http://www.intdemocratic.org/news 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z IID

El Comité para la Defensa del Debido Proceso del Instituto Interamericano por la Democracia fué creado con la finalidad de evaluar situaciones en las cuales se cuestiona la aplicación de las garantías procesales que enmarcan el Derecho al Debido Proceso por parte de la Administración de Justicia en diversos países de nuestro hemisferio.

<p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in;"><u><strong><span style=" color: #0072BC; font-size: 16.0pt;">El Debido Proceso y la Independencia del Poder Judicial.</span></strong></u></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">El Comité <strong>para la Defensa del Debido Proceso del Instituto Interamericano por la Democracia</strong> fué creado con la finalidad de evaluar situaciones en las cuales se cuestiona la aplicación de las garantías procesales que enmarcan el Derecho al Debido Proceso por parte de la Administración de Justicia en diversos países de nuestro hemisferio.</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">A la par de otros organismos que velan por el respeto hacia los derechos individuales de quienes son encausados ante la Justicia, nuestro Comité para la Defensa del Debido Proceso requiere un cierto grado de madurez procesal en el desarrollo de los casos que se eleven a su atención y consideración. A veces resulta muy dificil pasar de ser un Comité “observatorio” de un caso particular a la función crítica a la que aspiramos como Comité “admonitorio” -en defensa de las garantías del debido proceso- cuando en dicho caso todavía existen instancias procesales por agotar.</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Pero hay una norma o presupuesto elemental que resulta vital para la posibilidad de sostener y defender con éxito las garantías del Debido Proceso en el seno de cualquier sociedad. Y esa norma fundamental es la <strong>Independencia del Poder Judicial</strong>, tanto en el plano institucional como en el individual o personal que corresponde a cada juez.. La norma que consagra <strong>la&#160; Independencia del Poder Judicial </strong>tiene por objeto establecer una valla protectora de la función del mismo, <strong>evitando que tanto el Poder Ejecutivo como el Legislativo (así como cualquier otro “tercero”, ajeno al procedimiento judicial) ejerzan&#160; influencia alguna sobre la labor de los jueces encargados de proteger a la Constitución nacional de cada país y a los derechos que la misma reconoce (entre ellos, el Derecho al Debido Proceso, consagrado en todas las constituciones de nuestra América).</strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Es por eso que nos parece oportuno que el <strong>Comité para la Defensa del Debido Proceso del Instituto Interamericano por la Democracia se pronuncie</strong> sobre algunos incidentes recientes que son de dominio público, en los cuales <strong>la Administración de Justicia de tres de nuestras naciones hermanas se ha visto cuestionada por los respectivos presidentes de dichos países, en una forma que pudiera poner en riesgo la solidez de esa norma que cimenta la Independencia del Poder Judicial</strong>.&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong>Por un lado, el presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, en alguna de sus frecuentes intervenciones públicas a través de los medios de comunicación masiva, ha cuestionado una decisión de la juez Maria Lourdes Afiuni y ha exigido su encausamiento, cosa que, en efecto, ocurrió al poco tiempo del inusitado reclamo presidencial.. Por otro, en Colombia, conocido el fallo de la juez Maria Stella Jara condenando a un oficial retirado del ejercito, el presidente de la nación criticó publicamente el fallo de la Dra. Jara calificándolo como desestimulante para el trabajo de la fuerza pública (lo que ha llevado a que la Dra. Jara se convierta en blanco de amenazas anónimas contra su vida).</strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong>Asimismo, el presidente de los Estados Unidos de América, en su último mensaje anual&#160; de rendición de cuentas (o <em>State of the Union Address</em>), criticó abiertamente a la Corte Suprema de dicha nación, para sorpresa y desmayo de algunos de sus jueces, presentes en el recinto del Congreso para escuchar la alocución presidencial</strong>.</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">En el plano personal, los jueces deben ser y sentirse plenamente independientes a la hora de tomar sus decisiones, es decir, libres de cualquier tipo de presión externa ejercida por terceros. <strong>Parece ser éste un buen momento para recordarle la importancia de la Independencia del Poder Judicial a los señores presidentes de Colombia, de los Estados Unidos y de Venezuela</strong>.</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong>Dr. Renaldy Gutierrez</strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong>Dr. Alejandro Lapadú</strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong>Dr. Alfredo Romero</strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong>Dr. José M. Pallí</strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong>Por el Comité para la defensa del Debido Proceso del Instituto Interamericano para la Democracia.</strong></p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/El_Debido_Proceso_y_la_Independencia_del_Poder_Jud.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z

