Honduras Coup: Back to the Days of the Generals?

Honduras Coup: Back to the Days of the Generals?

It has been about twenty years since there was a coup in Latin America. The post-Cold War period ushered in an era of election fever and the retreat of the dreaded, rule of military generals in many nations in the region. Yesterday the military forced Honduran President Manuel Zelaya (pictured above) into exile to Costa Rica. The reaction has been swift from the Organization of American States (OAS) and leftists such as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia.

Check out this story on the Honduran crisis:

http://www.slate.com/id/2221716/?from=rss

Let's hope that there is no demonstration effect in the region and we do not return to the days of the Latin American anti-communist 'security state' with its horrific human rights abuses, disappearances, and repression of popular democratic forces. Today our prayers should be with the people of Honduras. I hope that constitutionalism, the rule of law, and the peaceful alternation of power prevails again soon.

Tamir Bar-On