The Constitution Saves the Republic

Not here but in Honduras. The presidentof Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, attempted to get around the constitutionally imposed term limit by staging a phony unconstitutional election to get himself made dictator for life. It didn't work. Hard experience had taught the far-sighted people of Honduras that crafty would-be dictators would try this sort of thing so it was specifically outlawed in their constitution. The high court judges said the president was breaking the law. The members of their legislature agreed. Therefore, the president of the legislature, the next in line under the constitution, became the new president. Although preventing a Latin American dictatorship seems to most observers to be a great achievement for rule of law, there were some dissenters. The governments of Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the United States objected to the outster of the want-to-be dictator.

In a similar vein, elections in Panama and Argentina recently resulted in defeats for communists and other progressives. The winners in those elections favor democratic and free scocieties and economies.