On June 26, 2009, the Supreme Court of Honduras ordered the military of the country to arrest the then- President, Manuel Zelaya. The military (allegedly aided by the Pentagon) obeyed, and two days later, took the President at gunpoint from his house, put him in a plane and dropped him off on a runway in Costa Rica, in the middle of the night, in his pyjamas.
Zelaya had been growing increasingly unpopular among the people in the prior months, and there had been increasing fears of his trying to capture more power than he had. The Honduran people for years had been battling myriad, interconnected problems such as privatisation of water, transnational mining, powerful drug cartels and a corrupt and brutal police. It has a long history of military and authoritarian rule, which is why the most sacrosanct features of the Honduran Constitution are the Unchangeable Articles, which prohibit, among other things, re-election of the President for a second term. Zelaya had been re-elected in 2005, amidst widespread protests and allegations of a rigged election,
Hence, when in March 2009, Zelaya started talking about putting together a Constituent Assembly with the power to amend the constitution, alarm bells began ringing across the country. Interestingly, Zelaya (called the “egalitarian” President by his admirers) wanted this done democratically. His idea was to take it forward after popular approval, which is why, during the November 2009 elections, an extra ballot box was to be put at every polling centre for the people to vote for/ against the assembly. The ‘cuarta una’ or the ‘fourth box’, however, created a wave of suspicion, opposition and debate in the country. This was mainly because the Constitution was not an extremely rigid one, and had been amended many a times before. The people couldn’t see why Zelaya would want the Constitution more malleable than it was, so close to the general elections, if not to tamper with the re-election clause and come to power yet again. Such was the public reaction against it that a public referendum was decided upon, to be held on June 29, to understand what the people really wanted. On that very day, however, came the “coup”, backed by the Supreme Court, the Attorney General and the national Congress.
The coup took the entire country by surprise. Despite the fact that tensions had been growing, no one had expected the President to be whisked off and abandoned in another country in the middle of the night. Not many were happy about it, either. There was a fear of having turned full circle to yet another military regime after some years of democracy, and public outrage was immediate and immense. Youngsters, teachers, farmers and different factions of society took to the streets, braving severe police and military repression and organising itself gradually into what is today called the Resistance. Frente Nacional de la Resistencia Popular (National Front of Popular Resistance, FNRP) is an organised body of social workers, journalists and other strong voices, working towards regaining democracy in Honduras. It holds the authority to criticise the current regime and put forth its demands before it, and be heard. Its initial demand was the return of Zelaya to the Honduras from Brazil, where he had been given sanctuary.
This call was echoed by the international community, especially by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombian President Juan Manual Santos. The two were on extremely good terms with Zelaya, and had been special guests at his swearing- in ceremony.
On the other hand, US President Barack Obama’s statements denouncing the coup and demanding Zelaya’s return were taken with a pinch of salt by most parties concerned. There are allegations that the US has been steadily strengthening its military bases at different locations in Honduras since the coup. More importantly, Michael Parenti, in a 2009 article, alleged that most of the military officers involved in the coup had been in trained in the USA, in the Pentagon’s School of the Americas. In Parenti’s words, “The Honduran military is trained, advised, equipped, indoctrinated, and financed by the United States national security state. The generals would never have dared to move without tacit consent from the White House or the Pentagon and CIA.”
Political pressure against the coup grew steadily. Honduras was expelled from the Organisation of American States, an organisation of all the democratic states in North, South and Central Americea. Aid was cut off, not only by the OAS but also by other countries. Interestingly, the USA, which has a law against giving financial aid to governments- by- force, continued aid to the country.
Manuel Zelaya finally returned to Honduras in May 2011, after spending almost two years in exile. By then, power had already exchanged hands, though not drastically. In an election that saw a turnout of 60%, Perifiro Lobo had been chosen the new President of Honduras. Zelaya had opposed the elections vehemently, as had Brazil, Venezuela and many other countries. The USA called it “a significant step”, though “not sufficient”.
Meanwhile, the resistance continues. Under the current rule of the government led by President Perifiro Lobo, the human rights situation is worsening by the day. More and more critical voices, be it journalists, judges, civilians or even policemen, are being stifled. In the capital city of Tegucigalpa, daylight murders of critics of police corruption and the drug cartel have become regular incidences. In May 2010, four lower- court judges who had criticised the 2009 coup were dismissed from office. Honduras retains the title of the crime capital of the world.
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