Caudillo or Hero?

June 28th was a great day for democracy...at least until the events of that day pan out. On June 28th, the Leftist president of Honduras, Mr. Manuel Zelaya, was dismissed from office by the Honduran Army, an army loyal to the state rather than the president. While Hondurans cheered at the subsequent swearing in of Mr. Roberto Micheletti as the new president, Zelaya had already begun collecting his international allies in an offensive of words and sanctions that have been rarely used. As the leaders of the 'free world' bore down on the small Central American state, Micheletti and his people refused to allow Zelaya back into the country, even with reduced powers.

The Latin American republics have often been trivialized by army tough-men, called Caudillos, taking power at will from democratically elected leaders. However, this case does not fit that typical Latin American model. The Honduran Army acted on orders from the Congress in deposing Zelaya and, in a shocking move, placed Zelaya's proper successor in power instead of seizing it for itself.

But, why would the Army oust a sitting president? Well, that may be for many reasons, some unknown. Zelaya had tried to hold a plebiscite concerning proposed changes to the Honduran Constitution, which, as many have stated, would have led to the Constitution being fundamentally altered to offer the president unlimited terms in office. Such moves on behalf of Latin American presidents, especially members of the New Left, are frequent, i.e. Hugo Chavez. However, in this case, the Supreme Court of Honduras declared such a vote illegal and issued orders for the detention of Zelaya. Zelaya was then jetted out of the country and barred from reentry.

Since then, the US and many other nations have condemned Micheletti and the Honduran Army, and have aided Zelaya in trying to regain his position. Economic sanctions have been imposed by the US and the OAS, cutting down on valuable trade for the Honduran economy.

This is wrong. To say that a president is so just because he was democratically elected is farcical at best. Wasn't Hitler democratically elected? And it would have been applauded in 1943 if the German Army deposed Hitler. However, the so-called democrats of today, most of them Democrats with a big 'd', feel that such leaders have a mandate from the people and should be left to serve in their capacity, even if that means taking a little illegal initiative and altering the constitution so as to become a modern-day dictator. Such thoughts are dangerous and ignorant.

Micheletti should be recognized by the international community as the true president of Honduras. Zelaya should remain exiled. And the Army of Honduras should be applauded for saving democracy from itself.