OBAMA LASHES OUT AT HONDURAS; SIDES WITH CHAVEZ, CASTRO

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Obama says coup in Honduras is illegal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed.

"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there," Obama told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Zelaya, in office since 2006, was overthrown in a dawn coup on Sunday after he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.

The Honduran Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, and the country's Supreme Court said it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya.

The European Union and a string of other foreign governments have voiced support for Zelaya, who was snatched by troops from his residence and whisked away by plane to Costa Rica.

Obama said he would work with the Organization of American States and other international institutions to restore Zelaya to power and "see if we can resolve this in a peaceful way."

"TERRIBLE PRECEDENT"

"It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections," Obama said, noting the region's progress in establishing democratic traditions in the past 20 years.

Despite Obama's comments, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration was not formally designating the ouster as a military coup for now.

Such a designation could force the U.S. leader to cut off most aid to Honduras. Under U.S. legislation, no aid -- other than for the promotion of democracy -- may be provided to a country whose elected head of government has been toppled in a military coup.

"We do think that this has evolved into a coup," Clinton told reporters, adding the administration was "withholding" that determination for now.

Asked if the United States was currently considering cutting off aid, Clinton shook her head no. The State Department said that it was unable to immediately say how much assistance the United States gives Honduras.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he did not believe Obama had spoken to Zelaya since the ouster.

He said the administration had worked in recent days to try to prevent the coup from happening, and "our goal now is on restoring democratic order in Honduras."

OBAMA CRITICISM

Analysts said quick criticism of the coup by Obama and Clinton on Sunday pleased Latin American countries bitter about the long history of U.S. intervention in the region.

The Obama administration's stance contrasted with the equivocal position taken in 2002 by former President George W. Bush's administration, which was seen as tacitly accepting a coup against Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Clinton stressed the United States was working with other nations in the hemisphere to restore full democratic and constitutional order in Honduras.

A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition he not be named said that by holding off on a legal determination that a coup has taken place, Washington was trying to provide space for a negotiated settlement.

"Much of our assistance is conditioned on the integrity of the democratic system. But if we were able to get to a ... status quo that returned to the rule of law and constitutional order within a relatively short period of time, I think that would be a good outcome," Clinton said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idU...0090629?sp=true

[웃 910]

I have a friend who has lived in Tegucigalpa the past 10 years. He said 95% of the people supported the coup and wanted it to happen. He said there is a curfew in place and he has seen a few peaceful demonstrations. Other than that, he says things are very calm...

[HAL 9000 96]

That's because usually, in Central America... every time civilians take a stand against the ruling military juntas, they disappear.

Glad to hear things are not spilling over into a civil war though... here's hopes that the OAS, the UN, and others put real pressure on those that have deposed a democratically elected government into reinstating him back into power. If its true that a majority of Hondurans want the president out, then they'll do so at the voting booth. If President Zelaya has violated Honduran law during his term as president, or gone beyond the scope of his powers as president... then public outcry should be evident, such as is the case in Venezuela and even in Cuba.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The sidebar to the story, is that Secretary Clinton is not afraid to step on Obama's toes when he clearly makes a foolish statement to the press trying to get ahead of the story.

Edited June 30, 2009 by Mister_Bill

[Immigrant2009 0]

Obama says coup in Honduras is illegal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed.

"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there," Obama told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Zelaya, in office since 2006, was overthrown in a dawn coup on Sunday after he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.

The Honduran Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, and the country's Supreme Court said it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya.

The European Union and a string of other foreign governments have voiced support for Zelaya, who was snatched by troops from his residence and whisked away by plane to Costa Rica.

Obama said he would work with the Organization of American States and other international institutions to restore Zelaya to power and "see if we can resolve this in a peaceful way."

"TERRIBLE PRECEDENT"

"It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections," Obama said, noting the region's progress in establishing democratic traditions in the past 20 years.

Despite Obama's comments, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration was not formally designating the ouster as a military coup for now.

Such a designation could force the U.S. leader to cut off most aid to Honduras. Under U.S. legislation, no aid -- other than for the promotion of democracy -- may be provided to a country whose elected head of government has been toppled in a military coup.

"We do think that this has evolved into a coup," Clinton told reporters, adding the administration was "withholding" that determination for now.

Asked if the United States was currently considering cutting off aid, Clinton shook her head no. The State Department said that it was unable to immediately say how much assistance the United States gives Honduras.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he did not believe Obama had spoken to Zelaya since the ouster.

He said the administration had worked in recent days to try to prevent the coup from happening, and "our goal now is on restoring democratic order in Honduras."

OBAMA CRITICISM

Analysts said quick criticism of the coup by Obama and Clinton on Sunday pleased Latin American countries bitter about the long history of U.S. intervention in the region.

The Obama administration's stance contrasted with the equivocal position taken in 2002 by former President George W. Bush's administration, which was seen as tacitly accepting a coup against Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Clinton stressed the United States was working with other nations in the hemisphere to restore full democratic and constitutional order in Honduras.

A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition he not be named said that by holding off on a legal determination that a coup has taken place, Washington was trying to provide space for a negotiated settlement.

"Much of our assistance is conditioned on the integrity of the democratic system. But if we were able to get to a ... status quo that returned to the rule of law and constitutional order within a relatively short period of time, I think that would be a good outcome," Clinton said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idU...0090629?sp=true

That was loose talk from his end as we can't say what is legal and not legal what happens in other countries IMHO.