New Honduran leader sworn in, orders curfew
source: http://www.france24.com/en/20090629-new-honduran-leader-sworn-orders-curfew
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- ras_menelik
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Parliamentary speaker Roberto Micheletti, sworn in as new Honduran president, imposed a nationwide 48-hour curfew after the army ousted elected President Manuel Zelaya and sent him into exile.
Congress voted Micheletti in as the country's new leader just hours after Zelaya had arrived in Costa Rica insisting he was still president of the Central American nation.
Later, Zelaya traveled to Managua to take part in the summit of the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas. He told reporters he was determined to return to Honduras and "reclaim his post."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also in the Nicaraguan capital, vowed to do "everything that is necessary in political, diplomatic, social and moral aspects to restore the government of Manuel Zelaya."
In Honduras however, Micheletti brushed off worldwide condemnation of the takeover.
He "had came to the presidency not by a coup d'etat but by a completely legal process as set out in our laws," he said. The curfew, which began Sunday would end on Tuesday, he added.
In the Honduran capital shots were heard near the presidential palace late Sunday, but their cause was not immediately clear.
And a politically powerful union of teachers announced an indefinite strike to protest Zelaya's ouster.
As planes and helicopters overflew the capital, several hundred Zelaya supporters ignored warnings to stay home and took to the streets of Tegucigalpa shouting out, "We want Mel," the president's nickname.
But the demonstration was halted in front of the presidential palace when the way was barred by a cordon of troops and armored vehicles.
His overthrow was triggered by a tense political standoff between Zelaya and the country's military and legal institutions over his bid to secure a second term.
Congress said it had voted unanimously to remove the president from office for his "apparent misconduct" and for "repeated violations of the constitution and the law and disregard of orders and judgments of the institutions."
Micheletti was appointed to serve out the rest of the term, which ends in January. New general elections are planned for November 29.
Zelaya, elected to a non-renewable four-year term in 2005, had planned a vote Sunday asking Hondurans to sanction a future referendum to allow him to run for re-election in the November polls.
The planned referendum had been ruled illegal by the country's top court and was opposed by the military, but the president said he planned to press ahead with it anyway and ballot boxes had already been distributed.
The Supreme Court said Sunday that it had ordered the president's ouster in order to protect law and order in the nation of some seven million people.
At dawn on Sunday, some 200 troops swooped on Zelaya's home. He was bundled away in his pyjamas and flown out of the country.
A leading government official, Armando Sarmiento, told AFP that at least eight cabinet members had also been detained including Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas.
US President Barack Obama said he was deeply concerned about the events in Honduras, as US officials said they recognized Zelaya as the country's legitimate president.
"We recognize Zelaya as the duly elected and constitutional president of Honduras. We see no other," a top US State Department official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
But in a veiled warning to Chavez and his allies, a senior US State Department official said that "a process" in Honduras should not be "interfered with bilaterally by any country in the Americas.
Washington was working with other members of the Organization of American States (OAS) on a consensus resolution to condemn the effort to depose the president and call for full restoration of democratic order, he said.
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- recommended by:
- ras_menelik
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Juas
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Oh but before that im going to eat esta putita:
@ Xis10cialist
What happened in honduras was not a coup but the the joint effort of the supreme court and congress to stop the president from ilegally keeping the power just as his homologous Venezuelan president chavez did before.
*
Uh. ok. so, kidnapping your president into exile is NOT a coup? then what the fuck is that? Is it legal? can I do it to you? - No sir. if it was legal, he wouldve been taken to a court and be against the legal battles like all countries in the world do. But no. They only didnt do it (they didnt have the grounds for it, la encuesta was legal).. They took the armies outside and closed all TV stations and kicked the people in the face.If this is legal to you, then what kind of freedoms are you trying to protect?
*
It is important to denouce that "international human rights" are reserved for presidents or diplomats but not to the people.
*Wrong. Read more, you ignorant perro. Of course, you can say all that from your hero Custodio who is a corrupt dog that only protects the rights of who control him.
*
The governments of the world want to support a president that wanted to stay in power ilegally but when it comes to genocides, civil wars, when the people suffer, than they excuse their indiference by proclaming sovereignity.
* Mel Zelaya never said he was staying in power. Said at least 50 times. But you bastards assumed it and repeated it so much you started believing it was true.
