The turmoil engulfing the tiny country of Honduras is all about personal gains. Personalities are battling for control and influence in this poor country. It is not so much as to addressing social problems but about influence and power. Because Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is through his country’s oil is trying to expand his influence, many Latin American leaders have fallen prey to his antics. Honduras is now in the frontline of the battle.
Ousted president Zelaya, emboldened by Chavez’s gains and perhaps expecting doleouts from him, tried to subvert Honduras’s constitution to stay in power. It is not about the dismantling of oligarchies but about extending his term for personal gain. What behooves me is how the international community took Zelaya hook, line and sinker. Even the EU is clueless of the real events taking place in Honduras. Relying mainly on Zelaya’s claims bolstered by Chavez’s rhetoric, they concluded that what happened in Honduras was a military coup and not an adherence to the processes of law.
A country’s sovereignty is dictated by its constitution. Rather than seeing the crisis as an internal one, they relied solely on Zelaya’s story. What the OAS should have done is to study the Honduran constitution first and then dissect the events. What is happening now is that Zelaya and Chavez are using this to get support from the international community. Of course Zelaya would try to make it appear that he is a hero to the people and a victim of injustice. Are the members of the OAS this stupid? Have they no wisdom?
I raise these questions as the Philippines have gone through several coups and power grabs. But unlike the Honduran congress and its supreme court, ours are weak. I applaud the Honduran courts, congress and its military for being strong enough to pursue due process instead of giving in to pressures both from within and abroad. Zelaya I think forced the issue and disregarded the laws of the land. In the Philippines however, our congress is in the pocket of the president and follows her every whim.
If the crisis in the Honduras continues to be meddled in by both the OAS and the UN, it will never be resolved. Let Honduras handle its political crisis. They have no business sticking their noses in a country’s constitutional problem. Chavez and Zelaya are stoking the fires of unrest in Honduras. And Chavez because through the use of Venezuelan oil is whipping Latin America to toe their line.
As for the rest of the world, be discerning, be vigilant and don’t be fools. Don’t believe everything you hear especially from men who only want power. Mediation and meddling are two different things.
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