Update on Honduras: Congress has officially voted NOT to reinstate Zelaya

[beachmom]

Well, that is that.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/12/02/honduras.president/index.html

Honduran congress votes against ousted president

Deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya will not be reinstated as head of state, a majority of the Honduran congress voted Wednesday.

Of the 128 lawmakers, more than half voted in favor of a motion against the reinstatement of Zelaya.

...

At the moment that Zelaya's detractors reached a majority, only eight lawmakers had voted to reinstate him.

Wednesday's vote was a key part of a U.S.-brokered pact that representatives for Zelaya and de facto President Roberto Micheletti signed October 29. The pact gave the Honduran congress the power to decide Zelaya's fate, rather than negotiate it directly within the agreement.

I haven't decided whether the U.S. screwed up on accident or on purpose. I think right wing elements in our country had a big effect on the suddenly soft stance the State Department had on whether or not Zelaya was reinstated.

[karynnj]

1. Sadly, I am not sure it was just right wing elements here

Just as in the 1980s, there seemed to be substantial anti-leftist sentiment that likely spanned the entire Republican caucus and into the Democratic one. There was a strong attempt to tie anyone speaking against the coup as in favor of the leftist leader and Chavez and Castro. President Obama made an initial break by not endorsing the de facto government as was done in all past right wing coups. He then appeared to stay silent. Clinton and the State department had a completely muddled position that likely made it appear we were tacitly supporting the coup.

My daughter recently went to protest the School of Americas for the second time. This time with people she now works with as a volunteer in a program that got its start helping victims of our Central American policy who fled to the US. The two people who led this coup are "graduates" of that "school". Our country is intimately involved because of things like this. This is a major disappointment for me, even though I did see that having real change here would have come at a big political price. Though Kerry ended up losing on this, I am glad that he wrote the op-ed he did and that he tried to push for a different policy.

[beachmom]

2. I am also talking about right wing elements in DC that also influenced Democrats.

[karynnj]

3. Point taken - after all Jim DeMint is not Secretary of State or President nt

[wisteria]

4. Beyond Honduras, this will be seen as a win for Senator

Demint(Dimwit) and Republicans. But, the odds have been against Zelaya for some time. I did not like his alliance with Chavez, but I also don't like this outcome. It is corporate interests and corruption that won.