Unfortunately for you, that little lie only works for you and your ignorant friends.Theres people suffering right now, theres people dying as we speak under a military force that is supposed to protect us.
Get your principles right.
*
If Zelaya would have achieved his goal, the governments would have just wanted to hold diplomatic talks, the media would have just reported it, but the hondurans would have been suffering the consequences.
* yeah oh my god we were suffering so much the subsidized fuel and the raise of minimum wage and the release of the double of police officers (whom are fighting against the people they swore to protect).
So much suffering! you poor baby.*
So as president Obama stated HOnduras should work out our problems peacefully and without outside inference.
*
Newsflash, mi pequeña putita ignorante. Obama just claimed el GOLPE como ilegal ante la OEA y la ONU.Que? ahora vas a estar solo contra el mundo? el mundo esta incorrecto y vos estas correcto?
Til how long are you going to take your selfish little atittude toward your own people?
*
Just as the american ex president started an illegal war and has impunity, just as the president of sudan never became accountable in the ICC court for the genocide in darfur, just as people are suffering in Iran.
* Totally. The dying of millions of people are completely a reflection of what is happening in Honduras right now. You are being manipulative of your own statements. I dont buy it, but ignorant people like you do.*
Im proud to say that.....in honduras the president are not above the law
*They arent. Just as Congress Presidents either, neither military.
Noone should be appointed to presidency with a fake letter.
Noone should take a president into exile to "support democracy"
Noone should hate as a way to get rid of a president, illegally.Because is stupid. Is reckless. Is ignorant. Is fascism.
So. The world is against you. Maybe current isnt, but I dont care about current . I can take care of it on my own when I get back from the revolution.so, now that ive destroyed all your ignorant statements, im going out the streets. See you when mel is back
putita.
- 2 years ago
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Juas
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Juas
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#
@curtisreedYou are lucky im actually marching on the streets, resisting the fascist government who couped a president and took him down ilegally with a fake letter.
You, before anything, if you are oh-so-proud of your legal constitution, should understand that.
Im not looking for your fucking sympathy. Like I said, you are lucky im on the streets marching. When we, the nation, achieve victory (because we will) - im going to come back and eat your face.
culero.
- 2 years ago
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Juas
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Xis10cialist
- This comment was removed by its owner.
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Xis10cialist
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curtisreed
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Xis10cialist:
AMEN, brother. Bien dicho, te felicito.
Pero no esperes que la gente aqui te escuche. Esta gente suele ser tan comprometida con la causa comunista que ignoran los hechos y solo se concentran en la propaganda.
Bien hecho, Honduras! Que orgullo que se defendieron, y salieron de las garras bolivarianas!
Viva la libertad, abajo con el chavismo.
- 2 years ago
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curtisreed
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cabinettags
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This sucks. Surely the constitution of Honduras has some provision that allows impeachment. If this president has shifted policy after his election, to the detriment of both the people and the military, there's bound to be a way to remove him shy of military coup.
In Iran they tried to cut off communications. Here, apparently, they cut off the power. Both are attempts to keep the people from knowing what's going on and acting on it. This is the way of dictatorships; not democracies. Democracy functions with the consent of the people. Dictatorships function by controlling the people. One is good; the other not
This sucks.
- 2 years ago
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cabinettags
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curtisreed
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cabinettags:
you make too many assumptions about legal mechanisms to remove presidents who have corrupted the system. I've seen how these tinhorn caudillos around Latin America have received millions of dollars from Chavez to buy support, bribe judges, corrupt the military, and how they trample the laws. You are looking at this as if things work in Honduras the way they do in the USA...LatAm is in a struggle for survival right now, and Chavez is weilding unchecked power, creating upheaval everywhere, from Argentina to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua, and Honduras...not to mention Mexico.
- 2 years ago
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curtisreed
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cabinettags
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cabinettags:
No doubt you're right. I've been to Guatemala a few times but that was years ago. However, my remarks were directed toward how things should be; not necessarily how they are.
I still think it sucks. I also think you agree with me. Personally I find it uncomfortable to be on the same side of the table as Chevez. Whether this president was rotten or no, I don't think a military coup is the answer. It kind of bypasses the people.
