South American leaders should help Hondurans fighting for democracy

[Judi Lynn]

South American leaders should help Hondurans fighting for democracy

November's presidential vote is a key test of whether Honduras can return to democracy after the US-supported 2009 coup

Mark Weisbrot
theguardian.com, Tuesday 29 October 2013 09.30 EDT

Do the people of Honduras have the right to elect their own president and congress?

That depends on whom you talk to. In 2009, the country's left-of-center President Mel Zelaya was overthrown in a military coup that was heavily supported (and, according to Zelaya, organized) by the United States government. After six months and a lot of political repression, the coup government was re-established with an election that almost the entire hemisphere – except, you guessed it, the United States – rejected as illegitimate.

Four years later, on 24 November, Honduran voters will go to the polls again in a contest between the pro-democracy Libre party, formed by people who opposed the coup, and the ruling National party, whose standard-bearer will be Juan Orlando Hernández, the president of the National Congress, who supported the 2009 military coup.

If it were a fair fight, it is very likely that Libre, whose presidential candidate is Xiomara Castro, the wife of Mel Zelaya, would win. The economy plays a large role in most elections, and a government that has presided over a deterioration in living standards for the majority is generally not returned to office. Polling data shows that 80% of Hondurans think they are worse-off than they were four years ago, and the data backs them up.

The top 10% got over 100% of all income gains in the two years after Zelaya was overthrown, sharply reversing a strong trend toward more equality during the Zelaya years. The number of people involuntarily working part-time has increased by 176%. Poverty has also increased, whereas it had been reduced significantly under Zelaya, who raised the minimum wage by nearly 100% in real terms during his three and a half years in office. Even private investment, despite the complaints of business people who supported the coup, grew much faster under Zelaya than under the current regime.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/29/honduras-democracy-presidential-election

[Bacchus4.0]

1. more Weisbrot bs

Fascinating use of the English language. "almost the entire hemisphere – except, you guessed it, the United States – rejected as illegitimate"

In the days preceding the elections, Israel, Italy, Colombia, Panama, Peru, Germany, Costa Rica and Japan also announced their intentions to recognize the results of the elections.[49][50][unreliable source?][51][52]

Weisbrot also lies when he says that the coup government was "re-established". Wrong. The election went on as scheduled. Opponents wanted to postpone the election in violation of the Honduran constitution, and it simply didn't make sense to try and cancel the elections since the government in charge was temporary. Canceling the elections would have meant the temporary government would continue in power or Z would return and rule past his mandate.

Even more blatant, Lobo was not part of the "coup" government. Mitchelleli was president of congress and belonged to the same political party as Z. No matter how crappy Lobo is or is not, you can't blame him for the coup.