Nicaragua, Honduras and hypocrisy
LAST YEAR, leftist Honduran President Manuel Zelaya sought to stage an  illegal referendum as part of a bid to overturn a constitutional ban on  his reelection. The country's supreme court ordered his arrest by the  army, which then overstepped legal bounds by deporting him. Led by its  leftists, the Organization of American States  rushed to denounce the "coup" and expel Honduras. Despite subsequently  holding a presidential election recognized as constitutional, free and  fair, the country has not been readmitted to the regional forum.   OAS members signed a special charter nine years ago committing  themselves to defend democracy; in Honduras's case, they have been -- to  say the least -- hyper-vigilant. But what of neighboring Nicaragua?  There, President Daniel Ortega, who, like Mr. Zelaya is a leftist  populist, has used blatantly illegal decrees, the manipulation of court  rulings and mob violence by his supporters to clear the way for his  reelection, even though it is explicitly prohibited by the constitution.   The reaction of the OAS? Utter silence. OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza rushed to validate a dubious claim by leftist Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa that a dust-up he had with protesting police on Sept. 30 amounted to a coup attempt.  But Mr. Insulza had nothing to say about a ruling the same week by a  self-styled supreme court, composed entirely of members of Mr. Ortega's  Sandinista movement, that ordered the electoral authority to accept him  as a candidate.   Mr. Ortega's assault on Nicaragua's constitution makes both Mr. Zelaya  and the Honduran army look timid. The former Marxist dictator lost four  consecutive elections beginning in 1990 and has never received more than  38 percent of the vote. But he engineered a constitutional change that  allowed his election by a plurality in 2006. When the Congress refused  to overturn a ban on his reelection, he turned to the court, which  issued an obviously political ruling last year.   This year the terms of two justices expired, raising the possibility  that the ruling would not hold up. Mr. Ortega issued a decree extending  their terms. When it was pointed out that this was unconstitutional --  Congress must approve the appointment of judges -- the regime reprinted  the constitution during a summer recess and inserted a provision  allowing the judges to remain in place. The expired judges, meanwhile,  named seven other Sandinistas to places on their "court," since the  remaining judges refused to recognize them. It was that body that  decreed that Mr. Ortega cannot be denied a place on the 2011  presidential ballot.   The Obama administration has condemned these manipulations. But what of  the champions of democracy in Honduras, such as Brazil's Luiz Inácio  Lula da Silva, or Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina? No  comment. Which raises the question: Was it really democracy that they  were defending in Honduras?(The Washington Post)