- 2 years ago
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cabinettags
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ozoneocean
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How awful. So what the people actually want doesn't matter, only the political elite? Same sad old story that South American countries have suffered through for decades. I wonder if the CIA was involved this time like in the bad old days? I'd hope not.
- 2 years ago
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ozoneocean
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RaceBannon
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yup, seems like this a good old fashioned coup sponsored by big industry. Lets see how soon before most of that countries social programs are privatized...
- 2 years ago
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RaceBannon
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curtisreed
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RaceBannon:
that's a sickeningly hollow and baseless statement. I urge you to read more about the situation before opining further.
- 2 years ago
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curtisreed
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RaceBannon
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RaceBannon:
lets see, hopefully honduras doesn't follow haiti & jamaica. I'll step back from my position and admit I don't know exactly what is going on, but as a westerner I'm always suspicious of coups. I'm just waiting to see which clothing designer is going to open factories there....
- 2 years ago
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RaceBannon
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Juas
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We have political prisioners.
We have been imposed a fascist government.
We are under curfew
People are marching the streets
Theres no power in most of the nation
Theres no radio, no TV, nothing.The constitutional order has been broken.
We are the resistance.
The people against us are either bought or manipulated by the outstanding media bullshit. - 2 years ago
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Juas
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curtisreed
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Juas:
the fascists are the ones that supported a president (Zelaya) who didn't care one whit for the constitution and were going to impose marxism on the people.
you get no sympathy here, pendejo.
- 2 years ago
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curtisreed
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Juas
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Juas:
@curtisreed
You are lucky im actually marching on the streets, resisting the fascist government who couped a president and took him down ilegally with a fake letter.
You, before anything, if you are oh-so-proud of your legal constitution, should understand that.
Im not looking for your fucking sympathy. Like I said, you are lucky im on the streets marching. When we, the nation, achieve victory (because we will) - im going to come back and eat your face.
culero.
- 2 years ago
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Juas
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oomlaut
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It seems strange that the ousted President can be seen in such a favorable light if he was violating the constitution. I wonder when we'll hear from the people of the Honduras.
- 2 years ago
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oomlaut
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curtisreed
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oomlaut:
"It seems strange that the ousted President can be seen in such a favorable light if he was violating the constitution. I wonder when we'll hear from the people of the Honduras."
that's a rather foolish statement, no offense intended. what makes you so sure from this one article that he was seen in "such a favorable light"? I suggest you read the article by O'Grady that details the progressive steps Zelaya took toward unilaterally violating the constitution to get what he wanted. he violated the constitution and was going to force a constituyente on the country damn the torpedos (and legal limitations). And he was being backed by Chavez to do it, following Chavez's book of plays.Chavez has done this across the Americas, only this time the Supreme Court and Military of a free nation fought back.
- 2 years ago
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curtisreed
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ras_menelik
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Last week Zelaya sacked the country's top military chief, General Romeo Vasquez and also accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Edmundo Orellana, after military commanders refused to distribute ballot boxes for Sunday's vote.
The heads of the army, marines and air force also resigned.
The Honduran Supreme Court then unanimously voted Thursday to reinstate Vasquez and hundreds of troops massed late last week in the capital Tegucigalpa.
Zelaya, who was elected as a conservative, has shifted dramatically to the left during his presidency.
- 2 years ago
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ras_menelik
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curtisreed
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ras_menelik:
yes, but you are missing crucial information.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623220955866301.html
in the weeks previous, Zelaya decided he wanted a "constituyente", which is a way to re-write the constitution. The constitution says this can be done, but only by popular request. Zelaya didn't want to be bothered, he thought he could just declare a constituyente. The Supreme Court said "NO", that's unconstitutional, and if anyone proceded they should be arrested. Zelaya defied the Supreme Court, decided he'd do it himself, ordered ballots printed from Venezuela (Chavez), and tried to organize it himself. That's what led to his arrest.
Imagine if Bush had declared that he wanted to throw out the constitution, and the Supreme Court told him "you don't have the authority", but he decided to do it anyway, on his own. Then, when he was arrested, he was given an option to get out of dodge and not return.
Would libs be saying "this is so sad!" or would they be celebrating that the court and the military had defended the constitution?
We all know the answer to that question. They'd only be mad that Bush had not been SHOT in the process.
- 2 years ago
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curtisreed
