Another Perspective
Honduran Church Leaders Sympathetic to “Coup”
“We reject threats of force or blockades of any sort which only make the poorest suffer.”
They haven’t gotten much attention, but church leaders in Honduras, while not specifically endorsing the coup, have not condemned the June 28 overthrow of leftist Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, and a Cardinal, strongly warned against Zelaya’s return to Honduras, which could lead to a “blood bath.” Rodriguez, in a televised speech on July 4, asked the Organization of American States (OAS), which has demanded Zelaya’s restoration, to examine the “illegal deeds” under Zelaya’s regime.
“To the Organization of American States: we ask that you pay attention to all the was happening outside the law in Honduras and not only what happened starting on June 28,” Cardinal Rodriguez said, reading from a statement approved by the Honduran bishops. “The Honduras people are also asking why the warlike threats against our country have not been condemned,” he continued, by implication referring to invasion threats by Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. “If the inter-American system is limited to protecting the system of ballot boxes but not to monitoring good governance and the prevention of political, economic, and social crises, a belated reaction in the face of these will be worth nothing to the international community.”
In June before the coup, the Honduran Catholic bishops had urged a negotiated settlement between Zelaya, who was pushing a plebiscite to ultimately grant him the right to reelection, and the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress, who insisted the Constitution prohibited such a referendum. Later, the bishops met with Zelaya and urged him to abandon any reelection efforts. Reportedly Zelaya promised to leave office when his term ends in January 2010. When Zelaya then still insisted on a referendum, inciting a mob of supporters to storm a military warehouse and seize the Venezuelan-printed ballots, so the referendum could proceed despite the Supreme Court’s injunction against it, the bishops reportedly felt betrayed by Zelaya.
“We declare the right we have to define our own destiny without unilateral pressure of any sort, seeking solutions which promote the good of all,” said Cardinal Rodriguez in his July 4 broadcast, reading from the bishops’ statement. “We reject threats of force or blockades of any sort which only make the poorest suffer.”
Implicitly defending Zelaya’s ouster by the Supreme Court and Congress, Cardinal Rodriguez said: “Each and every one of the documents which have come into our hands show that the institutions of the Honduran democratic state are valid and that what it has executed in juridical-legal matters has been rooted in law.” Rodriguez noted that the Honduran constitution asserts that “whoever proposes” to change the constitution’s prohibition against presidential reelection “immediately ceases to hold his post and remains disqualified for ten years for any public function.” The Cardinal concluded: “Therefore, the person sought, when he was captured, no longer held the position of President of the Republic.” The Supreme Court had authorized an arrest warrant for the President, he noted.
Cardinal Rodriguez seemed to criticize the coup when he observed that the constitution prohibits expatriation to a “foreign State,” since Zelaya was shipped to Costa Rica. “We believe that we all merit an explication of what happened on June 28,” surmised the Cardinal, who insisted it is “fundamental” to abide by the scheduled election for a new president in November.
A representative of a Catholic missions group in Honduras, Missioners for Christ, was more direct, accusing Zelaya of leading Honduras towards a “socialist dictatorship” while disregarding “democratic rule and practices.” The missionary concluded: “He purports to be a voice for the poor and marginalized but has spoken for them and the country without comprehensive consensus and support.”
The Episcopal Bishop of Honduras was not so explicit but also declined to criticize ousting President Zelaya, who had “pressed on with plans for a nonbinding referendum which opponents said would open the gate for him to rewrite the constitution to run for re-election.” Defying the Congress and Supreme Court, Zelaya had “led a group of protesters to an air force installation and seized the ballot boxes, which the procurator’s office and the electoral tribunal had ordered confiscated.” There are 50,000 Episcopalians in the Diocese of Honduras, which belongs to the U.S. Episcopal Church.
Maybe thanks to the Episcopal Bishop in Honduras, the U.S. Episcopal Church did not join a “faith-based” coup condemnation by officials from other liberal led denominations and left-wing advocacy groups, including the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Washington Office, Church World Service of the National Council of Churches, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, the Washington Office on Latin America, Witness for Peace, and School of the Americas Watch, among others.
“President Zelaya was forcibly removed from his home by the military and put on a plane to Costa Rica,” the activists complained. “The coup took place on the very day that a controversial non-binding referendum about the Honduran constitution had been scheduled.” The activists insisted that “actions by the Honduran military to arrest the President and force him out of the country cannot be accepted.” Included in the “faith-based” coup coalition were old and nearly forgotten groups not similarly excited since they lobbied for Central American Marxist insurgencies in the 1980s.
Meanwhile, Honduran evangelicals told Christianity Today that the Honduran coup answered prayers. “It’s sad to see the OAS and the UN forcing Honduras to take back this president,” one evangelical told the magazine. “We feel that what has happened is a reply to the fervent prayers of so many Christians. For many of us, it’s not a coup, but the rescue of our country and our democracy.” Before and after the coup, large numbers of evangelicals had demonstrated in Tegucigalpa for the Honduran constitution and against Zelaya.
On June 29, an anonymous Honduran official told the Washington Post, “The decision [against Zelaya] was adopted by unanimity in the Congress. That means all of the political parties. It has been endorsed by sectors that represent a wide array of Hondurans — the Episcopal Church, the Catholic Church. And well, of course, the armed forces.” He added: “The difficult part will be for the international community to see things as the Honduran people see them.”
Whether the “international community,” which continues to demand Zelaya’s return, will heed Hondurans, or their church leaders, is an open question.
About the Author
Mark Tooley is president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington, D.C. and author of Methodism and Politics in the Twentieth Century. You can follow him on Twitter @markdtooley.
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Ryan| 7.10.09 @ 8:28AM
It's not just the Catholics and Episcopalians. I've seen similar from conservative Protestant mission groups as well.