Del ex Presidente de la República Argentina Dr. EDUARDO A. DUHALDE

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" style=" width: 100%;" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td style=" text-align: center;" colspan="2"><img height="115" alt="" width="114" src="http://www.intdemocratic.org/upload/userimages/image2231817229671392219.jpg" /></td> <td style=" text-align: center;" colspan="2"><img height="66" alt="" width="292" src="http://www.intdemocratic.org/upload/userimages/image4980093684550616576.jpg" />&#160;<img height="66" alt="" width="262" src="http://www.intdemocratic.org/upload/userimages/image1046050518406897798.jpg" />&#160;<img height="64" alt="" width="303" src="http://www.intdemocratic.org/upload/userimages/image7872993393251338033.jpg" /></td> </tr> </table> <p style=" text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 14pt;">INTERAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY</span></strong></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">LATIN AMERICAN &#38; CARIBBEAN CENTER- F.I.U.</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">DIARIO LAS AMERICAS &#38; EDITORIAL E-LIBRO</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Invite you to the presentation of “ARGENTINA AFLAME”</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">A book by Former President of Argentina</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt;">Dr. EDUARDO A. DUHALDE</span></strong></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 6.30 p.m. in the University of Miami<br /> 1531 Brescia Ave.</span></p> <p style=" text-align: left;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Program:</span></p> <ol> <li style=" text-align: left;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Welcome by the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.</span></li> <li style=" text-align: left;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Presentation by Carlos Saladrigas.</span></li> <li style=" text-align: left;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Presentation and comments on the book by Dr. Eduardo Gamarra, PhD.</span></li> <li style=" text-align: left;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Political Science Professor at F.I.U.</span></li> <li style=" text-align: left;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Comments by President Eduardo Duhalde.</span></li> </ol> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Doctor Duhalde was President of Argentina in a critical moment in his country. In 2001, Argentina faced the most dramatic crisis of its history. President Duhalde placed his country in order, called for elections and handed over the government to the elected authorities. This book is about those 120 crucial days.</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Please confirm your attendance to the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.<br /> 786 888 4801. <a href="mailto:iid@intdemocratic.org">iid@intdemocratic.org</a> - <a href="http://www.intdemocratic.org">www.intdemocratic.org</a></span></strong></p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/ARGENTINA_AFLAME_by_EDUARDO_A__DUHALDE.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z

Victoria Eugenia Villarruel is an Argentinean attorney, President of the Latin-American Federation for the Victims of Terrorism, Vice-President of the Human Rights Foundation in Argentina, and has specialized in the analysis of terrorism and its victims in Latin America.

<table style=" width: 100%;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tr> <td style=" text-align: center;" colspan="2"><img width="114" src="http://www.intdemocratic.org/upload/userimages/image2231817229671392219.jpg" height="115" alt="" /></td> <td style=" text-align: center;" colspan="2"><img width="406" src="http://www.intdemocratic.org/upload/userimages/image4980093684550616576.jpg" height="92" alt="" /></td> </tr> </table> <p style=" text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt;">INTERAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY<br /> LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CENTER- F.I.U.<br /> DIARIO LAS AMERICAS<br /> CICLO “TEMAS”</span></strong></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Cordially invite you to share a breakfast this Friday, November 20th,<br /> 8:30 a.m at the Banker’s Club of Miami, with</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">VICTORIA EUGENIA VILLARRUEL</span></strong></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Who will be exposing about</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 14pt;">“THE FORGOTTEN ONES: VICTIMS OF TERRORISM”</span></strong></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Victoria Eugenia Villarruel is an Argentinean attorney, President of the Latin-American Federation for the Victims of Terrorism, Vice-President of the Human Rights Foundation in Argentina, and has specialized in the analysis of terrorism and its victims in Latin America. She has participated in numerous meetings and conferences of institutions which defend human rights, and has published the book called “Los llaman jóvenes idealistas”.</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">The breakfast will take place at the Board Room of The Miami Banker’s Club, One Biscayne Tower, on the 14th Floor. The parking for the building has an entrance through 1st Street of S.E. (go down to the lobby and up to the 14th floor). Please confirm your assistance no later than Wednesday, November 18th, to the Interamerican Institute for Democracy at 786 888 4801. Fax 305 6316907 <a href="mailto:iid@intdemocratic.org">iid@intdemocratic.org</a></span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">“Temas” is a monthly cycle of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy, with special guests in order to promote democracy in Latin America.</span></p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/VICTIMS_OF_TERRORISM1.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z

The reaction of the American establishment against Hugo Chávez has begun. And it was about time. For almost 11 years, that gentleman has been misbehaving round the globe.

