Chavez Threatens War with Honduras
This isn't being run as a headline in the AP, which is too busy trying to make the Honduran military look like villains for daring to defend their own country's constitution, but Chavez has made what amount to war threats against Honduras. You'll laugh when you read the headline that is being run:
"Honduran military ousts president ahead of vote," by Will Weissert and Freddy Cuevas, AP Writers (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup)
"I want to return to my country," Zelaya said in Costa Rica. "I am president of Honduras."
No, you're not. Not any more. The important legal point is that your Congress and Supreme Court have sanctioned your military removal. This is about as good as you're likely to get south of the US border.
Chavez remarked that if Micheletti was appointed president, "We will overthrow him."
Chavez has just declared his intention to violently intervene against the constitutional Honduran government. This is an act of war.
Chavez said Venezuela "is at battle" and put his military on alert.
Chavez has just confirmed his intention to wage war on Honduras by effectively announcing a state of war and readying his military for action.
In Havana, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez vowed to work with allies to push for Zelaya's return to power. He said Cuban Ambassador Juan Carlos Hernandez was held briefly in Tegucigalpa after he and other foreign diplomats tried unsuccessfully to prevent soldiers from taking away Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas.
Chavez said troops in Honduras temporarily detained the Venezuelan and Cuban ambassadors and beat them.
The significance of this is that Cuba and Venezuela are attempting to establish a legitimate casus belli against Honduras. Note however that the claim is that the Cuban and (presumably Venezuelan) diplomats attempted to interfere with the arrest of Zelaya, which would actually be a Honduran casus belli against Cuba and Venezuela.
President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Zelaya's arrest should be condemned.
"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read.
For those conditions to be met, Zelaya must be returned to power, U.S. officials said.
This is incredibly bad. No mention of the Venezuelan war threat, no promise to defend Honduras if attacked, and we added our own demand that Zelaya be restored to the Presidency, DESPITE THE FACT THAT ZELAYA HAD JUST ATTEMPTED A COUP FROM ABOVE. This implies that we would either stand neutral or actively aid the aggressor should Castro and Chavez attack Honduras.
Is Obama determined to reduce the value of an American alliance to nothing?
Two senior Obama administration officials told reporters that U.S. diplomats are working to ensure Zelaya's safety as they press for restoration of constitutional law and his presidency.
"Constitutional law" is doing just fine in Honduras. It wouldn't have been had Zelaya gotten his way and had the unconstitutional referendum.
One of the officials said that the U.S. has been in touch with Zelaya since he was brought to Costa Rica, and has been trying to communicate with members of the Honduran Congress to insist that the new power structure step down.
So it's apparently now Obama's official policy that we have a veto power over the formation of governments in our allies? Again, the value of an alliance with America drops. Obama, having received a paranoid-Leftist education in history, may not realize what a policy shift this is -- we haven't behaved like this since the 1970's.
The officials said that the Obama administration in recent days had warned Honduran power players, including the armed forces, that the U.S. would not support a coup, but Honduran military leaders stopped taking their calls.
I wonder why? Gee, maybe because the Honduran military is supposed to defend Honduras rather than do the bidding of the US State Department?
Coups were common in Central America for four decades reaching back to the 1950s, but Sunday's ouster was the first military power grab in Latin America since a brief, failed 2002 coup against Chavez. It was the first in Central America since military officials forced President Jorge Serrano of Guatemala to step down in 1993 after he tried to dissolve Congress and suspend the constitution.
Whereas now we're apparently just fine with Presidents dissolving their Congresses and suspending their constitutions?
I wonder how many years it will take Obama's successor to undo the damage he is doing now to American interests, and to the interests of freedom around the world?
"Honduran military ousts president ahead of vote," by Will Weissert and Freddy Cuevas, AP Writers (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup)
"I want to return to my country," Zelaya said in Costa Rica. "I am president of Honduras."
No, you're not. Not any more. The important legal point is that your Congress and Supreme Court have sanctioned your military removal. This is about as good as you're likely to get south of the US border.
Chavez remarked that if Micheletti was appointed president, "We will overthrow him."
Chavez has just declared his intention to violently intervene against the constitutional Honduran government. This is an act of war.
Chavez said Venezuela "is at battle" and put his military on alert.
Chavez has just confirmed his intention to wage war on Honduras by effectively announcing a state of war and readying his military for action.
In Havana, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez vowed to work with allies to push for Zelaya's return to power. He said Cuban Ambassador Juan Carlos Hernandez was held briefly in Tegucigalpa after he and other foreign diplomats tried unsuccessfully to prevent soldiers from taking away Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas.
Chavez said troops in Honduras temporarily detained the Venezuelan and Cuban ambassadors and beat them.
The significance of this is that Cuba and Venezuela are attempting to establish a legitimate casus belli against Honduras. Note however that the claim is that the Cuban and (presumably Venezuelan) diplomats attempted to interfere with the arrest of Zelaya, which would actually be a Honduran casus belli against Cuba and Venezuela.
President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Zelaya's arrest should be condemned.
"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read.
For those conditions to be met, Zelaya must be returned to power, U.S. officials said.
This is incredibly bad. No mention of the Venezuelan war threat, no promise to defend Honduras if attacked, and we added our own demand that Zelaya be restored to the Presidency, DESPITE THE FACT THAT ZELAYA HAD JUST ATTEMPTED A COUP FROM ABOVE. This implies that we would either stand neutral or actively aid the aggressor should Castro and Chavez attack Honduras.
Is Obama determined to reduce the value of an American alliance to nothing?
Two senior Obama administration officials told reporters that U.S. diplomats are working to ensure Zelaya's safety as they press for restoration of constitutional law and his presidency.
"Constitutional law" is doing just fine in Honduras. It wouldn't have been had Zelaya gotten his way and had the unconstitutional referendum.
One of the officials said that the U.S. has been in touch with Zelaya since he was brought to Costa Rica, and has been trying to communicate with members of the Honduran Congress to insist that the new power structure step down.
So it's apparently now Obama's official policy that we have a veto power over the formation of governments in our allies? Again, the value of an alliance with America drops. Obama, having received a paranoid-Leftist education in history, may not realize what a policy shift this is -- we haven't behaved like this since the 1970's.
The officials said that the Obama administration in recent days had warned Honduran power players, including the armed forces, that the U.S. would not support a coup, but Honduran military leaders stopped taking their calls.
I wonder why? Gee, maybe because the Honduran military is supposed to defend Honduras rather than do the bidding of the US State Department?
Coups were common in Central America for four decades reaching back to the 1950s, but Sunday's ouster was the first military power grab in Latin America since a brief, failed 2002 coup against Chavez. It was the first in Central America since military officials forced President Jorge Serrano of Guatemala to step down in 1993 after he tried to dissolve Congress and suspend the constitution.
Whereas now we're apparently just fine with Presidents dissolving their Congresses and suspending their constitutions?
I wonder how many years it will take Obama's successor to undo the damage he is doing now to American interests, and to the interests of freedom around the world?