It's highly telling on which side is right here simply by looking at where the major players are lining up.
Richard Baker| 7.10.09 @ 9:56AM
The Kenyan is meeting with the Pope. Wonder if he'll scold His Holiness for the Church in Honduras having the temerity to disagree with him on the expulsion of Zelaya?
Michael Tomlinson| 7.10.09 @ 10:55AM
Please remember in the anti-democratic and anti-Christian era of Obama Constitutions are worthless. What counts is a person's "empathy" for the "downtrodden" unless you're a Muslim cleric or megalomaniacal dictator or wannabe.
Pingback| 7.10.09 @ 12:29PM
Church Leaders, Senators Oppose Forcing Honduras to Reinstate Ousted President and W links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
FeralCat| 7.10.09 @ 1:25PM
There was no coup in Honduras. There was an attempted coup by Benito Zelaya which was prevented and now it appears that Adolf Obama would like to stage a coup to restore Benito Zelaya to power. That's about it in a nutshell.
Big Leo| 7.10.09 @ 1:39PM
So the UMC Board of Church and Society betrays the people of the UMC again and casts a vote for socialist totalitarianism. I am sad, but not surprised.
We are in a race in the United Methodist Church-- to take it back from leftist ideologues before they destroy it.
Richard Baker| 7.10.09 @ 6:26PM
FeralCat:
Agreed.
VoteTheDay | 7.11.09 @ 12:14PM
What is your opinion on the situation in Honduras? Give your vote either for or against Zelaya - http://www.votetheday.com/honduras/honduras-crisis-434/
Ray| 7.11.09 @ 12:15PM
So, the removal of one man from office is now considered a coup? Only if that man was a dictator! I guess it's true, the liberals never met a dictator they didn't like, and support.
Regroupthink | 7.12.09 @ 12:20AM
This is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to Religion and the poor. The Right will keep 90% of the wealth with 5% of the people by military force but allow Religion to flourish. The Left, abhors this oppiate of the masses and wants to apply Christ's message of fairness immediately. Sad but true.
Reindividualthink| 7.12.09 @ 2:39AM
This is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to Religion and the poor. The Left will steal 100% of the wealth that comes from the productive 95% of the people and give it to the parasitic 5% of the population supporting the commie dictator by military force, and it will crush all dissenters from its evil global warming religion with taxation and its jackbooted ACORN thugs. The Right abhors this oppression of free peoples and wants to people to be free to apply Christ's message of charity and righteousness to themselves rather than having thieving government-worshiping traitors like Regroupthink enforce their Satanic parody of Christianity on us; it's unflattering, but true.
Regroupthink | 7.12.09 @ 4:06PM
Replying to Reindividualthink, I doubt there is even 1% of parisitic poor people in Honduras, since like all third world countries, the people slave all day for a pittence. Also the Left will spread the wealth to all citizens (schools, health care, housing, food, etc.) and the immoral, incredible disparity of wealth will will diminish. The poor won't have to wait for some fabulously wealthy person to be in a good mood and throw them a bone. Thank God!
rdman| 7.12.09 @ 5:29PM
What COUP??? There was no coup in Honduras, but despite facts on the ground, videos, Honduran statements, the useful MSM idiots ignore the facts and continue to report a COUP. Either these idiots have some 1970 preconcieved notions of the region and are too lazy to come up to speed or they purposefully print Marxist misinformation and propaganda to gain favor from Hugo, Fidel and over-exposed Marxists.
Rich| 7.14.09 @ 4:10PM
My wife is from Honduras. Her parents, siblings and many of her friends still live there near San Pedro Sula. No one I've met from Honduras places any trust in the Constitution because many of the wealthy are politicians and bend the law for their own purposes. Many of the Honduran people are protesting now not because Zelaya was sent out of the country, but because the interim president wants to rescind the pay increase Zelaya gave to the people early in the year. Most Hondurans don't trust the government and have little trust in any politician to do what is right for the poor. They only cater to the rich. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in C.A., and I fear for its people who could be caught in a war between socialist fascists bent on making a giant socialist hispanic state and the rich wanting to keep power and control over resources and people. I know many Americans don't care what happens to Honduras, but you should, as it is much closer to us than is Iran. A war in Honduras could destabilize Central America, which will impact the US. There are over 17,000 Americans living there.
Eric| 7.16.09 @ 11:41AM
The terms "plebesite" and "non-binding referendum" seem vague to me. I'm sure not exactly sure what Zelaya was trying to do. Was he trying to ammend the Constitution, would it have been illegal to do so? Obviously attempting to ask the people directly for exended term limits would have been a violation of the existing Constitution, but I'm not convinced this is what he was trying to do.
What is clear is that the interim govt. violated the law in evicting Zelaya from the country. I have to wonder why they did this. The fact that Zelaya hold 46% percent popular support would seem to suggest that he may still be the popular choice for president.
poptropica| 4.9.10 @ 11:44PM
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Hercules won’t help you until you have all five items from Zeus’ quest. Once you have the five items, bring them to Athena. Zeus will appear and steal them. The big jerk! Once this happens, talk to Athena and she will tell you that Hercules will help you. You’ll need to have the magic mirror from Aphrodite because Hercules doesn’t want to have to walk. He’s so lazy!
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I’ll have a full written walkthrough very soon, but in the meantime, here are some answers to some of the frequently asked questions about Mythology Island. Having trouble? Post a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer it!poptropica
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Hercules won’t help you until you have all five items from Zeus’ quest. poptropica
Once you have the five items, bring them to Athena. Zeus will appear and steal them. The big jerk! Once this happens, talk to Athena and she will tell you that Hercules will help you.poptropica
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Getting the Hydra Scale