All of us, every single man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth were born with the same unalienable rights; to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And, if the governments of the world can't get that through their thick skulls, then, regime change will be necessary.
Showing posts with label Enrique Ortez Colindres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Enrique Ortez Colindres. Show all posts
El embajador de Estados Unidos en Honduras, Hugo Llorens, apoyaría la restitución del depuesto presidente Manuel Zelaya, según difundió esta mañana la emisora capitalina Radio Cadena Voces.
(The Ambassador of the United States in Honduras, Hugo Llorens, supports the restitution to power of deposed President Manuel Zelaya, according to Radio Cadena Voces station)
Según la información, Llorens estaría respaldando el retorno de Zelaya a través de reuniones con varios sectores políticos, con la advertencia de suspender algunas visas.
(As per the report, Llorens is backing the return of Zelaya via meetings with divergent political factions, with the warning the he will suspend visas)
Zelaya fue separado del poder el pasado 28 de junio y en su lugar asumió el presidente del Congreso Nacional Roberto Micheletti.
(Zelaya was ousted from power on the 28th of June and in his place the president of the national congress, Roberto Micheletti, took his place)
Desde su defenestración ha amenazado con regresar a Honduras, y el 5 de julio hizo un intento fallido por la vía aérea.
(Ever since his ouster he has continued to threaten to return to Honduras and on the 5th of July attempted to do so via air)
(In refrence to this, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has specifically asked that he desist from his attempts to return to the country)
As I have noted before, by denouncing his perfidy, Llorens is a cowardly thug, a rogue ambassador who takes his marching orders from Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro.
In the repugnant & nefarious tradition of Benedict Arnold, Alger Hiss, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen and Ana Belen Montes, Llorens is a scumbag who is betraying the United States of America by engaging in vile and inimical actions against the national security interests of the Republic.
My open letter to the US Ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in light of his squalid campaign to have Dr. Enrique Ortez Colindres oustedfrom his numerous cabinet positions in Honduras:
Ambassador Hugo Llorens Embajada de los Estados Unidos de América Avenida La Paz Tegucigalpa M.D.C. Honduras
Dear Mr. Ambassador:
My name is Carlos Echevarria, an American citizen, born and raised in Miami, Florida, with longstanding commercial and personal interests in Honduras. It is with great dismay and a heavy heart that I write to you, in reference to the dual resignation of the Honduran Foreign Minister & latter Justice Minister, Enrique Ortez Colindres.
I have known Dr. Ortez Colindres for many years and he is dear friend of my family. He is a man of honor, decency and true patriotism. Sometimes his passion and zeal for the freedom of his country overtakes him. However, he is a staunch anti-communist and faithful friend of the United States of America.
You, Sir, on the other have engendered a faux crisis and misrepresented some remarks he made regarding President Barack Obama, prior to his investiture as Foreign Minister. It is abundantly clear that your efforts are an attempt to malign and enfeeble the constitutional government of President Roberto Micheletti, which took power upon the attempted putsch by the socialist thug, Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales.
With all due respect, Mr. Ambassador, it is fascinating to me that you feigned outrage over one remark by Dr. Ortez Colindres but you stood idly by for months as Mel Zelaya and Patricia Rodas engaged in the most scurrilous rhetoric and corresponding activities against the United States and her interests.
I would propound to you, Sir, that at your core you are not only a sympathizer of ex-President Zelaya but, moreover, an apologist of his copious transgressions of the Honduran constitution.
It is bad enough that you are perpetuating the administration’s misguided policies in Honduras, worse still you are for all intents and purposes taking your cue and marching orders from Hugo Chavez & Raul Castro.
What a sad commentary on the state of the world and upon our august constitutional republic that the United States, the repository and purveyor of liberty in the world, is attempting to impose tyranny and oppression in Honduras, by re-instating a dictator.
Ambassador Llorens have you no shame? Have you no honor? Have you no sense of decency, Sir?
Enrique Ortez, interim foreign minister, said Zelaya would be arrested if he came home and that the interim authorities were sure Zelaya had been removed in a legal process.
"We are not negotiating national sovereignty or the presidency," he told Reuters in an interview. "There is no chance at all" of Zelaya coming back to power.
WASHINGTON – Honduran coup leaders have three days to restore deposed President Manuel Zelaya to power, the Organization of American States said Wednesday, before Honduras risks being suspended from the group.
OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza delivered what he called "an ultimatum" as OAS talks regarding the crisis dragged into the early-morning hours. The talks began Tuesday afternoon.
In a sharply worded resolution, the OAS said it vehemently condemned the coup and "the arbitrary detention and expulsion" of Zelaya.
The coup, the resolution said, has produced an "unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order." The envoys demanded Zelaya's immediate and safe return to power.
Calling Zelaya's overthrow an "old-fashioned coup," Insulza said: "We need to show clearly that military coups will not be accepted. We thought we were in an era when military coups were no longer possible in this hemisphere."