<p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: right; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;" align="right"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Mon-4009 (Sept. 18, 2009)</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: center; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;" align="center"><strong><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The Noriegaization of Hugo Chávez</span></strong></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: right; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;" align="right"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">By Carlos Alberto Montaner*</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">(FIRMAS PRESS. Madrid) The reaction of the American establishment against Hugo Chávez has begun. And it was about time. For almost 11 years, that gentleman has been misbehaving round the globe.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The starter's pistol was fired on Sept. 8 by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, perhaps the United States' most powerful prosecutor. Almost 90 years old and about to retire, though perfectly lucid, Morgenthau chose as his stage the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington think tank close to the Democratic Party, so that his revelations could not be ignored by the White House and Congress, the two powers that are responsible for national security.&#160;</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What did he say? He spoke about the links between Venezuela and Iran and the development of nuclear weapons by the two countries for the purpose of threatening the United States, as happened in Cuba in 1962 during the Missile Crisis. He told how the Venezuelan banking system has become a wash basin for narcodollars and a detour for Iran to evade the restrictions imposed by Washington on Iran's financial transactions. He pointed to Hugo Chávez's links with Hezbollah and Hamas, two frightful Islamic terrorist organizations, and the Colombian FARC. In sum, he said many things, all of them terrible.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The consequences of Morgenthau's talk were immediate. The United States' three major national newspapers – The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal – published articles and editorial in perfect tune with the prosecutor's words. Television, the usual pundits, and the most influential blogs echoed those words. There is no longer a single intellectually solvent person within the structure of power in the United States who won't admit that Venezuela, hand in hand with Iran and the Islamic terrorists and aided by its partners (Libya, Syria, Sudan, the Colombian FARC), has become a very serious danger to American security and tranquillity.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Simply put, Chávez is a tenacious enemy, intent on harming Americans in all possible world stages. Which is quite an irony, when you consider that the United States buys from Venezuela 80 percent of the crude oil that country exports.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">To Morgenthau's list of indictments can be added three other, bigger infamies: Chávez has mounted an intrigue with the French government, maneuvering economic interests, pressing President Sarkozy to extradite to Venezuela the terrorist Carlos Ilich Ramírez, “the Jackal,” who is kept in a French prison for his innumerable assassinations.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">At the same time, he attempts to free terrorist Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's Defense Minister, from the arrest warrant pending over him for his purported participation in the bombing of the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, a slaughter that killed 85 people and left 300 wounded.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally, the Venezuelan opposition has denounced that the alleged Iranian bicycle factory in the state of Cojedes is, in fact, a center for the formation of terrorists, where members of the Colombian FARC familiarize themselves with explosives similar to the ones used in Iraq and Afghanistan.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Chávez is becoming the 21st-Century Noriega. Manuel Antonio Noriega, a former collaborator with the CIA, was a Panamanian narcodictator who established strong ties with Cuba and Colombian drug traffickers. He leased his nations territory as an intermediate landing strip for the shipment of cocaine to the United States. And he used the banking system to launder dollars, while imprudently harassing and threatening the American servicemen who at the time occupied the bases in the Panama Canal Zone.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After much hesitation, and with an administration divided over the type of response the United States should give, President George H. W. Bush (Sr.) ordered an invasion. It began on Dec. 19, 1989, and by Dec. 20 it had ended successfully. The Latin American governments protested weakly; nobody wanted to side with a narcodictator who was totally discredited. A huge majority of Panamanians supported the action.</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Will that old story repeat itself? It is unlikely that it will happen the same way – an invasion of Venezuela does not seem like an intelligent option now that Washington is considering a withdrawal from Iraq and maybe from Afghanistan – but it is probable that an important sector of the American government is already suggesting to President Obama that he should consider ways to dislodge from power that dangerous enemy of U.S. democracy before the tumor turns cancerous. For sure, Bush Sr. was not thrilled by the perspective of invading Panama. It was a very uncomfortable choice that became inevitable. [©FIRMAS PRESS]</span></p> <p style=" margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-right: 0in; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in; text-autospace: none; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">*<a href="http://www.firmaspress.com" target="_blank">www.firmaspress.com</a></span></p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/The_Noriegaization_of_Hugo_Ch__vez.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z

Este nuevo aniversario de su independencia encuentra a Bolivia como un país en camino de su disolución nacional. Un país sin democracia e intervenido por gobiernos extranjeros.

