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Honduras coup
By Michael Allen on December 17, 2009
Latin America faces a “revelatory moment”, in the wake of the Honduran constitutional crisis, writes Jorge G. Castañeda.
The episode confirmed a “remarkable—and certainly transformative fact”: that the United States “is no longer willing, or perhaps even able, to select who governs from Tegucigalpa, or anywhere else in the region for that matter.”
He is concerned that [read full story]
Posted in Featured, Honduras coup, Human rights, Inter-American Democratic Charter, authoritarianism, backsliding, coup in Honduras, populism |
By Michael Allen on December 2, 2009
While provisional returns suggest that the opposition National Party’s Porfirio Lobo handily defeated Elvin Santos of the ruling Liberal Party in last Sunday’s election, the legitimacy of the poll is being contested.
As Honduran legislators debated the future of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, an election assessment mission published findings that the poll was “generally peaceful and [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Elections, Featured, Honduras coup, Human rights, Manuel Zelaya, National Democratic Institute, coup in Honduras, democracy support, populism |
By Michael Allen on November 24, 2009
The National Democratic Institute will deploy 20 international experts to conduct an impartial assessment of the November 29 election in Honduras. The international monitoring mission “presents special challenges”, NDI concedes, “given the sharp divisions within the country and between Honduras and the international community” since President Manuel Zelaya was deposed on June 28.
The long-running crisis [read full story]
Posted in Christopher Sabatini, Democracy assistance, Elections, Featured, Honduras, Honduras coup, Latin America and the Carribean, National Democratic Institute, National Endowment for Democracy, backsliding, coup in Honduras, democracy promotion, democracy support, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on November 12, 2009
The Obama administration has come under fire from democracy advocates for failing to match rhetorical commitments with appropriate policies and personnel. The administration has rejected the charge, and some recent appointments would seem to support their assertions.
Middle East democracy expert and former Brookings analyst Tamara Cofman Wittes has been appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State [read full story]
Posted in Blogs, Democracy assistance, Featured, Honduras, Honduras coup, Latin America and the Carribean, Middle East and North Africa, National Endowment for Democracy, democracy promotion, democracy support, foreign policy, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on November 3, 2009
An end to the political impasse in Honduras may be in sight after both sides
agreed a US-mediated formula to defuse the constitutional crisis. But prospects for a settlement remain uncertain with some comparing the negotiations to an elephant balancing on a tightrope.
While some commentators have criticized the deal as a capitulation to authoritarian populist forces, [read full story]
Posted in Honduras, Honduras coup, Latin America and the Carribean, authoritarianism, coup in Honduras | Tagged coup in Honduras, Honduras |
By Michael Allen on October 20, 2009
The crisis in Honduras highlights the need to pay more attention to fragile and weak democracies before they present more serious challenges, says the European Partnership for Democracy. The international community’s strategy “entails clear risks both for democracy in Honduras and more generally for the regional political and institutional equilibrium,” writes the EPD’s Carlos Hernandez [read full story]
Posted in Honduras, Honduras coup, Latin America and the Carribean, coup in Honduras |
By Michael Allen on October 8, 2009
What explains the prevailing cognitive and moral dissonance over Latin American democracy in discussions of Venezuela and Honduras?
Chris Sabatini invokes the late Jeanne Kirkpatrick’s celebrated discussion of Dictatorships and Double Standards to argue that “we should be equally intolerant of violations of democratic and human rights” whatever the political orientation of the regime.
“Only by doing [read full story]
Posted in Christopher Sabatini, Honduras, Honduras coup, Latin America and the Carribean, National Endowment for Democracy, Venezuela, authoritarianism, coup in Honduras |
By Michael Allen on August 3, 2009
Is the Organization of the American States failing in its commitment to defend democracy in the region? The regional grouping has come under fire for what some see as an ill-informed and over-hasty intervention in the current political crisis in Honduras.
The OAS should start to take its Democratic Charter seriously, critics suggest. OAS general secretary [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Cuba, Honduras, Honduras coup, Inter-American Democratic Charter, Latin America and the Carribean, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Organization of American States, Venezuela, authoritarianism, coup in Honduras, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged National Endowment for Democracy, Organization of the American States |
By Michael Allen on July 1, 2009
As the coup in Honduras continues to attract condemnation from governments and civil society groups, the Organization of American States today gave Honduras 72 hours to reinstate deposed President Manuel Zelaya or face suspension.
It announced that OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza will undertake “diplomatic initiatives aimed at… the reinstatement of President Jose Manuel Zelaya [read full story]
Posted in Honduras, Honduras coup, Latin America and the Carribean, Manuel Zelaya, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Organization of American States, authoritarianism, coup in Honduras, promoting democracy | Tagged Honduras, International Forum for Democratic Studies, military coups, National Endowment for Democracy, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on June 30, 2009
As democratic states and non-governmental groups alike condemned the coup in Honduras, ousted president Manuel Zelaya insists that he will return to Tegucigalpa on Thursday, accompanied by Latin American dignitaries, including Jose Miguel Insulza, the head of the Organization of American States. Honduras may be expelled from the OAS at its emergency meeting today.
Pro-Zelaya demonstrators [read full story]
Posted in Christopher Sabatini, Democracy assistance, Honduras, Honduras coup, Inter-American Democratic Charter, Labour/labor unions, Manuel Zelaya, National Endowment for Democracy, Organization of American States, authoritarianism, coup in Honduras, democracy promotion, promoting democracy, protests | Tagged a coup or a counter coup, Christopher Sabatini, coup in Honduras, creeping coups, Honduras, Honduras coup, Inter-American Democratic Charter, Manuel Zelaya, National Endowment for Democracy, President Barack Obama, Robert Amsterdam, tropical gulag |
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