The Wages of Chavismo

It's no accident that Mr. Chávez is now leading the charge to have Mr. Zelaya reinstated, and on Monday the Honduran traveled to a leftwing summit in Managua in one of Mr. Chávez's planes.
The U.N. and Organization of American States are also threatening the tiny nation with ostracism and other punishment if it doesn't readmit him. Meanwhile, the new Honduran government is saying it will arrest Mr. Zelaya if he returns.
This may be the best legal outcome, but it also runs the risk of destabilizing the country.
We recall when the Clinton Administration restored Bertrand Aristide to Haiti, only to have the country descend into anarchy.
As for the Obama Administration, it seems eager to 'meddle' in Honduras in a way Mr. Obama claimed was counterproductive in Iran.
Yet the stolen election in Iran was a far clearer subversion of democracy than the coup in Honduras.
As a candidate, Mr. Obama often scored George W. Bush's foreign policy by saying democracy requires more than an election -- a free press, for example, civil society and the rule of law rather than rule by the mob.
It's a point worth recalling before Mr. Obama hands a political victory to the forces of chavismo in Latin America.

The Wall Street Journal

Bueno, el Presidente Obama, cuando se calla ante Irán, o cuando critica a Israel, o cuando ataca la libertad de Honduras, se consolida como líder indiscutido del lado equivocado de la historia.
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