Revolution...?

In case you were busy keeping tabs on Michael Jackson and Billy Mays' autopsies and missed what's happening in Honduras...

Up until Sunday, the president of Honduras was Manuel Zelaya, aka Mel. The Honduran constitution states that the president can only serve for one 4-year term. Mel, who by the way is good buddies with Raul Castro and Hugo Chavez, decided to go for broke and asked the people to vote on "la cuarta una", a referendum which would allow him to run for a second term (and, hypothetically, spread the feared communism to his country). The majority of the country seemed opposed to this, but everyone was pretty sure he would rig the vote. Sunday, June 28, was meant to be the day when the people would be polled as to whether or not la cuarta una should appear on the ballot in November to be voted on then. Congress declared the vote unconstitutional, Mel's head general refused to support the referendum and was fired, and Mel stated that he would go ahead with the vote. Mel, you and what army?

Cut to Sunday morning, when Mel's presidential palace is stormed by the Honduran army who, under orders from Congress, took Mel away in his pajamas. There were a few hours when no one really knew where Mel was, until he turned up in Costa Rica, still in his pajamas. Embarrassing, yes, but if you're going to be exiled there are worse places to go. Mel then spent the day desperately calling in back-up in the form of powerful left-wing presidents from all across the Americas. All this while still in his pajamas. That never gets old. By the afternoon, Congress had sworn in Micheletti, the speaker of the House and the constitutional second in line for the presidency, as the new president. At this point, the country let out a collective, "Huh?"

The majority of world leaders, Obama included, are condemning this as a coup d'etat and are encouraging Honduras to re-accept Mel as president. Said leaders are also refusing to recognize Micheletti as the president of Honduras, leaving us here effectively without a leader. The thing is, I'm not so sure the army or Congress did anything wrong. Mel was acting in a way they deemed unconstitutional, and rather than leaving the country under military rule they immediately swore in the rightful 2nd in line. The whole pj's thing may have been a bit much, I'll admit. The only action that Micheletti has taken that could really be considered "military" is imposing a nationwide curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the next 48 hours.  Additionally, the vast majority of Hondurans seem really ok with Micheletti as their president and would rather Mel return. Plus, things will be really awkward between the 2 of them if Mel takes back the reins. The protests in Tegus (capital) and San Pedro (other big city) started small, but since Mel announced today that he plans to return to Honduras on Thursday I'd imagine that protests are going to grow as his few supporters face off against the majority who wanted him out in the first place. The fact is, though, that 70% of the country lives in poverty, which means 70% of the country is too busy trying to feed their children to worry about something trivial like the president being exiled.

Adding to the political fustercluck, Congress received a letter yesterday afternoon which was supposedly postmarked from Thursday and supposedly written in Mel's hand, bearing his stamp and signature, announcing he was resigning from the presidency. Mel is denying he ever wrote such a thing. Hugo Chavez is irritated and is threatening to cut off Honduras' Venezuelan oil supply, which would not be a good thing. Raul Castro is encouraging Obama to make good on his verbal condemnation of the situation with actions. From where I'm sitting, the whole mess looks like a playground rivalry. And maybe sometimes the teachers need to turn a blind eye while the kids take care of the bully their own way. That's just my opinion, though. 

So far I should be able to fly out on Friday, unless the airports decide to close. As of right now, I'm obeying the American Embassy's instructions and avoiding large demonstrations and roadblocks. Which isn't too difficult, considering the only way I'll be anywhere near a demonstration is if the cows start picketing.