(Images from El País)

Sunday's coup that removed President Manuel Zelaya from office in Honduras has been roundly denounced by leaders in Latin America and, most recently, by US President Barack Obama. The justification given by the military for detaining Zelaya and then forcing him into exile in Costa Rica was that Zelaya had insisted on calling for a nationwide popular vote to convene a national assembly which would then discuss the possibility of changing the Honduran constitution to allow him to run for office a second time. The act of calling for a national referendum to discuss this was deemed unconstitutional by the Honduran high court and by its congress.

On the day in which the national referendum was slated to occur, the military took Zelaya prisoner and the head of congress assumed the presidency. Supporters of the military and supporters of Zelaya have since that point called each other "undemocratic."

Zelaya's critics in Honduras say that his support internationally comes from pro-Chavez sympathy. This is not the case. Even a glance at newspapers in Paraguay (arguably one of the most conservative countries in Latin America), which are staunchly and virulently anti-Chavez, shows that the critique against the move in Honduras is not about Chavez but about using force instead of law to remove a president. The precedent this sets, the idea that coups are still a viable option, undercuts decades of work and compromise and while many in Latin America are not excited about the Chavez-like Left, they are more concerned about a regional return to military (and guerrilla) violence.

For Latin America, these events are sadly familiar: pictures of people confronting tanks, stories of "disappearances," meddling from leftist leaders in other countries, enforced curfews, and violence on all sides in the name of "democracy." What's new is the across-the-board rejection of the actions in Honduras internationally and the insistence that Zelaya, as a democratically elected president, cannot be removed by such means.

(Image from El País)

(Image from El País)

(image from La Nación... military might rolled out in the streets of Honduran capital Tegucigalpa after arresting and removing the president)

So, today the news broke that the Honduran military physically detained President Manuel Zelaya at 6am. They moved him to a military base and now word is that he has been taken to Costa Rica. The head of Honduras' congress, Roberto Michelletti, is now the interim president.

The Organization of American States is holding an emergency session this afternoon to discuss the alarming developments and how to strengthen democracy in Honduras. The EU and various regional presidents have denounced the move by the military.

However, it's important to note the rationale given by the military for this move: Zelaya is holding a constitutional referendum to vote to change the constitution in order to allow for his re-election. Holding more than one term as president is currently prohibited in the Honduran constitution and his move to change it has been declared illegal by Honduras' legislative and judiciary branches, as well as the military.

In any case, Honduras' democracy is fragile (both Zelaya and the congress/judiciary/military seem to be making power moves to consolidate their own control) and this bodes poorly for Latin America because, well, it'd be nice if coups were not the solution to disagreement over policy. For a place like Paraguay, where the new government is still unable to, well, govern, the example of a military take-over is a bad one.

UPDATE: CNN reports.

UPDATE: Citizen response seems to be mixed. On the one hand, there are pictures of people in the streets burning tires and standing in front of the tanks that are moving in. On the other, the comment posts on news articles include statements like:

"Es una lastima que Mel Zelaya nos haya obligado a llegar a este extremo, pero era necesario."
(It's a shame that [President] Mel Zelaya made it come to this extreme, but it was necessary. Presumably in reference to the attempt to change the constitution and allow his re-election.)

"Como hondureños aca en Miami. estamos mas que felices de saber que tenemos militares valientes que saben defender la soberania de nuestro pais."
(As hondurans here in Miami, we are more than happy to know that we have brave military men who know how to defend the sovereignty of our country.)

"Sr. Chávez,Fidel Castro,evo Morales,Correa y Daniel Ortega. Dejen al pueblo Hondureño en paz,dediquense a solucionar sus problemas en sus paises y,dejen que el pueblo Hondureño solucione sus propios problemas internos."
(Mr. Chavez, Fidel Castro, Evo Morales, Correa, and Daniel Ortega, leave the Honduran people in peace. Dedicate yourselves to solving the problems in your countries and let the Honduran people solve their own internal problems. Zelaya was seen as allied and sympathetic to the more extreme Leftish presidents in Latin America and Chavez particularly. This was, of course, very controversial within Honduras.)

UPDATE: People avoid voting today on the referendum to change the constitution of Honduras that would permit the re-election of President Manuel Zelaya. A mayor gets arrested for supporting the referendum. President Zelaya's attempt to change the constitution was decried as illegal by the legislative and judiciary branches as well as the military.

UPDATE: La Prensa, a Honduran daily, has a great PhotoGallery with images like this:

Oh, and from Costa Rica, ousted President Manuel Zelaya now asks Obama if he was "behind it."

UPDATE: Manuel Zelaya makes a funny, when he insists in a press conference in Costa Rica that he is still "el presidente de los hondureños y solo el pueblo lo puede quitar, no un grupo de gorilas." Or, he is "still the president of the Hondurans and only the people can remove that, not a group of gorillas." Which plays on its homophone "guerrilla" (though the ll and l are different in Spanish, it's close enough to be a pun in Spanish).

And Hugo Chavez threatens "military action" if Venezuela's embassy or ambassador in Honduras are attacked.

UPDATE: Honduras' Congress has read and accepted Manuel Zelaya's resignation ("renuncia"), which he signed before being taken to Costa Rica this morning.

If ever you’re in Santiago, taking the wine tour at Cousiño-Macul is really something you should do. I did, and ended up buying a case, which I do not regret one whit. First, some basics. Though Chile has a burgeoning wine industry, finding out about wine tours is surprisingly challenging. There are some bus tours that I find quite expensive and therefore, did not do. Unlike California, you have to pay the winery for a tour and you need to schedule it beforehand. These things run about $10-$20 and will include a guide that walks you around a bit and usually tasting two wines (though, if you’re friendly and eager, they might open up other bottles just for fun!). Getting to Cousiño-Macul is super easy if you don’t have a car or a designated driver: take the subway to the Quilin station and then hail a cab (or walk for half an hour) to Avenida Quilin 7100, the winery.

Unlike many of the other large wineries founded in the 19th century, CM is still owned by the family that started it and not by a mass of anonymous shareholders (read: Concha y Toro, which we also visited and which was a smooth well-oiled machine producing dependable wines… a big superstore rather than craftsmanship. Meh.) This means the owners have a personal (not just financial) investment in the history of the winery. And it means you get to see a lot more of the actual process, a real education not in wine-tasting snobbery, but in the art of making it.



In this room, tons and tons of grapes are sorted and eventually moved into these steel vats before being transferred to French barrels for aging.

From the “Export Room,” the original 19th century machines used to transfer wine to bottles, cork them, and then the stencils with the names of the destinations. Apparently, it was exported for free to Alaska in exchange for barrels.




Cousiño-Macul “Gris” Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Maipo Valley, Santiago de Chile: Martin, the guide and aspiring sommelier, presents “Gris”… This is not a rosé… it’s color is a bit more amber and the flavor less fruity. Passion fruit on the nose and always worth picking up. The story goes that, following the French tradition, each winery should have its own personal, distinctive wine that they do. This is CM’s.



During a particularly bad earthquake years ago, the barrels in this cellar were ruptured and it became a sea of wine, into which workers dived, drank, and, well became drunk. That harvest was lost (of course!) but you can still see the “water”-level on the walls.


Cousiño-Macul Antiguas Reservas Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Maipo Valley, Santiago de Chile: The second wine we tasted was an excellent cabernet, strong, peppery, well-balanced and mature (even only after two years!). I bought plenty of this as well.


Oh, okay, a couple of photos from Concha y Toro (including the fabled “Casillero del Diablo”… which I personally believe is a marketing story made up for visitors).