In a clear violation of the constitution regarding  the prolonging of one’s term in office, after high-ranking officials were linked to a bribery scandal involving Hondutel, including the man’s own nephew – Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has apparently ventured home to what should be a mixed welcome.

Not to rant, but facts are fatcs. Though one can indeed state that the fashion and method in which Manuel Zelaya had left power was extreme, (militarily ousted while in his pajamas on the morning of June 28^th) truthfully, it is a public relations masterpiece that the ex-Honduran President is being made to look like Jack Bauer-esque diplomat.

The military toppled Mr. Zelaya’s administration five months before the legal expiration of his term. The military states that they responded to an indictment by the Supreme Court ruling out Mr Zelaya’s aspirations of a constitutional reform referendum as illegal. In fact, Article 239 of the current 1982 Constitution sanctions a President who instigates the reform of its foundational articles (called pétreos, literally, cast in stone) with separation from public office.

Below is a link which highlights the decision of a Federal Court in Miami in which Lati Node, a US-based telecommunications company, pleaded guilty of bribery. The acts of bribery also pertained to dealings with high-ranking Honduran officers during Mr. Zelaya’s presidency (including his nephew Marcelo Chimirri). We can also confirm that the Arcadia Foundation was in part responsible for presenting this case to U.S. authorities.

Link: http://miami.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/mm040…

Hopefully, these findings will refresh those interested on evidence of corruption in Honduras during the Zelaya administration.

Certainly, the Honduran ‘coup’ was unique as the military overthrew a legally elected President on behalf of preserving the constitutional rule of law that was perceived to be threatened by the incumbent government. I believe that the move was more pragmatic as opposed to pushy.

In hindsight, Zelaya’s attempts to reform the Constitution via summoning a new Constitutional Assembly that would potentially pave his way for re-election, were inexorably what took him out of office. And one must truly wonder whether the people of Honduras and even moreso, those outside looking in, will buy the PR-produced hype of the heroic return of an ousted leader, or care more about the values that holds strong the very democracy Hondurans reside in – that of rule of law and ultimately, good governance.