Honduras Elects Porfirio Lobo As New President

Guardian ^ | 11/30/09 | Rory Carroll

[steve-b]

A wealthy rancher was due to be declared Honduras's new president today after a tumultuous election dogged by the overthrow of his predecessor.

Preliminary results gave Porfirio Lobo 56% of votes, prompting cavalcades of cheering, honking supporters in the streets of the capital, Tegucigalpa. His nearest rival, Elvin Santos of the ruling Liberal party, conceded defeat.

Lobo, from the centre-right National party, promised to unify a country polarised by the military-led coup against Manuel Zelaya in June, a political shock which rattled Latin America and left Honduras isolated and stripped of aid and investment....

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal said 61% of registered voters cast ballots, a big jump from the barely half who voted in the 2005 election won by Zelaya. Local media, which backed the coup, hailed a "historic" turnout....

But critics said the election was neither free nor fair and had whitewashed the coup. Leftist governments including those of Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela said they would not recognise the vote, branding it a farce which could embolden coup-minded conservative forces across the region...

[Tax-chick]

The use of foreign words and phrases is always rife with risk.

[dinodino]

...especially if you can’t spell.

[dangus]

Hmph. I see that they are calling 1.8 million votes out of 4.6 million registered a turnout of 61%. That doesn’t compute.

[AmericanInTokyo]

I should watch my language, yes. But after the beauty of yesterday, followed by the senselessness of the US Government statement today, I am about to pop a corpuscle in my brain! Argggggghhhh....

[onedoug]

¡Viva Honduras!

[dangus]

... or is it that the 1.8 million votes is based on incomplete results, and is expected to rise?

[Tax-chick]

Many people *hear* words like voila or bourgeois used, but perhaps don't see them in print.

It wouldn't have been a Typso - just an error - if "boor joie" didn't mean something funny on its own.

[Tax-chick]

I used to be able to do that with the exclamation marks, but I’ve forgotten how. I should look up the html and add it to my profile for reference.

[N. Theknow]

WTF is a “boor joie?”

Is that English?

It's the way bourgeois is pronounced in Southern France.

[astyanax]

from Power Line:
"Its Congress Supreme Court, Human Rights Ombudsman and Attorney General supported Zelaya's ouster for violating the country's constitution. The Honduran military acted as ordered by the country's civilian authorities. Zelaya's successor (Roberto Micheletti) conducted himself with grace and nobility in vindicating the legitimacy of the ruling authorities.

Subsequent review of the acts in issue by the Law Library of the United States Congress affirmed their legality, with the exception of the expatriation of Zelaya. Zelaya has nevertheless re-entered Honduras and remains holed up in Brazil's Honduran embassy."

Hundreds of decent sources for this story, and of course you post one of the few that still try to pretend it was a "coup"...

[Mrs. Don-o]

Did you say the mass media is bu!!$ht?

"May the Admin Mod absolve you, and by his authority I absolve you from every body of excommunication, suspension, and interdict, to the extent of my power and your need."

[Buckeye McFrog]

the latest scuttlebutt is that the Hondurans have Zelaya’s laptop in their possession, which contains the pre-determined fixed results of his aborted constitutional referendum. The Obamaites were forced to back off because the Democrat Party can’t stand to have the issue of manipulated computer voting constantly in the headlines.

[azcap]

“It’s a shame the United States didn’t provide the strong leadership needed to help Honduras through this time of upheaval.”

Yes it is but the silver lining is that the leftists can’t criticize the government by saying that they are just American pawns. We did nothing to help them get elected.

[cookcounty]

" was the whole Honduran thingy another example of bammy jumping to conclusions?"

That is exactly what it was. I remain utterly astonished at the United States' ham-fisted attempt to SUBVERT the Constitution of Honduras. Now THERE is one place Obama should go to and "Bow Down, Bow Down, Bow Wa-a-y Down," (I can't recall the name of the tune or the original lyrics, can anybody out there name it? It's just perfect for Paul Shanklin.

[onedoug]

I get it from my WP program, re “Symbol”, then just copy it over.

Español esta bien, pero Ingles es mas descriptivo.

[cookcounty]

I would love to see Sarah Palin attend the inauguration and when asked for her thoughts, tell the press that it saddens her to see that our President does not understand the concept of constitutional law.

....just to see the press with 10,000 bees in their bonnets.

[Redleg Duke]

Yes, but the media is in the tank for the commies and they will continue to keep repeating this lie.

[Tax-chick]

Claro que si.

[RegulatorCountry]

It's got a certain boor joie de vivre, n'est-ce pas? Rather like Bill Clinton.

[RegulatorCountry]

I’ve heard radio announcers pronounce </i>voila</i> as “VOY-lah” before. Almost as funny as vee-OH-lah. But not as funny as walla. Voila Voila, Voishington, lol.