Word: zelaya
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...hypocrisy regarding coups. Overthrowing our friends at gunpoint is bad, the traditional U.S. line seemed to go, but toppling our foes - even the democratically elected ones - is O.K. So it surprised Latin Americans when U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the June 28 military ouster of leftist Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, a critic of the U.S., and called for his return to office. "We respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders," Obama said, "whether they are leaders we agree with...
...Obama's first hemispheric crisis. There are obviously higher White House priorities right now, and Obama insists he's diligently working for a negotiated solution. But diplomats from Brasília to Mexico City say they fear he's only half-heartedly pressuring Honduras' new government to let Zelaya back in to finish his term, a perception that could squander the trust he's built. That might create problems down the road - for America and the Americas alike. (See pictures of violence during Honduran protests...
...broader risk is the signal a successful coup would send to other restless armies, from Guatemala to Bolivia. Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace laureate Oscar Arias, who is mediating talks between Zelaya and the coup leaders, has noted that Latin American military spending is almost double what it was five years ago, and that the region "continues to view armed forces as the final arbiter of social conflicts." For all the progress Latin Americans have made in electing their Presidents, they often fall back on old habits when removing them - whether it's oligarchies bidding soldiers...
...Zelaya's resorting to such a circus only underlines the impotence of the international community in reacting to his ouster. More than a month after Zelaya was flown out of the country at gunpoint, the de facto government still refused demands to return him to office. A plan brokered by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias appeared to be heading nowhere, although Honduran lawmakers said they would study proposals of amnesty for players on both sides of the coup, including Zelaya...
...Obama. This is in your hands," Venezuelan firebrand Hugo Chávez groaned on his television show. The Obama Administration argues it has taken action by cutting off military aid to Honduras and revoking the diplomatic visas of several officials. But U.S. conservatives have argued against more punitive steps, saying Zelaya was a menace who had to be taken down. The coup was launched as the leftist leader tried to push through a vote allowing Presidents to stand for a second term--an action seen as an effort to extend his power, as ally Chávez has done in Venezuela...