Oh, BTW, real quick: we’re being nice to Honduras again. #rsrh

Quietly, and with none of the fanfare that we dedicated to originally interfering with their counter-coup operations:

Six months after the US cut aid to Honduras following its refusal to reinstate ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a first step toward normalizing relations with Honduras this week when she announced the United States would be restoring $37 million in aid.

(Via Legal Insurrection) So, no harm done… what’s that? When do we apologize? HA! Never. This administration doesn’t go in for apologizing for things that they’ve done; that would imply that they were wrong about something, and this administration would rather contract rabies en masse than do that. And there’s no way to blame this mess on George W Bush, thus depriving them of their usual out.

Hey, I didn’t vote for them.

Moe Lane

Alas, I will *not* be asking how to say in Spanish…

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Zelaya.”  He’s not decamping to Mexico after all.  A great pity: the sooner he fades away, the sooner we can all start trying to forget that with regard to Honduras this administration not only first stepped in it, but dropped and rolled for good measure.

So what’s Spanish for “Get on with it, Zelaya?”

Via Instapundit.

Moe Lane

Honduran Congress rejects Zelaya reinstatement.

Can this be done, now?

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, 02 December, 2009 – With a vote of 111 in favor and 14 against, the National Congress of Honduras today overwhelmingly rejected the restitution of Mr. José Manuel Zelaya Rosales to the presidency of the Republic. Also, Congress passed a motion supporting the succession leading to the constitutional presidency of Mr. Roberto Micheletti Bain. Members in turn strongly and affirmatively expressed of the permanence of President Micheletti in office until January 2010, confirming Decree 141-2009, with 111 votes for and 14 against. The president-elect of the Republic, Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo will take office on January 27, when the new President of Congress will place the presidential sash.

Via Fausta.

Look, it’s over, all right?  The deposed President of Honduras tried to Chavez his way into keeping power.  His own political party, in conjunction with the military and judiciary, removed him from office.  We jumped the gun on condemning the action, and have been regretting it ever since.  They have had a legitimate election where the opposition party won.  The current government is loudly declaring how ecstatic they are over the idea of handing power over to the winners of that election.  And now their legislature has declared that they are not going to put Zelaya back in power – and a position from which to do mischief – until January.

So let’s just make an example of some scapegoat from the State Department and Move. On.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Did the UN find that the Zelaya ouster was legitimate? [Apparently not.]

[UPDATE]: This was just sent to me by a staffer in the UN DPA:

Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

The United Nations wishes to clarify that its position, regarding the legality of the removal of President Zelaya in Honduras has been clearly articulated by the General Assembly Resolution 63/301 adopted on 1 July 2009.   This resolution “condemns the coup d’etat in the Republic of Honduras that has interrupted the democratic and constitutional order and the legitimate exercise of power in Honduras.”

A recent Honduran media report appears to refer to an analysis submitted by a consultant as representing the views of the Department of Political Affairs This is highly misleading. The Department of Political Affairs routinely receives reports and analyses of this type from consultants, academics and other experts. But its views are strictly in line with that outlined in the General Assembly Resolution.

The Secretary-General urges the parties in Honduras to avoid distractions at this critical moment in the negotiations and remain focused on arriving at a consensual agreement to end the crisis in Honduras through dialogue.

He continues to strongly support OAS-led efforts to assist the parties in reaching a solution.

Bolding mine.

_____

This report (see Fausta for a roundup and translation links) that the United Nations Department of Political Affairs found that the Honduran government acted constitutionally could be explosive, if true. Emphasis on ‘if:’ the UNDPA has not yet put up a statement or a report verifying the editorial.  I tracked down somebody in that office, and I got the impression that something will be up on the subject; when they let me know what it is, I’ll update this post.

Crossposted to RedState.

The Honduras article Sen. Kerry (D, MA) didn’t want you to see.

(Via Dan Collins of POWIP) Senator Jim DeMint (R, SC) is back from Honduras – despite the best efforts of the Democrats to stop him from going – and he’s unkind about what has been pretty obviously an attempt by the American government to admit that we made a mistake and picked the wrong side of the Honduras issue:

[American policy re: the Zelaya ouster] was set in a snap decision the day Mr. Zelaya was removed from office, without a full assessment of either the facts or reliable legal analysis of the constitutional provisions at issue. Three months later, it remains in force, despite mounting evidence of its moral and legal incoherence.

[snip]

In a day packed with meetings, we met only one person in Honduras who opposed Mr. Zelaya’s ouster, who wishes his return, and who mystifyingly rejects the legitimacy of the November elections: U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens.

When I asked Ambassador Llorens why the U.S. government insists on labeling what appears to the entire country to be the constitutional removal of Mr. Zelaya a “coup,” he urged me to read the legal opinion drafted by the State Department’s top lawyer, Harold Koh. As it happens, I have asked to see Mr. Koh’s report before and since my trip, but all requests to publicly disclose it have been denied.

Continue reading The Honduras article Sen. Kerry (D, MA) didn’t want you to see.

More like ‘DeMint *schools* Kerry over Honduras.’

