A COUP CAUCUS…. Late last week, Sen. Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina became the first U.S. senator to break with the position of the government and endorse the military-backed coup in Honduras. He issued a statement denouncing the democratically-elected president and heralding those responsible for the coup as “guarantee[ing] freedom.”
He, apparently, wasn’t the last. Mark Leon Goldberg reports today on the emergency of a congressional coup caucus.
Support for the coup in Honduras extends beyond the pages of right wing political magazines to the United States Congress. Tomorrow, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will host a private meeting for her Republican colleagues with former Honduran President Ricardo Maduro and former Costa Rican Ambassador to the U.S. Jaime Daremblum. According to the invitation, obtained by UN Dispatch, “President Maduro will help to outline the sequence of events leading to the shift in power in Honduras and removal of Manuel Zelaya; provide insight into Honduran constitutional authorities; and discuss how the U.S. can now work to support the democratic institutions and rule of law in Honduras.” Ambassador Daremblum will discuss his Weekly Standard piece titled “A Coup for Democracy.”
In related news, Florida Republican Connie Mack is circulating a congressional resolution that effectively supports the coup. So far, the Congressional Coup Caucus includes Dan Burton (Republican from Indiana), Jeff Fortenberry (Republican from Nebraska) and Dana Rohrabacher (Republican from California) who are co-sponsoring the resolution.
Among the resolution’s provisions is this gem: “Whereas since his removal, Mr. Zelaya has been flown around the hemisphere by Hugo Chavez’s private jets.”
It doesn’t elaborate — the association with Chavez is apparently supposed to be self-evidently scandalous, and grounds for supporting the coup.
