Manuel Zelaya

Stories reported almost exclusively by the Blogosphere which are mostly ignored by the mainstream media have become such a recurring theme recently that it deserves to be filed under the category of  "Blogosphere Roars, MSM Snores." And the latest entry in this category is the report from the Catalan Europa Press in Spain relayed via the Babalu Blog about an attempt by former Honduran president Manuel (Mel) Zelaya to fix the results of a planned referendum via programmed computers on the very day he was ousted. Here is the translation of the story which has yet to appear in the English language press here in North America:

Several computers containing the results of the referendum Zelaya wanted to conduct are seized at the Presidential Palace

The left can try to brush off articles in the Wall Street Journal or the National Review about the "coup" in Honduras as "rightwing propaganda." However, they will have a much harder time applying such a label to an article about the ouster of Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya (in photo with Hugo Chavez), which appeared in the very liberal New Republic.

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should have read Festishizing the Presidency by Francisco Toro before being so quick in joining Chavez in denouncing the removal of Honduran strong man Zelaya who was acting unconstitutionally:

Sunday's coup in Honduras has been portrayed as a throwback to the bad old days when Latin American armies got drafted in as the ultimate umpires of political conflict. But in arresting president Manuel Zelaya in his pajamas and putting him on the first plane out of the country, Honduras's generals were acting out of fear of a genuine and growing threat to Latin Democracy: the looming prospect of unchecked, hyper-empowered executive power held for life by a single, charismatic individual. 

Seen in context, Sunday's military powerplay was different in important ways from the traditional Latin American putsch. The generals move came at the unanimous--yes unanimous--behest of a congress outraged by Zelaya's not-particularly-subtle attempts to extend his hold on power indefinitely. It followed a series of clearly unconstitutional moves on Zelaya's part, including his attempt to unilaterally remove the chief of the army, which, according to Honduras's Constitution, can only be done by a congressional super-majority.