Pepe Lobo, new president of Honduras

There’s a new president in Honduras. His name: Porfirio Lobo Sosa, better known as Pepe Lobo.

After the ordeal of the political crisis, resulting from an alleged coup d’etat, Pepe Lobo will not be called “de facto president” (Will he?). Contrary to what enemies of Honduras bet, elections were held, and the transfer of command took place, although Manuel Zelaya was never restored, and never will be. Honduras is the little country that could, to the dismay of international leftism.

There are already countries that have recognized president Porfirio Lobo as legitimate; unlike Micheletti, who although was legitimate under the law of Honduras, was not recognized due to a campaign mounted by Hugo Chavez, and the understandable fears of the presidents of the world .

We have a new president, and nobody can claim he was not elected in free elections, the cleanest and most voted elections of Honduran history. The Honduran people want to live in peace and get out of that climate of tension and confrontation that has been forced upon Honduras for seven months. Now is the time to start again.

We are grateful for the courage of Roberto Micheletti, who along with his team were put to very strong international pressure, giving an example of dignity and patriotism that will leave its mark.

This new breath of patriotism makes us aspire to better things, to require politicians to comply with the law, to be more transparent and democratic, to avoid the ways of old politics. Now the people want to have more dialogue and less authoritarianism, they want things done by consensus and not by imposition of a sector.

But unfortunately, we see politians who have not learn the lessons of the “coup”. They continue their same old practices.

Manuel Zelaya was overthrown by flagrantly violating the Constitution and laws. The damage that Zelaya made to the country is immense. And this was not only a political issue, the state treasure was looted; and now a majority of Nacionalista legislators have decided to give amnesty to the offender, for the sake of a supposed national reconciliation. Now, those of us who ask for law enforcement, who say no to forgiving and forgetting this criminal, are branded as extremists. Forgiving those who have betrayed the homeland is to strengthen those who have hurt us.

There can be no reconciliation by decree. Do not give forgiveness when the offender does not admit any wrongdoing, because it only serves to strengthen him. It is not fair, that while there are people in prison for minor crimes, Zelaya, who plundered the public treasure, is considered a “guest of honor” in other countries.

The National Party continues with the same old policy of doing things without consulting the people. After so much talk about the need for reconciliation, in the first working day in Congress they used their mechanical majority of deputies, their blue bulldozer, to impose their views.

And Pepe Lobo, who spoke of dialogue so much, made beginner mistakes in his negotiation with President Leonel Fernández in Dominican Republic. He gave everything in exchange for nothing. And apparently, no one could advise him, or he did not want to get advice. The worst thing is his commitment to do something of dubious legality, which can bring him problems since day one. In his quest to earn points with the “international community” he misses the mark with the national community, which is demanding a better conduct from politicians.

When Zelaya tried to leave the Brazilian Embassy to Mexico, Micheletti government rightly refused to grant him a safe conduct, because the conditions required by international law and Honduran law were not met. But, surprise, Pepe Lobo appeared with a signed agreement to provide a safe passage to Zelaya and his “intimate circle” without requiring compliance with any requirement.

We must recognize that if it were not for the heroic action of expelling Zelaya and the international pressure beared, no elections would have been held in Honduras. The plan of Zelaya to hold on to power was very clear. So we must be grateful to Roberto Micheletti. But Pepe Lobo did not have the decency to even mention him in his inaugural speech. But this is understandable, given the aversion felt by many rulers against Micheletti, it’s easy to understand that Pepe Lobo didn’t want to be associated with him.

However, he shouldn’t have gone so far as to thank the enemies of Honduras in his inaugural speech. He only failed to give thanks to Hugo Chavez.

Pepe Lobo is giving away the government in the hands of the enemies of Honduras. Cesar Ham’s appointment as minister of INA and Alejandro Ventura in Education is a blunder. Cesar Ham said he will administer INA according to the guidelines given by his own party, UD Party, rather than committing to follow the policy of Pepe Lobo. And to put Alejandro Ventura, a union leader, to lead the Department of Education is like putting the fox to guard the henhouse.

Once I thought that Pepe Lobo was a very skillful politician who made use of political Machiavellianism, but now I see I was wrong. Pepe Lobo does not have a master plan or grand strategy. Pepe is papo.

I hope I’m wrong, for the good of Honduras, but things are looking bad from day one.

1 thought on “Pepe Lobo, new president of Honduras

  1. La Gringa

    Thanks for your views. I added a link to this article in my latest article.

    I like the way you think.

    Viva Honduras!

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