2009 Honduran constitutional crisis

2009 Honduran Constitutional Crisis began on 28 June 2009, when soldiers of the Honduran military ousted President Manuel Zelaya and sent him to Costa Rica, because of his illegal actions. The military's seizure of the President preempted a non-binding referendum on whether to add a ballot box to the November election asking about the desirability of convening an Assembly to change the Constitution of Honduras, which the President had scheduled to be held later that day, in order to stay in office for another term. His main advisor was Hugo Chavez. The arrest occurred in the context of an ongoing dispute between the President, who wanted to convene a National Assembly for the purpose of rewriting the Constitution, and his opponents, who held that such a procedure was illegal and expressed fears that a new constitution would allow the President to seek reelection, which is prohibited under the present constitution. Various official bodies declared that the 28 June poll would be illegal, including the Supreme Court, which on 26 June issued a secret order for the detention of President Zelaya. At dawn on the 28th, about 100 soldiers stormed the president's residence in the capital city, Tegucigalpa, overcame about ten presidential guards, bundled Zelaya onto the presidential jet, and dispatched him to San José, Costa Rica. Later that day, Roberto Micheletti, the Speaker of Parliament, and next in the Presidential line of succession, was sworn in as President by the National Congress. (the majority in Congress are from Zelaya's own Liberal party). Besides Zelaya, several dozen other officials including the Foreign Minister and the Mayor of San Pedro Sula were detained, and a "state of exception" suspending civil liberties was declared on 1 July by Micheletti's government.

Honduras said that Zelaya had been arrested in compliance with the Constitution, and that the succession was a completely legal process as set out in Honduran laws. No foreign governments have recognized the new government and many of them have described the events as a coup d'état. The United Nations, the Organization of American States, the United States, and the European Union condemned removal of Zelaya as a military coup. The OAS suspended Honduras on Saturday, 4 July, after the caretaker government refused to reinstate President Zelaya. In response, the military's chief lawyer, Colonel Herberth Bayardo Inestroza, stated, "In the moment that we took him out of the country, in the way that he was taken out, there was a crime. Because of the circumstances of the moment this crime occurred, there is going to be a justification and cause for acquittal that will protect us." Deputy Attorney General Roy David Urtecho has begun an investigation into why Zelaya was removed from Honduras by force instead of being charged in court. Zelaya also faces 18 criminal charges, including treason and failure to implement more than 80 laws approved by Congress since he took office in 2006. He could be sentenced to 20 years in prison, although Supreme Court spokesman Danilo Izaguirre has said that Zelaya could be granted political amnesty in order to solve the crisis.

International reaction to the 2009 Honduran military coup has been almost universally negative, with widespread condemnation of the coup d'état. Domestic opinion remains very much divided, and demonstrations and protests for and against Zelaya have taken place. To mediate the situation, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias proposed measures to return Zelaya to power with early elections. Arias' proposal was submitted to the Honduran Attorney General, the National Congress, and the Supreme Court for legal review.

Background

Displeasure of the business elite and conflicts with the working class

A small group of wealthy families that dominates the economy of Honduras, including "bankers, industrialists, hoteliers and media barons," were concerned that President Zelaya, who himself came from one of those families, was betraying their interests. For example, members of this elite clique were concerned that President Zelaya had sharply increased the minimum legal wage. Victor Meza, formerly Zelaya's interior minister, stated that "The impression that stuck with the traditional political class and with the most conservative business leaders of the country was that Zelaya had taken a dangerous turn to the left, and therefore that their interests were in jeopardy." "We underestimated the conservatism of the Honduran political class and the military leadership." To some members of Honduras’s small upper class, Mr. Zelaya is seen to have been ousted because of his blossoming leftist alliance with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela which is perceived as having become a threat to Honduran democracy. To others who live a solidly working-class existence, Mr. Zelaya was ousted because the elite felt threatened by his efforts to lift up the poor — most notably with a 60 percent increase in the minimum wage to about $9.60 a day from about $6 a day. An estimated 60 percent of Hondurans live in poverty.

Previous coups d'etat

Many coups d'etat occurred in Latin America during the twentieth century. In Honduras during the second half of the century, five coups d'etat occurred: in October 1955, October 1963 and December 1972, April 1975 and August 1978. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, two coups d'etat occurred in Latin America before 2009. The first occurred in Venezuela on 11 April 2002 and was reversed in 47 hours. The second occurred in Haiti on 29 February 2004. Claims and counterclaims of United States involvement in the Venezuelan and Haiti coups d'etat remain controversial.

Role of the military and human rights abuses post-1979

During the 1980s, political assassinations and torture were carried out by Intelligence Battalion 3-16. Batallion 3-16 was headed by Billy Joya, who also founded the elite Cobra squad of the Police. He is currently a security advisor to the Micheletti government. The human rights organisation COFADEH estimates that 184 Hondurans were disappeared from 1980 to 1992, most likely by military personnel. In 1998/1999, a major military to civilian power shift occurred when, after 42 years of military autonomy, the Honduran Congress voted in favour of and then ratified the 13th amendment to the Constitution. This made the President the commander in chief of the armed forces. Previously, the commander in chief was from the armed forces. In 2007, Amnesty International (AI) stated that in Honduras and Guatemala, "Amnesty International believes the pattern of human rights abuses against human rights activists in both these countries is widespread, showing no signs of improvement." In 2008, AI reported that there was a "widespread atmosphere of insecurity, impunity and feeling of vulnerability on the part of the social organizations and those working for human rights in Honduras." AI reported on police surveillance of Honduran NGOs, including a trade union, Garifuna community organisations and leaders, and other human rights defenders. In early 2009, AI reported that the founder of COFADEH, Bertha Oliva de Nativi, received "two death threats" on 27 January 2009 and an "act of surveillance" on 11 March 2009.