(Via Jen Rubin) Let’s review (I almost did this using an extended metaphor of a fencing match, but I didn’t want actual fencers wincing):

  • Sen. John Kerry is the Democratic point man in Foreign Relations for this administration’s messed-up Honduras policy.  He is, in fact, the Foreign Relations chair… which tells you how seriously the Democrats take this committee (i.e., they don’t).
  • Sen. Jim DeMint is the Republican determined to wreck Sen. Kerry’s day – both on this administration’s messed-up Honduras policy, and on general principles.
  • This administration has a messed-up Honduras policy.
  • DeMint therefore slaps a couple of Senatorial holds on some State Department appointments until the administration stops messing up on Honduras policy.
  • Kerry responds by denying DeMint the plane that he’d need to go down to Honduras and see for himself how messed up our Honduras policy is.  This is one of those steps that prudent Senate chairs usually don’t take, because it makes it easier for it to happen again, and nobody controls Congress forever.
  • DeMint talks to Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell.
  • McConnell talks to the Pentagon.
  • The Pentagon is, of course, filled with people who didn’t come back from Vietnam and promptly announce that we were worse than the Mongol Horde.  Which is to say, people not like Kerry.
  • The Pentagon gives Kerry the Hawaiian good-luck symbol, and DeMint a plane.  DeMint may now go to Honduras and see how messed up our policy is down there.
  • DeMint then links this mess to the State Department.
  • The State Department promptly disavows themselves of this mess.
  • So: Kerry establishes a precedent, doesn’t accomplish his goal of keeping our messed-up Honduras policy off the radar, and doesn’t even get the State Department backing him up.  For a Democrat, that takes skill.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what one motivated Senator can do to mess up another Senator’s day.

Moe Lane

PS: Bear this in mind when the reconciliation question comes up regarding the Democrats’ messed-up health care rationing bill.

Crossposted to RedState.

Honduras to Brazil: this Zelaya thing’s getting old.

(H/T: AoSHQ) Not to mention Brazil’s public and increasingly outrageous assistance to Zelaya. So it’s going to have to stop:

Honduras is accusing Brazil’s government of instigating an insurrection within its borders, and gave the Brazilian Embassy 10 days to decide the status of ousted Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya, who has taken refuge there.

[snip]

The statement said Honduras would be forced to take measures against Brazil if Brazil did not define its position on Zelaya. It did not specify what those measures would be.

Well, according to Zelaya himself it’ll mean more hallucinogenic Jewish gas – no, really: that’s what he thinks – although it’d more likely that the Hondurans will just PNGing the entire Brazilian embassy and refusing to credential more until Zelaya is either in a Honduran jail, or is both de jure and de facto out of Honduran territory.  Given the general lack of a popular uprising to ‘rescue’ the ousted former president from his durance vile, that would be a reasonably face-saving way to end the confrontation.

Mind you, the way that this administration seems determined to play Ugly American, we might not be so lucky.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Zelaya tortured by hallucinogenic gas, Jews*.

(Via @jeffemanuel) One wonders whether something got lost in translation.

They’re torturing me, Honduras’ Zelaya claims

Honduras’ fallen leader told The Miami Herald he is being subjected to mind-altering gas and radiation — and that `Israeli mercenaries’ are planning to assassinate him.

TEGUCIGALPA — It’s been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power. He’s sleeping on chairs, and he claims his throat is sore from toxic gases and “Israeli mercenaries” are torturing him with high-frequency radiation.

On the other hand, when it comes to this sort of thing eventually somebody decides to blame it all on the Jews.  Apparently, in this case Zeleya’s got “Israeli mercenaries” going after him with sonic weapons and radiation!  Spying on him with rays!  Can somebody explain why we’re backing this lunatic, again?  Oh, right: because the administration got caught unprepared by events, went off half-cocked, and guessed wrong: and God forbid that this administration ever admit that it’s capable of error.

I swear, it’s like the President is deliberately trying to be a caricature of all the Left-wing fantasies about President Bush.

Moe Lane

PS: Ed Morrissey has an extremely apt song in mind.

*Sarcasm. At least on my part.

Crossposted to RedState.

Meanwhile, back in Honduras…

…Zelayista terrorists attacked a newspaper critical of the ousted, would-be dictator.

Again.

Firebombs hurled at Honduran newspaper office

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A Honduran editor says assailants threw molotov cocktails at the offices of his newspaper, setting fire to the entrance.

[snip]

The attack early Saturday was the sixth against media outlets and other institutions critical of Zelaya.

Besides Fausta, see also La Gringa’s Blogicito for more Honduran updates.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Latest round-up on Honduras.

Via Fausta. Short version: they’re lifting the curfew, the Hondurans have no intention of being made to reinstate their ousted former President, and the White House is still doing its best to walk back without looking like it’s walking back. That last bit is may be a touch difficult: apparently, the administration’s allies on this are quite keen on reinstating Zelaya.

So, what is Spanish for ‘Act in haste, repent in leisure?’ It might be important later.

Crossposted to RedState.