WOLA in the News
Washington, DC
July 1, 2009
Articles written by WOLA's Executive Director Joy Olson and Director of Programs Geoff Thale were published today in two prominent online news sources, both dealing with the recent coup in Honduras.
Geoff Thale wrote "Behind the Honduran Coup" for Foreign Policy In Focus. In this article, Thale outlines important historical and contextual information to better understand the current crisis.
"Institutional weakness and provocative action by Zelaya led to the crisis and the coup. But beneath it all is the basic fact that the Honduran economy and political system has left sizable sectors of the population feeling excluded and ignored…once restored, Zelaya will confront a deep set of institutional and political problems. His relationship with the military, the political parties, the Congress, and the Supreme Court is tainted, and may be irreparable. But even if those problems can be addressed, steps must be taken to address the political marginalization and economic exclusion that characterize Honduras, and that underlie this crisis," wrote Thale.
Click here to read more.
Also printed today was a blog post by Joy Olson on the Anderson Cooper 360 blog. Olson explains the importance of working multi-laterally to resolve the conflict in Honduras and exhorts the US and other member countries to continue working through the OAS.
"Many feel that the Constitution, written when civilians wrestled control of the government from the military in the mid 1980s, did not live up to expectations. In fact, many Hondurans who did not necessarily support Zelaya were in support of Constitutional reform. Any sustainable resolution to the current coup will need to deal with these long-term problems, and international support will be key," said Joy Olson.
Click here to read more.
