Where's a coup when you need it?

In Honduras, the governing National Party seeks to run Juan Orlando Hernandez as its presidential candidate in the 2017 elections. They've sure come a long way since 2009 when officials from the Supreme Court, military, congress, and the private sector colluded to arrest President Manuel Zelaya and send him into (temporary) exile for asking the people to vote on whether they wanted to consider (not even approve) presidential re-election. In April 2015, the questionably-packed Supreme Court then struck down a law that banned presidents from serving a second term. And here we are.

At best, the United States failed to reverse the coup that removed Zelaya from power. I'm not sure how relevant that is going to be to the presidential campaign in the United States this year but that failure was one rather significant blemish on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration's Latin America record.

The United States didn't support but ultimately accepted Daniel Ortega's questionable re-election in neighboring Nicaragua. I get the impression that it will do the same in Honduras if the Democrats win the presidency. Latin America is generally left to sink or swim on its own. If the Republicans are elected in November, there won't even be a question about the legality of Hernandez' candidacy.