Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) may believe health care reform will be President Obama’s Waterloo. But the coup in Honduras may become DeMint’s Little Bighorn.
DeMint announced earlier this week that he planned to visit the Central American nation to offer support to the illegitimate government of Roberto Micheletti, who was installed into power after the military overthrew President Manuel Zelaya on orders of the Honduran Supreme Court.
But the Obama administration, which has been unsupportive of the coup, and has begun to revoke the visas of the coup’s wealthy supporters, ain’t havin’ none of that. Last night, the White House, with an assist from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry deep-sixed DeMint’s plans.
“These bullying tactics by the Obama administration and Senator Kerry must stop, and we must be allowed to get to the truth in Honduras,” DeMint said. “Not a single U.S. Senator has traveled to Honduras to learn the facts on the ground. And the Obama administration won’t allow Honduran officials or even businessmen to come to the U.S., either. While this administration has failed to act decisively in Afghanistan, it is has no problem cracking down on a democratic ally and one of the poorest nations in Latin America.”
As Steve Clemons notes, this isn’t just a matter of a senator wanting to spend some time learning about a small, but important, country. It’s potentially a very serious issue. More to come.
Late updated: Last night, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell apparently intervened on DeMint’s behalf, and the South Carolina conservative will be traveling to Honduras today. Interesting…
