tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2341954168256070610.post6612983457096116282..comments2023-09-12T01:15:08.356-07:00Comments on Honduras Coup 2009: The Armed Forces statement: a translation and commentaryRAJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2341954168256070610.post-27165739984401259582009-07-27T17:32:22.245-07:002009-07-27T17:32:22.245-07:00Today General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez gave an inte...Today General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez gave an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/america_latina/2009/07/090726_0241_romeo_vasquez_gm.shtml" rel="nofollow">interview</a>, in Spanish, to the BBC Mundo program and denied everything the statement on the Armed Forces website says. He said the Armed Forces are not supporting the Arias negotiations and when asked if they'd accept the return of Zelaya said "no".RNShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14197289255196253989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2341954168256070610.post-85149536660184907582009-07-27T10:31:52.994-07:002009-07-27T10:31:52.994-07:00Addendum: Also posted on the Fuerzas Armadas websi...<b>Addendum</b>: Also posted on the Fuerzas Armadas website is a document dated July 18, named "Documento Auditoría Jurídico Militar de las FFAA Sobre Sucesión Presidencial en Honduras". It provides a chronology including the legal findings by the military's lawyers that lead from last fall through the Armed Forces' participation in the coup.<br /><br />Item (q) on that list is interesting. It begins with a communication of June 18 from the lower court that was ruling on the legality of the poll scheduled for June 28; saying that court had asked the Armed Forces to provide a report on what measures it was taking to comply with the order not to carry out the poll. <br /><br />It ends with the phrase "the same was completed the 25th of June" (the Thursday before the coup). It looks like someone is a little defensive about timing. This is reinforced by item (cc) which references the publication on June 28 of the Supreme Court orders for the capture and raid carried out by the military; clearly, one of the main purposes of this posting is to establish that everything was done under court order (even if the court in question had no legal standing to order the Armed Forces to act, under the constitution, and should have been ordering the National Police to act in both cases).<br /><br />Item (z) also bears a second look. It records an order on Friday June 26 from the lower court-- Juzgado de Letras de lo Contencioso Administrativo-- directly to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, directing the military to seize the ballot materials for the opinion poll. This order would be constitutionally problematic, as the Armed Forces is commanded by the Executive Branch; which recalls the fact that the head of the Air Force base where President Zelaya went to seize the ballot materials the same day said he would not disobey an order from his Commander in Chief before he stepped aside to let Zelaya and his escort collect the disputed materials.<br /><br />But the real payoff in this document comes after the timeline, with a Q and A starting on page 8 (of 156 pages!) in which the Armed Forces presents their defense of their actions, including (p. 13) their reduction of their options to three: (1) wait with "arms crossed" to see if President Zelaya disssolved Congress (what his opponents accused him of planning, perhaps because they themselves tried to do that in 1985); (2) take another approach to replacing President Zelaya (e.g. impeachment), which they say <b>would have allowed him to seek military support from ALBA, leading to bloodshed</b>; or deport him. This is the baldest statement of the ideological fear that motivated the Armed Forces, no matter how unbelievable it seems.RAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.com