Thoughtful Article on Honduras

I continue to follow events in Honduras with interest and some anxiety. There was a very thoughtful op-ed piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal on the situation there, the basic thrust of which was that what is being termed the "interim government" is in fact legitimate under the Honduran constitution:

In the three weeks since the Honduran Congress moved to defend the country's constitution by relieving Mr. Zelaya of his presidential duties, it has become clear that his arrest was both lawful and a necessary precaution against violence.

Mr. Zelaya was trying to use mob rule to undermine Honduras's institutions in much the same way that Mr. Chávez has done in Venezuela. But as Washington lawyer Miguel Estrada pointed out in the Los Angeles Times on July 10, Mr. Zelaya's actions were expressly forbidden by the Honduran constitution.

"Article 239," Mr. Estrada noted, "specifically states that any president who so much as proposes the permissibility of reelection 'shall cease forthwith' in his duties, and Article 4 provides that any 'infraction' of the succession rules constitutes treason." Congress had little choice but to take its next step. It convened "immediately after Zelaya's arrest," Mr. Estrada wrote, "condemning his illegal conduct, and overwhelmingly voting (122-6) to remove him from office."

I am not a scholar of the U.S. Constitution, much less the Honduran one, but that seems fairly clear to me. I'm concerned that our government's role in encouraging Senor Zelaya's return to power is ultimately counter-productive and on the wrong side of Honduran law.

But my primary concern is and continues to be the safety and well being of those we met and worked with there, as well as all the Honduran people. It's still tense and scary, and could easily go downhill, especially with Senor Zelaya's remarks encouraging insurrection as a possible solution. Let's hope it doesn't come down to that, and that a diplomatic solution will be found.

Meantime Habitat Honduras is in limbo, as are any plans for mission trips for next year. It certainly adds an element of uncertainty to my own discernment of whether to lead another trip. As usual, I guess I'll have to let God sort this one out...