Zelaya, who was ousted in a coup Sunday, planned to return to Honduras on Thursday, accompanied by Insulza, the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador and the head of the U.N. General Assembly, and seek restoration of his authority. Wednesday morning, however, he said that trip would be delayed until the weekend.
Roberto Micheletti, named by Honduras' Congress as the new president, said Tuesday that Zelaya could be met with an arrest warrant if he returned. (Read entire article)
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' interim leader warned that the only way his predecessor will return to office is through a foreign invasion — though a potential showdown with the ousted president was delayed due to action Wednesday by the Organization of American States.
A defiant Roberto Micheletti said in an interview with The Associated Press late Tuesday that "no one can make me resign," defying the United Nations, the OAS, the Obama administration and other leaders that have condemned the military coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya.
The U.N. General Assembly voted by acclamation Tuesday to demand Zelaya's immediate restoration, and the Organization of American States said Wednesday that coup leaders have three days to restore Zelaya to power before Honduras risks being suspended from the group.
That period for negotiation prompted Zelaya to announce he was putting off his plans to return home on Thursday until the weekend.
Micheletti vowed Zelaya would be arrested if he returns, even though the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador have signed on to accompany him along with the heads of the Organization of American States and the U.N. General Assembly.
Zelaya "has already committed crimes against the constitution and the law," said Micheletti, a member of Zelaya's Liberal Party who was named interim leader by Congress following the coup. "He can no longer return to the presidency of the republic unless a president from another Latin American country comes and imposes him using guns."
Micheletti said he would not resign no matter how intense the international pressure becomes. He insisted Honduras would be ready to defend itself against any invasion.
He did not name any specific countries, but Chavez has vowed to "overthrow" Micheletti and said earlier Tuesday that any aggression against Zelaya by Micheletti's government should prompt military intervention by the United Nations.
"No one can make me resign if I do not violate the laws of the country," Micheletti said. "If there is any invasion against our country, 7.5 million Hondurans will be ready to defend our territory and our laws and our homeland and our government." (Read entire article)
It has been interesting watching the response to the Honduran military's recent ousting its nation's president, Manuel Zelaya. Barack Obama called the action "not legal" and Hillary Clinton said that the arrest of Zelaya should be condemned. Most interesting, perhaps, is that taking this position places them shoulder to shoulder with Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega and Venezuelan's roaring mouse, Hugo Chavez, who is threatening military action against Honduras. Now, some would say this is an eclectic group - others would say, not so much - regardless, what has gotten them so upset?
Let's start with what they say. They are calling the ouster a "coup" and claim that Zelaya is still Honduras' rightful president. Some of them say we must support democracy. But they have said little, if anything, about the rule of law. And most of what they have said is wrong.
First, it doesn't appear that Sunday's ouster was a military coup but a law enforcement action. It is not a military strongman who sought extra-legal control, but Zelaya himself. Here is the story.
Zelaya is a leftist, a less precocious version of Chavez, sort of like the Venezuelan's Mini-me. And, like Chavez, it's seems that Zelaya was bent on perpetuating his rule and increasing his power in defiance of the rule of law. That is to say, the Honduran Constitution limits presidents to one four-year term, and this wasn't quite enough to satisfy Zelaya's ambitions.
Also note that the military confined itself to its prescribed police action and is not running the country. The new president is 63-year-old Roberto Micheletti, a member of Zelaya's own Liberal Party. Moreover, elections are still planned for this November.
Micheletti also enjoys wide support, from the rank-and-file to the those breathing rarified air in elite institutions. As for Zelaya, while you may not be able to please all of the people all of the time, he certainly seems to have been able to displease them. He not only alienated the Congress, Supreme Court, the people and the attorney general -- who also declared the referendum illegal and vowed to prosecute anyone facilitating it -- he is also opposed by the Catholic Church and many evangelicals. Really, no one seems to like him.
No one, that is, but Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega.
Oh, and let's not forget Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are, anyone? (Read entire article)
Roberto Micheletti, designado presidente del país por el Parlamento tras el golpe, dijo este lunes que el Ejército fue "benévolo" con el depuesto Manuel Zelaya, al permitirle salir del país. Zelaya por su parte, afirmó que el jueves vuelve a Honduras a terminar su mandato. En su primer día como presidente, Micheletti pidió a los hondureños que no se preocupen por las amenazas de Chávez, Correa y Ortega. En Tegucigalpa se sucedieron enfrentamientos entre partidarios de Zelaya y la policía, mientras continua el toque de queda. Los miembros del ALBA (Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua y Bolivia) retiraron ayer los embajadores de Honduras en protesta por el golpe.