Zelaya presidency

Manuel Zelaya

Manuel Zelaya, a businessman born into a wealthy Honduran family, was elected in 2005 as the candidate of the country's historically powerful Liberal Party. Since taking office, Zelaya's economic and social policies have earned him praise from labor unions and civil society groups, whereas it alienated him from parts of his own party (historically the party of the moderate left in opposition to the conservative National Party of Honduras) and a significant part of the Honduran electorate, which were particularly upset by Zelaya's unexpectedly forging a regional alliance with the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, established by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and other leaders in Latin America as a counter to the trade and security policies sponsored by the United States. One aspect of this alliance was that Zelaya had planned to convert the Soto Cano Air Base ("Palmerola"), where one of the three United States Southern Command Task Forces is located, into a civilian airport, partly using financing from the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas and Petrocaribe. The New York Times reports that much of Zelaya's support is derived from labor unions and the nation's poor, while the middle class and upper class fear Zelaya is seeking to establish Hugo Chávez’s brand of socialist populism in the country.

Zelaya has had a somewhat adversarial relationship with his country's large media outlets. The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and the United Nations criticized murders of journalists during Zelaya rule. In 2008, an Organization of American States (OAS) organ expressed concern about "subtle censorship" exercised by awarding government advertising contracts in a way that favoured some news suppliers. In a similar vein, a non-governmental group, the National Anti-Corruption Council (CNA) released a report Censura sutil en Honduras: abuso de publicidad oficial y otras formas de censura indirecta (Subtle censorship in Honduras: abuse of official publicity and other forms of indirect censorship") in September 2008.

There is a pronounced concentration of media ownership in Honduras: according to the Inter Press Service, "the vast majority of local radio and TV stations and print publications are owned by just six families." For his part, Zelaya complains that he is discriminated against by the country's media: "No one publishes anything about me ... what prevails here is censorship of my government by the big media."

According to The Economist, "Mr. Zelaya’s presidency has been marked by a rise in crime, corruption scandals and economic populism." By April 2009, a Mitofsky opinion poll showed that only one in four Hondurans approved of Zelaya, the lowest approval rating of 18 regional leaders. For the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, however, "there are no reliable polls in Honduras".

Zelaya's leftward drift during his Presidency (which included raising the minimum wage by 60%) culminated in a plan to emulate Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador in holding a Constitutional Assembly to write a new constitution. A publicity document produced for the forth ballot box initiative that outlined the goals of a constitutional convention was inserted in an Armed Forces timeline document. Some of the topics of a constitutional convention include Social control, the establishment of a recall mechanism for politicians; actual freedom of the press through equitable access; economic liberty with social responsibility; authentic political liberty resulting in a representative democracy where poiticians are responsible to their electorate instead of their party; more popular consultation; and others suggested topics. Notably absent in the flyer was any mention of extending the term of the president.

Constitutional Assembly plans

The current Political Constitution of the Republic of Honduras was initially approved on January 11, 1982, three years after Honduras returned to civilian rule after many decades of mostly military governments. The National Congress of Honduras amended the Constitution 26 times from 1984 to 2005 and made 10 interpretations of the Constitution from 1982 to 2005.

Referendum on Constitutional Assembly

As early as August 2006, Central America report stated that "liberal sectors" were proposing to reform " 'obsolete articles' " in the constitution, including one against presidential reelection. The report said that this was causing controversy.

On 11 November 2008, president Zelaya announced a non-binding poll to see if the people wanted to have a fourth ballot box, "Cuarta Urna", installed at polling places during the next election, which is scheduled for 29 November 2009. The fourth ballot, which would be in addition to the usual ones for presidential, congressional and local elections, would ask voters whether they wanted to hold a National Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution. Zelaya, whose presidential term was to expire on 27 January 2010, would be ineligible, under the term-limitations of the present constitution, to run in the 2009 election. Zelaya has pointed out on at least one occasion (the 26th of June) that since the electorate's decision whether to convoke a constituent assembly would not be made until 29 November 2009 – simultaneously with the presidential election – any constitutional changes that might eventually result would be too late to allow him to run for reelection. Others have also observed that the November 29th date set for the Constitutional Assembly poll is too late to facilitate Zelaya's continuation in office.

On 24 March 2009, Zelaya called for a preliminary poll to be held on 28 June 2009 to gauge popular support for the idea of including the Constituent Assembly question in the November 2009 election. On that day he issued executive decree PCM-05-2009 for the National Statistical Institute to hold the poll by June 28, 2009. The question to be asked in this preliminary poll was:

"Are you in accord that in the general elections of November 2009 there be included a fourth ballot in which the people decide whether to convoke a National Constituent Assembly?"