<p align="left"><strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Diario Las Americas&#160;</font></span></strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /> </font></span><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Publicado el 08-05-2009</span></font></p> <p style=" text-align: right;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">&#160;</font></span><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><span style=" font-size: 8pt;">Por Carlos Sánchez Berzain*</span></strong></font></p> <p align="left"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Este nuevo aniversario de su independencia encuentra a Bolivia como un país en camino de su disolución nacional. Un país sin democracia e intervenido por gobiernos extranjeros.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">La voluntad nacional ha sido sustituida por los mandatos de Cuba y Venezuela que determinan tanto la política interna como internacional de Bolivia, teniendo en Evo Morales –auto proclamado marxista, leninista, estalinista, castrista y chavista- al operador dócil que ha entregado a nuestro país a este proceso neo-colonial.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">La constitución de Evo -aprobada ilegal y fraudulentamente- ha roto la institucionalidad democrática y puesto en peligro a la nación, al haber dado lugar a la re-elección presidencial y a la concentración de poder en una sola persona. Ha eliminado la separación y equilibrio de poderes y viola las libertades fundamentales. La democracia en Bolivia ha desaparecido.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">El Tribunal Constitucional está vaciado. La Corte Suprema es un órgano ocupado al servicio de la persecución política, tiene a su presidente enjuiciado y suspendido. Las Fuerzas armadas están bajo control foráneo con mandos sometidos.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">La lucha contra el narcotráfico está en poder de los sindicatos productores de coca ilegal, cuyo máximo dirigente sigue siendo Evo Morales; la sociedad boliviana está indefensa, ya que la alfabetización, la medicina rural, los correos y las telecomunicaciones están en poder de cubanos. La prensa está bajo un acoso permanente y hasta la Iglesia Católica ha sido sentenciada públicamente a su destrucción por el poder presidencial.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">El sistema de identificación personal, elemento clave de la seguridad individual y componente esencial del ejercicio electoral, está manejado por el eje cubano venezolano, conjuntamente con los servicios de inteligencia. Las futuras elecciones estarán totalmente apañadas y la re-elección de Evo con fraude es un hecho.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hay una nueva política internacional, alejada de los verdaderos intereses bolivianos y en perfecta coordinación con la destrucción interna. Evo Morales ha renunciado a la reivindicación marítima boliviana y ha encendido su discurso anti-imperialista, siguiendo la política exterior cubano-venezolana: estrechamiento de relaciones con Irán y conflicto con los países continentales que no se someten al ALBA. Bolivia está hoy aislada de cualquier posibilidad de inversión seria por las confiscaciones estatistas y la absoluta falta de respeto a la ley y a la propiedad privada.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Esto ha sido posible siguiendo un proceso deliberado de destrucción del sistema de partidos políticos y de libertades individuales: persecución y criminalización de lideres opositores; amenazas y sobornos; hechos de violencia premeditados, masacres y asesinatos; procedimientos de terror que han llevado a que Bolivia tenga hoy perseguidos, exiliados y presos políticos.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sin embargo, el autoritarismo que rige en Bolivia se presenta en el ámbito internacional como una democracia y como un proceso de liberación indígena, cuando en verdad ha producido el más grave proceso de confrontación entre bolivianos y de violación permanente de derechos humanos.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">La acción política fundamental es la confrontación. La lucha de clases ha sido ampliada a la lucha de etnias, de razas, de regiones, de género, de generaciones, de religiones, de gremios y de todo lo que se puede conflictuar. Esta confrontación se promueve y dirige desde la presidencia de la República, con una agenda que sigue el modelo de Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador y Nicaragua. Copia un procedimiento de destrucción de lo nacional para sustituirlo por el proyecto que han denominado socialismo del siglo XXI o ALBA y que no es más que un neo-comunismo colonial cubano-venezolano.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Las amenazas y los peligros son muy graves. El proceso premeditado de destrucción de la nación y el estado bolivianos, promovido por Cuba y Venezuela y ejecutado por Evo Morales, ha llegado muy lejos y busca consolidarse con las elecciones nacionales del próximo diciembre. El oficialismo se suma al fraude constitucional, también el fraude electoral sin el que no puede ganar.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Los verdaderos problemas subsisten. Los índices de pobreza se agravan y los resultados de la inversión promovida por 20 años de una política económica satanizada ahora como neo liberal han sido desaprovechados al igual que los buenos precios de los minerales y el gas. Los bolivianos siguen sumidos en la pobreza y ahora asfixiados por la presencia del narcotráfico, el terrorismo, la corrupción gubernamental, la prebenda y el autoritarismo.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Este 6 de agosto, al recordar el aniversario patrio, vemos que la independencia de Bolivia se ha perdido de la mano del actual presidente que como principal acto de gobierno comete “traición a la Patria”.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A partir de esta evidencia, se impone una tarea fundamental de la que depende la vida misma de Bolivia: la unidad de los bolivianos en torno a la necesidad de recuperar y sostener la construcción de la NACION BOLIVIANA como base de un Estado democrático e institucionalizado. Unidad para recuperar la democracia.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ante la confrontación propuesta -artificialmente planteada a través de lucha de clases, regiones, etnias, razas, género, generaciones y gremios- es imprescindible levantar la bandera de una nueva alianza, la unidad y la convergencia para fortalecer la nación boliviana como cuerpo social diverso, pluralista, tolerante y unido. Un país de inclusión y no de exclusión.&#160;</font></span></p> <p><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">*Abogado constitucionalista, ex ministro y parlamentario de Bolivia.&#160;</font></span></p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/Bolivia__Aniversario_patrio_de_un_pa__s_intervenid.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z