"Aquí hubo un momento que parecía que no había presidente sino un rey o un dictador, quien ordenaba qué cosas se debían hacer, sin respetar a nadie", matizó Micheletti, quien agregó que Zelaya llevó al país a tener enfrentamientos con los diferentes poderes, pues quiso reformar la Constitución para hacerse reelegir.
"El Ejército más bien creo, fue benevolente al permitir que el ex presidente (Manuel Zelaya), saliera del país, cuando en realidad tenía que haber entrado a las cárceles nacionales por los delitos cometidos en diferentes circunstancias", apostilló Micheletti. Así lo aseguró en una entrevista con Radio Caracol de Colombia, en la que además indicó que "solo Dios sabe que puede hacer un ciudadano con la conducta del señor (Hugo) Chávez", quien amenazó con derrocarlo para restituir en el poder a su aliado Zelaya.
Sobre el presidente venezolano, agregó que se resistía a creer que el mundo aceptara injerencias en "situaciones que son internas de Honduras" y reclamó la "autodeterminación de los pueblos", la que, enfatizó, "hay que respetar". Insistió en que quería comunicarle "al mundo que aquí, en este país, no ha habido un golpe de Estado", sino "una sucesión constitucional" provocada por las debilidades del depuesto Zelaya.
Al ser interrogado sobre el rechazo de presidentes de diferentes tendencias y de organismos internacionales que no lo reconocen como nuevo mandatario, indicó que no ha hecho nada ilegal. "Reitero, no hemos hecho nada ilegal y en la medida en que los pueblos del mundo se vayan dando cuenta que en este país no ha habido un golpe de Estado, sino una sucesión constitucional, se darán cuenta de lo que realmente ha pasado en el país", puntualizó Micheletti.
De otro lado, indicó que seguirá en el poder porque fue la decisión expresada por el pueblo a través del Congreso Nacional, del cual era presidente y que lo nombró tras la salida de Zelaya. Explicó, por ejemplo, que los ministros del anterior Gobierno están en el país e "incluso algunos están ejerciendo sus labores, contentos". Puntualizó que la única funcionaria que salió del país, "por voluntad propia", fue la canciller Patricia Rodas, quien está en México.
En Tegucigalpa se sucedieron enfrentamientos entre partidarios de Zelaya y la policía. El toque de queda continúa hasta segunda orden.
Honduras' interim President Roberto Micheletti (L) takes the oath of newly appointed Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez Colindres at Congress in Tegucigalpa June 29, 2009. Micheletti was named interim president by Congress within hours of the coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday. Zelaya, a Chavez ally who took office in 2006, angered the Honduran Congress, Supreme Court and army by pushing for a public vote to gauge support for changing the constitution to let presidents seek re-election beyond a single four-year term. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas
Americas: During his campaign, President Obama made a big deal of criticizing leaders who are elected democratically but don't govern democratically. He's had a chance to show that it mattered in Honduras. He didn't.
That's the sorry story as Honduras' now ex-president, Mel Zelaya, last Thursday defied a Supreme Court ruling and tried to hold a "survey" to rewrite the constitution for his permanent re-election. It's the same blueprint for a rigged political system that's made former democracies like Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador into shells of free countries.
Zelaya's operatives did their dirt all the way through. First they got signatures to launch the "citizen's power" survey through threats — warning those who didn't sign that they'd be denied medical care and worse. Zelaya then had the ballots flown to Tegucigalpa on Venezuelan planes. After his move was declared illegal by the Supreme Court, he tried to do it anyway.
As a result of his brazen disregard for the law, Zelaya found himself escorted from office by the military Sunday morning, and into exile. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro rushed to blame the U.S., calling it a "yanqui coup."
President Obama on Monday called the action "not legal," and claimed that Zelaya is still the legitimate president.
There was a coup all right, but it wasn't committed by the U.S. or the Honduran court. It was committed by Zelaya himself. He brazenly defied the law, and Hondurans overwhelmingly supported his removal (a pro-Zelaya rally Monday drew a mere 200 acolytes).
Yet the U.S. administration stood with Chavez and Castro, calling Zelaya's lawful removal "a coup." Obama called the action a "terrible precedent," and said Zelaya remains president. (Read entire article)
The constitution of Honduras does not allow for a presidential re-election. No problem, said Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez to his protégée, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Chavez easily convinced Zelaya he should promote a referendum on this topic and went on to help him prepare the logistics fo the event. After all, Chavez told Zelaya, this had worked extremely well for him in Venezuela a few months ago while the governments of the hemisphere kept respectfully silent.
But the constitution of Honduras is explicit. It defines as a crime any attempt at changing its stipulation on no re-election.
Therefore, when Zelaya put his plans in motion the Supreme Court issued a judicial order to stop the referendum and ordered the army to prevent it. In parallel the National Congress of Honduras, including members of the government party, declared Zelaya’s pretension unconstitutional. Zelaya responded by dismissing the military chief and by pushing forward with his plans. In answer, the Supreme Court ordered the military chief reinstalled in his position since he was only following their orders.
