Posted on 09/25/2009 12:11:53 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
The official position of the Obama administration casts the removal of Manuel Zelaya from office in Honduras as an illegal coup detat, and almost every other nation in the region has lined up with the US or more accurately, we have lined up with them. The Hugo Chavez protege has used this international support to demand a return to his office, and the US has ratcheted up the pressure by canceling visa services and suspending aid to the poor nation, which had been until now a fairly reliable friend in Latin America. Even with Zelaya spewing paranoid rantings about Israeli mercenaries and mind rays, the Obama administration has not budged from its position.
But was Zelayas removal actually illegal? The Congressional Research Service analyzed it, and concluded that Honduras parliament and Supreme Court, while lacking an impeachment mechanism in the countrys constitution, had the authority to issue an arrest warrant for Zelaya and remove him from office (via Fausta Wertz):
V. Was the removal of Honduran President Zelaya legal, in accordance with Honduran constitutional and statutory law?
Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system.
However, removal of President Zelaya from the country by the military is in direct violation of the Article 102 of the Constitution, and apparently this action is currently under investigation by the Honduran authorities.
The Hondurans made a blunder by exiling Zelaya. Had they kept him in custody, very little of what followed would have occurred.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
If Zelaya wants his day in court, that is easily rectified. Just step outside the embassy.
“The official position of the Obama administration casts the removal of Manuel Zelaya from office in Honduras as an illegal coup detat.”
This is the position they will take if our military does the same. But like Zelaya they will get no sympathy.
do ya think Bam may be slowly backing away now that Zelaya has been issuing tinfoil hat pronouncements from the basement of the Brazilian Embassy?
Article 102: No Honduran citizen can be expatriated or handed over by the authorities to a foreign state.
Article 42: The status of citizenship is lost when:
4) Restricting the liberty to vote, altering electoral documents, or employing fraudulent means to undermine the will and the vote of the people.
5) Inciting, promoting, or supporting the continuance or reelection of the President of the Republic of Honduras.
“The Hondurans made a blunder by exiling Zelaya. Had they kept him in custody, very little of what followed would have occurred.”
I disagree. Obama and the other dictators/would-be dictators in the OAS and beyond would have supported Zelaya against the law of Honduras regardless of his removal from the country. It is what thugs do.
The constitutional case for Zelaya’s ouster is outlined in the following post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2348299/posts
“The Hondurans made a blunder by exiling Zelaya. Had they kept him in custody, very little of what followed would have occurred.”
There is no basis to know that “what followed” would NOT have occurred had Zelaya been allowed to remain in the country.
He had already demonstrated that he was willing to ignore the law to seek his political aims. There is no basis to believe he would have suddenly become “law abiding” in continuation of that pursuit if allowed freedom inside Honduras.
Honduran officials did what they rightfully believed was best for the country - kick the dictator-wanna-be out.
One bullet,one kill. And it has Zelaya name on it
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