The Old Guard in Honduras
by Sam Gordon in Nicaragua - 1st July 2009
The republics of Central America are each marked by their own distinctive characteristics. Honduras is noted for the political apathy of its 5 million inhabitants.
That reputation received a severe challenge this week with a coup that saw democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya dragged from his bed in the wee small hours of last Sunday.
He was then put on a plane flown by masked men and dumped at the main airport of Costa Rica. Meanwhile, the Honduran army started to patrol the streets using tear gas and batons to clear the capital of protesters.
Did I say there was political apathy in Honduras? Latin America and the rest of the world were able to watch this on TV. The presence of the Venezuelan TV channel, Telesur made sure of that.
Sunday was voting day in Honduras. Mel Zelaya had set out to poll national opinion regarding changes to the countries constitution. A law was passed about three years ago with the intent of promoting citizen participation.
But the eyes of the Honduras ruling elite of plantation and factory owners and their pals in the military were focused on another song sheet Various institutions of the state claimed it was unconstitutional to undertake such a non binding, popular consultation.
A view seemingly shared by much of the international press which wrote up the story as a referendum. It was not. But it certainly could have lead down the road to an eventual referendum. Honduras constitution does not permit an incumbent president standing for consecutive terms of office.
The prospect of Zelaya seeking election at the ballot box in next November`s election proved too scary for the old guard. The anything but revolutionary Zelaya had increased the national minimum wage and signed in other modest reforms.
Most frighteningly he had got too friendly with Cuba and Venezuela. So the elites called in the army. Even the usual suspects in the US embassy have called that a no no.
Much of the Central American establishment holds the view that the state is there for their welfare. Like fertile land and cheap labour it is there to be taken advantage of and used for their benefit.
In 2002 Venezuela the old guard felt like they were loosing it in 2002 when the government of Hugo Chavez started to promote what some religious people in Latin America call God`s option for the poor.
They attempted to bring the state back under their control with an attempted coup.
Earlier this year in Bolivia, the government of Evo Morales sought to ensure that the poor, largely indigenous population, benefit from the country`s wealth derived from abundant natural gas.
Again the elites looked to the state to protect their privileged position, but with a different tack. They demanded a form of self government, for the region where they controlled the gas fields and processing. The poor could go without.
On Thursday 2 July President Zelaya plans to return to Honduras. In the meantime there is fear that the military will, as it has done before in Honduras, directly take over the functions of government.