There’s nothing unusual about small countries defying the United States.  Communist tyrants and commie-wannabes (think Castro and Chavez, to name just a couple) long have made political careers of standing against Yanqui Imperialism.

Now a small Latin American country has successfully resisted Washington when the latter allied itself with the left and attempted to reinstate a Chavez ally as president.  Reports the Washington Post:

Just weeks ago, wealthy businessman Adolfo Facussé was shocked to be turned away at Miami’s airport. His visa, he discovered, had been canceled under a U.S. crackdown on supporters of a coup-installed Honduran government

But today, Facussé and his allies seem to have won their standoff with the U.S. government. Despite American efforts to isolate Honduras — including canceling visas and aid — this tiny country has refused to back down on the military’s ouster of the president. And the U.S. government now appears to be on its way to normalizing relations.

The Honduran dispute was a complicated legal and political mess, but that was merely one more argument for leaving the issue to the Hondurans to resolve.  Naturally, the Obama administration decided to intervene.  But in one of the rare cases of the (relative) good guys prevailing, the Hondurans told Washington no, stood fast, and held their regularly scheduled election to choose a new president.  The Obama administration has essentially declared defeat, and most of the rest of Latin America likely will follow in time.  Here’s a case of right making might, as Abraham Lincoln put it.