Sow fear, and what will you reap? Chaos.

Society exists through faith. Faith in a house to shelter us, in money to feed us, in a government to provide leadership and punish those who would hurt us. I trust my neighbors aren’t going to break into my house in the middle of the night to rob and murder me. Otherwise I would take measures to protect myself, or give up and move somewhere else.

Why is Chávez sowing fear? What do people do when they are terrified? Some will take arms and defend themselves, with violence if necessary. Others will surrender, submit and let themselves be led, even to death by their oppressors. That is what makes terrorist attacks so successful. Both things play exactly into Chávez’s hands.

Chávez is sowing fear. He says he fears “Civil War” in Honduras, something that would only benefit him. He was the first to announce a “coup”, 4 days before Zelaya was detained. Patricia Rodas, a radical activist and a member of Zelaya’s inner circle, has announced the emminent return of Zelaya to Honduras. But she was forced minutes later to correct her statment, saying that she was not speaking literally. She must have known that the media would publish the shocking and ignore the truthful statements. A wave of rumors has spread through the country, even being published in major news sources.

Chavez knows that the majority of peace-loving Hondurans won’t oppose a violent mob. They will flee from them or submit. He also knows that the few who are brave enough to stand up to them, are those who have the most to lose for the use of their weapons, the Honduran military. He is setting up a situation where the only viable solution is actually a suicidal trap. He is forcing the government to commit suicide, by creating chaos, chaos that can only be stopped with force. But force will only lead to death, and death to Chavez’s victory. Checkmate.

What’s the solution? Courage. Magnanimity. Faith. Peace. Love. Instead of cowering in selfish fear, we need to embrace those who are afraid, and help them stand on their own. We aren’t afraid of you Chavez. Any use of force on us will only mean a defeat for you. We will respond to insults with a smile. We will not be afraid.

Image by Jayel Aheram, used with a Creative Commons license

Porfirio Lobo Sosa, the presidential candidate for the opposition party, the National Party, has been interviewed on CNN. His position is that no decision that comes from outside should be binding, because this will cause many deaths. He repeatedly said that he supports any decision, even the return of Zelaya, if it comes from the mediated dialogue in Costa Rica. He counseled that it is in the best interest of everyone that Zelaya and Micheletti be flexible.

Today the interim government of Honduras restored the curfew that was lifted on Monday, after Zelaya and Chávez both called for generalized “insurrection” in Honduras to keep pressure on the government. CNN omitted this statement in their report of Zelaya’s speech, preferring to highlight the words “weekend activities”.

The crisis has boosted Zelaya’s popularity to 46% favorable from a low of 30% two weeks ago, according to the most recent Gallup poll. Nevertheless, 41% of Hondurans agree that Zelaya’s removal was justified, 31% were unsure, and only 28% said that it was unjustified.

The AP news agency has reported Micheletti made an offer to resign, stressing that he would do so only if Zelaya would not return to power. I have searched for this in Honduran and Venezuelan news, but only this AP article is reporting this. The New York Times published the article, stating its source as the AP