2009 Coup in Honduras.

[Author`s Name] [Professor`s Name] [Course Title] [Date] Coup in Honduras Like all historical events, the Honduran military coup d'état of 2009 happened under specific circumstances. But the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya fits within a larger historical pattern; typical of right-wing coups, it took place with the support of traditional political sectors that control the institutions of state, the business elite, and their foreign allies. Interpretations of the coup can be varied and complex, and will reflect the interests of their proponents. But the facts are simple and by now well-known: In the early morning hours of June 28, 2009, about 200 members of the military and police invaded Zelayas modest home in the capital city of Tegucigalpa and took him prisoner. Still in his pajamas, Zelaya was flown into exile in San José, Costa Rica. (Smith, 1) The immediate excuse for the coup was that Zelaya had violated a provision of the Honduran constitution that bars the president from attempting to stay in power longer than the legally mandated single term. In the months leading up to the coup, Zelaya had embarked on a process of political renewal in Honduras, the centerpiece of which was a proposal to convene a constituent assembly to rewrite the country's 1982 constitution so as to include mechanisms for popular democratic participation and break down the monopoly of the two-party system that keeps the oligarchy in power. The first step in this was to hold a nonbinding poll in the forthcoming November elections to gauge support for the inclusion of a referendum on whether to include a constituent assembly. Zelayas opponents, however, portrayed the poll as a binding measure that would abolish term limits and install Zelaya for an illegal second term. This bizarre legal theory condemned the president for what his enemies claimed he merely thought about doing; since he was never charged with a crime or tried in a court, the coup violated due process norms -- as well as the Constitution, which the golpistas claimed to defend. (Smith, 1) Honduras has supposedly been a democracy since 1981, when a constituent assembly was convened after 10 years of military dictatorship. Elections were held the following year, and ever since then, they have served to reinforce the notion that the country adheres to liberal-democratic norms. But in March 2009, more than three months before the coup took place, a World Bank report found that the country's two-party system, dating to the 19th century, stood out in comparison with other Latin American countries for its lack of ideological difference, since both major parties, the Liberal and the Conservative, are center-right.1 Moreover, voter turnout has been falling since the 1982 elections, when it was almost 80%. Participation was still 66% in 2001, 62% in 2005, but despite inflated statistics, less than 50% in 2009. (Llana, 4-5) The Zelaya government mounted arguably the most powerful challenge to this state of affairs. Zelaya's slogan "Citizen Power" (which he first used in an unsuccessful bid for the Liberal Party nomination in 2001) reflected a fundamental principle: that democracy cannot be sustained, cannot resolve contradictions, and cannot improve conditions for the majority while citizens remain uninvolved in political struggle. Participatory citizenship, conceived as the motor of democracy operating through social organizations, had to be created to address the many pressing needs facing Honduras. Despite its rich resources, Honduras is today the third-poorest and second-most unequal country in Latin America. In 2005, Honduras had poverty levels on par with African countries: 66% poverty and 30% extreme poverty, with child mortality levels of more than 30% for children under five and a yearly infant mortality rate of 26 deaths per 1,000 live births. According to the United Nations, 60% of national earnings are concentrated in the highest income quintile, while the two lowest income quintiles (40% of the poorest Hondurans) do not receive even 10% of earnings. (Smith, 1) Once in office, Zelaya took advantage of debt relief and a window of international opportunity to reactivate the economy with the aim of creating more employment. He rejected a ...