The forgotten man in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa

This should be a novel, although even the great GG Marguez might find too much surrealism for a novel. It's worth noting as we move briskly forward into 2010 - the 12th already? - that Manuel Zelaya, ousted president of Honduras, still sits behind the protective walls of the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, little more than a niggling problem for president-elect Porfiro Lobo. As the Canadian Press reported from Honduras this week, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case against military leaders for removing Zelaya last June. However, as the report notes about the Honduran court:

"The prosecutor's case doesn't question Zelaya's ouster itself, only whether the military went too far in flying the ousted leader to Costa Rica after he was arrested by armed soliders in a dispute over a constitutional referendum."

So much for the brave new world of Latin America where coups don't happen like they did in the bad old days.

Are we surprised? Of course not. Still, it merits a sad update before Decoder plunges into the new and exciting year of 2010. This is my official, if tardy, return.

Happy New Year!