By Guillermo Lousteau The recent events in Honduras and the ensuing crisis they triggered are far from representing a merely local problem. The implications are indeed far reaching, not only if we consider the international reaction but, more significantly, because Honduras has effectively become the battle ground for a confrontation that had been long foreshadowed.

<table> <tr> <td class="item_headline"><span>A Judicial and Political View of the Honduran Conflict</span></td> </tr> <tr height="5"> <td>&#160;</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="item_text"> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style=" font-family: Arial;">Published in <strong><em>Diario Las Americas&#160;</em></strong>on July 18, 2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><strong><span style=" font-family: Arial;">A Judicial and Political View of the Honduran Conflict<br /> <span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 7.5pt;">By Guillermo Lousteau</span></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The recent events in Honduras and the ensuing crisis they triggered are far from representing a merely local problem. The implications are indeed far reaching, not only if we consider the international reaction but, more significantly, because Honduras has effectively become the battle ground for a confrontation that had been long foreshadowed.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Were the people who had Zelaya removed from office right? Absolutely.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Did they go about it the right way? No, they didn’t, and that’s precisely what prompted their enemies’ response and that of those who seem to be unaware of what’s at stake.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The fact is that Zelaya’s institutional violations and the mistakes made in his removal from office have brought about a situation for which there is no easy way out.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In order to make an accurate analysis of this situation, it is important that we draw a distinction between the political and the judicial aspects involved. This would be like making a distinction between theory and practice, or between legality and legitimacy.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At the moment, the struggle is centered on the political, but, considering what is at stake, it is important that we also look at the judicial and institutional aspects. The reason for this is that when it comes to matters of government, the judicial and the political – theory and practice, legality and legitimacy, if you will – should always go hand in hand.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><strong><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Judicial and Institutional Angle</span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Much of the discussion these days revolves around the idea of a coup, and no doubt there has been an institutional rupture, but the problem lies elsewhere. Rather, we should be concerned with finding out when this rupture took place and who caused it. With each passing day, there is a change of perception that goes from an instinctive initial rejection to a deeper realization of what is really at risk.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Zelaya – following the example of the Presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador – sought to extend his mandate by introducing a constitutional reform that would allow for his reelection, something that the current constitution prohibits. He, nevertheless, went on to declare his intentions of holding a national referendum on the matter.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not only is the Honduran Constitution categorical in its prohibition of reelection, but it also makes any attempt to incite, promote or support any such intention punishable by law. Moreover, it even prohibits any reform of said articles.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">From an institutional perspective, what happened in Honduras can be categorized as a confrontation between the powers of the state. Specifically, it was a confrontation between the judicial and legislative powers (the Supreme Court and Congress), and the executive power vested in the President. Let us keep in mind that in our constitutional systems – albeit presidential – the three branches of government hold equal status, a condition that is kept in check by the appropriately-called system of <em>checks and balances.</em> In this system, the Supreme Court is vested with the power of interpreting the constitution, and as such, its decisions on constitutional matters are final.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Supreme Court of Honduras determined that former President Zelaya had violated the constitution and its specific provisions relating to presidential reelection and ordered him to desist from attempting to hold a referendum aimed at paving the way for such reform. The Court also endorsed the decision adopted by the head of the armed forces, who refused to comply with the president’s illegal order.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In agreement with the Court’s decision, Congress then resolved to have Zelaya dismissed from office. The armed forces were not responsible for the institutional rupture; they simply carried out an order issued by the Supreme Court, and as such, it makes no sense to speak of a “military coup” against the President.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">As it stands, this was an institutional confrontation between branches of government, a confrontation provoked by a president in violation of constitutional statutes, which led the other two branches to intervene in order to protect the constitution.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Within a constitutional system, the solution to a conflict of this nature lies in the hands of the Supreme Court.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><strong><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Political Angle</span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At this point, there is no institutional solution to this conflict, only a political one. However, it is important that we understand the judicial aspects involved as we seek to find an acceptable way out.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It is not hard to see why the world reacted the way it did if we consider Latin America’s poor image in regards to the legitimacy of its institutions and the way Chávez and his friends have taken advantage of this situation. And, let’s not forget the hypocritical endorsement of the OAS and its Secretary General. Fortunately, President Arias’s timely mediation in the matter has helped to deflate the more extremist demands.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Regardless of how the conflict is resolved, and even if it involves Zelaya’s return, we can rest assured that whatever constitutional reform or reelection that was once intended has now no chance of succeeding. That, in itself, is an important triumph for constitutional democracy against those who would seek to assault its institutions in order to perpetuate their hold on power.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=" color: rgb(89, 89, 89); line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The author of this article is a member of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.</span></strong></p> </td> </tr> </table> <p>&#160;</p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/A_Judicial_and_Political_View_of_the_Honduran_Conf1.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z