Sources differ as to whether Zelaya was attempting to set the stage for his own reelection at some point in time. "The coup was launched as the leftist leader tried to push through a vote allowing Presidents to stand for a second term--an action seen as an effort to extend his power, as ally Chávez has done in Venezuela," reported Ioan Grillo in a news article summarizing and describing the crisis, written for the August 10, 2009 edition of Time magazine. The German newspaper Die Welt also reported that Zelaya was pushing through a vote specifically on term limits, and his "opponents" reacted to this behavior: "Opponents of Zelaya believe he was pushing the limits of democracy with his drive to extend the single four-year term of presidents to allow re-election." In Elisabeth Malkin's New York Times article describing the events of the date of the coup itself, the "critics" of Zelaya were identified as holding the opinion that the referendum was meant as an end run around term limits. "The arrest of Mr. Zelaya was the culmination of a battle that had been simmering for weeks over a referendum, which was to have taken place Sunday, that he hoped would lead to a revision of the Constitution. Critics said it was part of an illegal attempt by Mr. Zelaya to defy the Constitution’s limit of a single four-year term for the president." Notably, the last two of these articles refer to "critics" or "opponents" of Zelaya as holding these positions, rather than specifically coup-supporting opponents. As other reporters such as Will Weissert and John Rice of the Associated Press have noted, while "Coup supporters ... argued that Zelaya's backing of a constitutional assembly was a backdoor way of erasing the ban on re-election[,] Zelaya denies plotting to remove term limits or the ban on re-election." As Maurice Lemoine reported on August 9, 2009 in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "But this [claim that Zelaya had sought, unconstitutionally, to amend the country's 1982 constitution so he could seek another term of office in the presidential elections coming in November] was not true. The constitution remains in force until further notice, and the head of state cannot stand for reelection. With 400,000 signatures to support him, Zelaya had planned only to organize a voluntary survey on election day to find out whether Hondurans wanted a Constituent National Assembly to be convened at some point."

Constitutionality of Referendum

That same day, the President of the Congress, Micheletti, claimed that article 374 of the constitution states that no referendum can be used to alter the entrenched articles in the constitution that are specified in article 384. He went on to insist that that even to announce such a referendum privately is a crime (" . . . porque eso, incluso, anunciarlo privadamente es un delito.") Micheletti was part of a group of members of Congress who tried to convene the National Congress in 1985 as a National Constituyent Assembly in order to prolong the term of president Roberto Suazo Cordova. That attempt ended when Efrain Bu Giron, President of the National Congress, called Walter Lopez Reyes, the head of the armed forces.

Article 373 of the constitution states that the constitution can be modified by a two-thirds majority of the National Congress. Article 374, however, specifies that several articles are entrenched; that is, they cannot be modified under any circumstances (Spanish: "en ningún caso"). The entrenched clauses include those on the system of government that is permitted, and the presidential succession. Article 239 specifically prohibits the president from attempting to amend restrictions on succession.

On March 25, the Attorney General's office formally notified President Zelaya that he would face criminal charges of abusing power if he proceeded with the referendum.

Honduras’ Supreme Electoral Tribunal ruled that such a poll would be illegal. The poll was also ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. In late June the intended consultative poll was also rejected by Congress. In late May, the contentious-administrative court ruled Zelaya's plan illegal. On May 27, Micheletti announced that he had submitted evidence to the public prosecutor that the Executive branch had put out a contract to have him killed. He said that for more than a month he'd been followed and menaced with death and placed responsibility on the Executive branch. Zelaya responded that "whoever made these claims had swine flu and was delirious." On June 23, 2009 the National Congress passed a law forbidding holding referenda and plebiscites less than 180 days before the next general election; as the next elections are set for 29 November 2009 this would have made the 28 June 2009 poll illegal.

Developments towards referendum

Since this bill was passed after the referendum was scheduled, Zelaya rejected its applicability to this case.

The 2009 budget delay raised questions about how Zelaya was handling money.

The military is in charge of security and logistics in elections in Honduras. Zelaya asked them to perform their election role for the referendum, but the head of the military command, General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, refused the order to pass out the election materials, brought from Venezuela, because the Supreme Court ruled the referendum to be illegal. On 24 June Zelaya fired him. Later that day, the defense minister and heads of the army, navy and air force resigned. On 25 June the Honduran Supreme Court ruled 5-0 that General Velásquez be reinstated. Tribunal member David Matamoros affirmed the Electoral Tribunal’s support for the military's actions.

Zelaya led several hundred people he recruited to a air force base and take possession of the disputed referendum ballots. Those were then guarded by the national police.

Congress began discussing how to impeach Zelaya. Congress opened an investigation into whether Zelaya had violated the constitution and whether he was "mentally incapable" of holding office. Zelaya responded to the President of the National Congress Roberto Micheletti, a member of the same party who has since been sworn in as President in his stead, by saying "What's with you, Roberto. I was elected by the people, not the congress. How would you make me ineligible, you're a lousy second-rate congressman who got your post because I gave you space in my party."

