This is cross-posted from the Latin America Working Group's blog, theLAWG Blog. It was written by Lisa Haugaard.
As National Party leader Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo is inaugurated president of Honduras, we can’t just pretend the June 28th coup and its bitter aftermath never occurred.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights just released a devastating 147-page catalogue of the violations of human rights and civil liberties that have occurred since the coup in Honduras.
The Commission writes, “Along with the loss of institutional legitimacy brought about by the coup d’état, during its visit the Commission confirmed that serious human rights violations had been committed, including killings, an arbitrary declaration of a state of emergency, disproportionate use of force against public demonstrations, criminalization of public protest, arbitrary detention of thousands of persons, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, poor detention conditions, militarization of Honduran territory, an increase in incidents of racial discrimination, violations of women’s rights, severe and arbitrary restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, and serious violations of political rights. The Commission also established that judicial remedies were ineffective in protecting human rights.”
As the new government takes office, we should look back at these extensive series of abuses to get a feel for the ground that must be covered by the new administration in restoring human rights and civil liberties and repairing and improving the institutions of democracy, including judicial agencies and law enforcement, that so notably failed in their mission to protect the citizens’ rights. Joe Eldridge and Vicki Gass spell out in the Huffington Post some of the steps that are needed to rebuild democracy in Honduras.
And the U.S. government, which condemned the coup but failed in the end to strongly defend democracy and human rights, has an absolute obligation to press the new government to fully restore the democratic rights that have been so severely eroded. This includes restoring human rights protections and civil liberties, establishing a truth commission, investigating and prosecuting the abuses that occurred, and launching a meaningful national dialogue involving broad sectors of Honduran society.
The elections in Honduras are over and the National Party's Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo was victorious, securing over 55% of the vote. However, several questions remain after the culmination of the country's widely disputed elections. Not only is the Western Hemisphere split on whether to recognize the elections, but the official voter turnout numbers are also in question, with numbers from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) reaching over 60% and the nongovernmental observer group, Hagamos Democracia, tallying voter turnout closer to 47%.
As Daniel Altschuler points out on the Americas Quarterly blog, this discrepancy "raises questions about the electoral tribunal's announcement. In particular, there is concern about the TSE's incentive to inflate voter turnout rates to raise the perceived legitimacy of the elections." RNS, on the Honduras Coup 2009 blog, noted this morning that the TSE turnout numbers are dropping as more votes are counted. This suggests that while turnout in the municipalities surrounding Tegucigalpa was high, the rest of the country did not turn out to vote in such high numbers.
Despite the region's lack of consensus on the legitimacy of Sunday's elections in Honduras, leaders meeting in Portugal at the 2009 Iberoamerican Summit released a joint statement condemning the coup d'etat in Honduras and calling for the reinstatement of Manuel Zelaya to carry out his constitutional term as president. The Honduran Congress is set to convene tomorrow to vote on Zelaya's return, and it appears that the region's leaders, whether they recognize the elections or not, find this to be the next step in returning democratic order to Honduras.
The statement (download PDF) released by the presidency of the Iberoamerican Summit reads:
The Iberoamerican heads of state condemn the coup d'etat in Honduras and consider the grave human rights and basic freedom violations unacceptable. In this context, they consider that the restitution of President Jose Manuel Zelaya to complete the term to which he was democratically elected ... is a fundamental step toward the return of constitutional normalcy.
...
The Iberoamerican heads of state will continue to actively contribute to the search for a solution that allows for a widespread national dialogue in Honduras and the return of a democratic regime to the Honduran people.
The Iberoamerican heads of state declare their firm commitment to the democratic principles of all of the Ibero-American countries to prevent any attempts to destabilize legitimately elected governments.
The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Arturo Valenzuela, also noted during a briefing yesterday that the election in Honduras was "only a step" toward the return of democratic order. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela said that the remaining steps included those found in the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord: the formation of a government of national unity, a congressional vote on the return of President Zelaya to office, and the formation and structuring of a truth commission (this step was included in the original San José Accords).
"[L]et me stress the most important point, and that is that while the election is a significant step in Honduras's return to the democratic and constitutional order after the 28 June coup, it's just that; it's only a step. It's – and it's not the last step. Given the gravity of the coup d'état and the polarization that Honduras has undergone, both before and after the coup d'état, it's extremely important that Honduran leadership moving forward in the next few months attempt to follow the overall broad frameworks of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord.