Changes to Essay Contest

<p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: left;"><strong><span style=" font-family: Arial; color: #0072BC; font-size: 12pt;">Contest Rules and Conditions</span></strong></p> <p align="center" style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">&#160;</p> <p align="center" style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;">Interamerican Institute for Democracy</span></strong></p> <p align="center" style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;">1st INTER AMERICAN ESSAY CONTEST:</span></strong></p> <p align="center" style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;">“THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIAL BRANCH IN A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM”</span></strong></p> <p align="center" style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">The <strong>Interamerican Institute for Democracy</strong> is a non-profit organization that was created under the laws of the United States to promote liberty, democracy and institutionalism in Latin America.</span></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">With this purpose in mind, we invite the youth of the Americas to participate in our first <strong>Essay Contest </strong>as an opportunity to analyze and reflect on the work and functions of our countries’ institutions.</span></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">TOPIC</span></strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">The Role of the Judicial Branch in a Democratic System</span></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">TERMS AND CONDITIONS</span></strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <ol style=" margin-bottom: 0in;" type=""> <li><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Eligibility: Students between the ages of 16 and 25 who are citizens or residents of a country of the Americas</span></li> <li><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Language and format: Essays must be 4000-6000 words, double-spaced and typed in <strong>Times New Roman</strong> font type 12, in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Include bibliography if applicable.</span></li> <li><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Participants must provide proof of enrollment in a post-secondary academic institution. </span></li> <li><strong><big><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;">Deadline: Entries must be received by JANUARY 31ST, 2010</span></big></strong></li> <li><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Submissions: Essays must be submitted in triplicate to the </span><strong><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Interamerican Institute for Democracy, 2600 Douglas Road, Suite 906, Coral Gables, Florida 33134, USA</span></strong><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">. Include in one envelope the three copies of the essay –signed under a pen name – plus another envelope with your pen name on the front and containing a note with your first name, family name, mailing address and e-mail address. Entries may also be submitted via e-mail to <a href="mailto:iid@intdemocratic.org">iid@intdemocratic.org</a>, with two attachments (in Word or rtf format): the essay document (use the title of the essay as the document’s name) and a second document named <em>Plica </em>+ the title of the essay and containing the participant’s personal information.</span></li> <li><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Results: A 3-judge panel will issue its decision on March 12, 2010; the winners will be announced on the Institute’s Website.</span></li> </ol> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">AWARDS</span></strong></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">1. First Prize Winner:</span></p> <ol style=" margin-bottom: 0in;" type=""> <li><span style=" font-family: Arial; font: 7.0pt Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </span><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">One-week stay in Miami and Washington, D.C., U.S.A. </span></li> <li><span style=" font-family: Arial; font: 7.0pt Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </span><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">One thousand dollars in cash (1,000 USD)</span></li> <li><span style=" font-family: Arial; font: 7.0pt Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </span><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Five hundred dollars in books for the student’s academic institution</span></li> </ol> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-left: .5in; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">2. Second Prize Winner:</span></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-left: .5in; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">One thousand dollars in cash (1,000 USD)</span></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">The top three entries will be published by the Institute and receive a prize certificate. Copyright of the essays will be assigned to the organizers.</span></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Participation in the contest constitutes acceptance of the terms and conditions. The Jury’s decision is final.</span></p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">&#160;</p> <p style=" margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0in; font-size: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style=" font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Miami, June 1, 2009</span></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><img style=" border: 0;" src="http://www.intdemocratic.org/upload/userimages/NEW Ensayo ENGLISH.jpg" width="600" height="776" alt="" /></p> <p style=" text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.intdemocratic.org/The_role_of_the_Judicial_branch_in_a_Democratic_Sy.html?method=register&#38;date=2009-10-31"><img border="0" src="http://www.intdemocratic.org/images/en/register.jpg" alt="" /></a></p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/Concurso_Interamericano_de_Ensayo.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z

The recent events in Honduras and the ensuing crisis they triggered are far from representing a merely local problem. The implications are indeed far reaching, not only if we consider the international reaction but, more significantly, because Honduras has effectively become the battle ground for a confrontation that had been long foreshadowed.

