The President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, was removed from power by a military coup at dawn June 28. The Honduran military erupted into Zelaya’s home and, at gunpoint, took him hostage and exiled him to Costa Rica.

The ousting of Zelaya has created a political crisis that has polarized Honduran society. The streets of Tegucigalpa have been a scenario for angry protests by groups that oppose and support the ousted president. The de facto government has implemented repressive policies, such as curfews, the suspension of civil liberties, arbitrary detentions and censoring of the press.

The crisis took a new turn when Zelaya, after three months in exile, returned clandestinely to Honduras and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy. Since then, the de facto government and Zelaya have engaged in negotiations to end the crisis. However, talks have been unsuccessful due the refusal of the de facto government to reinstitute Zelaya to power.

Currently, negotiations are in stalemate, and an exit to this crisis seems far away.

The de facto government of Honduras claims that the removal of Zelaya was legal and that it was prompted by Zelaya’s violation of the Honduran constitution. The perpetrators of the coup contend that Zelaya’s intention to hold a referendum that would ask Hondurans if they wanted to vote for the formation of a constituent assembly was unconstitutional. This constituent assembly would reform the constitution so that presidential reelection was possible.

Honduras is split. Some think that Zelaya broke the constitutional order by wanting to hold this referendum, and others think that the expulsion of Zelaya was a damaging blow to Honduran democracy.

Elias Echavarria, a Honduran student at NOVA who has been living in the U.S. for six years, supports the de facto government and the destitution of Zelaya.

“[Zelaya] broke the law… He deserves what he got,” Echavarria explained.

Helena Barahona, another Honduran student at NOVA, says that she does not sympathize with Zelaya but also does not agree with the de facto government and coup.

“Things should have been handled different… I just want things to return to normal.”

The reality is that the brutal way that the military and the de facto government behaved during and after the coup has no justification. This type of behavior cannot be tolerated, especially in Latin America, a region that has suffered from the pains of totalitarianism. The democratic tradition in Latin America is fragile, and it is imperative that we continue to make progress in this area. Coups are not part of our history anymore. Too much blood has been spilled in the forging of our liberty. Let’s just hope that Honduras and its people can resolve this crisis before the only exit left is violence.

By: Bermang Ortiz

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