July 10, 2009

Quick, what’s the capital of Honduras? Probably fewer than 10 percent of Americans could answer that question prior to the recent news that Honduran President Mel Zelaya was sent packing to Costa Rica by the Honduran military. While it’s too early to say whether the so-called “coup” will stick, or whether Zelaya, like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez a few years ago, can regain power, it isn’t too early to assess Barack Obama’s response. In fact, Obama’s reaction has been most illuminating, and may indeed be one of the defining moments of his presidency.

When the “mullah-cracy” that controls the government in Iran made a mockery of the rule of law with its sham election earlier in June, Obama was strangely silent. Days later, he finally paid lip service to the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people, although he was clearly following American public opinion rather than leading by personal commitment to the principle that the people of the world have certain inalienable rights that their governments cannot abrogate. The cop-out used by Obama essentially amounted to respecting other countries’ sovereignty and not wanting to “interfere” in their business.

By contrast, Obama’s response to events in Honduras was immediate and energetic. He condemned the expulsion of Zelaya from his office and his country, asserting that it was “not legal” and “a terrible precedent.” What happened to Obama’s alleged respect for sovereignty and unwillingness to “meddle?” The only constant element in Obama’s differing reactions to upheaval in Iran and Honduras is that in both cases our president refused to condemn the party that was trampling the rule of law. (Or, at least in Iran’s case, initially.)

Briefly, what happened in Honduras is that President Zelaya wanted to follow the example of his role model, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, by altering his country’s constitution to enable him to continue as ruler indefinitely. By Honduran law, Zelaya’s eligibility would expire next year, and only the Honduran congress can initiate the process of rewriting the country’s constitution. Zelaya usurped that prerogative by decreeing a referendum on changing the constitution. He then showed his “democratic” colors by threatening Hondurans with the withholding of their government-provided medical care if they wouldn’t sign petitions for a referendum. (Lesson: Government largess comes with strings attached—including in healthcare.)