The U.S. administration and Honduras: Too little too late?

On June 28, democracy was brutally shattered in Honduras.  As dawn broke, Honduras’ elected president, Manuel Zelaya, was kidnapped by a group of soldiers and forced onto a plane that deposited him in Costa Rica.  In the ensuing hours, protests demanding the return of president Zelaya were violently repressed, senior officials were detained or went into hiding and broadcasters were shut down as the coups leaders took control of the country’s government. Within less than 24 hours, the United Nations, the European Union and numerous governments around the world roundly denounced this flagrant coup d’etat and demanded the immediate return of president Zelaya to his constitutional post.  The US administration was puzzlingly slow at issuing its own condemnation, but eventually backed the Organization of American States’ efforts to seek a speedy restoration of constitutional order in Honduras.

Two and a half months have now gone by, and the coup regime in Honduras remains firmly in place, despite the fact that no government in the world recognizes its legitimacy.   The country’s human rights situation has steadily deteriorated with increasing reports of beatings and detentions of political activists and attacks against independent news media, according to international rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Though the Obama administration has insisted that it is determined to see democracy restored in Honduras, it has been slow to take real measures aimed at pressuring the coup regime.  It wasn’t until late last week that the State Department finally decided to cancel the visas of key coup leaders like de facto president Roberto Micheletti and terminate roughly 15% of US aid to Honduras.  These meek and overdue steps stand in striking contrast with the US government’s response to other recent coups, like those of Madagascar and Mauritania, where the US was quick to suspend the totality of its major Millennium Challenge aid programs.

The reasons for the administration’s foot-dragging on Honduras are not clear but many suspect that high-paid lobbyists working for pro-coup Honduran businesses have played a significant behind-the-scenes role. It also appears likely that the administration has partly caved under the intense pressure exerted by ultra right-wing Republicans like Connie Mack of Florida, Dana Rohrabacher of California and Senator De Mint of South Carolina.

Regardless of what the reasons may be, it is high time for the US administration to stop its dilly-dallying and show Honduras and the world that it is serious about upholding democratic rule in the region.  This means that unambiguous measures must be taken, such as freezing the US-based assets of the coup regime, cutting off all forms of non-humanitarian assistance and making a clear determination that a military coup has taken place.  If the US fails to act decisively to reverse this coup, our neighbors will understandably begin to doubt that real change has come to US policy towards Latin America.