Posted on 06/28/2009 8:38:28 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - More than a dozen soldiers arrested President Manuel Zelaya and disarmed his security guards after surrounding his residence before dawn Sunday, his private secretary said. Protesters called it a coup and flocked to the presidential palace as local news media reported that Zelaya was sent into exile.
The chief executive was detained shortly before voting was to begin on a constitutional referendum the president had insisted on holding even though the Supreme Court ruled it illegal and everyone from the military to Congress and members of his own party opposed it.
Zelaya was taken into military custody at his house outside the capital, Tegucigalpa, and whisked away to an air force base on the outskirts of the city, his private secretary, Carlos Enrique Reina told The Associated Press.
Tanks rolled through the streets and Army trucks carrying hundreds of soldiers equipped with metal riot shields surrounded the presidential palace in the capital's center. About 100 Zelaya supporters, many wearing "Yes," T-shirts for the referendum, blocked the main street outside the gates to the palace, throwing rocks and insults at soldiers and shouting "Traitors! Traitors!"
It was not immediately clear who was running the government. Soldiers appeared to be in control, but the constitution mandates that the head of Congress is next in line to the presidency, followed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
He was actually trying to carry out the famous dictator technique, the “auto-golpe,” or self-coup. This is where a person legitimatelly elected to an office simply announces that he’s staying, usually be means of a manipulated referendum or a parliamentary procedure that gives him the office permanently and removes any limits from his powers.
The Courts had ruled against it, he did it anyway, and I’m glad somebody had enough common sense to enforce the rulings before we got yet another leftist dictatorship in Latin America.
Sounds to me so far as if the army is doing it’s duty by defending the constitution from domestic enemies. Zelaya was simply ignoring any law that he found inconvenient.
It’s not a military coup if the army steps back to let civilians resume control.
From your lips to God’s ears!
(These newspaper people are not doing their homework. He is in Costa Rica.)
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was arrested by soldiers earlier on Sunday, is in Costa Rica and has asked for asylum, CNN’s Spanish-language channel reported, citing the Costa Rican government.
Zelaya, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, had provoked a political crisis after seeking to hold a consultative vote on constitutional reforms that a court ruled was illegal.
(Reporting by Robert Campbell, editing by Chris Wilson)
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55R0US20090628
Hopefully you are next, Obama.
It’s too bad our commander in chief doesn’t fall under the UCMJ. The folks that tried that on Clinton ended up retiring that day or being charged with mutiny. Nothing like a good junta to liven up the weekend news.
It would be nice to see something similar in Venezuela and Bolivia.
Thanks for the link.
You are most welcome.
Kinda gives a person a belief that real hope and change can occur.
I wonder how far out of control the actions of our government would have to go before our military would do something similar here, and intervene to ‘defend the constitution’.
We can only hope..........
Have you ever read “Seven Days in May”?
Guess who he comes out to defend: The Honduran president, Chavez, Morales, Castro.
Augusto would have been proud. NO COMMIES!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.