On the evening of 25 June 2009, according to Jorge Ramon Hernández Alcerro, one of the authors of the 1982 Honduras Constitution, a former judge at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and presently a member of the Honduras Congress, during the session of Congress discussing possible impeachment of Zelaya, former President Carlos Roberto Flores Facussé and about twenty of his supporters asked that Flores' daughter Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake should become the new President of Congress. This was not accepted, so Flores and his supporters boycotted the remainder of the session. For this reason, Congress was unable to legally impeach Zelaya at that time.[, Annex 1]

On 26 June, Micheletti wrote to Romeo Vásquez Velásquez saying "respectfully I am writing you to greet you and to remind you of the Mission to be undertaken June 28; that already the institution that you lead has been called to defend our CONSTITUTION and country and every one of those Hondurans thanks you." Micheletti continued, "These people who say they are Hondurans and wish to change our constitution don't deserve to be in our country, violating our constitution and selling our country."

On 23 June, up to tens of thousands of people marched in San Pedro Sula against Zelaya's alleged re-election plans. On June 27, thousands of protesters opposed to Zelaya marched through the capital city Tegucigalpa.

The Supreme Court, the Congress, and the military recommended that voters stay home because the referendum would be neither fair nor safe to voters. The National Human Rights Commissioner, Ramón Custodio, said "I would tell the people to stay calmly at home in order not to get involved in any incident or any violence by going to vote 'no,' because they might be assaulted by these mobs," referring to Zelaya's supporters, who also were going to handle election materials and count ballots.

Coup d'état

Detention order

On Thursday June 25, the Honduran Attorney General issued a secret order to detain and depose Zelaya. On June 26, 2009 a Honduran Supreme Court judge issued a sealed order, based on the Attorney General's petition, to detain José Manuel Zelaya Rosales for “acting against the government, treason, abuse of authority, and usurpation of power,”. These orders were not made public at the time.

Zelaya's detention and exile

Soldiers stormed the president's residence in Tegucigalpa early in the morning of 28 June, disarming the presidential guard, waking Zelaya and putting him on a plane to Costa Rica. Colonel Bayardo said “It was a fast operation. It was over in minutes, and there were no injuries, no deaths. We said, ‘Sir, we have a judicial order to detain you.’ ” In Costa Rica, Zelaya told the pan-Latin American channel TeleSUR that he had been awakened by gunshots. Masked soldiers took his cell phone, shoved him into a van and took him to an air force base, where he was put on a plane. He said he did not know that he was being taken to Costa Rica until he landed at the airport in San José, Costa Rica.

Within several hours of his removal, Zelaya spoke to media in San José, calling the events "a coup" and "a kidnapping." He stated that soldiers pulled him from his bed and assaulted his guards. A source inside Micheletti's government said that Zelaya left wearing a crisply ironed dress shirt, but changed into a T-shirt before arriving to appear that he was hustled out in his pajamas. Zelaya stated that he would not recognize anyone named as his successor, that he would be meeting with diplomats and that he wanted to finish his term in office.

Tanks patrolled the streets and military planes flew overhead. Soldiers guarded the main government buildings. The government television station and a television station that supports the president were taken off the air. Television and radio stations broadcast no news. The electrical power, phone lines, and international cable TV were cut or blocked throughout Honduras. Public transportation was suspended.

Later that day, the Supreme Court issued a statement that it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya from office. The Supreme Court stated "The armed forces, in charge of supporting the constitution, acted to defend the state of law and have been forced to apply legal dispositions against those who have expressed themselves publicly and acted against the dispositions of the basic law". On June 30, the military's chief lawyer, Colonel Herberth Bayardo Inestroza Membreño, showed a detention order, signed June 26 by a Supreme Court judge, which ordered the armed forces to detain the president, identified by his full name of José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, at his home in the Tres Caminos area of the capital. It cited him for treason and abuse of authority, among other charges. Colonel Inestroza later stated that deporting Zelaya did not comply with the court order: "In the moment that we took him out of the country, in the way that he was taken out, there is a crime. Because of the circumstances of the moment this crime occurred, there is going to be a justification and cause for acquittal that will protect us." He said the decision was taken by the military leadership "in order to avoid bloodshed". Ramon Custodio, the head of the country’s human rights commission, became the highest official in the acting government to say publicly that Zelaya’s exile was a mistake and that Honduras’s military made an “error” sending deposed President Manuel Zelaya into exile rather than holding him for trial. “I didn’t know they would take Zelaya out of the country,” Custodio said in an interview in the week of August 13 at his Tegucigalpa office. Honduras’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by a group of lawyers and judges arguing that the military broke the law taking Zelaya out of the country.

Presidential succession

The National Congress was called into an extraordinary session where not all legislators were notified or present, and presented with what was claimed to be Zelaya's resignation letter, dated June 25. Zelaya has said he did not write the letter. Based on Supreme Court’s arrest warrant, the Honduran National Congress said it removed José Manuel Zelaya Rosales “from office by virtue of Constitutional Article 239". The Congress voted to remove Zelaya for "manifest irregular conduct" and "putting in present danger the state of law." By a show of hands, the National Congress then appointed the President of the National Congress Roberto Micheletti, a member of Zelaya's party, to be President to succeed Zelaya.

