A Fair Plan For Honduras

By James A. Baker III

Saturday, October 17, 2009

As the Honduran daily newspaper El Heraldo proclaimed in a recent editorial, "the current situation is untenable." And it threatens to grow worse. Unrest and protest are mounting as Honduras's constitutional crisis continues. Matters will only deteriorate if the international community refuses to recognize the results of the coming Honduran elections, scheduled for Nov. 29. Read entire article...

Undermining Honduras

State rebuffs Congress to subvert democracy in Tegucigalpa


By THE WASHINGTON TIMES
When Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh was chosen as chief legal counsel to the State Department, we editorialized that it was an "offensive nomination." We explained that "Mr. Koh's repeatedly stated agenda is contrary to the American tradition of law originating in the 'consent of the governed.' " Little did we know that Mr. Koh would trample on the consent of the governed in other countries, too.

Now we discover that it was Mr. Koh's legal opinion that supported the Obama administration's wrongheaded, and indeed immoral, decision to punish the nation of Honduras. The administration bizarrely objects to Honduran legislators and judges enforcing their own constitution against the would-be dictator, Manuel Zelaya, who tried to shred a key constitutional restraint against a Honduran president trying for a second term in office.
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For U.S., a Surprisingly Pleasant Trip to Honduras

New York times soccer blog
By Jeré Longman

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — For complicated reasons that are historical and political more than athletic, trips by the United States to Mexico and Central America can reflexively become a referendum on the American standing as a superpower, not as a soccer giant.

The American anthem is ritualistically jeered. Players are heckled with boos. Sometimes they are greeted with thrown coins or hurled bags of urine. In Mexico City in mid-August, some fans tossed beer at American reporters and showed them with hand gestures that did not signal “We’re No. 1.” At an Olympic qualifying match in Guadalajara, Mexico, in February 2004, some fans chanted “Osama, Osama” at the American team.

And then there was the gracious way the United States was received by 45,000 fans in Honduras on Saturday night. This country is roiling with a political crisis, lingering since its president was ousted in a coup d’etat in June. But Saturday’s World Cup qualifying match was all about sport, not politics. The people wanted a chance to forget their troubles for a few hours, to celebrate. Read entire article

Honduras turmoil goes local

Roskam, Schock want Obama to recognize Zelaya's ouster was for best
Suns Times

BY ABDON M PALLASCH Political Reporter apallasch@suntimes.com

Two Republican congressmen from Illinois are urging the Obama administration to change course on Honduras after a visit there a week ago.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was shipped out of his country, then infiltrated his way back in and is now holed up at the Brazilian Embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

He had been scheduled to leave office after the Nov. 29 presidential election. But because of his removal, the Obama administration now says it will not recognize the legitimacy of that election. It has cut off the $30 million-a-year foreign aid budget for Honduras.

U.S. Representatives Peter Roskam (R-Wheaton) and Aaron Schock (R-Peoria) say the administration should side with the rest of the Honduran government, which believes Zelaya's ouster was for the best. Read entire article

What I Heard in Honduras

By JIM DEMINT

Tegucigalpa

In the last three months, much has been made of a supposed military "coup" that whisked former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya from power and the supposed chaos it has created.

After visiting Tegucigalpa last week and meeting with a cross section of leaders from Honduras's government, business community, and civil society, I can report there is no chaos there. There is, however, chaos to spare in the Obama administration's policy toward our poor and loyal allies in Honduras. Read entire article....