The Cuban and Venezuelan Ambassadors to Guyana yesterday condemned the ousting of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and said that the only solution was his re-instatement.
The Honduran army on Sunday ousted and exiled the leftist President in Central America’s first military coup since the Cold War. The coup was triggered by Zelaya’s bid to make it legal to seek another term in office and followed a week of tension when Zelaya, who took office in 2006, angered the Honduran Congress, Supreme Court and army by pushing for a public vote to gauge support for changing the constitution to let presidents seek re-election beyond a single four-year term. The Supreme Court said that it had told the army to remove the president.
At a joint press conference at the Cuban Embassy yesterday, Cuban Charge d’ affaires, Jorge Rodriguez Hernandez and Venezuelan Ambassador, Dario Morandy came out strongly against the coup. Hernandez denounced the coup stating that Zelaya had taken a lot of measures that has benefitted the Honduran people and this is the reaction of the “oligarchy”, who used their power over the years to benefit the richest part of the society. “Now, they have taken an illegal action. They have violated the constitution of Honduras”, he declared.
Morandy expressed solidarity with the government of Zelaya, who he said is recognized as the legitimate president of Honduras. “We trust that the condemnation of all governments and peoples of the world and the multilateral agencies will allow the early restitution of the democracy in the Republic of Honduras”.
Hernandez stated that the international community is asking the coup leaders to withdraw from the government and restore the constitutional government of Zelaya. “That is the only way they can solve the problem now,” he said adding that the Honduran people are gathering on the streets and he did not know how an internationally isolated government that does not have the support of the people could remain in power. The diplomat said that it is risky to make any prediction on the evolution of the situation but stated it is certain that the coup leaders cannot maintain power in this condition. “We are asking the international community to firmly denounce the coup d’état, to firmly ask those persons to resign from the position they have taken in order to avoid any repercussions,” he said. The vast majority of the Honduran population is supporting Zeleya, he added.
Meantime, the Cuban diplomat declared that there has not been any explanation as to why the military did not allow the President to carry out the surveys last Sunday. He asserted that it was only a survey to seek the opinions of the people “to put another box in the elections of November to see if they agree to call a new constitutional assembly to reform or to establish a new constitution.” He denounced as a lie that Zelaya wants to be permanently in power. According to the diplomat, the current Honduran constitution was put in place by the military powers before democracy was established in that nation. He asserted that the constitution does not allow the people’s participation in the government of the country.
Morandy meantime, declared that the problem is between the enemies of the democracy and the people who are working for change in Honduras. He said that it is the same problem that has been faced by Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
Hernandez reiterated that the international community is calling on the coup leaders to review and withdraw from power and to install Zelaya without conditions. He stated that there is an information blackout by the media in Honduras and by some of the international media and they are not transmitting what is really happening in that nation. He declared that if the “putschists” continue other actions may be taken apart from the diplomatic measures now being taken, such as the suspension of the nation from the Organisation of American States. “We hope that a peaceful solution could be achieved”, he said.
Morandy added that the role of the United States government is very important and it is an important test of the Barack Obama administration.