A clash between pro-Zelaya protesters and the Honduran military

Other detentions and human rights abuses

Acting President Roberto Micheletti ordered a 48-hour curfew which began on Sunday night (June 28) and ended on Tuesday (June 30). Originally the curfew ran from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. That curfew was later revised to be in effect from 10 pm to 5 am, and had been extended twice. It ended on July 7, but was restared again on July 15. Also on July 1, the National Congress issued an order (decreto ejecutivo N° 011-2009) at the request of Micheletti suspending four constitutional guarantees during the hours the curfew is in effect. The "state of exception" declared on 1 July is equivalent to a state of siege, and suspended civil liberties including freedom of transit and due process, as well as permitting search and seizure without a warrant.

The ambassadors of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua said that on the 29th they were detained and beaten by Honduran troops before being released. Venezuela's ambassador to the OAS announced before the OAS that those ambassadors and Patricia Rodas, the Zelaya government's Foreign Minister, had been captured. Minutes after that announcement, Señor Laguna, the Venezuelan ambassador in Tegucigalpa, reported that he and the other ambassadors had been freed. Laguna said that he and the other diplomats were seized when they visited Rodas. He said that Rodas was forced into a van and had been transferred to an air base. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez stated that the Venezuelan ambassador was assaulted by Honduran soldiers and left by the side of a road.

Also, allies of Zelaya, among them several government officials, have been taken into custody by the military. Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas and the mayor of the city San Pedro Sula, Rodolfo Padilla Sunseri, have been detained at military bases. According to a Narconews blog, several congressmen of the Democratic Unification Party (PUD) were arrested and the party's presidential candidate, César Ham, went into hiding. According to Venezuelan government's ABN, Tomás Andino Mencías, a member of the party, reported that PUD lawmakers were led away by the military when they tried to enter the parliament building for the June 28 vote on Zelaya's deposal. A dozen former ministers from the Zelaya government went into in hiding, some in foreign embassies, fearing arrest. Local media reported that at least eight ministers besides Rodas had been detained.

Hugo Chávez and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez have both separately claimed that Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas has been detained by the Honduran military. Rodríguez said that the Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan ambassadors to Honduras had tried but were unable to protect Rodas from a group of masked soldiers who forcibly took her from their grasp. Rodas was sent to Mexico, which offered her asylum and help to resolve the situation.

The human rights organisation COFADEH, founded in 1982 by 12 families of people disappeared during the previous year, reported that 609 people, of whom at least 61 minors, were detained for "political scandal" (participation in political demonstrations), and 158 were detained for violating curfew, between 28 June and 12 July. COFADEH also reported several murders and detentions of journalists, that it attributed to the coup d'etat.

A month after the coup, Zelaya claimed that the death squad Intelligence Battalion 3-16 was again operating, though with a different name, and that it was being led by former Battalion 3-16 member Billy Joya, who is presently a security advisor to Micheletti. Zelaya stated (translation), "With a different name, [Battalion 3-16 is] already operating. The crimes being committed is torture to create fear among the population, and that's being directed by Mr. Joya."

Extrajudicial executions

Main article: Human_rights_in_Honduras § Extrajudicial_executions

Extrajudicial executions that have been attributed to the de facto Micheletti government include 19 year-old Isis Obed Murillo Mencias, shot in the head on 5 July by soldiers when Zelaya's plane was trying to land at Toncontin Airport.; Roger Iván Bados, former union leader, member of the Democratic Unification Party and Bloque Popular, shot dead on 11 July while entering his home in San Pedro Sula; 40 year-old campesino leader and Democratic Unification Party member Ramón García on 12 July, after he was forced by unknown people to get off a bus,; 23 year-old Pedro Magdiel Muñoz Salvador, detained by police during anti-coup protests and taken to an El Paraíso police station on 24 July, and found at 6:30 am the following morning with 42 stab wounds; 38 year-old high school teacher Roger Abraham Vallejo Soriano, shot in the head by security forces during protests on 31 July, died on 1 August; school teacher Martin Florencio Rivera, killed on 2 August as he left the mourning procession for Roger Vallejo, stabbed 27 times.

Media war

Reuters on 29 June 2009, describing the situation in Honduras as a "media blackout," reported that the military had shut down several TV stations, radio stations, and newspaper's websites. Among the TV stations closed were CNN en espanol; Telesur (a cooperative sponsored by several Latin American governments including Venezuela); and "a pro-Zelaya channel." Reuters said that "the few television and radio stations still operating on Monday [the 29th] played tropical music or aired soap operas and cooking shows," and "made little reference to the demonstrations or international condemnation of the coup. . . ." A government health worker interviewd by Reuters said that the anti-Zelaya newspapers El Heraldo and La Tribuna, and "some television channels controlled by the opposition" were the only ones still broadcasting on the morning of the 29th. The Miami Herald reported that the "crackdown on the media" began before dawn on the 28th. It said that only pro-Micheletti stations were allowed to broadcast and that they carried only news friendly to the new government. On 29 June, four Associated Press personnel were detained and removed from their hotel, but then released.

TeleSUR journalist Adriana Sívori, who was in Tegucigalpa reporting the clashes between the police and protesters, reported that she was arrested by the military under threat, and had her passport seized. Her detention was confirmed by the Associated Press. As soon as the international community learned of the detention, and after the quick intervention of the Venezuelan ambassador in Honduras, the journalist and the staff who accompanied her were released. Sívori was reportedly assaulted by the soldiers who detained her. TeleSUR was, until the detention and quick release of journalist Sívori, the only channel that was broadcasting live on all developments in the political crisis.

