COUP IN HONDURAS
Sunday 28 June 2009
Josef Schneider
Last night President Mel Zelaya of Honduras was arrested by the military and taken to a military base outside the capital, Tegucigalpa. The President is supported by the popular classes but is opposed by the Honduran oligarchy for his moves to democratize the government and for bringing Honduras into the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (better known for it's Spanish acronym ALBA), a trade pact that arose as an alternative to the US government-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The Alba countries include Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Pres Zelaya has been following a strategy for systemic change that was pioneered by Venezuela and Bolivia. He has stated that he wants to call an election for a constituent assembly to re-write the Honduran constitution. The current constitution forbids changing some parts of it, so this has been blocked by the Supreme Court and the legislature. However the proposal has widespread support among Honduran union, labor and farm movements according to reports.
http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/06/honduran-crisis-tests-commitment-to.html
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