dippin

Well, first of all, let's be specific about Honduras' constitution: it was crafted by an assembly during its last dictatorship, so it's not exactly some sort of holy text.

Of course, that is no excuse to ignore it, but the original issue was over a non-binding referendum. These sorts of referenda are allowed in Honduran constitution. Now, given the efforts to block this referendum, one must question just how unpopular the president really was.

The supreme court ruled this referendum unconstitutional, not because it in itself violated any laws, but because it was less than 180 days from the general election. So yes, as he planned to go ahead with the referendum, Zelaya was indeed overstepping the supreme court. But the result was that both the supreme court and congress then committed much more egregious violations of the constitution to remove him. Zelaya was sequestered and expelled from the nation, and then congress did a one round vote to destitute him and elect someone else (even though nothing in the constitution says that a single congressional vote is enough to remove the president).

So yes, regardless of what Zelaya did, his removal from power was a coup, and given the penchant of the military to shoot at peaceful demonstrations, the idea that what they are doing is protecting the democratic ideals is nonsense.