Old Fashioned Military Coup?

I originally wrote this one to clear up confusion from the first one and to expand on some issues brought up by a precious email.

God bless you all for your prayers and concern for this country. Latin America does indeed have a rich (and often violent and abused) history. To understand the present, it is so crucial to understand the past. In much of Latin America there has been political strife over the years. In the 70s and 80s there were a series of political coups (this one included). In the last email I made a side reference to Rios Montt. He was an evil, evil military coup leader in Guatemala. It makes sense to not want to see these types of things happen again. We do not want more military coups. However, this is not what happened in Honduras a few weeks ago. It is important that we are clear on this. What took place on June 28th here in Honduras was not a military coup. It was indeed a coup d'etat because there was no court trial and it was done rather quickly and quietly. But this was a governmental dispute. One branch of the government acted illegally, so the other two branches arrested and exiled him. Also, the coup had been in discussion on the floor of congress on national television three days before it happened. The coup came as no surprise to President Zelaya (except of course for the normal surprise that would come to being woken up at gun point and directed toward and airplane). But this coup was not military ran. That is one of the major differences between what happened two weeks ago and what happened in Guatemala and other Latin American countries in the 80s. The army was simply following congressional orders. Now their only continued roll is providing protection for the new government. The way they handled this was completely wrong. I think they were greedy and power hungry and that affected their judgment. However, the issue at hand is that there is still a lack in a constitutional way to impeach a president here and I believe in much of Latin America. It is important to speak out in the wrongs of forcefully exiling the president (even if you are the other two thirds of the government). However, it is equally important we understand all sides to the issue.
Some have said that whether or not Mel Zelaya is a good or bad person is not the issue here. We should instead emphasize that we have no place for coups anymore and that this must be stopped. I disagree. I think that whethere or not Zelaya acted illegally is a rather important issue. Mostly because most of the Hondurans I talk to think that it is one of the most essential issues. At its heart and at the beginning of this conflict, that has always been the focus.
Honduras is being seen through the eyes of history. It is important to remember that in this "crisis," there has only been one death (which is indeed one too many). Hondurans are traditionally very peaceful people. Before this coup, I used to joke about how the only times I ever saw the Honduran army was when they were directing traffic (they are much more efficient than the police!). The reason people are up in arms is because of what has happened in Latin America and other countries in the past. What Congress is doing with the help of the military reminds too many of our friend Pastor Efrain, military juntas, the CIA's secret evils, and banana companies. To many of the Hondurans, what Mel Zelaya was doing reminded people of the steps that Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez took, or other former "Presidents for Life" such as Dr. Hastings Banda or Robert Mugabe (though Mel lacks the political charisma of such stars). History is a scary thing. However what we have right now is not a battle between Efrain Rios Montt and Robert Mugabe. It is a battle between two selfish, corrupt politicians who are incredibly out of touch with their people. What the future holds we do not know, because, well, it's the future.
Too many errors have been made in history because missionaries, activists, and politicians have assumed they knew what was best for a people without ever asking them what they want. It is indeed important to know whether or not Manuel Zelaya or Roberto Micheletti are corrupt (they are) or which side the people are backing (they are split--though with a majority at least in the two major cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula against Zelaya but not necessarily for the new government). It is important that we seek understanding before taking sides. I argue that it is important that we do not take any sides but the side of Justice (and she's an Independant). As Christians we must learn to speak up for what is right without taking a political side. It is important to know that Mel Zelaya was spending millions of Lempiras (1 mil Lempiras = about $53,000 USD) on the referendum while ignoring those affected by Swine Flu. It is important to know that Micheletti sent soldiers onto the runway to keep Mr. Zelaya from landing on Sunday and when protesters tried to storm the airport the soldiers shot into the air (officially) and killed one young man. It is important to know that the news agencies here are only propoganda for one side or the other. It is important to realize that while the West has chosen to make Honduras a discussion topic for their own political agendas, the sanctions that they put on Honduras will devastate the poor and leave those in government as they were with their glasses of wine and carne asada--that the only thing political that they might accomplish is causing an upheaval that might force humility on the leaders but only after bloodshed. Even peaceful people become desperate with hungry stomachs. As Christians we must focus our energy on prayers, mediation between the extreme sides when we are able, preaching peace to all sides, and getting ready for practical assistence should (God forbid) the situation escalate. I am impressed with President Arias in Costa Rica (the first country without an army) as he tries to negotiate peace talks between two very prideful men. Pray that good would come of this and that these men would learn humility.
Again, thank you so much for your prayers and concern for the people of Honduras. If there are more practical things that can be done I will try to let you know. I thank God for all of you.