According to Diario El Tiempo, there was also some information that the newspaper Diario El Tiempo had been prohibited to broadcast information about the developments. Canal 11 located in Colonia de Miramontes was also prohibited to broadcast information about the developments. The Cable Color buildings, which also broadcasts programming of CNN and teleSUR, were surrounded by military forces. On June 29 soldiers shut down Channel 8, a government station which was pro-Zelaya. Channel 36 was raided by soldiers minutes after the coup and remained off the air for a week; the Miami Herald of 1 July quoted owner Esdras López as saying that the building's occupants were detained during the raid. Channel 66 was raided and was off the air for a short time; according to some journalists, however, a Channel 66 program by Eduardo Maldonado, a popular radio and TV commentator who is pro-Zelaya, remained off the air for days. Maldono went into hiding. The Miami Herald noted that Channel 21's signal was briefly interrupted while it was broadcasting a plea against censorship.

According to a press release published on the website of Radio Globo Honduras, a station which has long sided with Zelaya, a group of 60 soldiers took the radio off the air and the employees, including Alejandro Villatoro, were allegedly threatened and intimidated. The station was allowed to resume transmission, but staff had to follow some rules which they believed limited freedom of expression. The website of the radio was down but has been re-established. Alejandro Villatoro said that he was arrested and kidnapped for some hours by the military forces. On or just before 4 August 2009, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) terminated Radio Globo's emission frequency rights.

"Honduras’ two leading radio networks, Radio América and Radio HRN, have urged Hondurans to resume their normal routine and not to protest." Honduran newspaper La Prensa reported on 30 June that an armed group of Zelaya supporters, attacked La Prensa's main headquarters by throwing stones and other objects at their windows, until police intervened. According to the paper, it was discovered that the group was led by Venezuelan and Nicaraguan nationalities.

On July 3 Radio America journalist Gabriel Fino Noriega was murdered near La Ceiba.

Media outlets complained that the government ordered them not to report any news or opinion that could "incite" the public. News organizations in Honduras were polarized. Journalists working for small independent media—or for those loyal to Zelaya—reported being harassed by officials.

The Paris based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders released a statement on June 29 stating that, "The suspension or closure of local and international broadcast media indicates that the coup leaders want to hide what is happening."

Carlos Lauría of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said: "The de facto government clearly used the security forces to restrict the news... Hondurans did not know what was going on. They clearly acted to create an information vacuum to keep people unaware of what was actually happening." However, in an interview published on July 9, 2009 in the Washington Post, Ramón Custodio López, Honduras's human rights ombudsman, said he had received no official complaints from journalists: "This is the first I have heard about an occupation or military raid of a station," he said. "I try to do the best job I can, but there are things that escape my knowledge."

Two journalists working for teleSUR and two working for Venezuelan state media were threatened by police on July 11. The teleSUR journalists had just returned to their hotel, the Clarion in Tegucigalpa, and saw the Venezuelan state media reporters being detained at reception. They in turn were ordered to stay in the hotel and wait for agents from immigration to check their papers, then leave the country as "there's nothing for you to report on here". The Venezuelan state media reporters were taken to a police station and held until 3:30 am on the pretext that their car was listed as having been used in a crime. They also were told to leave the country, and were escorted to the airport on July 12, accompanied by representatives of Derechos Humanos (DDHH). Another group of four journalists, including an ACAN-EFE reporter, were held by police in their hotel in Tegucigalpa from early hours of the morning until 9 am July 12 allegedly on orders to wait for immigration authorities, which never materialized.

Opposition to the post-coup government

Main article: Frente Nacional contra el Golpe de Estado en Honduras

Much of the opposition to the de facto Micheletti government and its actions is loosely coordinated through a wide coalition of grassroots organisations and political parties and movements called Frente Nacional contra el Golpe de Estado en Honduras (FNGE). The FNGE aims to restore elected President Manuel Zelaya in replacement of the de facto Roberto Micheletti government, which is perceived by the participating organisations as a dictatorship existing since the coup d'etat, using methods of civil disobedience. The FNGE supports a process of participatory democracy that should lead to a national constituent assembly, frequently makes public statements and in early August 2009, organised a national march intended to converge on San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa on 11 August.

Public opinion

Opinion polls

CID-Gallup conducted a poll in 16 of the 18 Honduran departments between June 30 and July 4, but the results were reported initially to the press on July 9 and July 10, leading to confusion. Honduran newspapers, such as El Heraldo, and some news sources outside Honduras, such as the Washington Post, reported that when asked whether they believed the removal of President Zelaya was justified, 41% agreed, 28% disagreed, and 31% said don't know/won't answer. However, the New York Times, the Associated Press, and others reported, possibly based upon an interview of the President of CID-Gallup, that 46% disagreed with Zelaya's ouster, 41% approved of it, with 13% declining to answer.

A blogger obtained the original data from CID-Gallup and explained the inconsistency. CID-Gallup asked two different questions:

Q: Do you consider the actions taken by Mel Zelaya with respect to the fourth ballot box to have justified his dismissal from the post of President of the Republic?
Considera usted que las acciones que tomó Mel Zelaya con respecto a la cuarta urna justificaban su destitución del puesto de Presidente de la República?
Yes 41%, No 28%, Don't know/No answer: 31%.

