A standoff between Honduras’ president and its military, Congress and courts over a referendum on constitutional change escalated, with the leftist leader rejecting the Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate a military chief he had fired.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya told about 2,000 supporters outside the presidential offices that he would stand by his decision to oust General Romeo Vasquez as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after the military refused to provide support for a non-binding referendum on Sunday designed to gauge popular backing for retooling the constitution.
“The court, which only imparts justice for the powerful, the rich and the bankers, only causes problems for democracy,” he said following Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling.
Zelaya, who counts Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuba’s Castro brothers as friends, says the current constitution favors the elite in a country where 70 percent of the population is poor. His backers warn an attempted coup d’etat is under way.
But opponents say he wants to rewrite the charter to allow re-election so he can seek to stay in power. And Honduras’ top court, Congress and the attorney general have all said his plans are illegal since they would violate constitutional clauses barring some changes.
Late on Thursday, lawmakers voted to open an investigation to determine whether Zelaya’s refusal to obey the Supreme Court’s order damaged the rule of law in the country, said lawmaker Ramon Velasquez, of the opposition Christian Democratic party.
Once the investigation by five lawmakers is concluded, “maybe we will take more drastic measures but they will be to save the republic,” Velasquez said.
Honduran Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi, who was appointed by Congress, is urging the legislators to remove Zelaya from office. It is unclear if there is support in Congress for Zelaya’s ouster, but the legislature clearly opposes the referendum.
After his speech on Thursday, Zelaya and his supporters took referendum ballots and other materials from a military base in trucks and headed to an undisclosed location. The Supreme Court had ordered the electoral material removed and stored at an air force base.
“I’m taking the people on a mission to guarantee the democracy and rule of law,” Zelaya said. “Nobody is going to take away my legal authority because the people, who are the voice of God, are with me.”
Zelaya has galvanized the support of labor leaders, farmers and civic organizations who hope constitutional reforms will give them a greater voice — as well as Latin America’s leftist leaders.
“There is a coup d’etat under way [in Honduras] and it must be stopped,” Chavez said during his television and radio program Alo, Presidente!
Venezuela’s socialist president offered Zelaya his full support.
Former Cuban president Fidel Castro published an essay late on Thursday backing Zelaya.
“It was impressive to see [Zelaya] ... lecturing the Honduran people. He forcefully denounced the crude, reactionary attempt to block an important popular referendum. That is the ‘democracy’ that imperialism defends,” Castro wrote in one of his periodic “Reflections” carried in state media.
Zelaya’s dismissal of Vasquez prompted the chiefs of the army, navy and air force to resign.
Vasquez said he could not support a referendum that the courts had declared illegal, but he ruled out the possibility of a coup.
“We are prudent and we accept the decision of the president, whom we respect and who has the right to dismiss whom he wants,” Vasquez said.
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