Coup-coup

With the “government in exile” camped on the Nicaraguan side of the Honduran border, and rightly complaining that the U.S. Secretary of State is acquiescing in the coup, the “de facto government” is getting downright testy… putting the entire country under a state of siege (basically doing away with all civil rights).

The so-called negotiations, which I’ve always suspected were more to buy time for the coup than to really resolve any consitutional issues, are going off into the realm of the surreal, with everyone seeming to go off script.  A few minor Republican congressmen (misidentified in the Honduran press as Senators) meeting with the de facto government and — in what may actually prove more important — military officers have been meeting with unnamed U.S. “congressional aides” (whatever that means) and have issued a “communiqué… drafted in Washington after days of talks … Posted on the Honduran Armed Forces Web site, it endorsed the so-called San José Accord that was forged in Costa Rica by delegates representing President Zelaya and the man who heads the de facto Honduran government, Roberto Micheletti.”

Although there is no reason to trust General Romero Vasquez Velasquez, he is quoted in this morning’s El Pais (Spain) as saying the armed forces will not fire on civilians on the border.

Although that  may mean the end of the coup, it’s not a good sign.   Although its packaged as meaning the military would prefer a civilian solution to the political crisis, it also means the military — specifically General Vasquez — is taking on an  extra-constitutional role as arbiter of what is, and what is not, acceptable political life in the country.  If you’ll remember, the rational for the coup in the first place had less to do with the dubious constitutionality of a referendum (or opinion poll, or whatever it’s being called today) than with civilian control over the military chain of command.  Honduras has an unusual legal system, with the commander of the armed forces appointed by Congress, but answerable to the President.  When Zelaya sacked General Vasquez,  the Congress demanded his reinstallation.  Vasquez then quit, then hustled the president out of the country, and post facto was restored as head of the armed forces.

Meanwhile, Zelaya says he’ll cross back into Honduras again … third time’s a charm?