Analysis: Obama's Swift Stand on Honduran Coup

A supporter of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya throws back a canister of tear gas back at ...

A supporter of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya throws back a canister of tear gas back at soldiers after violence broke out near the presidential residency in Tegucigalpa, Monday, June 29, 2009. Police and army clashed with thousands of Hondurans outside the occupied presidential residency as world leaders appealed to Honduras to reverse a coup that ousted the president, Manuel Zelaya.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

(AP)

Dealing with the first Latin American crisis of his presidency, Barack Obama sought a swift, clear response that would not be interpreted as U.S. interventionism in a region that loathes it.

So he condemned a coup in Honduras by turning to that most reliable standby: democracy.

"We stand on the side of democracy, sovereignty and self-determination," Obama said when asked Monday about the forced exile of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, a takeover that has drawn international criticism and unnerved a part of the world that has worked to shed itself of strong-arm tactics.

The point could not be lost. Obama mentioned some version of the word democracy eight times. He even wound up referring to George Washington.

The response put Obama with much of the world as Honduras and its newly appointed leader, Roberto Micheletti, quickly found themselves isolated. Obama left sticky underlying issues in Honduras for its people to decide, but pledged that the U.S. would work with international bodies on a peaceful solution.

All that was clear. What comes next is cloudy.

Micheletti and the Congress that put him in place stood by their move after soldiers stormed the national palace and forced Zelaya into exile. Police and soldiers clashed with pro-Zelaya protesters in the capital on Monday, and about 5,000 anti-Zelaya demonstrators gathered at a main plaza in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday to celebrate his ouster.

The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday unanimously condemned the military coup and demanded Zelaya's immediate return to power. Zelaya, who was in the assembly chamber for the vote, thanked the diplomats, calling the vote "historic."

Obama, wielding clout within the Americas as a popular voice of a powerful country, has outlined his approach. He will work within existing groups, particularly the Organization of American States that links the countries of the Western Hemisphere, and not try to dictate a solo U.S. response.