And by that, I mean that - what are the additional steps that need to be taken? A government of national unity needs to be formed. The congress has to take a vote on the return of President Zelaya to office. And another element of the San Jose Accords that I think would be very, very important as Honduras moves forward to try to reestablish the democratic and constitutional order is the formation and the structuring of a truth commission, which was also contemplated in the original Tegucigalpa framework and San Jose Accords."
In the 2005 presidential elections, 46 percent of eligible Hondurans turned out to vote. Honduras' Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) has projected that more than 60 percent voted this time. The Honduras Coup 2009 blog reports that the pollster the TSE hired to make statistical projections and perform exit polling estimates a turnout of 47.6 percent. The pro-Zelaya "Resistance Front" is estimating turnout of 35-40 percent. Meanwhile, of ballots that were cast, 6 percent were blank or invalid.
Having said that, let me stress the most important point, and that is that, while the election is a significant step in Honduras' return to a democratic and constitutional order after the 28th June coup, it's just that. It's only a step, and it's not the last step....
A government of national unity needs to be formed. The congress has to take a vote on the return of President Zelaya to office.
And another element of the San Jose Accord that I think would be very, very important as Honduras moves forward to try to reestablish the democratic and constitutional order is the formation and the structuring of a truth commission, which was also contemplated in the original Tegucigalpa framework and San Jose Accord.
And the truth commission would be a body that would look into the incidents and the situation that led to the coup, but at the same time, as the accord says, ... it also will provide the elementos, as it says in the accord, the elements to help the Hondurans make the necessary reforms to their constitutional process and to bring about a fuller reconciliation of the Honduran people. ...
The issue is not who is going to be the next president. The Honduran people decided that. The issue is whether the legitimate president of Honduras, who was overthrown in a coup d’état, will be returned to office by the congress on December 2nd, as per the San Jose-Tegucigalpa Accord.
On the way, many things have changed. Today, we are a nation whose sovereignty has been proved, with no fear of defending its sovereignty against even the largest [powers], and with the faith that if we act according to the law, we can achieve everything. Beyond paper and speeches, today our Honduras has gone out to confirm to the world that it is a dignified, free country, with no impositions and very proud of itself.
We will keep rejecting any dialogue with the coup leaders. ... We've had it up to here with dialogues. Why should we go on with so much dialogue if, with these dialogues, we have lost five months and we haven't resolved absolutely anything.
The Honduran Congress is to vote Wednesday on whether to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya to head a "national unity government" until January 27, when Porfirio Lobo, the winner of yesterday's vote, would take office.
Elections in Honduras will be held in 11 days, and very little progress has been made on advancing the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord. The Accord was signed by ousted President Manuel Zelaya and de facto President Roberto Micheletti on October 29th and declared "dead" by Zelaya on November 5th.
Since the apparent crumbling of the Accord, very little has advanced, despite the United States' attempts to keep the process moving by sending deputy assistant secretary of state Craig Kelly to Honduras twice to meet with both Zelaya and Micheletti. Zelaya has dug in his heels, calling for a boycott of the November 29th elections by his supporters and sending President Obama a letter stating that he will not accept any deal to restore him to office that legitimizes the coup.
Yesterday, the Honduran Congress announced that it will not convene to vote on Zelaya's restitution, a step required by the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord, until December 2nd - 3 days after the presidential elections are to be held.
Here are more details about the most recent events in Honduras' political crisis:
For two days, from November 10 - 11, deputy assistant secretary of state Craig Kelly traveled to Honduras to meet with both ousted President Manuel Zelaya and de facto President Roberto Micheletti in an attempt to get both sides to abide by the terms of the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord. He left the next day without any apparent advancement in the Accord, but appeared positive, telling the press "There is still a lot of work to be done along the way ... but I believe it is important for both sides to keep talking."
According to the State Department's twitter feed, @dipnote, deputy assistant secretary Kelly returned to Honduras yesterday to continue to advance dialogue between the two parties and attempt to move the Accord forward.
Much criticism has emerged against the United States' role in the collapse of the accord it helped negotiate. Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), said, through his spokesman, that the "State Department's 'abrupt change' of policy toward Honduras 'caused the collapse of an accord it helped negotiate.'"
