Yes, it was a coup.
I've received a lot of questions and comments as well as read a lot of commentary over the past two days debating whether the events in Honduras on Sunday were a coup.
The military used force to detain the president, expelled him from the country and temporarily took control of the country. A court order was produced claiming to order the arrest of the president (but why produce it afterward? why expel him?). The Congress then claimed the president had resigned (the letter was likely false or signed under duress), accepted his resignation and installed a new president. For as much as the Honduran interim government wants to portray the actions on Sunday as following the democratic institutions, they fell far from how democracy should function.
The interim Micheletti government in Honduras has not helped itself by issuing a curfew, censoring the media and breaking up protests. Their attempts to claim democratic legitimacy don't look particularly convincing when they decide to shut down pro-Zelaya media outlets and censor the international coverage entering the country. The only remotely positive thing they've done is call for presidential elections in November as scheduled, but that doesn't negate the fact that the government could be an unelected regime for the next six months.
At this point, nearly every government and international organization including the OAS and the United States have called the change in government a coup. I absolutely agree. As the OAS declaration said last night, President Zelaya should be reinstated as president.
I'm willing to admit that Zelaya was making moves that were violating the constitution, violating the checks and balances of the government and potentially threatening his country's democracy. But that whole debate gets thrown out once the military and opposition to Zelaya decide to go the route of military force instead of using their democratic institutional options to oppose the president. Military coups cannot be justified just because some group feels the democratically elected president is violating the law. Military coups cannot be justified, even if they have the post-hoc backing of other government institutions or the population.
Zelaya's actions prior to the coup should be debated by the institutions, media and population once he's reinstated as president. There may even be consideration for his impeachment**. But first, Zelaya needs to be returned to the presidency. Honduras and all of the Americas need to show that military coups are not justifiable under any circumstances.
** I don't advocate for impeachment, although Hugo Chavez's 1992 coup attempt is instructive as Venezuelan President Perez was impeached the year after the failed military coup.
