[Marxism] "Washington Post on "the best way to defeat" Zelaya

[Fred Feldman]

They say he should be sent back provided he agrees to ratify all the
decisions of the coup-makers except his own formal removal from office.
None of those who have expelled him from the country or ordered repression
of his supporters should lose their jobs. The Supreme Court should pay no
penalty for its illegal acts, nor the army for its gunfire,  nor the
Congress for suspending constitutional rights. Zelaya must come back as
their prisoner for the remainder of his term.

After all, they were doing the right thing -- defeat Zelaya, which the Post
sets as the central task in the Honduras situation -- with the wrong
tactics.(The Post editors may really think their main tactical error was not
killing him right away. Now they have to go the long way around to
accomplish the central task of defeating him by whatever means will work.)

Well, so far, Zelaya is having none of this stunningly generous offer from
the WaPo -- what an "extremist" he is! He is standing on the principle that
he should go back as the real head of state -- not as a political hostage of
his enemies -- and that the coup-makers should pay the price for their
violations of law and the constitution, their repression, and their complete
loss of the confidence of the people.

And the Honduran people are continuing to fight -- a fight that Washington
fears with an intensity that should be an inspiration to us all. That means
that Secretary of State Clinton may have to make concessions that go against
her grain to get the cooling off or elements of reconciliation that can be
had at this point.

The fight in Honduras goes on. The solidarity around the world goes on. And
Zelaya is so far holding up his end as a fighter including at the
negotiating table.  That's a formula for talks that cam open the door for
gains in the fight for democracy.
Fred Feldman



A Chance for Honduras
The best way to defeat deposed president Manuel Zelaya lies in allowing his
return.
 

THE POLITICAL crisis in Honduras began as a disaster for supporters of Latin
American democracy -- not only because the army's arrest and deportation of
President Manuel Zelaya last week violated the country's constitution but
because it played into the hands of the faction, led by Mr. Zelaya's mentor,
Hugo Chávez, that is attempting to overthrow democratic institutions across
the region. Fortunately, Mr. Chávez wasted his advantage: His foolish
attempt to fly Mr. Zelaya back into Tegucigalpa on Sunday flopped, producing
a ludicrous televised circus in the air and deadly violence on the ground. 

Now, with some help from the Obama administration, what could have been a
catastrophe has become an opportunity to deal a defeat to the populist
authoritarianism that Mr. Chávez and Mr. Zelaya represent. That chance will
depend, however, on whether Honduras's de facto government, which says that
it is defending democracy and the rule of law, is willing to act on its
words. 

Today, Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias is due to begin mediating between
Mr. Zelaya and the de facto government's president, Roberto Micheletti.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who played an important role in
setting up the talks, said that the aim is to avoid further bloodshed and
achieve the "restoration of democratic constitutional order." For Mr.
Micheletti, this must mean a concession that he -- along with the
overwhelming majority of Honduras's political elite -- will be loath to
grant: the return of Mr. Zelaya to his post as president. To many Hondurans,
this concession looks risky as well as humiliating, since before being
deposed, Mr. Zelaya was flouting decisions by Congress and the Supreme Court
while attempting to mobilize popular support for an illegal rewrite of the
constitution. 

Yet, once Mr. Zelaya is back in office, the weight of the law will lie
entirely on the side of his opponents. He has been charged with multiple
crimes -- from refusing to respect court orders to invading a military base
with a mob of his supporters. Even if he does not wind up in jail, there is
little chance he could now -- with the rest of the hemisphere looking on --
succeed in changing the constitution or perpetuating himself in office
beyond the end of his term in January. Supreme Court spokesmen in
Tegucigalpa have been hinting at the possibility of an amnesty for the
president; Mr. Micheletti should be aiming to exchange that for Mr. Zelaya's
commitment to leave peacefully when his term ends and respect the decisions
of Congress and the Supreme Court in the meantime. 


Such an outcome would be a victory not only for Honduras but also for the
beleaguered cause of democracy in the region. Mr. Chávez dreams of a putsch
in Tegucigalpa that would produce another lawless autocracy like his own;
instead, he could watch as a peaceful solution is brokered by the United
States and moderate Latin allies that would reinforce the Organization of
American States' democracy charter.