De lo que nos salvamos; what we saved ourselves from -- Estrada

[EFerrari]

Did anyone happen to see what disgraced, rejected Bush nominee had to say about this on 7/10 in the LA Times? (Oops, got the date wrong.)


Honduras' non-coup
Under the country's Constitution, the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya was legal.
By Miguel A. Estrada
July 10, 2009

Honduras, the tiny Central American nation, had a change of leaders on June 28. The country's military arrested President Manuel Zelaya -- in his pajamas, he says -- and put him on a plane bound for Costa Rica. A new president, Roberto Micheletti, was appointed. Led by Cuba and Venezuela (Sudan and North Korea were not immediately available), the international community swiftly condemned this "coup."

Something clearly has gone awry with the rule of law in Honduras -- but it is not necessarily what you think. Begin with Zelaya's arrest. The Supreme Court of Honduras, as it turns out, had ordered the military to arrest Zelaya two days earlier. A second order (issued on the same day) authorized the military to enter Zelaya's home to execute the arrest. These orders were issued at the urgent request of the country's attorney general. All the relevant legal documents can be accessed (in Spanish) on the Supreme Court's website. They make for interesting reading.

What you'll learn is that the Honduran Constitution may be amended in any way except three. No amendment can ever change (1) the country's borders, (2) the rules that limit a president to a single four-year term and (3) the requirement that presidential administrations must "succeed one another" in a "republican form of government."

In addition, Article 239 specifically states that any president who so much as proposes the permissibility of reelection "shall cease forthwith" in his duties, and Article 4 provides that any "infraction" of the succession rules constitutes treason. The rules are so tight because these are terribly serious issues for Honduras, which lived under decades of military rule.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-estrada10-2009jul10,0,4262300.story

[magbana]

1. Yes, I saw this. REALLY BAD. There was/is a letter writing campaign

to respond to this. I'll go through my email to see if I can find it. also, I noticed on google that this was the top story for several hours earlier today even though it is 8 days old and written by an idiot.

[EFerrari]

2. I myself wonder whose nephew he is.

:shrug: