IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN UTOPIA
What Honduras Coup? It's 'Viva La Revolution!' Where I'm Vacationing
GREETINGS FROM HONDURAS, hot spot of the earth!
I flew to San Pedro Sula last Monday from Chicago, and boy are my arms tired! Okay, enough lame jokes, nyuk nyuk.
I traveled to Honduras -- with my mom, bro, and friend -- at a pretty turbulent time for me, personally. I was expecting a bit of peace, some scuba diving, and ample time to geek out with Joan Didion and Elizabeth Smart. Little did I know, there would be a coup. A fuckin' coup!
Though I was on the mainland (in cities such as San Pedro Sula, Copan, La Ceiba, and Sambo Creek) from last Monday to Friday, I came to Utila, a small island off the northern coast, on Saturday morning, June 27. When former president Manuel Zelaya was ousted on Sunday morning, I was safe and snug at the Mango Inn, preparing for my first underwater experience (SCUBA certifications in Utila are cheap, cheap, cheap).
The stunning island of Utila remained wholly unaffected until Monday evening. Around 8:45 that evening, I was sitting at the restaurant at the hotel, savoring my cold Salva Vida and listening to falling mangoes crashing against the tin roof above my head.
My friend Nuno from Portugal came and sat next to me, explaining that martial law had been instated and there was a 9pm curfew. He was in the middle of a dinner when the restaurant manager came to the table and told him he had to go back to his hotel. The martial law will continue through tonight (Thursday), though it has been extended to 10pm.
At a bar last night, the bartender came over the loudspeaker at 9:30, announcing that the bar would be closing early, due to martial law. "We’ll still be serving beer and rum, however, until the cops come to shut us down," he explained, then added a sarcastic, "Viva la revolution!"
The most interesting part about the experience is the general sentiment of the locals. Many people I've spoken to (and I have spoken to a hefty handful), wanted that "joker" out of office.
Here's the scoop: in Honduras, a president can only have one term. Zelaya had proposed that Hondurans allow him to run again in November, though his time was supposed to be up. All of the locals find this "shady" and "suspicious," believe that the political process in Honduras is "corrupt" and say they don't trust it.
"He promised to do all of these things for the poor," Perry, 22, from Roatan, told me. "Of course, none of it has happened, and he’s great friends with Castro and [Venezuelan leader Hugo] Chavez. It makes me nervous that he is really a Communist, and I don't want him to try to solve the problems of the poor with Communist methods. And then if he continues to seek reelection, what, is he going to become a dictator?"
According to the July 1 issue of the New York Times, The Organization of American States condemns the coup and gave Honduras 72 hours to reinstate Zelaya before it suspends Honduras from the group. Obama has also described the coup as "not legal," and pushes for the reinstatement of Zelaya.
I’m not saying to take it from me. I've spoken to many people, but I am not in Tegucigalpa witnessing all the "action." My action has consisted of coral reefs, Honduran cerveza, and hammocks.
The moral of the story? Don't believe all that you read. Sure, I'm a Obama-lovah, but what the people of Honduras want, they are entitled to have. If that means no mas Zelaya, then Viva la revolution!!
Sophia Ulmer is a creative writing major at Columbia College in Chicago. When she's not writing for CrabbyGolightly, she's stirring things up at her cooking blog, feckinfranchtoast.blogspot.com
