Honduras: Sly Revolution: Thwarted for now! -- UPDATES and BACKLOGS

U.S. Misread Scale of Honduran Rift
Zelaya's Closeness to Venezuela's Chávez Was Source of Concern for Opponents
by William Booth and Juan Forero (WaPo Foreign Service; Jul 5,2k9

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 4 -- Although the U.S. government knew for months that Honduras was on the brink of political chaos, officials say they underestimated how fearful the Honduran elite and the military were of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and his ally President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

Honduras Denies Late Appeal by OAS
Officials Refuse to Restore Ousted Leader
by William Booth (WaPo Foreign Service; Jul 4,2k9)

Members of the OAS [Organization of American States], the hemisphere's main diplomatic body, have given the new Honduran government until Saturday morning to permit Zelaya to return to office from exile. But appeals by OAS leader José Miguel Insulza, who flew to the Honduran capital Friday, appear to have failed.

Insulza met with Jorge Rivera, the head judge at the Honduran Supreme Court. Rivera told the diplomat the judiciary had already issued a warrant for Zelaya's arrest and promised that the ousted president would be immediately detained if he came back to Honduras.

Coup drives deep divide in Honduras
Supporters of ousted President Zelaya blocked streets Wednesday, vowing to protest until he is reinstated.
by Sara Miller Llana (Christian Science Monitor; Jul 1,2k9)

Honduras, one of the poorest nations in the region, has long been divided along the same class lines that characterize most of Latin America. The elite have historically had a tight grip on the political scene, but Zelaya vowed to empower the poor, raising salaries and supporting single mothers. "He is the only person generating change in this country," says ... a hospital administrator in Tegucigalpa.

But many say he become too closely aligned with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and other leftist leaders, particularly in his bid to change the Constitution to allow presidents to run for more than one term, and it ultimately cost him control – at least for now – of his country.

Honduras coup was 'answer to prayer' for many evangelicals there
by Jeremy Weber (Christianity Today; Jul 3,2k9).

Last Sunday's removal of president Manuel Zelaya by the Honduran military has drawn strong criticism from the international community, uniting such disparate voices as Barack Obama and the United Nations with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. Yet evangelicals in Honduras tell CT that the majority of the Central American nation -- including its Protestants and Catholics -- are in favor of the removal of Zelaya, though not necessarily of the military method.

“It’s sad to see the OAS and the UN forcing Honduras to take back this president,” said Maria Elena Umana-Alvarez, a well-connected Honduran evangelical. “We feel that what has happened is a reply to the fervent prayers of so many Christians. For many of us, it’s not a coup, but the rescue of our country and our democracy.”

Below is an analysis of the situation offered by ASJ, a Christian social justice organization in Honduras.

Dr. Kurt Ver Beek, Calvin College professor, and Andrew Clouse, communications specialist with the Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa, an evangelical-based group, the Association for a More Just Society:

...Zelaya’s record is dismal. And that fact has led many Hondurans, including most evangelicals, to be relieved to see his ineffective and corrupt administration come to an unexpected end. Pastor Evelio Reyes, in a speech to support the new government said, “We cannot tolérate these kinds of actions. No country in the world puts up with these types of barbarities, and Honduras won’t either because we have dignity.”

[T]he president does have his supporters. Despite his decidedly non-leftist background, Zelaya has managed to gain the support of some of the most radical social groups in Honduras by funding their organizations and protests and promising them seats at the constitutional assembly that would have rewritten the constitution. These groups are expert mobilizers and are now returning the favor by leading the increasingly violent protests seeking Zelaya’s return to office.

Honduras -- behind the crisis Ismael Moreno (OpenDemocracy; Jul 3,2k9).

The Honduran constitution - the work of a constituent assembly that convened in 1980 - specifies that parliamentary representatives and mayors can run for re-election, but not presidents. In fact, even the argument in favour of presidential re-election has in the past been viewed as treason. The articles in the constitution the provide for a single term have been considered "carved in stone" and not to be reformed for any reason. Indeed, legal specialists argue that these articles were formulated precisely because of fear that the military would infringe on Honduras's then tender democracy by using rigged elections as a way of holding on to state power.