by Maricela Cruz
Impoverished Hondura — with 7.4 million natives still at home and 600,000 or more residing in the United States is digging in for what may be a protracted wait as the Central American nation struggles to untie the political knot that has kept it off balance since June 28.
On that date, Honduran military leaders and political opponents of leftist President Manuel Zelaya staged a coup, arrested and deported their increasingly isolated leader and placed Roberto Micheletti, a former colleague of the president, in power. Zelaya lost favor with many countrymen for allegedly trying to alter the country’s Constitution to allowhim to remain in power after his term expires.
Initial international reaction to the coup was that the democratically elected government should quickly be restored to power and Zelaya allowed to serve until his term ends next year. But after his failed try to fly home July 5 and spreading concern about his leadership strength and friendship with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, some analysts are moderating their assessments.
Peter Hakim, president of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Inter-American Dialogue, offered this overview of the current situation to Weekly Report: “The incoming government has a certain advantage precisely because it holds the reigns of power. The longer it can keep Zelaya from returning to Honduras, the less likely he’s ever to do so.”
Understandly, Hondurans scattering throughout the United States express more concern about the welfare of their family members than the political turmoil in its capital Tegucigalpa.
They are fairly divided politically, added Manuel Orozco, director of remittances and developmental Inter-American Dialogue. He listed Miami, New York, Houston and New Orleans as among communities with greater concentrations, pegging the U.S. Honduran diaspora at about 600,000, with half that number arriving following Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
Among developments following the coup:
- The Organization of American States has expressed support for Zelaya as the country’s democratically elected leader. So has the United Nations, which voted June 29 to pursue the restoration of power to Zelaya.
- The U.S. cut some aid and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, favoring the return of Zelaya, called on former president Oscar Árias of Costa Rica to assist in bringing the political division to a peaceful resolution. (His first meeting brought no results.)
- The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, consisting of nearly ell of the body’s two dozen-plus Democratic members, released a statement July 7 calling on ‘’Roberto Micheletti and those responsible for the removal of President Zelaya to respect the rule of law and restore the constitutional order… The Constitution of Honduras must not be disregarded.
“We fully support the efforts made by the Organization of American States, and we encourage our government to take the necessary diplomatic steps to ensure a peaceful restoration of the democratically elected government in Honduras.”
The smaller, all-Republican Congressional Hispanic Conference took a different view. “Rather than engaging in efforts to restore Zelaya to power, the U.S. should focus on demonstrating respect for the Constitution of Honduras, its democratic institutions, and the rule of law as the Honduran people work to resolve the current situation in their country.” Hispanic Link.
