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June 29, 2009
Thoughts on the Political Crisis in Honduras
Although I'm quite far from Honduras, the military coup and general political crisis in that country has made headlines in Colombia. Latin America is an increasingly interconnected (but perhaps not quite integrated) region and coverage of Honduras in Colombia has been extensive.
Much of the analysis in the Colombian media and, from what I've seen, the American media, has placed this coup in a larger historical context. Central America (and Latin America as a whole) saw frequent coups for many decades until the mid-1990's. This coup has sparked fears that the trend may return.
Those fears are not unreasonable. Regional polls have shown that Latin Americans are not entirely convinced that democracy is the best form of government and are generally very distrustful of government institutions, from national legislators to local police. These days, every Latin American country is at least technically a democracy, but regional attitudes, social inequality, and corruption make those democracies worryingly weak.
On the other hand, this coup is entirely unlike the coups of the Cold War Era. Every government in Latin America, regardless of ideological inclinations, has condemned the coup. So has much of the West. Despite the fact that ousted Honduran president Zelaya was an ally of Hugo Chavez, even Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, the region's foremost anti-Chavista, did the right thing and expressed opposition to the coup.
The region's governments, at least in their rhetoric, respect the institution of democratic elections regardless of their results. Regional leaders have temporarily forgotten political disagreements to express support for democracy. This, at least, is a significant step forward from the late 20th century.
Posted by Pablo Rojas at June 29, 2009 12:42 PM