<p class="MsoNormal" style=" text-align: left; line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial;">Published in <em><strong>Diario Las Americas&#160;</strong></em>on July 18, 2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" text-align: left; line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial;"><strong>A Judicial and Political View of the Honduran Conflict<br /> <span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 7.5pt;">By Guillermo Lousteau</span></strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The recent events in Honduras and the ensuing crisis they triggered are far from representing a merely local problem. The implications are indeed far reaching, not only if we consider the international reaction but, more significantly, because Honduras has effectively become the battle ground for a confrontation that had been long foreshadowed.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Were the people who had Zelaya removed from office right? Absolutely.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Did they go about it the right way? No, they didn’t, and that’s precisely what prompted their enemies’ response and that of those who seem to be unaware of what’s at stake.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The fact is that Zelaya’s institutional violations and the mistakes made in his removal from office have brought about a situation for which there is no easy way out.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In order to make an accurate analysis of this situation, it is important that we draw a distinction between the political and the judicial aspects involved. This would be like making a distinction between theory and practice, or between legality and legitimacy.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At the moment, the struggle is centered on the political, but, considering what is at stake, it is important that we also look at the judicial and institutional aspects. The reason for this is that when it comes to matters of government, the judicial and the political – theory and practice, legality and legitimacy, if you will – should always go hand in hand.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><strong><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Judicial and Institutional Angle</span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Much of the discussion these days revolves around the idea of a coup, and no doubt there has been an institutional rupture, but the problem lies elsewhere. Rather, we should be concerned with finding out when this rupture took place and who caused it. With each passing day, there is a change of perception that goes from an instinctive initial rejection to a deeper realization of what is really at risk.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Zelaya – following the example of the Presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador – sought to extend his mandate by introducing a constitutional reform that would allow for his reelection, something that the current constitution prohibits. He, nevertheless, went on to declare his intentions of holding a national referendum on the matter.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not only is the Honduran Constitution categorical in its prohibition of reelection, but it also makes any attempt to incite, promote or support any such intention punishable by law. Moreover, it even prohibits any reform of said articles.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">From an institutional perspective, what happened in Honduras can be categorized as a confrontation between the powers of the state. Specifically, it was a confrontation between the judicial and legislative powers (the Supreme Court and Congress), and the executive power vested in the President. Let us keep in mind that in our constitutional systems – albeit presidential – the three branches of government hold equal status, a condition that is kept in check by the appropriately-called system of <em>checks and balances.</em> In this system, the Supreme Court is vested with the power of interpreting the constitution, and as such, its decisions on constitutional matters are final.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Supreme Court of Honduras determined that former President Zelaya had violated the constitution and its specific provisions relating to presidential reelection and ordered him to desist from attempting to hold a referendum aimed at paving the way for such reform. The Court also endorsed the decision adopted by the head of the armed forces, who refused to comply with the president’s illegal order.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In agreement with the Court’s decision, Congress then resolved to have Zelaya dismissed from office. The armed forces were not responsible for the institutional rupture; they simply carried out an order issued by the Supreme Court, and as such, it makes no sense to speak of a “military coup” against the President.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">As it stands, this was an institutional confrontation between branches of government, a confrontation provoked by a president in violation of constitutional statutes, which led the other two branches to intervene in order to protect the constitution.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Within a constitutional system, the solution to a conflict of this nature lies in the hands of the Supreme Court.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><strong><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Political Angle</span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At this point, there is no institutional solution to this conflict, only a political one. However, it is important that we understand the judicial aspects involved as we seek to find an acceptable way out.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It is not hard to see why the world reacted the way it did if we consider Latin America’s poor image in regards to the legitimacy of its institutions and the way Chávez and his friends have taken advantage of this situation. And, let’s not forget the hypocritical endorsement of the OAS and its Secretary General. Fortunately, President Arias’s timely mediation in the matter has helped to deflate the more extremist demands.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=" line-height: normal;"><span style=" font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Regardless of how the conflict is resolved, and even if it involves Zelaya’s return, we can rest assured that whatever constitutional reform or reelection that was once intended has now no chance of succeeding. That, in itself, is an important triumph for constitutional democracy against those who would seek to assault its institutions in order to perpetuate their hold on power.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=" color: #595959; line-height: 115%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">The author of this article is a member of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.</span></strong></p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/A_Judicial_and_Political_View_of_the_Honduran_Conf2.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z

