Au Honduras, les putschistes se parent de légitimité by Cathy Ceïbe In Honduras, the Putschists Adorn Themselves With Legit

ORIGINAL FRENCH ARTICLE: Au Honduras, les putschistes se parent de légitimité

by Cathy Ceïbe
In Honduras, the Putschists Adorn Themselves With Legitimacy

Translated Friday 1 January 2010, by Leslie Thatcher (www.truthout.org) and reviewed by Henry Crapo

Porfirio Lobo was officially declared "president elect" after the November 29 election, the result of which was not recognized by a large part of the international community.

Forty-two murders, 120 disappearances, 4,000 arbitrary detentions ... Human rights have savagely deteriorated since the June 28 putsch.

Well-known analyst of Honduran political life and sociologist at the Francisco-Morazan Teaching University of Honduras Julio Navarro believes that de facto the regime has no choice but to hold talks with the resistance.

Cathy Ceïbe of L’Humanité:

Do you share the much-publicized idea that the November 29 elections have ended the Honduran political crisis?

Julio Navarro: The authors of the coup d’état believed that elections would settle the crisis because the resistance movement was massive. Otherwise, who can believe that they would have executed this forcible coup to stay in power six months only? But the government of Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, elected by 33 percent of the population, has a legitimacy problem. That ought to favor dialogue with the forces the resistance represents.

For now, "Pepe" Lobo’s actions are moving away from that prospect ...

Julio Navarro: Porfirio Lobo is not acting that way because he believes that, in time, the international community will digest the situation. I believe he’s mistaken. He finds himself in a position all the more complicated in that his Party, the National Party, certainly has an absolute majority in the Congress, but the latter is controlled by close to 100 deputies (out of 128) that constitute the putschist parliamentary bloc.

What are the sticking points for Honduran society?

Julio Navarro: The rupture of the Constitutional order on June 28 and the Constitutional Assembly. If one looks at this country’s antecedents, in 1924, in 1956, in 1965 and in 1982, four coups d’état led to a Constitutional Assembly. But this time will perhaps be the exception. The bloc constituted by the neoliberals, the nationalists, the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats is opposed to that process. On the other hand, attention must be paid to other sectors of society. The military, for example, is in favor of a Constitutional Assembly in order to renegotiate its position. Management also needs it in order to redefine the division of wealth and the role of the State. The Honduran church, linked to Opus Dei, is also involved because it wants to keep control over family planning. The coup d’état highlights antagonistic conceptions of society.

And with respect to social inequalities?

Julio Navarro: They have not thrown the thousands of people demanding a better division of economic wealth into the street. Hence, the importance of the resistance which promotes the idea of a recasting of the state to transform the country and its economy structurally.

Has Honduras been the laboratory for a new form of destabilization?

Julio Navarro: In spite of the decisions by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the UN, the military never felt it was in danger because it has the support of the Pentagon. One may talk about a laboratory in the sense that the popular reaction was tested. The best place to do that was Honduras since that country sets off from the cultural given that public opinion has no tradition of vigilance. Now, if the Honduran people have given the lie to that prejudice, imagine elsewhere ... I do not, however, believe in a domino effect, especially in South America where governments have taken precautions by getting rid of the old generations of military. On the other hand, one must remain attentive to this relationship between the military and economic sectors. The day when they reconnect as in Honduras, where the private sector financed the coup d’état, then there will be danger. Whatever happens, the events in Honduras must first serve as a lesson to the region’s presidents. They question the existence of the OAS given that its intentions have no effect. Finally, by its action, the United States leaves behind a damaged and distressing image.

In Honduras, the Putschists Adorn Themselves With Legitimacy: on the Truthout site.