July 1, 1009
Dear Friend of Our Little Roses,
There is much confusion and misinformation that has been on the news since Sunday about the ousting of President Zelaya. Let me give you a perspective from a person that has lived and worked in Honduras for the past 38 years.
When I left Honduras on Thursday the 25 of June, there was a great deal of tension and anxiety over an up-coming referendum that the president initiated to make a change in the constitution that would allow him to seek office again and to dissolve the congress.
The Supreme Court of Honduras had informed the president that it was illegal to have the vote since the articles in the constitution state that a change in term limits cannot be made. When Zelaya could not get the funding for the ballots for the Sunday election, he asked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to send the ballots.
Towards the end of last week, there were marches for peace led by the Christian leaders both from the Catholic and Evangelical churches to not vote for the referendum and to pray for peace in Honduras. Just in San Pedro Sula alone there were 50,000 people marching last Thursday.
Since Zelaya was ousted, the news has reported that there was a coup d'etat initiated by the military. The fact is that the supreme court and congress asked the military to help arrest the president because he had broken the constitutional law by going ahead with the vote and distributing the ballots all around the country. The military had tried to talk sense into the president to back off from his referendum but he refused.
What most people do not understand is that in Honduran law and constitution there is no process for impeachment of a president like in the US . The law says that when a president breaks the constitution he can be arrested. BUT, the difference here is that because he is the president he is given the opportunity to be exiled to a third country in order to avoid jail.
In my humble opinion, Honduras has followed the law as stated. Zelaya broke the law but now his closest friends from Nicaragua , Venezuela , and Cuba have vowed to help support a "come-back". He has managed to gain support of the UN and OAS as well. The congress along with the interim president have stated that if Zelaya returns to Honduras on Thursday as he has promised to do, he will be arrested.
I ask your prayers for Honduras, its people. The Church, and most of all of a peaceful resolution to this most regrettable situation that affects the lives of millions of the most vulnerable in this hemisphere. I also ask your prayers for my family, Our Little Roses Ministries and friends and missionaries currently in Honduras.
Faithfully,
Diana Frade
SE Florida/ Honduras (previously)
nprdiana@aol.com
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