What Coup?

Only a day before a new president is to be inaugurated, a court in Honduras has dropped charges against six military generals who led a failed political coup in the region last June. “The commanders were acquitted on Tuesday of having abused their power by expelling former President Manuel Zelaya from the country at gun point, the Honduran Supreme Court. The generals acted to ‘preserve democracy and the republic and avoid bloodshed,’ AFP quoted Jorge Rivera, the court’s president, as saying. He also claimed that before and after taking Zelaya into custody, ‘the accused were receiving information suggesting that the country was in grave danger.’ The head of the armed forces, Gen. Romeo Vasquez, and five other top-ranking military officers, including Air Force chief Gen. Javier Prince and Navy commander Gen. Juan Pablo Rodriguez were among those acquitted. Honduran lawmakers are now expected to approve an amnesty for all those involved in the coup. Zelaya has denounced the court decision as a ‘political persecution,’ accusing Honduran judges in particular of treating him unfairly.”