While much of the world has lined up with Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president of Honduras, time and truth do not seem to be his cause’s friend. The latest shoe to drop is a shocking Catalan newspaper report stating that Honduran authorities have discovered 45 computers containing election results for an election that never took place.
No, this isn’t the Twilight Zone — it’s the Corruption Zone.
As many know, Zelaya was ousted by the Honduran military on June 28 under orders from the nation’s supreme court, which had ruled that his intention to hold a national referendum designed to extend his power was unconstitutional. In response, many world leaders — among them, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, and Barack Obama — labeled the action a coup that marked a dark day for democracy. Yet, the best information we have indicates that legitimate Honduran authorities were simply acting in defense of the rule of law. That is to say, Zelaya wished to change a constitutional provision limiting presidents to one term, despite the fact that his nation’s constitution forbids such an alteration. Additionally, the power to call for a constitutional assembly is vested in the Honduran congress, not its president.
Yet, despite the fact that the ouster of Zelaya served to remedy a crisis, world leaders have claimed that the remedy itself is a crisis. However, if a report by Europapress.cat is correct, it may now be more difficult than ever to take up the cudgels for the Central American who would be king. The news source reveals that election data in the computers in question showed, not surprisingly, an overwhelming victory for Zelaya in the proposed June 28 referendum. As an example, Europapress tells us (it’s a Spanish source; what follows is a computer translation that I have cleaned up): "One of the district attorneys who took part in the operation this Friday showed the mass media an electoral record of the Technical Institute Luis Bográn, of Tegucigalpa, in which . . . there were 550 paper ballots, of which 450 were affirmative votes for Zelaya’s proposal and 30 were against, in addition to 20 votes in target and 30 void ones." (Click here for a translation of the whole article.)
Despite this, our nation and the European Union are still lobbying for the would-be tyrant’s return to power. In fact, the United States is now ratcheting up the pressure. FoxNews.com reports on this, writing, "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called de factor [sic] Honduran leader Roberto Micheletto [sic] to warn him about the consequences for his country if it does not permit ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to return to power, the State Department said Monday."
To be specific, Clinton is threatening to follow the European Union’s lead and deny Honduras monetary aid. The EU has already suspended $90 million in aid to the hapless Central American republic.
I would also like to mention that it’s ironic that Fox News misspelled "de facto," as it’s the one term that probably doesn’t belong in the article. It seems more accurate to call Micheletti a de jure president (in law). "De facto" might better describe the man who occupies our presidency — that is, if allegations concerning Obama’s birth certificate are correct.
As for the time-warp election in Honduras, certain questions remain unanswered. There is no word yet on whether Mayor Daley was a consultant, if dead people had cast ballots, or if Jimmy Carter was an observer.
Photo of Manuel Zelaya: AP Images
