This paper examines the Honduran Coup of 2009 as a case study of the application of the Organization of American States Inter-American Democratic Charter. The Charter, unanimously approved by the Organization in September 2001, consolidated and built upon earlier OAS efforts to support and defend democracy in the hemisphere. The study highlights the steps taken by the OAS and its member states and examines the difficulties multilateral organizations have in trying to effect democratic changes inside of a state. While the OAS took the severest actions permitted by the accord, the coup was not reversed. The sanctions remained in place nearly two years afterwards.
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Americans are so committed to elections and democracy as the only legitimate path to political power that it is sometimes hard to conceive of politics by other means. Moreover US policy-makers tend to believe that elections occupy a higher realm of moral authority, and hope that, with democracy-assistance programs, Latin America and other developing areas will "move beyond" revolutions, coup d'états, general strikes, and other non-electoral routes to power. But as the Silvert quote below indicates, non-electoral paths may still be pursued especially in crisis circumstances; furthermore, these extra-electoral means may enjoy both legitimacy and constitutional mandate. In this article we test these propositions as they apply in Latin America.
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Latin America continues to be a breeding ground for violent groups, as exemplified by the rise of drug cartels in Mexico and narcoterrorist organizations such as the Colombian FARC and the Peruvian Shining Path. A question that has not yet been properly addressed, however, is whether there is the possibility that ideologically oriented violent groups, like the Paraguayan EPP or the Mexican EPR, will rise again. This article provides a general review of the security situation in the region, focusing on violent armed groups and discussing to what extent they may have a political ideology.
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