Honduran troops surround Presidential Palace

When the executive branch of the government directly defies the legislative and judicial branches of government and the Constitution, what should be done? That is the question that was presented to the Honduran government this week. The president of Honduras, Jose Manuel Zelaya, was ousted and exiled to Costa Rica this morning by the Honduran military after he vowed to hold a referendum vote that would allow him to run for another term. This referendum was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court because their Constitution stipulates that referendums may not be held 180 days prior to an election and that the presidential term limits may not be amended. The Honduran Congress also opposed the referendum. The president then tried to circumvent the courts and the Congress by urging the Honduran military to distribute ballots anyways. When they refused to violate the court’s and the Congress’ decision, the president fired the head of the armed forces, Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, and marched onto the military base where the ballots were being held and confiscated them. Before he could attempt his power grab, the military nabbed him. Reports say he was not harmed. This article says that the military also kidnapped the Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan ambassadors to Honduras. According to the military, the detention and expulsion of the president was ordered by the courts. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has threatened to go to war if necessary. What is interesting is that the Leftist Latin American leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Argentina, and Bolivia have all condemned the action while Obama called on Honduras to “respect democratic norms” and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that this act should be “condemned by all.” It is troubling to see Castro, Chavez, Morales, et al on the same page as Obama and Clinton.

Hugo Chávez, Raúl Castro, Manuel Zelaya and Fernando Lugo

But the question remains, when the president orders the military to do something illegal, and the military refuses, only to have their generals fired and then have the executive branch try to carry out that very illegal act, what should a democracy do? What happens if one individual can overrule the legislative branch, the judicial branch, the military, the Church (major Honduran institution, called the president’s illegal act a move towards Chavism, or a Chavez-style regime), and the Constitution of a country? Is that not a move towards dictatorship? His own party called it a “personal capricious act by the Executive.”

The Honduran people should be able to choose their own future, that said, no individual should have the power to overturn the decisions of nearly every elected official in government simply because he or she wants more power for him or herself. Since the courts ordered the military to detain the president, it would seem that this is not a military coup but rather an action against the executive by the other branches of government. If the president of my own country openly defied the will of the legislature, the judiciary, the military, and the Constitution, I know what I would do. No man should be above the law.

-AG