DeMint Statement on Honduras

Americans should support the Honduran people and their legitimate
leaders in their brave and heroic stand for freedom and the rule of
law.?

Por: Malena Calix

July 2, 2009 - Greenville, SC - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint
(R-South Carolina), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
and chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, made the following
statement about the ongoing situation in Honduras.

"The people of Honduras have struggled too long to have their hard-
won democracy stolen from them by a Chavez-style dictator. The
Honduran Congress, the Honduran Supreme Court, and the Honduran
military have acted in accordance to the Honduran constitution and
the rule of law.

?For weeks leading to his arrest, Zelaya flouted the constitutional
authority of the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court, and claimed for
himself extra-constitutional control of his nation?s military and
political institutions. Every institution from the Electoral Tribunal
to the Supreme Court ruled that his actions were unjustified and
illegal. Zelaya?s open defiance of democratic norms has set Honduras
on a path toward violence, instability, and tyranny.

?I am hopeful that as President Obama grows in office, he will
eventually turn away from despots like Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro,
and Zelaya, and give the United States? full-throated support to the
people of any country who are fighting for the same values we cherish

and defend in America. The people fighting for freedom around the
world, in Iran and Honduras, should never have to wonder which side
America will choose between freedom and tyranny.
?President Obama?s call for the reinstatement of Zelaya is a slap in
the face to the people of Honduras. And the resolution written by the
Organization of American States tramples over the hopes and dreams of
a free and democratic people.

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