The Obama administration appears to have adopted a more pragmatic approach to the overthrow of the government in Honduras, and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., played a key role bringing that about.

Immediately after the military coup on June 28, which removed President Mel Zelaya from office, the United States called for Zelaya's immediate reinstatement.

"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the democratically elected president there," Obama said the day after Zelaya's ouster.

His reluctance to back the coup was understandable. The United States has a long history of supporting military dictatorships and strong-arm leaders in Latin America while helping them — both overtly and covertly — to quell popular uprisings.

Often, these relationships have been ones of expediency for the United States. But with the evolution of more democratic governments throughout the region, the United States has had to adjust.

Unfortunately, not all democratically elected governments in Latin America have been friendly to the United States. Honduran President Zelaya had aligned himself with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of the United States and a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro.

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