BETWEEN THE LINES Q&A with Brendan Cooney

Between the Lines Q&A

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under-reported in mainstream media
for release Oct. 17, 2009

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Violation of Law Seen
in GOP Legislators' Support
of Honduran Coup

RealAudio MP3

Interview with Brendan Cooney,
writer and anthropologist,
conducted by Scott Harris

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R- Fla., holds a copy
of Honduras' constitution during a press conference with
Honduras' coup-installed President Roberto Micheletti in Tegucigalpa, Oct. 5

As the stalemate continues in the international effort to return the overthrown Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya to power, a parade of Republican legislators have traveled from Washington to Honduras to support the coup government. Nine GOP members of the House and Senate, including Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida have flown to the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa to support the defacto coup government's president Roberto Micheletti. The lawmakers stated they believe the coup that ousted Honduran President Zelaya was justified because of his stated intent to hold a non-binding referendum on changing the nation's constitution, which they argue could have removed presidential term limits, a fact disputed by many observers. Since the June 28 coup d'etat, the Honduran police and army have arrested more than a thousand pro-Zelaya supporters, killed an estimated 14 civilians, suspended civil liberties and shutting down opposition newspapers, radio and television stations.

The Republicans' embrace of the coup government in Honduras, has staked out a position that justifies any action they see as working against the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his socialist agenda in Latin America. But with their actions, they are deliberately undermining the Obama administration's and universal international efforts to isolate the Michelletti regime and to push for a negotiated return of Zelaya to office before the scheduled Nov. 29 Honduran presidential election.

Meanwhile President Zelaya, who covertly returned to Honduras on Sept. 21, has taken refuge in the Brazilian embassy where he is awaiting negotiations that he hopes will restore him to power. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Brendan Cooney, a writer and anthropologist, who explains why he believes Republican party legislators have broken the law by supporting the illegal coup-installed government in Honduras. </i>

BRENDAN COONEY: Well, there've been nine congressional Republicans who've actually made trips down to Honduras and met with Roberto Micheletti, who is the de-facto, illegal leader in Honduras right now after the June 28th coup. There've been three different trips down there with these Republicans, a couple from the House and some from the Senate. And they've actually undercut President Obama's policy of not recognizing Micheletti by declaring Micheletti the president on their own. And now this is probably one of the clearest violations of the Logan Act in United States history; it's the law that's been on the books since 1799. And there've been various accusations throughout our history, but this one seems to be one of the clearest violations.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Tell us what the Logan Act says and how it relates to what these Republicans have been up to in Honduras.

BRENDAN COONEY: Sure. The Logan Act states that anyone who, without the authorization of the executive branch -- of Obama in this case -- "directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer thereof with the intent to influence the conduct of that government, shall be fined or imprisoned not more than three years." So, you can't undercut U.S. policy. It doesn't matter if you're a member of Congress. The president is the constitutional representative of the United States with regard to foreign nations and that's been confirmed over and over again throughout our history.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Maybe give us some context here. How do we understand why Republicans have flocked to support a coup government, which has no basis of legitimacy. Certainly the way they sent Manuel Zelaya into exile in the dead of night in his pajamas has nothing to do with the law of Honduras and everything to do with the military taking the law into its own hands and ejecting and exiling a Democratically-elected president. Why have the Republicans flocked to support such an illegitimate government?

BRENDAN COONEY: Well, it just comes down to one thing. It's the fear of socialism. It's a throwback to the Cold War, and these days it's fear of Chavez, the Democratically-elected president of Venezuela and Republicans are just scared that his influence is spreading throughout the hemisphere. Manuel Zelaya had recently become a friend of Chavez, and the right-wing, both in the United States and in Honduras, the business community there, the right-wingers didn't like that. And so that's why they got rid of him, and that's why Republicans are flocking down there to support the de facto head Micheletti.

BETWEEN THE LINES: This issue of Republicans moving to support the coup government in Honduras is not widely covered here in the U.S. corporate press. But I wonder, how much pushback is there behind the scenes, or maybe overtly from Congress and the White House in terms of the direct attempt to undermine the White House policy in isolating the Honduran regime?

BRENDAN COONEY: Yeah, that's the curious thing, here. There doesn't seem to be any pushback at all. I haven't heard any complaints from Democrats and certainly nothing from Obama. I know that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) tried to stop one of the delegations from going down there, the one by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, then DeMint just appealed to Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader and he wound up getting a Pentagon airplane to take him down there. Now, I haven't been able to get any answers from the Obama administration as to how that happened, but I'm completely stunned that nobody's looking into this.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What are the Republicans saying publicly when they arrive in the Honduran capital? Do they publicly support Micheletti, are they saying there's a need for negotiations? Are they playing any constructive role here or is it really taking on the sole function of undermining Obama's policy of isolating Micheletti and company?

BRENDAN COONEY: Well, they say they are going down there on fact-finding missions. But then the language that they use once they get down there is quite shocking. Here's what Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who's the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said last week: she says, "He is the president of Honduras," she says of Micheletti, who is the illegal coup leader, she says, "some people tell me de facto government, but under the Constitution of the Republic, I am seated here with the president of this country and it's a great honor."

Now that completely subverts the Obama administration's stated policy of not recognizing Micheletti, not talking with or meeting with Micheletti, so that is a flagrant violation of the Logan Act. By contrast, I should point out that others have been accused of breaking the Logan Act throughout history. (Former South Dakota Senator and Democratic presidential candidate George) McGovern, in 1975, was accused of violating the Logan Act by going to Cuba and meeting with Castro and the State Department considered pressing charges against him. But they didn't, because in his own report, on the trip he said, "I made it clear I had no authority to negotiate on behalf of the United States, that I had come to listen and learn."

And so there's a humility in McGovern's report about his trip and if you compare that with the reports of these Republicans, they just completely flout Obama's stated policy, and to me, that's shocking. They say, "Well, we don't care what Obama says. This guy is the president of Honduras." That's stunning and I think that should be looked into.

Read Brendan Cooney' article, "Are Republicans Breaking U.S. Law in Honduras," on the online magazine www.counterpunch.org

Related Links:

"Honduran Leadership Finds Friends Among GOP Lawmakers," Washington Post, Oct. 9, 2009
"Honduras Government Blamed for 14 Deaths," Latin Americn Herald Tribune, Oct. 14, 2009
"Return of Ousted Honduran President Throws Coup Government Into Disarray,"Between The Lines Week Ending Oct. 9, 2009

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Scott Harris is executive producer of Between The Lines, which can be heard on more than 45 radio stations and in RealAudio and MP3 on our website at http://www.btlonline.org. This interview excerpt was featured on the award-winning, syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine, Between The Lines for the week ending Oct. 23, 2009. This Between The Lines Q&A was compiled by Anna Manzo and Scott Harris.

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