Coup defused: Democracy reigns, maybe, in Honduras

The presidential crisis in Honduras has come to an end in a way that appears to restore sound democratic practice.

In the Central American state of Honduras in June the military grabbed the president, Manuel Zelaya, bundled him onto a plane and sent him off to Costa Rica. In his place it installed the then speaker of the parliament, Roberto Micheletti. The story was that Mr. Zelaya was trying to modify the constitution by fair or foul means to get himself a second term as president, although the constitutional limit was set at one term. That story was given as the justification for the military coup, a bad old ghost from the Latin American past.

The rest of Latin America, and the United States to a degree, hit the roof, refusing to accept the Micheletti regime. Mr. Zelaya eventually sneaked back into Honduras and took up residence in the Brazilian Embassy while Latin American, U.S. and other negotiators tried to work out an agreement that would put Honduras back in the realm of countries with legitimate governments.

The U.S. role in the maneuvering was complicated by the fact that the Micheletti group hired lobbyists who were active in Washington. Another angle for the United States was the fact that the Pentagon had a point of view that was influenced by, first, a previous close relationship with the Honduran military and, second, by U.S. use of a base in Honduras. The United States considered the base important in spite of the recent agreement with neighboring Colombia for the use of seven bases there by American forces.

Last Thursday Mr. Micheletti agreed to let Mr. Zelaya reassume office until presidential elections, scheduled for Nov. 29, take place. Both agreed that neither would be a candidate. The agreement remains to be put into effect, pending the Honduran legislature's approval.

The elections will still have to take place, free of military interference, but it appears that the matter has come to a satisfactory close. Honduras will have a democratically elected president and its neighbors won't have to live with the bad precedent of a successful military coup, hearkening back to bad old days in that part of the world.