TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Richard Zhang - My Blog
Richard Zhang - My Blog
Honduran coup--an immoral protest
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

June 28, 2009 was the day that sent Honduras into turmoil; it was the day that the Honduran military broke its own established democracy and overthrew its democratic leader, Manuel Zelaya, who was exiled into Costa Rica. The pretext that his opponents hold is that Zelaya tried to ignore the court’s ruling and change the constitution through a referendum.
What Micheletti tries to say here is that Zelaya is against the ruling of the Supreme Court by trying to hold a referendum to change the constitution about the presidency, and therefore he is against law. However, what a country mostly needs is not only law, but also democracy. Without democracy, law can only be a set of restrictions placed on the people. Manuel Zelaya, a democratically elected leader, represents people’s will in Honduras. Someone may say that that Manuel Zelaya wanting to change the Constitution is because of his despicable desire to stay longer on his office. In other words, he only cares about his own political power despite the court’s ruling. However, Zelaya was holding a referendum, which means people’s will. It doesn’t matter what his intention is, as long as the people support him. If Zelaya wants to hold onto his power longer than one term and most importantly, his people want him to stay longer, then why not? Laws are made by people, and so they can be and should be changed according to the will of the majority of people. That’s what majority rule means. That’s what democracy means. That’s what popular sovereignty means—the idea that governments serve for the people and only act out according to the people’s will.
Micheletti and his allies also blamed Zelaya’s socialist policies in which Zelaya gained popularity by giving handouts to the poor. It is incontrovertible that his polices to redistribute the wealth are socialistic or leftist. But so what? There is nothing wrong with being socialist. What do you want to say about being socialist? It may end up in Communist dictatorship like Czechoslovakia and Poland used to be? It may cause violence and result in another “Tiananmen Square Massacre”? Come on, don’t be so stereotypical. Socialism doesn’t always equal Communism or dictatorship. Countries like Czechoslovakia, Poland, and China were using wrong socialistic policies at wrong time. Nevertheless, when a country has a widening gap between rich and poor, socialism is needed and should be used.
“Honduras is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Industrial development has been limited, and historically the economy has been dependent on exports of coffee and bananas. The currency has been undergoing a steady and controlled devaluation of roughly 6% per year for the last several years.” In this situation, wealth needs to be redistributed among people, the poor has to get their voice heard, and the country should be led by a leader who can stand on the side of the poor since there are more poor than rich. And Manuel Zelaya is the one who can bring them hope and democracy.
After all, coup d’états are detrimental and should be by all means avoided because it can cause turmoil, uprising, and even violence. A democratic country should try to solve problems democratically. And if the government is still republic, they should let Manuel Zelaya return to his office, or at least back to his own country.


July 6, 2009 | 3:16 PM Comments  0 comments

You must be logged in to add tags.


Richard Zhang's Profile

Richard Zhang's Friends


Latest Posts
Homosexuality...
The Renaissance of GM...
CI--Conscience...
Honduran Coup...
Honduran coup--an...

Monthly Archive
July 2009

Change Language


Tags Archive
coup coupdetat democracy hello honduras iamdr.myrnafernando manuelzelaya politicalchange politicalchanges

Filter By Type
Travel
Topics

Friends
Jeanette Joanes
Fi McKenzie
Liam O'Doherty
Maryanne C
matthew ewusi nyarkoh
Sohel Manzur
Stephen Ojeremen
Wyatt Day


2765 views
Important Disclaimer