One woman started a kind of kaffeeklatsch with her high-powered friends that grew into the driving force behind a movement that toppled the Honduran president. The other preferred to stay out of politics until the president’s ouster compelled her to protest.
To Armida Villela de López Contreras, a former vice president, President Manuel Zelaya was ousted because his closeness to Venezuela’s leader had become a threat to Honduran democracy.
Armida Villela de López Contreras, a lawyer and former vice president, has become one of the most visible critics of the ousted Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya. And Hedme Castro is one of the thousands of teachers who have banded together to demand Mr. Zelaya’s return.
Between them is a yawning political and socioeconomic divide that still threatens the stability of what was once one of the United States’ principal staging grounds in Latin America during the cold war. And what they have to say about how this country’s political crisis began — and about the sacrifices they are willing to make to defend their views — leaves little hope that it will end any time soon.
To Ms. López Contreras, a prominent member of this country’s small upper class, Mr. Zelaya was ousted because his blossoming leftist alliance with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela had become a threat to Honduran democracy.
She is a founding member of a coalition representing some of the most powerful business and political forces in the country. And she says the coalition members are willing to do, or spend, whatever it takes to keep their country afloat in the face of mounting economic pressure resulting from the rest of the world’s condemnation of the coup.
“Zelaya was suffocating all other powers of government,” Ms. López Contreras said. “Now that he’s gone we are breathing the air of freedom. This is a conquest we are not willing to surrender.”
To Ms. Castro, who lives a solidly working-class existence, Mr. Zelaya was ousted because people like Ms. López Contreras felt threatened by his efforts to lift up the poor — most notably with a 60 percent increase in the minimum wage to about $9.60 a day from about $6 a day. An estimated 60 percent of Hondurans live in poverty.
Last week, Mr. Zelaya’s supporters, led by an estimated 50,000 teachers, tried to put more pressure on the de facto government by keeping schools closed, staging days of demonstrations and blocking traffic along highways around the country’s two major cities.
“I don’t think I have ever seen a president like him,” Ms. Castro said of Mr. Zelaya. “Maybe he made mistakes, but he always erred on the side of the poor. That is why they will fight to the end for him.”
While political leaders on both sides have played to the most passionate emotions of their constituencies, everyday life has taken on a surreal tinge here. The de facto government contends that life in the country has returned to normal. But public schools remain closed, troops have been deployed to protect most government offices, clashes between the police and protesters erupt most days, and reports of attacks against the press and government opposition leaders have begun to increase.
Most of the news media, both in print and over the airwaves, offer a steady drumbeat of vague accusations of corruption, drug trafficking and insurrection against Mr. Zelaya and his cabinet.
On the other extreme, graffiti portrays the leader of the de facto government, Roberto Micheletti, as “Pinocheletti,” a reference to Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator. Human rights groups accuse the coup-installed government of using “death squad” strategies against its opponents. So far, however, only two people have been killed in the weeks of political strife since the coup; as many people died in unrelated clashes at a soccer game, underscoring the high level of violence in the country.
More than a month after Mr. Zelaya’s ouster, diplomatic efforts to end the political crisis are stalled in off-again-on-again talks that have been mediated by President Óscar Arias of Costa Rica. Political observers said that rather than negotiating in good faith, Mr. Micheletti was using those talks as a way to run out the clock until the presidential election scheduled for November.
The latest stalling tactic, they said, came two weeks ago when Mr. Micheletti asked Mr. Arias to send a new international envoy to meet with representatives from different sectors of Honduran civil society. In response to that request, the Organization of American States will send a delegation of foreign ministers to meet with the de facto government on Tuesday.
Those same political observers were critical of Mr. Zelaya, who they charge is playing with political fire, whipping up his supporters with incendiary political stunts along the border between Honduras and Nicaragua.
Click here to enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Times for 50% off. Past CoverageTHE SATURDAY PROFILE; A Cold War Ghost Reappears in Honduras (August 8, 2009)On TV, Honduran Generals Explain Their Role in Coup (August 5, 2009)De Facto Leader Is Said To Back Deal in Honduras (July 30, 2009)A President Kicked Out, But Not Alone In Defiance (July 28, 2009) Related Searches Honduras Get E-Mail Alerts Coups D'Etat and Attempted Coups D'Etat Get E-Mail Alerts Politics and Government Get E-Mail Alerts Next Article in World (5 of 18) » MOST POPULAR E-Mailed Blogged Searched Well: The Pain of Being a Redhead Bob Herbert: Women at Risk Happy Days: For the Time Being As Classrooms Go Digital, Textbooks Are History Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security Modern Love: Those Aren’t Fighting Words, Dear For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics Asperger’s Syndrome, on Screen and in Life The Two Faces of Ghana The Stay-Put Incentive Go to Complete List » The Town Hall Mob 247,000 Jobs Lost in July; Rate Dips to 9.4% Pakistani and U.S. Officials Seek to Confirm Death of Taliban Leader Beyond Beltway, Health Debate Turns Hostile Gillibrand Rival Reportedly Won't Run in Primary Sotomayor Sworn In as Supreme Court Justice Obama Reverses Stand on Drug Industry Deal Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. security Women at Risk Journalists Entered N. Korea, Sister Says Go to Complete List » modern love august 2, 2009 health care krugman john hughes china obama michael jackson iran india Go to Complete List » new Accordian("mostPopWidget"); var movieWidth = 336; var movieHeight = 280; var altSrc = "http://graphics7.nytimes.com/adx/images/ADS/20/67/ad.206736/090975TR_Quotes_Banner_336x280.gif"; var swfFile = "http://graphics7.nytimes.com/adx/images/ADS/20/67/ad.206736/090975TR_Quotes_Banner_336x280.swf"; var altClickThru = "http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/world/americas&pos=Box1&sn2=77b68c03/f65ba073&sn1=4806fe24/c1caf0d2&camp=NYT2009_marketingmodule_TimesReader&ad=072209-tr-module&goto=https%3A%2F%2Ftimesreader%2Enytimes%2Ecom%2Fwebapp%2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FTimesReader%3FstoreId%3D10001%26catalogId%3D10001%26campaignId%3D34U7Y"; var swfSrc = swfFile + "?clicktag=" + escape(altClickThru); Advertisements Advertise on NYTimes.com Inside NYTimes.com Music » Woodstock: A Moment of Muddy Grace N.Y. / Region » Preparing the Ponies for a Day at Saratoga Opinion » On the Ground: Suspect Building
Nicholas Kristof wants to know more about an unusual building in a remote part of Burma.
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Readers would like to see direct-to-consumer drug advertising reined in or banned altogether.
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Readers would like to see direct-to-consumer drug advertising reined in or banned altogether.
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