A very interesting article from a Honduran source, Honduras this Week, The Civil Coup the World Overlooks, says that the real coup was led by Zelaya on Thursday July 25th, and his arrest on the 28th was the restoration of constitutional order.

The above video is from Thursday, when Zelaya led a mob of his supporters to storm the Air Force headquarters to remove the ballots for the referendum that the Supreme Court had ruled unconstitutional, and the Congress, illegal. Can the president break the law with impunity? Perhaps the most important statement Zelaya made was a casual comment that next year the country would be ruled by a constitutional assembly. What about the elections?

In this video he says that the the opposition of the Congress and the Supreme Court to his desires were “arbitrary and illegal” and constitute a “de facto coup”, and that a constituent assembly is “badly needed”. The Supreme Court and Congress are meant to be a check and balance on the Executive branch. Are they coupsters for upholding separation of the powers of the state?

Remember this is before his arrest on Sunday.

The truth is that Zelaya, stung by Congress and the Supreme Court’s independence, was plotting a coup of his own, ignoring the November elections and abusing the word “democracy” to the point of robbing it of all meaning.

Zelaya has promised to return to Honduras tomorrow, by land air or sea. He claims that the “civil war”, a term Chávez spoon-fed to the gullible media, has already begun. He invited his followers to flock to the borders of the country to accompany him to the capital.

He used a strange word to describe his return, “apotheosis”. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines apotheosis as:

1. “elevation to divine status, deification”
2. “the perfect example”

Here are his words:

“Sólo Dios puede impedir mi regreso y les puedo asegurar que Dios no está con los golpistas, está de nuestro lado. Mi entrada en Tegucigalpa va a ser apoteósica”

“Only God can stop my return and I can assure you that God is not with the coupsters; he is on our side. My entry to Tegucigalpa will be an apotheosis.”

Apotheosis is used in art to ascribe divinity to leaders. For instance, the cupola of the Capitol in Washington D.C. has a fresco, shown above, named, The Apotheosis of Washington. In it he is enthroned in heaven, surrounded by Athena, Poseidon, Mercury, Hera, Liberty, and an assortment of other deities of the Greco-Roman pantheon.

Mel Zelaya imagines himself amongst them. Not even Chávez has said something so megalomaniacal. Perhaps he imagines himself on a donkey, making a messianic triumphal entry, surrounded by crowds holding palm branches, and placing their clothes on the road in homage to him.

The last time he asked his followers to receive him, a young man was killed. Although I am almost sure he is lying, how many would die if he is speaking the truth?

Image from the Wikimedia Commons

Warning, this video is very disrespectful, but hilarious! The song, Sopa de Caracol (Conch Soup), is not merengue, but punta, a musical style copied from the Garifuna people, an ethnic group formed by the mixture of Africans escaping slavery in Cuba with Carib natives.

In case you don’t recognize them, these are the presidents of the ALBA nations, and allies of Cuba and Venezuela. There is Rafael Correa, of Ecuador, Manuel Zelaya, of Honduras, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, and Evo Morales of Bolivia.

A billion thanks to Babalú for posting it on their blog!