Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

July 27, 2009 By Fausta

Honduras claims that FARC is financing Zelaya

mazeldk2707

Libertad Digital has the story (with special thanks to commenter Spartan) from news agency EFE:
INCAUTAN RECIBOS QUE LO PRUEBAN
Honduras denuncia que las FARC financian la marcha de Zelaya a la frontera
(They seized receipts that prove it: Honduras denounced that FARC is financing Zelaya’s march to the border) (My translation: if you use this translation please credit me and link to this blog:)

Honduran authorities denounced on Monday the alleged financing by the FARC of deposed president Manuel Zelaya’s followers’ marches to the Nicaragua-Honduras border.

The article goes on to say that police seized a notebook and receipts showing that “Zelaya’s government officials and supporters, leftist leaders, farmers, union members, and at least one mayor and one governor” were paid between $2,500 to $100,000 for the “transportation of people and supplies” to the border region.

The information was gathered from a computer seized from a FARC leader. No money was seized since the funds had already been distributed.

Noticias 24 is also carrying the story as Zelaya Supporters Trickle Home.

Noticias 24 also has a chronology of the month since Zelaya’s ousting (in Spanish).

Roberto Micheletti has an op-ed in today’s WSJ, The Path Forward for Honduras
Zelaya’s removal from office was a triumph for the rule of law.
(emphasis added)

Let’s review some fundamental facts that cannot be disputed:

• The Supreme Court, by a 15-0 vote, found that Mr. Zelaya had acted illegally by proceeding with an unconstitutional “referendum,” and it ordered the Armed Forces to arrest him. The military executed the arrest order of the Supreme Court because it was the appropriate agency to do so under Honduran law.

• Eight of the 15 votes on the Supreme Court were cast by members of Mr. Zelaya’s own Liberal Party. Strange that the pro-Zelaya propagandists who talk about the rule of law forget to mention the unanimous Supreme Court decision with a majority from Mr. Zelaya’s own party. Thus, Mr. Zelaya’s arrest was at the instigation of Honduran’s constitutional and civilian authorities—not the military.

• The Honduran Congress voted overwhelmingly in support of removing Mr. Zelaya. The vote included a majority of members of Mr. Zelaya’s Liberal Party.

• Independent government and religious leaders and institutions—including the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the Administrative Law Tribunal, the independent Human Rights Ombudsman, four-out-of-five political parties, the two major presidential candidates of the Liberal and National Parties, and Honduras’s Catholic Cardinal—all agreed that Mr. Zelaya had acted illegally.

• The constitution expressly states in Article 239 that any president who seeks to amend the constitution and extend his term is automatically disqualified and is no longer president. There is no express provision for an impeachment process in the Honduran constitution. But the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision affirmed that Mr. Zelaya was attempting to extend his term with his illegal referendum. Thus, at the time of his arrest he was no longer—as a matter of law, as far as the Supreme Court was concerned—president of Honduras.

• Days before his arrest, Mr. Zelaya had his chief of staff illegally withdraw millions of dollars in cash from the Central Bank of Honduras.

• A day or so before his arrest, Mr. Zelaya led a violent mob to overrun an Air Force base to seize referendum ballots that had been shipped into Honduras by Hugo Chávez’s Venezuelan government.

• I succeeded Mr. Zelaya under the Honduran constitution’s order of succession (our vice president had resigned before all of this began so that he could run for president). This is and has always been an entirely civilian government. The military was ordered by an entirely civilian Supreme Court to arrest Mr. Zelaya. His removal was ordered by an entirely civilian and elected Congress. To suggest that Mr. Zelaya was ousted by means of a military coup is demonstrably false.

Regarding the decision to expel Mr. Zelaya from the country the evening of June 28 without a trial, reasonable people can believe the situation could have been handled differently. But it is also necessary to understand the decision in the context of genuine fear of Mr. Zelaya’s proven willingness to violate the law and to engage in mob-led violence.

Do read the whole article – as Neoneocon said, it’s required reading.

Over at Hot Air, Ed Morrissey asks, Zelaya fading in Honduras? Daniel from Venezuela News and Views posts on Patricia Rodas, who got Zelaya together with Chavez.

Earlier on the Obama adminstration cut cut $16.5 million in military aid and threatened to slash economic aid. Too bad they don’t have the FARC to lie back on.

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Filed Under: FARC, Fausta's blog, Honduras, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela Tagged With: Manuel Zelaya, Mel Zelaya

Comments

  1. Catracho79 says

    July 28, 2009 at 12:33 am

    Im an Honduran, living currently Honduras, I like reading your blog everyday…and congratulate doing a excellent job…here is some scans of the receipts of those receipts that you mention…saludos y gracias de nuevo por la informacion que nos brinda…

    http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?m0fmmm4zdkz

  2. Jay Currie says

    July 28, 2009 at 1:55 am

    Great round up Fausta.

    Oddly, the rule of law is actually important in little countries like Honduras. A fact lost on the Big “0” administration until their horse stumbled in at the third turn.

  3. spartan says

    July 28, 2009 at 8:00 am

    You’re welcome, Fausta.

  4. Michael Pugliese says

    July 28, 2009 at 9:35 am

    In Solidarity, Labor Steps Up Pressure on Honduran Junta http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/4663/labor_stepping_up_the_pressure_on_honduran_junta1/

  5. Gerrit says

    July 28, 2009 at 10:46 am

    I had trouble viewing Micheletti’s WSJ comment in its entirety. This link worked better for me:

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204886304574311083177158174.html

  6. Fausta says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:47 am

    Gerrit, not clear to me why the link in my post didn’t work. It’s exactly the same as what you entered.

  7. Eduardo says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:48 am

    @Michael Pugliese: What junta? I know nothing of this junta. The military has iterated and reiterated it’s subordination to civilian authorities currently governing my country.

  8. Pat Patterson says

    July 28, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    If that is the same Michael Pugliese that had a blog representing labor on Barack Obama’s campaign website then the post misrepresenting Honduras is easily explained. But the problem I see in the left’s shakey support for Zelaya is that he fits the stereotype of the good guy, the fighter for the people (or at least some of the people) and as such Zelaya’s legal crimes are secondary to the good things the former president represented. At this point if Zelaya was found consorting with Brazillian transsexuals and had Bolivars glued to his forehead which would not deter the left from a willingness to ignore facts in place of supporting some tattered “good fight.”

  9. Ben says

    July 28, 2009 at 2:21 pm

    “Noticias 24 is also carrying the story as Zelaya Supporters Trickle Home.” The story you link to is from the Washington Post, not Noticias 24. I really enjoy your blog.

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