Zelaya Says I Want My Mommy

Zelaya Becoming a Caricature
of His Failed Political Goals


By the A.M. Costa Rica staff


Ousted Honduran President José Manuel Zeleya appears to be blaming everyone but himself for losing his job.

Zelaya was in México Wednesday where he called for international laws against the kind of action that put him on a plane to Costa Rica June 28. He also was critical of what he saw as a weakening of the U.S. pressure against the interim government in Tegucigalpa.

Zelaya suggested he wanted an international law that designed a coup as a crime. Left unsaid was who would enforce the law.

The U.S. said that it was not supporting any individual in the Honduran political struggle. It was Philip J. Crowley, an assistant secretary, who told reporters that the United States continues to work every day to encourage the two sides to accept the proposal that has been laid out by President Óscar Arias Sánchez.

"We believe this mediation process continues. It continues . . . it is the basis upon which we can resolve the situation," said Crowley. "And I think we continue to await the two sides. They’ve made differing statements at times that seemed to be supportive. What they need to do now is come together, reach an agreement, and then begin a process that would lead to its elections this fall and a new government. So as long as the mediation process continues, in our view, we should let it play its course."

Zelaya has not been able to establish that the bulk of his citizens want him back. Large segments of the Honduran population have rallied against him. There have been protests in his favor, but the military seems to be siding totally with the provisional government. Health workers did not flock to a protest march Wednesday in Tegucigalpa as Zelaya supporters expected.

Zelaya has not made a good case why he should be reinstated to power nor has he said what he would do if that happened. Since his ouster he has been seeking some outside force to put him back in office. He visited the United States several times. He appealed to the Organization of American States. He has cast his lot with Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, but Ortega is not likely to initiate military action.

So Zelaya is becoming some kind of caricature, a poster boy of failed political goals. He relies on the idealism of Óscar Arias and his San José Accord. But the U.S. support is tempered by pragmatism and the knowledge that Zelaya is a favorite of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and of the Cuban regime. That point is being pushed by U.S. Republicans who are just as happy to see Zelaya unemployed.

Roberto Micheletti, the interim president, has created a plausable cover story of why Zelaya was ousted. Now there are arrest warrants against him for various financial crimes. Such allegations, true or not, dilute international support.

Zelaya's actions in pushing for a referendum on an end to term limits is said to be the reason he was ousted by the military. The truth is that he made a radical and unexpected political shift to embrace left-wing socialism. The referendum was an excuse.

So Zelaya has been out-maneuvered politically and in the public relations arena. He was particularly unimpressive when he stepped a few meters into Honduras and then retreated to Nicaragua. A true leader would have won the hearts and minds of the very troops that were assigned to block his entry.