Q: Are you in accord with the action taken last Sunday that removed President Zelaya from the country?
Cuánto está usted de acuerdo con la acción que se tomó el pasado domingo que removió el Presidente Zelaya del país?
Support 41%, Oppose 46%, Don't know/No Answer 13%.

Some press sources reported the results from the first question, and some the results from the second question.

Additional questions examined either president's popularity in Honduras. Zelaya had a 46% favorable and 44% unfavorable rating. The Congress's chosen replacement, Micheletti, had a 30% favorable and 49% unfavorable rating.

Events after June 28th

Main article: Chronology of events of the 2009 Honduran coup d'état

Pro-Zelaya protesters marching in Tegucigalpa

Protests against the coup began almost immediately, as several thousand Zelaya supporters gathered near the Presidential Palace, confronting the guarding soldiers and lit tires on fire. In response to daily pro-Zelaya protests, Congress approved a decree on July 1 that applied an overnight curfew and allowed security forces to arrest people at home and hold them for more than 24 hours.

On June 30, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution which called for the reinstatement of Zelaya as the President of Honduras. Zelaya spoke in front of the General Assembly where he was applauded several times. In his speech, Zelaya promised not to seek another term as President and said that he would not accept a second term if he were asked to serve again.

June 30 also saw the first rally in support of Zelaya's removal take place in the capital, as thousands of Zelaya opponents took to the main square. Roberto Micheletti made an appearance and said that the November general elections will be held as scheduled and that a new president will be sworn in on January 27, 2010. General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez also attended and spoke at the rally.

Anti-Zelaya demonstrators in Tegucigalpa

Honduras was formally suspended from the Organization of American States on July 4, after the Micheletti government ignored a ultimatum by the OAS to re-instate Zelaya as President. OAS General Secretary José Miguel Insulza had arrived in Honduras the previous day to attempt to negotiate a return for Zelaya, but the Micheletti government ruled out any return for Zelaya.

Keeping with his word to attempt to return to his country, on July 5 Zelaya's plane took off for Tegucigalpa. The Micheletti government suspended all flights in and out of Toncontín International Airport, stranding hundreds of passengers in the progress, while sending the military to guard the runways, in order to prevent any landings. Zelaya's plane circled the airport a few times, as pro-Zelaya demonstrators gathered near the airport. Eventually the plane had to turn away and head to Nicaragua because of the Honduran military's blocking of the runway. Protests at the airport turned deadly, with at least two protesters confirmed dead and scores injured.

Zelaya met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on July 7. At this meeting, Zelaya agreed to a U.S.-backed proposal for negotiation talks with Micheletti government representatives in Costa Rica set for July 9. The talks, with Costa Rican President Óscar Arias serving as mediator, proved unsuccessful, as both sides remained far apart according to regional leaders. The participants only agreed to meet again sometime in the future, as Zelaya left Costa Rica to gather more international support.

Meanwhile, Micheletti announced that he accepted the resignation of interim Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez, who earlier in a TV interview had called U.S. President Barack Obama "a little black man who knows nothing about nothing". The U.S. Embassy in Honduras strongly condemned and protested the comments, which Micheletti described as "a scandalous epithet". However, Micheletti immediately reinstated Ortez as Minister of Government and Justice.

A small clique of Honduras' most wealthy families stand as the major obstacle to the restoration to power of the democratic government. Members of this elite clique have reacted with surprise, since they did not expect that the United States would support President Zelaya. An Associated Press article on 6 August stated, "Elites across Latin America are watching the standoff closely, as they plot their own strategies to combat democratically elected presidents such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez who have demonized the wealthy as they push for a more even distribution of income."

Honduran Roman Catholic Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga does not support the return of President Manuel Zelaya. Cardinal Rodriguez stated that Zelaya “doesn’t have any authority, moral or legal. The legal authority he lost because he broke laws and the moral authority he lost with a discourse full of lies.” On July 15, 2009, interim Honduran President, Roberto Micheletti, stated he would be prepared to step down "if at some point that decision is needed to bring peace and tranquility to the country, but without the return, and I stress this, of former President Zelaya."

In an interview on July 16 on Radio Monumental of Costa Rica, President Oscar Arias said that he had a mandate from 34 world governments to restore constitutional order in Honduras, by which he meant restore President Zelaya. He rejected Micheletti's proposal to step down if Zelaya did not return to power. He said, "we will see if we can talk of an amnesty, and for who, over political crimes (veremos si se puede hablar de una amnistía, y para quiénes, sobre delitos políticos)". "Zelaya must abandon his goal of installing a fourth ballot box", he continued. Arias indicated he intended to propose a reconciliation government headed by Zelaya combined with political amnesty. The head of Honduras' ruling Liberal Party in Congress (to which both Zelaya and Micheletti belong), Valentin Suarez, expects the vast majority of lawmakers to vote against Arias' proposal.

On July 26, Zelaya briefly entered into Honduran territory, at a border crossing between Honduras and Nicaragua near Las Manos in El Paraíso Department. Zelaya, who through the entire thirty minute stay was surrounded by supporters and journalists, decided to head back to Nicaragua because of the presence of the Honduran military who were blocking the highway just twenty yards away. Zelaya returned to the same border crossing a day later, but this time he did not cross it.

