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.
TEGUCIGALPA -- A top church leader called on ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to reconsider his return, and to recall three of the Ten Commandments.
Local channels interrupted their regular programming to air a statement by Tegucigalpa's Archbishop Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Saturday morning, who addressed viewers in front of a Honduran flag and a painting of Jesus Christ.*
''On the day of your inauguration you cited three commandments of the rules of God -- not to lie, not to steal, not to kill,'' Rodríguez said. ``If you respect life, if you love life. . .please meditate because if not it could be too late.''
Rodríguez called on the Organization of American States (OAS) and other world leaders to reconsider their support of Zelaya.
Friday night, Honduras' new government withdrew from the InterAmerican diplomatic union following a visit from the organization's president José Miguel Insulza, who had attempted to broker a deal for Zelaya's return.
''To the Organization of American States, please pay attention to everything illegal that was happening before the 28th of June,'' Rodríguez said. ``This is a community that will define our own destiny without any unilateral pressures. We renounce any blockades, which will only hurt the poor.''
Dressed in the traditional black shirt, coat, and priestly white collar, Rodríguez said he spoke on behalf of 11 other Catholic bishops who signed a statement ``in support of peace. (Picture courtesy of El Heraldo)
Insulza, who was in Tegulcigalpa on Friday, met with the country's Supreme Court, attorney general and other political figures.
"We wanted to ask that this situation be reversed," Insulza told reporters after the meeting. "Unfortunately, one must say that there appears to be no willingness to do this."
Honduras' Supreme Court, which had authorized the coup, said it would not agree to reinstate the toppled leftist leader.
Micheletti's interim government — which has blamed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for stoking the crisis — appeared ready to settle in for the long haul.
"If Honduras is out of the OAS, well, we will be isolated ... little by little we will regain the confidence of other nations, because we are a valiant people who have said 'enough' to Chavez," said Micheletti's assistant foreign minister, Martha Lorena Alvarado.
"We will not retreat," she said, "and Zelaya's return is not negotiable."
Micheletti led a raucous chant of "Democracy!" before a giant crowd Friday waving blue-and-white Honduran flags in front of the palace he has occupied since Zelaya was seized by soldiers on June 28 and flown into exile.
"I am the president of all Hondurans," he proclaimed, as police helicopters circled over the heavily guarded palace. (Read entire article)
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.
Cardinal admonishes ousted petty tyrant, Mel Zelaya, to desist:
