tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post8621747769554735755..comments2023-09-11T10:45:49.957-07:00Comments on Honduras Culture and Politics: Jose Manuel Zelaya: Symbolic ExileRAJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-69829840661298811772010-05-07T07:57:28.729-07:002010-05-07T07:57:28.729-07:00Zelaya is a symbolic double-edged sword for the re...<i>Zelaya is a symbolic double-edged sword for the resistance movement. Every time the Honduran press or politicians equate the resistance with Zelaya, they diminish the popular movement. And at the same time, the resistance wants and needs to acknowledge Zelaya both as a symbol of democratic suffrage taken away, and as a real actor who took actions for the benefit of the people.</i><br /><br />Expanding on that would make for a good blog post.bozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13233148632004720002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-13885590184519726332010-05-06T22:16:06.010-07:002010-05-06T22:16:06.010-07:00For us, the issue is no longer what Zelaya should ...For us, the issue is no longer what Zelaya should or should not have done, or even, what he is doing now.<br /><br />Porfirio Lobo Sosa is saying what he understands the international community wants him to say. But it is questionable whether he can back up what he is saying with action. Zelaya is calling a bluff; and if you read Lobo Sosa's entire set of comments, he doesn't say that Zelaya won't be arrested. He says the courts have assured him they understand what would be bad for the country.<br /><br />Well, that frankly is what got the court deeply implicated in the coup in the first place.<br /><br />The second point we are making here has to do with the way that Zelaya is a symbolic double-edged sword for the resistance movement. Every time the Honduran press or politicians equate the resistance with Zelaya, they diminish the popular movement. And at the same time, the resistance wants and needs to acknowledge Zelaya both as a symbol of democratic suffrage taken away, and as a real actor who took actions for the benefit of the people.<br /><br />What is absolutely clear reading the informal and formal writing from the opposition about Zelaya is that he does not figure as the leader of opposition. He is not leading the political organization of either the resistance or reformulation within the Liberal Party.RAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-24534705695622276152010-05-06T17:24:37.811-07:002010-05-06T17:24:37.811-07:00I would just add that I always felt Zelaya's d...I would just add that I always felt Zelaya's decision to reenter Honduras and get trapped in the Brazil embassy was among his worst post-coup moves. Short term, retaining freedom of movement and action is more important than being a symbolic prisoner. From a political organization perspective, if he's worried about being arrested, then he's more effective staying outside the country and working from there.bozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13233148632004720002noreply@blogger.com