Honduran Coup Decree Shows Coup "Justification" Was After the Fact

[Judi Lynn]

Posted: August 10, 2009 12:09 PM
Honduran Coup Decree Shows Coup "Justification" Was After the Fact

Supporters in the U.S. of the coup in Honduras have frequently made two claims to justify it which are demonstrably false, which have nonetheless been widely accepted in the U.S., because they have been largely unchallenged in the U.S. media: the Honduran Congress authorized Zelaya's removal, and the basis for that removal was Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution, which forbids someone from being President if he has already been President, and says that anyone who advocates changing this provision will cease to be President.

The actual decree of the Honduran Congress is attached. Note the following.

1) the document never mentions Article 239.

2) the document is dated "MIERCOLES 1 DE JULIO DEL 2009," i.e. Wednesday, July 1, 2009, three days after the coup on Sunday, June 28.

So: 1) the decree of the Honduran Congress, which is being cited as justification for it, was produced when the coup was already three days old, and 2) this decree never mentioned Article 239.

Note that President Zelaya didn't advocate the extension of his term, contrary to the claim that is often made in the U.S. He proposed a nonbinding referendum on whether there should be a constitutional convention, a longstanding demand of social movements in Honduras. Even had the nonbinding referendum been successful, there is no plausible scenario in which it would have led to a change in this provision of the constitution prior to the scheduled November election in which Zelaya was to be replaced and in which he was not a candidate. At most it could have resulted in a binding referendum for a constitutional referendum on the same November ballot on which Zelaya would have been replaced. So the claim that President Zelaya was "trying to extend his term" is not only false, but logically impossible.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/honduran-coup-decree-show_b_255600.html

[EFerrari]

1. This is a good run down! Thanks Judi Lynn. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

2. Our corpo/fascist 'news' monopolies repeat this lie over and over and over again.

It drives me crazy! Not only are the coupsters LYING about the referendum that Zelaya proposed for a vote of the people, but they invented the lie AFTER they shot up his house, rousted him out of bed at gunpoint, kidnapped him and flew him out of the country in a plane with blackened windows--then declared martial law, shut down the press and started shooting protestors with live ammunition.

I've gotten so used to the lies about Chavez and Venezuela that they hardly raise my rage level any more. Another lie about Chavez. What else is new? So this one sticks way out, because it's a different country, a different leader and different circumstances (except for the fact that Venezuela's rich fascists tried the same goddamned U.S.-instigated bullshit in Venezuela, in 2002, and failed).

They KEEP SAYING IT. That Zelaya proposed raising his term limit! It is A LIE. They KNOW it's a lie. And they KEEP SAYING IT.

:mad: :argh: :mad: