Via the NYT: U.S. Sending Envoys to Try to End Crisis in Honduras
This will be the first time since the coup that the Obama administration has taken a leading role in pressuring the leaders of the de facto government to restore democratic order in Honduras. The stepped-up pressure comes after months of apparently fruitless talks about whether Mr. Zelaya will be returned to power.
If anything this strikes me as too little, too late. The coup took place about three months ago and there is roughly a month until the scheduled elections and so one has to wonder as the why the US is only deciding to get directly involved now. Or, at least, why they didn’t get involved earlier.
Some of the politics of the situation:
The coup in Honduras has threatened to become a sore point between the Obama administration and the rest of Latin America, where an increasing number of leaders have accused the United States of failing to put sufficient pressure on the de facto government to force it to compromise and stop its repression of journalists, human rights activists and pro-Zelaya demonstrators.
The issue has also created political headaches for President Obama in Congress, where a few Republicans have held up key State Department appointments as a way of pressuring the administration to reverse its condemnation of the coup. The Republican group, led by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, has said Mr. Zelaya’s opponents had no choice but to oust him because he had tried to illegally extend his time in power.
In regards to the last sentence, may I yet again point out that the plebiscite was not about extending his term (see here)? I concur that Zelaya’s actions warranted legal action because proceeding with the plebiscite (as he appeared set to do) would have contravened a court order. However, the legal justifications for acting against the plebiscite hardly justifies the coup and it is amazing how difficult this appears to be for so many to understand. It is especially amazing (although, ultimately, not surprising) that members of the US Congress are using the events to grandstand and to hold up appointments over it.
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