Former Honduran President attempting to land in Honduras

[her209]

Right now on CNN.

:Q

EDIT:
1. The plane is being denied from landing by the military.
2. The military has placed vehicles on the landing strip to make it difficult/impossible to land.
3. Plane is trying to land in an undisclosed location.
4. Plane landed in Nicaragua instead.

 

[Red Dawn]

Man power must be such a strong aphrodisiac for someone like this little hobbit to risk his life.

 

[EagleKeeper]

He is hoping the public external opinion will protect him.

All the leftist countries (OAS) that have stood up and stated that he did nothing wrong are being hoped to apply pressure.

 

[BarrySotero]

He knows he has Obama's support

 

[jpeyton]

Dee-nyed.

 

[yllus]

I have to wonder if we're watching a replay of Chavez's return to Venezuela circa 2001 (or 2002 or whenever that was in the early 00s).

 

[Freshgeardude]

just fucking shoot it down if they keep trying. get it over with.

 

[MovingTarget]

It baffles me that he thought they would let him land in the first place. If not, then this is just a PR stunt....nothing to see here. (yet)

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
It baffles me that he thought they would let him land in the first place. If not, then this is just a PR stunt....nothing to see here. (yet)

This sort of thing happens every once in a while in the developing world, and it's always the same game of who's going to blink first.

Rules: Only one - win and keep the public's support.

Gameplay: The wannabe leader (Mr. Zelaya) flies in and circles the runway until he or she is dangerously low on fuel. At some point, he will not have enough fuel to land at an alternate site, meaning that a continued denial to land means the death of those aboard the plane. The opposition (Honduran military) doesn't want this, as the optics of the body of a dead leader at the hands of the military rarely go their way.

Mr. Zelaya must have been hoping for a groundswell of support at the airport that would have allowed him to land, as he apparently was not committed enough to returning to risk his life by running the fuel tanks dry. Or perhaps this is a way to add pressure to the military - this gives the OAS fresh ammo to use in the press.

 

[senseamp]

Should try a helicopter next time.

 

[OCGuy]

Desperation....

 

[Jadow]

They shoulda let him land...then sent an RPG right into his plane.

 

[Drift3r]

Let him land.......................In the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean that is filled with the dashed tears and dreams of failed dictators.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Could someone please give me the truth on this story?

From what I understand, our state-run media has it all wrong, taking the ousted president's side on this? That the real story is that this guy is a wannabe Marxist dictator who wants to abolish their constitution? That the real heroes here are the people of Honduras, who along with their military, ousted the guy?

I can certainly understand Obama warming up to a wannabe dictator who wants to promote a Marxist agenda.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Could someone please give me the truth on this story?

From what I understand, our state-run media has it all wrong, taking the ousted president's side on this? That the real story is that this guy is a wannabe Marxist dictator who wants to abolish their constitution? That the real heroes here are the people of Honduras, who along with their military, ousted the guy?

I can certainly understand Obama warming up to a wannabe dictator who wants to promote a Marxist agenda.

He didn't want to abolish their Constitution, he wanted to ammend it so he could run for a second term and the powers that be in Honduras refused to consider it so he took it upon himself to put it to the common people of Honduras in an unconstitutional way. It wouldn't have been binding but the ruling class afraid of his popularity feared that it wouldn't have created a movement among the population that they would have had to adhere too so they had the military arrest him and whisk him out of the country.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Jadow
They shoulda let him land...then sent an RPG right into his plane.

We sure have a lot of asses in our society.

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Could someone please give me the truth on this story?

From The Wall Street Journal:

That Mr. Zelaya acted as if he were above the law, there is no doubt. While Honduran law allows for a constitutional rewrite, the power to open that door does not lie with the president. A constituent assembly can only be called through a national referendum approved by its Congress.

But Mr. Zelaya declared the vote on his own and had Mr. Chávez ship him the necessary ballots from Venezuela. The Supreme Court ruled his referendum unconstitutional, and it instructed the military not to carry out the logistics of the vote as it normally would do.

The top military commander, Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, told the president that he would have to comply. Mr. Zelaya promptly fired him. The Supreme Court ordered him reinstated. Mr. Zelaya refused.

Calculating that some critical mass of Hondurans would take his side, the president decided he would run the referendum himself. So on Thursday he led a mob that broke into the military installation where the ballots from Venezuela were being stored and then had his supporters distribute them in defiance of the Supreme Court's order.

The attorney general had already made clear that the referendum was illegal, and he further announced that he would prosecute anyone involved in carrying it out. Yesterday, Mr. Zelaya was arrested by the military and is now in exile in Costa Rica.

- Mr. Zelaya tried to bypass Congress to allow himself to sit for another term
- The Supreme Court ruled the referendum unconstitutional
- The military complied with the law, leading to Mr. Zelaya firing the head of the military
- The Supreme Court orders the firing to be undone, Mr. Zelaya refuses
- Mr. Zelaya bypasses the military and distributes referendum ballots himself
- Honduras' Attorney General announces that those responsible for executing the illegal referendum will be prosecuted
- Mr. Zelaya is flown out of the country

 

[Pocatello]

President for life, who wouldn't want that?

 

[Drift3r]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Could someone please give me the truth on this story?

From what I understand, our state-run media has it all wrong, taking the ousted president's side on this? That the real story is that this guy is a wannabe Marxist dictator who wants to abolish their constitution? That the real heroes here are the people of Honduras, who along with their military, ousted the guy?

I can certainly understand Obama warming up to a wannabe dictator who wants to promote a Marxist agenda.

He didn't want to abolish their Constitution, he wanted to ammend it so he could run for a second term and the powers that be in Honduras refused to consider it so he took it upon himself to put it to the common people of Honduras in an unconstitutional way. It wouldn't have been binding but the ruling class afraid of his popularity feared that it wouldn't have created a movement among the population that they would have had to adhere too so they had the military arrest him and whisk him out of the country.

He was not allowed to amend it to expand term limits. The Honduran Constitution itself has articles in there to defend against such a move via articles 42.5 (This one strips your citizenship away for supporting, suggesting or inciting that term limits be removed!), 239 (Prevents past presidents and VP's from running again and makes it a crime to suggest, incite, promote, etc... that past presidents/vp's are allowed to run again with a 10 year criminal sentence for breaking this law.), and 374 ( This basically forbids any referendums on the subject of ending term limits or allowing past presidents/VP's to run again.) to name a few.

He was ruled in violation of the Constitution numerous times by the Honduran Supreme court who ordered him to stop, his VP stepped down in disgust, the top 3 generals of the 3 branches of the armed forces stepped down in disgust when Zeyala tried to use them to force in his "referendum". Let also note that Congress went against him, the Attorney General he appointed told him to step down, and even his own political party members rallied against him in Congress. WTF else hell is required for people to get the hint already that this guy was absolutely in the wrong and what happened was of his own making? This would be Chavez/Castro despot got what he deserved.