Another World is Possible

Manuel Zelaya will not return to power. In a 111-14 vote, the Honduran congress upheld it’s June decision to remove him. Zelaya claims that Congress has no authority to remove a president, or to restore him. He has half of this right. They do not have the authority to restore him, which was the opinion of the Ministerio Publico (District Attorney). The authority that Congress had in removing him resides in the Constitution.

Relieved as I am about this defeat of the false promise of Chavismo, this vote leaves Honduras with many questions about the future. Among these are poverty, unemployment, human rights, and international recognition.

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere. Although Lobo is sure to strengthen businesses and create jobs, Honduras badly needs educational reform in order to train workers who will be paid more than the miserly minimum wage. Unfortunately, teachers were among the stubbornest supporters of Zelaya, and a decades-old bastion of pro-Cuban thought. Even during Zelaya’s term, many were constantly on strike, demanding pay raises, and refusing to teach our children. Don’t think I am biased against them, my mother and two of my sisters are teachers, and aren’t among the strikers.

I would like to hope that President-elect Lobo will address all the human rights complaints filed during the political crisis. The truth about these things needs to be known. Honduras has an appalling human rights record that goes back hundreds of years, not just five months. The human rights abuses need to stop, and also Zelaya supporters need to be exposed in their claims that they were all Micheletti’s fault. Moreover, their false claims, which in my opinion were the majority, must be exposed as frauds. I have very little hope Lobo will achieve this, but it needs to be attempted with force.

International recognition will be trickier. With the resurrection of cold war polarization, a new Chavista bloc will reject the new government for as long as Chavez stays powerful. Notice that I didn’t say socialist. Chavismo and socialism aren’t synonyms. Socialism is Chavez’s victim. If I were a socialist, I would be enraged that Chavez and other unscrupulous leaders claim to care for the people, given his current actions.

What has happened in Honduras, as fellow blogger Daniel Germer has put it, is a revolution. This revolution has been bloodless, as most of the revolutions in Latin America have been lately. Unlike them, it is a revolution away from Chavez. What is more, it is a “Constitutional revolution”. But let’s not waste a good revolution, but let it continue a bit…and use it to lift the country out of poverty and injustice.

Related posts:

1. Caracas Chronicles: The Tenth Anniversary of a Slap in the Face
2. Chavez Shuts Down RCTV…Again
3. Amnesty International’s Recommendations for Lobo
4. Amnesty International Tacitly Justifies Violent Vandalism
5. Congress to Vote on Zelaya’s Restitution