One group, the Alliance for Global Justice, sent out an urgent action alert earlier this week, calling for people to call their senators and tell them to vote 'no' on Thomas Shannon' confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to Brazil. The alert argues that Shannon is "not fit to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Brazil" because "Either Shannon defied President Obama’s instructions and plotted with the coup regime to keep it in power, or he was fooled by thuggish coup leader Roberto Micheletti into supporting a hoax that the coup regime had no intention of honoring."
Last Tuesday, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza, said he would not send observers to monitor the November 29th elections, while many of the OAS's member countries said they would not recognize the election winner unless Zelaya was reinstated.
In response, the U.S. Ambassador to the OAS, Lewis Amselem, said: "I've heard many in this room say that they will not recognize the elections in Honduras. I'm not trying to be a wiseguy, but what does that mean? What does that mean in the real world, not in the world of magical realism?" This prompted us to ask, in an earlier blog, where is the Obama administration's nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the OAS?
Zelaya has been calling for a boycott of the elections by his supporters, and in protest of the coup d'etat, 110 mayoral candidates and 55 deputies have pulled out of the elections.
However, despite the continued controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the upcoming elections, Honduras' Supreme Electoral Court announced that already has confirmed over 250 international observers for the November 29th elections. While a detailed list of the observers has not been provided, the Honduran National Party announced that it invited around 100 observers, among them ex presidents Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia), Armando Calderón and Alfredo Critiani (El Salvador); Vinicio Cerezo (Guatemala), Vicente Fox (Mexico) and Alejandro Toledo (Peru). According to the National Party, "the majority of the invited have confirmed their attendance and in some cases will send a representative."
Over the weekend, Zelaya sent President Obama a letter, in which he said he will not accept any deal to restore him to office if it legitimizes the coup government. In the letter, Zelaya also stated that he will not accept the legitimacy of the upcoming elections and accused the Obama administration of reversing its stance on whether the elections would be legitimate if he was not in office.
In the letter, Zelaya writes: "The future that you show us today by changing your position in the case of Honduras, and thus favoring the abusive intervention of the military castes ... is nothing more than the downfall of freedom and contempt for human dignity. ... It is a new war against the processes of social and democratic reforms so necessary in Honduras."
The president of the Honduran Congress, José Alvedro Saavedra, announced that Congress would not convene until after the elections to vote on Zelaya's restitution - setting the vote date as December 2nd.
According to Reuters, this move by the Congress was most likely made in an effort to win more international support for the elections. "The delay could leave a door open to negotiators to continue looking for a way to end the deadlock. A 'No' vote before the election might have increased international rejection of the result of the presidential election."
One and a half weeks ago, on October 30th, it appeared that the political crisis in Honduras, instigated on June 28th after then-President Manuel Zelaya was removed from the country in his pajamas, was nearing an end. A high-level delegation of United States officials had left Honduras with an agreement signed between ousted President Zelaya and de facto President Roberto Micheletti, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that an historic breakthrough had occurred in Honduras.
As last week progressed, however, the "historic" deal appeared to be crumbling. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon said the United States will recognize the November 29th elections in Honduras whether or not Zelaya is reinstated, the Honduran Congress delayed a vote on the reinstatement of Zelaya, one of the steps required by the signed agreement. Zelaya sent Secretary Clinton a letter asking her to restate the United States' opinion on his reinstatement to the presidency, and finally, Micheletti created a unity government without Zelaya's participation, prompting Zelaya to denounce the deal as "dead."
Over the weekend, the Verification Commission appointed to oversee the implementation of the steps required in the signed Tegucigalpa-San José Accord, and an OAS delegation attempted to restart talks and move the deal forward. Yet this morning, it still appears to be where it was on Friday - stuck. And the elections are 19 days away.
The United States released a statement expressing disappointment at both sides' failure to implement the agreement, though it has left behind its calls for Zelaya's reinstatement and now rests its recognition of the November 29th elections on the new agreement, which does not guarantee Zelaya's return.
Here is a summary of events in Honduras since the Tegucigalpa-San José agreement was signed last Thursday.
