Let people decide future, sooner not later
By Marifeli Pérez-Stable
The Miami Herald, August 27, 2009
It's been two months since the coup in Honduras. The Arias plan -- issued by the Costa Rican president -- calls for Manuel Zelaya's return with diminished powers and an amnesty for all parties in the events before June 28 and since then. Hondurans and foreigners brandish powerful legal arguments to justify the ``presidential succession'' or Zelaya as the ``legitimate president.''
Roberto Micheletti's government stands on the circumstances before June 28. Since March, Zelaya had made holding a referendum -- a first step, many Hondurans feared, to make Honduras more like Venezuela -- his government's centerpiece. By so doing, Zelaya -- Congress and the Supreme Court argued -- was flying in the face of the Constitution.
Zelaya's supporters, the OAS and most of the international community look only at the June 28 coup without much concern for what was happening before. Zelayistas take to the streets daily to challenge the de facto government. Arias and the Obama administration -- neither a fan of Hugo Chavez's model of gutting democracy from within -- have called for Zelaya's return.
On almost any issue, convincing legal arguments can be made for and against. On a matter as charged as Honduras under Zelaya and now Micheletti, however, politics must be brought to bear. The Arias plan proposes a political accord by reinstating Zelaya with constrained powers and declaring an across-the-board amnesty.
Here are two primary issues that a political resolution must address.
• Shouldn't Hondurans -- particularly those who concede some points to the other side -- and the international community end the crisis by making sure a legitimate electoral process is held no later than November even if Zelaya is not reinstated?
• The de facto government is digging in its heels on the constitutional violations perpetrated before June 28. Not only does Zelaya face charges but now some of his ministers do as well. The constitution hasn't always been upheld in Honduras without, I suspect, much consequence. Using the courts now smacks too much of vengeance.
If Zelaya can't be trusted to mend his ways should he be returned to finish his term, neither have traditional politicians given much evidence of understanding how much Honduras has changed. Zelaya's message tapped the anger felt by many poor Hondurans as well as by a sector of the middle class and even some among the most privileged.
Well before June 28, these politicians had little to show for themselves except a culture of impunity, corruption and back-room deals. Except for his leftist turn, Zelaya also behaved like a traditional politician in office. The main contenders to succeed him -- Elvin Santos (Liberal Party) or Porfirio ``Pepe'' Lobo (National Party) -- are simply clueless regarding the citizenry's anger. Zelaya wasn't, but seemed more interested in fueling it than in governing well to redress its roots.
After a five-day visit to Honduras, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission just released a preliminary report. IHRC President Luz Mejía, noted ``the existence of a pattern of disproportionate use of force, arbitrary detentions and the control of information to limit the political participation of a sector of the public.''
Excessive force by the police is likely responsible for four fatalities.
The Micheletti government's human-rights violations are deplorable. Still, in light of Latin America's record between the 1960s and 1980s, these are in another league altogether. That the June 28 coup isn't like the military coups that felled democracies in earlier times is also a political fact that merits consideration.
The OAS Democratic Charter guards democracy against bygone threats but not from today's as posed by Chávez and his ilk. That, too, is a political issue. How long will countries such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico continue in public denial of the obvious? Democracy is again under siege but from new quarters.
Honduras offers many lessons. Once out in the open, for example, popular anger is not easily quieted. The status quo ante is simply not an option. National reconciliation and good governance are of the essence. We'll see if Honduran elites are even minimally up to the tasks that await them.