Honduras: a Symptom of Crisis in Latin America

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 12pt; color: #0072BC;"><strong>Honduras: a Symptom of Crisis in Latin America<br /> </strong></span><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">By Carlos Sánchez Berzain*</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;"><em>(Article published in the </em><span class="SpellE" style=" font-size: 10pt;">Diario</span> <span class="SpellE" style=" font-size: 10pt;">las</span> <span class="SpellE" style=" font-size: 10pt;">Américas</span><em> on July 3, 2009)</em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">The political crisis in Honduras should not be viewed as an isolated event; rather, it should be seen as a symptom of a larger problem affecting democracy in Latin America, where a number of countries today are no longer democratic, despite their frequent elections.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">The current Honduran predicament stems from President Manuel Zelaya’s publicly manifest political decision to violate the constitution of his country by attempting to introduce a reform that would allow for the incumbent’s reelection and thus extend his presidential mandate. On closer scrutiny, though, this political decision is not Zelaya’s own, but rather, as it is evident, it responds to the authoritarian agenda being led by Havana and Caracas.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">In order to understand the Honduran crisis, we need to analyze the current Latin American reality and <span class="GramE" style=" font-size: 10pt;">realize</span> that Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez have set in motion a plan to create a certain alignment of countries. Through the use of the electoral system, they have managed to seize power and gradually undermine the institutions in order to consolidate their totalitarian governments – governments which are borderline dictatorial, as in the case of Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">Constitutional reform via popular referendums, the approval of constitutional text that opens the door to the concentration of power by the president, as well as to his reelection, in particular, are the key elements for this political current that is variously known as “21^st century socialism”, “ALBA” (Bolivarian Alliance for Latin America and the Caribbean), “populism” or “neocommunism”. All of this is but a revived version of the Castroist dream of the sixties known as <em>foquismo</em>, or focalism, yet this time around, it has opted to use the vote system, one engineered by the Cuban political apparatus and its intelligence services and funded by Venezuelan money.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">The quest for total power, one that lays democracy to waste as it advances, is already a formula, a model that has been successfully implemented in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. There is no democracy in these countries any longer, and their citizens are now subject to persecution, threats, violation of their basic rights and even death. It is precisely these countries, now teeming with Cuban advisors, which have installed a new form of colonialism and intervention. In these states, the opposition has been effectively criminalized; its members are routinely persecuted and incarcerated, and the number of political exiles – a situation incompatible with democracy – is on the rise.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">With Zelaya’s bid for reelection, Honduras would be marching down the same path as Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador; as reprehensible and inadmissible as a <em>coup d’état </em>is, it is obvious that to judge the present situation solely from the perspective of this old cliché falls short of the more incisive analysis that is necessary. Much less can we ascribe the role <span class="GramE" style=" font-size: 10pt;">of defenders</span> of democracy to people such as Castro, Chávez and their attending presidents in those countries that have been intervened, for they neither respect nor practice of democracy. It is imperative then that we grasp the whole picture rather than simply run to demonize the Hondurans who stood up in defense of their liberty and constitution, albeit their resorting to a terrible instrument.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">It is evident that this is not simply a Honduran crisis; this is a Latin American crisis and it is a crisis of democracy. Honduras is not the only democracy at risk. Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua have already seen their democracies sacrificed, and today, democracy in Peru is also under threat by the same Cuban-Venezuelan alignment.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">We need to keep a watchful eye on the objective reality and not lose sight of the history of Latin America in the last few years; we must be mindful of Cuba’s and Venezuela’s political actions and see that a neocommunist totalitarianism – under the guise of 21^st century socialism or Bolivarian Movement – is on the move in the form of an international political process. Satisfying these conditions will help us realize that what is happening in Honduras is only a symptom and that the people of this country are victims of a larger crisis: the crisis of democracy in Latin America, one that is high time we face.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" font-size: 10pt;">*The author of this article is a lawyer and former government minister, Member of Parliament and political figure of Bolivia. <span lang="ES" style=" font-size: 10pt;">He <span class="SpellE" lang="ES" style=" font-size: 10pt;">is</span> <span class="SpellE" lang="ES" style=" font-size: 10pt;">presently</span> in exile.</span></span></p> http://www.intdemocratic.org/Honduras__a_Symptom_of_Crisis_in_Latin_America.html 2010-07-30T01:59:25Z