Fairfax, VA, July 9th, 2009—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today praised 17 U.S. Senators for “standing up for the people of Honduras against an Obama Administration that seems more intent upon defending a Marxist despot than supporting the rule of law.”
“While the whole world is pretending that Manuel Zelaya was overthrown in a ‘coup,’ the people of Honduras and their representatives are pleading for somebody to listen to their side of the story,” said Wilson. “Instead, they have been callously castigated by Barack Obama and his Secretary of State simply for defending their own democracy.”
“These 17 Senators deserve the praise of all who believe in the rule of law, and the people of Honduras deserve the support of all Americans who value freedom and democratic, constitutional rule,” Wilson added.
Yesterday, an urgent letter was sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to meet with the current government of Honduras, stating, “While you have already met with Mr. Zelaya, we find it discouraging that you are unwilling to meet with Honduran officials that have simply followed their constitution.”
The letter was sent by Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), David Vitter (R-Louisiana), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), John Ensign (R-Nevada), Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky), Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska), Kit Bond (R-Missouri), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), James Risch (R-Idaho), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), John Thune (R-South Dakota), and Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama).
Attached to the letter are the charges that were filed against former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya by the Attorney General of Honduras, Luis Alberto Rubi, to the Supreme Court of Honduras. Also attached is the order by the court to arrest Zelaya for “acting against the established form of government, treason against the country, abuse of authority, and usurpation of power in detriment of the public administration and of the State of Honduras.”
“The official documents of the Honduran Attorney General and Supreme Court, along with the vote of their Congress to impeach and remove Manuel Zelaya from office, prove irrefutably that Zelaya was properly removed from power in accordance with the Honduran Constitution,” said Wilson.
“That means that Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama has any business legitimizing the former president of Honduras who was impeached for attempting to extend the term of his office, a serious constitutional violation in Honduras. Under the Honduran Constitution, it is simply unconstitutional for any public servant to even propose extending that term,” Wilson noted. “And that was the Constitution Mr. Zelaya swore to uphold.”
According to Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution: “No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform, as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years.”
According to a legal background detailing the timeline of events that led to Zelaya’s removal, Zelaya was attempting to convene an unlawful constitutional convention that would have enabled him to rewrite portions of the Constitution that defined term limits for the office of President.
Zelaya was repeatedly warned by Honduran constitutional experts, the Public Prosecutor General, the Attorney General, the presiding judge of the Administrative Law Court, the Office of the State Attorney, the Administrative Law Tribunal, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the National Congress, and the National Commissioner for Human Rights that his proposed referendum was unconstitutional. But the former president proceeded against those opinions, orders, and rulings.
After Zelaya’s own Attorney General filed with the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court ordered the military of Honduras to arrest Zelaya on June 26th. The order was carried out on June 28th, and then Congress voted by a 125-3 margin to impeach and remove him from office on the same day.
According to the legal background, “Because the Vice‐president had resigned in 2007, the Constitution of the Republic states that it is the President of Congress that must assume the office of President of the Republic. Consequently Roberto Micheletti Baín, then the President of Congress, was sworn in as President of the Republic. Thereafter, and because of the vacancy of the office of President of the National Congress, José Alfredo Saavedra was also sworn in as President of Congress at the same session.”
“Based on all of the available evidence, there was no military ‘coup’ at all. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are attempting to prop up a traitor to Honduras as its legitimate leader in spite of the objections of the people of Honduras, their Congress, and their Supreme Court,” Wilson concluded.
Attachments:
Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from 17 Senators with attached Charges against Zelaya, and Supreme Court Order to Arrest Zelaya, July 8th, 2009.
Legal Background, “Legal situation of the transition government in Honduras,” June 29th, 2009.
Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.
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