Meanwhile, both pro- and anti-Zelaya demonstrations continue on an almost daily basis throughout the deeply polarized country.

International reactions

Main article: International reaction to the 2009 Honduran coup d'état

All Latin American nations (with the exception of Honduras), as well as the United States, Spain, France, and others, have publicly condemned the forced removal of Zelaya as undemocratic and most have labeled it as a coup d'état. President Barack Obama of the United States said "We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the President of Honduras." Conversely, seventeen US Senators expressed concern to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Washington’s pro-Zelaya stand would legitimize Zelaya’s “abuses of power” and “violations of the Honduran constitution”. Amongst the stronger reactions, President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, pledged to "bring down" any replacement government. Americas-based international organizations such as the Organization of American States, Mercosur, and the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas have also condemned the events. Over ten Latin American countries, as well as all European Union countries, agreed to withdraw their ambassadors from Honduras until Zelaya is returned to power. No nation has publicly declared support for the Honduran military's actions or for the new acting President Roberto Micheletti, with the exception of Honduras itself.

Venezuela has said it would suspend oil shipments, and Honduras's neighbors — El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua—stopped overland trade for 48 hours.

• United Nations: A one-page resolution, passed by acclamation in the 192-member body, condemned the removal of Zelaya as a coup and demanded his “immediate and unconditional restoration” as president. The resolution calls "firmly and categorically on all states to recognize no government other than that" of Zelaya.

• Americas: The OAS called for an emergency meeting on Sunday, where it approved a resolution demanding "the immediate, safe and unconditional return of the constitutional president, Manuel Zelaya." Secretary General José Miguel Insulza called the situation "a military coup." On July 1, 2009, the OAS gave a three-day deadline for the new government to step down and put Zelaya back in power, and threatened to suspend Honduras from the organization if it refused. On July 4, the OAS unanimously suspended Honduras.

• The nine members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas announced in a joint statement that they would not recognize any new government in Honduras.

• Caribbean: In a press release, CARICOM denounced the coup and voiced its concern over the treatment of Honduran and diplomatic officials during the coup. "The Caribbean Community condemns the military action which has interrupted the democratic process in Honduras and which contravenes the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The Community therefore calls for the immediate reinstatement of President Zelaya."

• The Association of Caribbean States condemned the coup in a statement and called for Zelaya's reinstatement. Additionally it stated, "we highlight our condemnation of the brutal treatment that Honduras military personnel gave to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Patricia Rodas as well as the Ambassadors of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. This situation is a serious violation of International law, and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."

• Mercosur and Paraguay: President of Paraguay and current president pro tempore of Mercosur Fernando Lugo condemned the coup and said that no member state of Mercosur will recognize a Honduran government that is not led by Manuel Zelaya. Lugo also called for those behind the coup to be punished by serving prison sentences.

• South American Union and Chile: Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, speaking on behalf of her government and UNASUR, condemned the coup and referred to Zelaya as "legitimately elected by the people".

• European Union: The European Union called on the Honduran military to release the president and restore constitutional order. The EU decided on July 2 to remove all ambassadors from Honduras.

• The World Bank: World Bank President Robert Zoellick stated that the World Bank has "paused" all lending for development programs to Honduras, said to be around $80 million for the next fiscal year. Asked under what conditions the World Bank would consider resuming lending to Honduras, Zoellick replied: "It is a situation that is in flux and fluid and in this case we are trying to play a supportive role with the region and its overall goals to restore democracy."

• The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB): IADB President Luis Alberto Moreno stated that the IADB is pausing all new loans to Honduras until democracy is restored, adding: "We hope there is a way to return to democracy."

External links

• Honduran Constitution (in Spanish)
• Supreme Court documentation of Zelaya prosecution (in Spanish)
• Armed Forces of Honduras Timeline of events with many scanned documents (in Spanish)

Images

• Unrest in Honduras slideshow by the Los Angeles Times
• Honduran Military Launches Coup by the Washington Post
• Honduras Coup Photos from Daylife
• Military Coup In Honduras slideshow by CBS News
• In Pictures: Honduran President Ousted by BBC News
• Honduras: Protests Against Presidential Coup slideshow by The Huffington Post

Analysis

• In a Coup in Honduras, Ghosts of Past U.S. Policies by Helene Cooper, The New York Times, June 29 2009.
• Honduras Against History: By Their Methods You Shall Know Them, by Jorge Majfud Political Affairs, July 26 2009.
• What’s Behind the Honduras Coup? Tracing Zelaya’s Trajectory interview with Nikolas Kozloff, Democracy Now
• Totalitarian Rightists Put Orwellian Spin on Honduras Coup by John Nichols, The Nation, July 2 2009
• In Honduras Coup, the Truth is as Strange as any 'Banana Republic' Fiction by Philip Sherwell, Daily Telegraph, July 5 2009
• Why Honduras Sent Zelaya Away by Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2009
• The Honduras Coup: Is Obama Innocent? by Michael Parenti, July 2009
• Waiting for Zelaya by Greg Grandin, The Nation, July 28 2009