So far from God, so close to the Estados Unidas

Mary O'Grady of the Wall Street Journal interviews Honduran Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga and reports a somewhat different view than that of the American Left:

Even though the church backed the decision by Congress to depose Mr. Zelaya, the cardinal insists that from the start it has tried to promote peace. "In our communiqué immediately following the event," he explains, "we were saying this was a constitutional removal of the president, and that we have to learn from the mistakes, and we were calling for the reconciliation of the country. That's all that we did, but that very same day we were blamed as golpistas, golpistas."


Mr. Zelaya's supporters have put pressure on the church, but despite "constant death threats" the cardinal says he has received, he has not changed his position. In October, he says, all 11 members of the bishops' conference "made another statement calling for nonviolence and reconciliation."

Cardinal Rodríguez also feels strongly that Mr. Zelaya should not return to power. "I believe that a person who has been acting as he did no longer has the moral authority to be the president of the nation," he tells me.

Cardinal Rodríguez is a respected national figure and his words carry weight. Yet he emphasizes that the church has not become involved in the political process surrounding Mr. Zelaya's fate, and for good reason. "There are many people who are zelayistas in good faith because he was promising a lot of things to the poor. I have to be a bridge of unity for all."

That hasn't been so easy, because the cardinal also has a responsibility to care for his flock. And he believes that allowing the president to trample the constitution would be bad for the nation.

And:

Cardinal Rodríguez sees the rule of law as an important link to development. "The key is to assure justice," he says, "because if you don't have legal security, you are not going to invest. Investment is very important. With investments there are more jobs for our people."


Speaking of investors, the cardinal says, "of course they are not all saints," and human rights must be protected. "But what should we do without those jobs?" he asks. Then he adds, "Maquilas [assembly plants] are especially important for women, because their jobs have been a source of dignity. When they earn their own money they are no longer slaves to the macho man in their lives, who often is not even their husband."

It is interesting that the Cardinal should see the importance of investment and economic development as a source of relief for the poor when so many politicians don't.