Upside down world, Central American edition

During the ’80s, Honduras was used by the US, particularly the CIA and its Contra puppets, as a staging base for anti-Nicaragua, anti-Sandinista military attacks. Now, Nicaragua is turning things around–helping its Honduran neighbors get their democracy back from a bunch of US-backed putschists.

News of the Restless has coverage from Venezuelan-based Telesur of the Return of Zelaya… which featured the President doing exactly what he said he was going to do — momentarily re-entering his own country — and the coup plotters not doing what they say they’re going to do — arrest the guy.

De facto President Micheletti told Notimex (the Mexican state news agency) that Zelaya was not arrested to avoid an international incident.  As if hustling him onto an airplane and flying him to another country wasn’t an “international incident” in itself… and as if — were there legitimate criminal charges (and not just political ones) Honduras couldn’t follow international law and request an Interpol warrant.

La Gringa Blogicita (the gardening site that is covering this from Honduran state controlled sources) tries to make a big deal out of the fairly small crowds that greeted Zelaya’s temporary return.  She, of course, fails to mention a noon to dusk curfew along the border — and discounts reports of shots fired (by police — who are said to be on strike — or military is unclear) reported by  legitimate news sources (mine being the Times of London — hardly a bastion of leftism).

Everyone, except Al Giordino at Narco News missed the possibly symbolic point of Zelaya’s decicison to cross the border on Friday, instead of Saturday as originally announced.  Friday was Simon Bolivar’s  226th  birthday.  Giordino also makes the observation that Zelaya and Micheletti are sideshows… the real action, and real drama is elsewhere.

Like in  Copan, where Hemano Juancito — who I’m happy to report has been able to spend the day on normal parochial business — heard an intriguing suggestion for ending the situation:

What is interesting is how the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is reacting to all this. Today she had said, “President Zelaya’s effort to reach the border is reckless.”

I don’t know if it is reckless or not. But it reminded me that some actions of people like Martin Luther King were called “unwise and untimely.” I do not want to compare Zelaya and King. King was an advocate of nonviolence; he had a strong strategic sense; he was not corrupt; he was not a politician seeking power. But I think we should be wary of political calls for “prudence” which may be based more in realpolitik than in discerning what is just and good.

My continuing question: Where will this go from here?

I don’t know.

But I heard an interesting suggestion from a campesino this afternoon. Both deposed president Zelaya and de facto president Micheletti should be replaced by a person who is poor to serve as a real interim president.

That will be the day!

Legendary Mexican political boss Carlos Hank González once famously remarked “A politician who is poor is a poor politician”, but maybe Juancito’s friend is on to something. An poor man would — one presumes — not be a politician, and maybe that’s what Honduras (and the rest of us) need to turn the world right-side up again.