Sunday June 28, President Zelaya tried to put the referendum in place and the Army, acting on orders by the Supreme Court, stopped the event. President Zelaya was placed in a plane, unharmed, and sent to neighboring Costa Rica. The same day the Honduran National Congress decided, with the votes of the members of the government party, to unseat him as president. The reason? President Zelaya had tried to place himself above the laws of the country. By trying to pave the way for his re-election he had attempted a coup.
The immediate reaction of the governments of the hemisphere meeting at the Organization of American States has been “politically correct”. All members, including the U.S., asked for the “immediate return of President Zelaya to his position” and condemned the “military coup”. This is, of course, the same organization that a few weeks ago begged the dictatorial government of Cuba to return to its fold, the same organization that has closed its eyes to the numerous violations of the Venezuelan constitution by Hugo Chavez and to his obvious alignment with the terrorist Colombian guerrillas.
It does not matter to these governments, including the U.S. government, that President Zelaya acted outside the constitution, that the Supreme Court of Honduras ordered him to stop an illegal event, that the National Congress of Honduras decided almost unanimously to oust him from the presidency and that the Honduran army was following orders from the Supreme Court. In the eyes of this organization an elected president, apparently, can do what he wants and get away with it. (Read entire article)
Many foreign observers are condemning the ouster of Honduran President Mel Zelaya, a supporter of Hugo Chavez, as a "military coup." But can it be a coup when the Honduran military acted on the orders of the nation's Supreme Court, the step was backed by the nation's attorney general, and the man replacing Mr. Zelaya and elected in emergency session by that nation's Congress is a member of the former president's own political party?
Mr. Zelaya had sacked General Romeo Vasquez, head of the country's armed forces, after he refused to use his troops to provide logistical support for a referendum designed to let Mr. Zelaya escape the country's one-term limit on presidents. Both the referendum and the firing of the military chief have been declared illegal by the Honduran Supreme Court. Nonetheless, Mr. Zelaya intended yesterday to use ballots printed in Venezuela to conduct the vote anyway.
All this will be familiar to members of Honduras' legislature, who vividly recall how Mr. Chavez in Venezuela adopted similar means to hijack his country's democracy and economy. Elected a decade ago, Mr. Chavez held a Constituent Assembly and changed the constitution to enhance his power and subvert the country's governing institutions. Mr. Zelaya made it clear that he wished to do the same in Honduras and that the referendum was the first step in installing a new constitution that would enhance his powers and allow him to run for re-election.
No one likes to see a nation's military in the streets, especially in a continent with such painful memories of military rule. But Honduras is clearly a different situation. Members of Mr. Zelaya's own party in Congress voted last week to declare him unfit for his office. Given his refusal to leave, who else was going to enforce the orders of the nation's other branches of government?
During the past 3 1/2 years, my country has lived through a sad satire of governance.
Influenced by the No. 1 promoter of 21st-century socialism, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, our ex-president, Manuel Zelaya, took us down the road of social divide, abuse of media publicity, propaganda and the absolute void of checks and balances with one end in mind: to stay in power indefinitely.
During his last year, he embarked on a mission to carry out a total reform of our constitution, following the well-tested formula of Mr. Chavez and Equador's President Rafael Correa so he could remain in power "constitutionally."
Running a campaign disguised as promoting change for the people and true direct participation of the masses, he started to promote this project with all his executive might. The judicial branch deemed this project illegal, as did our electoral tribunal and the Attorney General's Office.
Nonetheless, these institutions started to be portrayed as part of the groups of power that were afraid of change, tyrants opposed to the people of our country, who did not want people to express themselves. Whatever person or institution went against his project was also an enemy of the people. Sound familiar, Mr. Chavez?
Last week, Mr. Zelaya issued executive orders to the armed forces to carry out the first phase of the constitutional reform project. The head of the armed forces, knowing that this order was illegal and unconstitutional, said "No." Mr. Zelaya went on national TV and fired Gen. Romeo Vasquez for refusing to carry out the order, but our nation's Supreme Court reinstated him. The firing was a clear signal Mr. Zelaya was putting his personal ambition and interests before any genuine interest to change things and improve the quality of life of Hondurans.
He was only thinking of improving his quality of life through illegal means and at the cost of the peace of a whole country. This was the beginning of the end of a crisis in our young democracy.
This morning, the armed forces restored peace and democracy to our country, backed by all institutions: legislative branch; judicial branch; political parties, including the former president's own party; business bureaus; and most other groups representing society. Their stance sends a clear message: No one, not even the president, is above the law. (Read entire article)
Hugo Llorens is stridently and viciously doing everything in his power to bring the socialist tyrant, Mel Zelaya, back to power:
Hat Tip: Tundra Tabloids
