Oh wait ... I know why the world is criticizing Honduras. Because there are so many corrupt leaders around the world, they feel threatened by this bold move, and fear that the same could happen to them if they go against the Constitution and the rule of law. Those people, obviously, dont want this "coup" to succeed.

Read more:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8123513.stm

quote:

A new president has been sworn into office in Honduras, hours after the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya. Congress speaker Roberto Micheletti will serve as interim president until polls are held, Congress said. The removal of Mr Zelaya by the army came amid a power struggle over his plans for constitutional change. The swearing in of Roberto Micheletti - constitutionally second in line for the presidency - was greeted with applause in Congress. Congress said he would serve until 27 January, when Mr Zelaya's term was due to expire. Presidential elections are planned for 29 November. Both Congress and the courts had opposed Mr Zelaya's referendum, which asked Hondurans to endorse a vote on unspecified constitutional changes alongside the November elections. Tensions over the issue had been escalating for several days, with the army refusing to help with preparations for the referendum. But Congress said it had voted to remove him because of his "repeated violations of the constitution and the law and disregard of orders and judgments of the institutions". In Tegucigalpa, groups of Zelaya supporters were setting up roadblocks around the presidential palace, Reuters said.

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homeboy tried to pull a Chavez

I thought that when people want to bring a corrupt leader to justice, they bring him to court and start a legal process, not barge into his home in the middle of the night and force the guy (still in his pajamas) into some helicopter, but of course I could be wrong.

Oh, and if the guy's a despot, then why does Obama express hope that he'll be back in power?

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quote:

Originally posted by HardTranceProd I thought that when people want to bring a corrupt leader to justice, they bring him to court and start a legal process, not barge into his home in the middle of the night and force the guy (still in his pajamas) into some helicopter, but of course I could be wrong

Indeed, thats probably more appropriate ... I guess the military and the constitutional forces were afraid that he may come back to power and take revenge or something.

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quote:

Originally posted by Q5echo homeboy tried to pull a Chavez

This.

No doubt with a nudge from Chavez as well considering the barking he's now doing....

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The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass...and then you see it...
...white shores...and beyond...the far green country under a swift sunrise."

quote:

Originally posted by Magnetonium Indeed, thats probably more appropriate ... I guess the military and the constitutional forces were afraid that he may come back to power and take revenge or something.

I would have to say, 'nipping it in the bud' more like...

___________________
"...End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path...one that we all must take.
The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass...and then you see it...
...white shores...and beyond...the far green country under a swift sunrise."

quote:

Originally posted by Magnetonium I am deeply annoyed by the world condemnation of the "coup". People are fucking retarded. Hypocrites, ingorant fools. Zelaya was the one who was breaking the rule of law, not the people who ousted him (according to the instructions by their Congress).

+1... which makes it even more disturbing that the Obama administration was siding with Zelaya and trying to prevent his ouster! (Don't mettle in Iran, but get involved in Honduras immediately... got it).

quote:

Reaction to the apparent coup was swift. U.S. President Barack Obama said he was “deeply concerned” and called on all political actors in Honduras to “respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference,” he said. The Obama administration worked in recent days to prevent President Zelaya’s ouster, a senior U.S. official said. The State Department, in particular, communicated to Honduran officials on the ground that President Obama wouldn’t support any non-democratic transfer of power in the Central American country. “We had some indication” that a move against Mr. Zelaya was a foot, said a U.S. official briefed on the diplomacy. “We made it clear it was something we didn’t support.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined Mr. Obama Sunday in criticizing the Honduran coup and calling for the restoration of the democratic process. “We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation, and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue,” Mrs. Clinton said in a statement.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124619401378065339.html

1 of 2 things comes to mind here... either Obama and Hillary didn't actually understand the "rule of law" in the Honduras government and made another sweet foreign policy move, or they know Zelaya is a Chavez puppet and want to stay in good relations with ole Hugo. I'm patiently waiting for those who steadfastly stood behind Obama's strategy not to mettle in Iran to denounce the administrations swift interjection on this one.

quote:

Originally posted by The17sss +1... which makes it even more disturbing that the Obama administration was siding with Zelaya and trying to prevent his ouster! (Don't mettle in Iran, but get involved in Honduras immediately... got it). http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124619401378065339.html 1 of 2 things comes to mind here... either Obama and Hillary didn't actually understand the "rule of law" in the Honduras government and made another sweet foreign policy move, or they know Zelaya is a Chavez puppet and want to stay in good relations with ole Hugo. I'm patiently waiting for those who steadfastly stood behind Obama's strategy not to mettle in Iran to denounce the administrations swift interjection on this one.

i'm with you here. what would we do if president bush stayed in the white house after obama was elected in office: arrest the mofo. Because it was the military and not the police is of no consequence to me.

quote:

Originally posted by jerZ07002 i'm with you here. what would we do if president bush stayed in the white house after obama was elected in office: arrest the mofo. Because it was the military and not the police is of no consequence to me.

Where is the outrage over this? Obama is publicly siding with what Chavez, Ortega, and Castro are demanding... all countries with anti-American sentiment, and knowingly going aginst the country's own constitution! And he's not getting called out on it! WTF. Say it out loud to get a sense of how fucking unbelievable it is: "Obama is supporting anti-American interests and calling for the rule of law to be implemented by rejecting Honduras' constitutional RULE OF LAW."

Rick Moran sums it up nicely:

quote:

Further, the military was acting under the orders of the Honduran Supreme Court although they apparently exceeded their authority by whisking him away to Venezuela. And finally, it was Zelaya’s actions in violating the constitution, ignoring a ruling by the Supreme Court that any referendum be put on would be illegal, and the universal belief in Congress, the military, and much of the populace that eventually, he would little more than a stand in for Chavez if he was allowed to carry out his illegal referendum that sealed Zelaya’s fate. And yet our president, acting contrary to American interests, chose the route of least resistance and condemned what many Hondurans believe was a restoration of constitutional order. The president will find himself in familiar territory with this condemnation - Castro, Ortega, and other Latin American leftist thugs also condemned the coup. Maybe someone could look it up but when was the last time we were on the same side with Cuba on any international issue? Way to go Barry. Like, we should listen to the Castros when they complain about democratic procedure not being followed? In fact, after swearing off “interferring” in Iran where demonstrators were getting shot, beaten, and axed to death, our clueless Chief Hypocrite worked frantically behind the scenes to save Honduran President Zelaya’s job, thus [interfering] on the wrong side while making himself out a liar on Iran.