Buried in a Wall Street Journal article is the news that President Obama tried to stop Sunday's coup in Honduras:
The Obama administration and members of the Organization of American States had worked for weeks to try to avert any moves to overthrow President Zelaya, said senior U.S. officials. Washington's ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, sought to facilitate a dialogue between the president's office, the Honduran parliament and the military.
The efforts accelerated over the weekend, as Washington grew increasingly alarmed. "The players decided, in the end, not to listen to our message," said one U.S. official involved in the diplomacy. On Sunday, the U.S. embassy here tried repeatedly to contact the Honduran military directly, but was rebuffed. Washington called the removal of President Zelaya a coup and said it wouldn't recognize any other leader.
Obama said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned," and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Zelaya's arrest by the military should be condemned.
"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read.
President Manuel Zelaya's replacement, congressionally designated successor Roberto Micheletti, mentioned the American president by name in response to a threat from Venezuela's Hugo Chavez: "Nobody, not Barack Obama and much less Hugo Chavez, has any right to threaten this country."
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.