US Latin Americans build support for Honduran coup

MIAMI — Leaders of Cuban and Venezuelan communities across the U.S. have become among the loudest supporters of the military ouster of Honduras’ president because they see it as a strike against socialist influence in Latin America.

Cuban and Venezuelan expatriates, many of whom came to the U.S. to escape Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, are siding with those who forced out President Manuel Zelaya, a close Chavez ally. President Barack Obama has called for the democratically elected Zelaya to be reinstated, saying it’s up to Hondurans to choose their leader. However, he has remained cool toward Zelaya, who has often criticized Washington on principle.

At a recent rally in support of the Honduran interim government, many Cuban-Americans waved their flags alongside the blue and white stripes of Honduras.

“We believe Honduras can be an example to other Central American countries so they don’t fall to the authoritarian powers,” said Gerardo Chavez, a retired insurance salesman at the rally. He is a Cuban native.

In recent weeks, Hispanic churches in Florida have celebrated Mass in support of the new government, and several Venezuelan and Cuban organizations have offered to help send medical supplies if other nations and international lending institutions decide to punish Honduras by imposing economic sanctions.

Honduran soldiers forced Zelaya out of the country on June 28, just as he was preparing to hold a referendum that could have enabled him to change the constitution and possibly extend his rule. Both sides have since agreed to hold a mediation meeting in Costa Rica.

Many Hispanics in South Florida feared Zelaya, who has received $300 million in financial aid from Chavez since January, would also follow the Venezuelan leader’s efforts to weaken the courts and Congress and introduce socialist reforms.

Marifeli Perez-Stable, vice president of the nonpartisan Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank, says it’s not surprising Zelaya’s ouster would be cheered by those who left countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and even Nicaragua, where President Daniel Ortega has sought to expand his powers.

“What has happened is that for the first time since 1999, when Chavez assumed the presidency of Venezuela, the elected institutions have said ’stop,’” Perez-Stable said.

Perez-Stable, herself a Cuban-American from South Florida, pointed out that the supreme court ordered the military to depose Zelaya. The country’s democratic institutions, including the court and Congress, remain in place.

Cuban- and Venezuelan-Americans are also pressuring their government representatives to speak out on the issue.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, has slammed the international community for condemning of Zelaya’s ouster. She and other Cuban-American politicians have urged Obama to take a closer look at the events that led to Zelaya’s removal.

“It’s struck a very deep and personal chord, and even though many in our community have never been to Honduras and don’t know much about it, we see this disturbing pattern” of Chavez’s influence, she said.

And while many exiles support the nearly 50-year-old U.S. embargo of communist Cuba, they oppose a blockade of Honduras because it would hurt the population.

Still, Perez-Stable cautioned that those celebrating Zelaya’s ouster should be equally concerned about the frustration brewing in Latin America over limited social and economic opportunities, fueling the rise of socialist leaders.

Any coup — even one sparked by concerns that the Honduran president violated his nation’s constitution — sets a dangerous precedent, Perez-Stable said.

“The rule of law is the rule of law,” she said. “You cannot wake up a president at 5 a.m. at gunpoint and take them out of the country.”