On Friday, October 30th, it was announced that a deal had been signed late Thursday between ousted President Zelaya and de facto President Micheletti. Article 5 of this accord deferred the decision on Zelaya's restitution to the Honduran Congress:
The National Congress, as an institutional expression of popular sovereignty, in the use of its powers, in consultation with the points that the Supreme Court of Justice should consider pertinent and in conformity with the law, should resolve in that proceeding in respect to "return the incumbency of Executive Power to its state previous to the 28 of June until the conclusion of the present governmental period, the 27 of January of 2010
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The accord also:
Called for the formation of a Government of Unity and National Reconciliation;
Called for the creation of a Verification Commission to give "witness of the strict completion of all the points of this Accord;"
Denounced the convocation of a National Constituent Assembly or reform of the "unreformable" articles of the constitution;
Transferred oversight of the upcoming elections to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal;
Called for the normalization of the international community's relations with Honduras;
And set up a timeline for implementing the steps outlined in the agreement, with the appointment of the Verification Commission by November 2nd and the appointment and installation of the Government of Unity and National Reconciliation by November 5th.
From Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced "we've had a breakthrough in negotiations in Honduras." She continued to express the historic nature of the event, saying "I cannot think of another example of a country in Latin America that having suffered a rupture of its democratic and constitutional order overcame such a crisis through negotiation and dialogue."
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon, in a teleconference on October 30th, announced that the agreement "effectively opens a pathway to resolve Honduras' current political crisis and that will allow the international community to support Honduras' elections on November 29th."
Shannon also noted, in response to a question on why there was any thought that the Honduran Congress would return Zelaya to the presidency, that it was "because of the political dynamic inside the country."
By Monday, there was speculation that Assistant Secretary Shannon had made a deal with the presidential candidates and the Micheletti negotiators to guarantee Congress' vote to restore Zelaya to the presidency. Leading presidential candidate Porfirio Lobo announced that "I have not reached an agreement with the United States nor in any moment did I make a secret pact in a private meeting with Thomas Shannon." The negotiators for Micheletti also announced that "there is not an agreement under the table."
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos were named as the international representatives for the four-member Verification Commission. The other two members represent Honduras' two major political parties.
On Tuesday, the Honduran Congress was set to meet to discuss plans to vote on the issues outlined in the agreement. However, congressional leaders decided not to call Congress out of recess, and to instead delay the vote on whether or not Zelaya should return to the presidency. The Congress also requested opinions on the legality of Zelaya's return from the Supreme Court and the attorney general.
On Wednesday, ousted President Zelaya sent a letter to Secretary Clinton asking her to "clarify to the Honduran people if the position condemning the coup d'etat has been changed or modified." In response to the letter, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly noted that "Our position has been very clear from the very beginning that we did consider what happened in June in Honduras to be a coup. We've made our position on President Zelaya and his restitution clear. This is a - we believe he should be restored to power. This is now a Honduran process that was started by the agreement over the weekend."
Thursday evening, the deadline for the creation of the National Unity Government, ended with Zelaya's refusal to submit his list of members for the new Unity Government and Micheletti's decision to create the Unity Government anyway, with himself at the head.
Earlier in the day, Zelaya warned that he would withdraw from the deal unless Congress held a vote on restoring him to the presidency, though the Micheletti government felt that Congress' vote was not as essential to the agreement as the creation of the unity government. As a result, Zelaya did not submit his recommendations for members of the new government and Micheletti announced he had "finalized the process of confirming a unity government," prompting Zelaya to pronounce the accord "dead," as reported by the BBC.
The United States promptly released a statement on Friday describing the State Department's discontent in relation to the way both parties had behaved, though the statement continued to express the Administration's confidence in the Accord:
We were particularly disappointed by the unilateral statements made by both sides last night, which do not serve the spirit of the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord.... Complete and timely implementation of the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord is the path to that future, and the formation of a Government of Unity and National Reconciliation is the next vital step forward.
The Organization of American States also issued a statement on the failure to implement the Agreement.
The Secretary General declared that the OAS will continue in all of its efforts to move forward the process of dialogue and urged President José Manuel Zelaya and Mr. Roberto Micheletti to reach an agreement in the formation of a Government of Unity and National Reconciliation that should, naturally, be presided by he who legitimately holds the office of President of the Honduran nation.
To that end, "it is also essential that the Honduran National Congress issue its sovereign declaration on the pending point of the San José Agreement regarding the restoration of the Executive Power to its state prior to June 28 and until the end of the current term of government, January 27, 2010," Insulza said.
On Thursday, Senator Jim DeMint lifted the hold on the confirmations of Arturo Valenzuela as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and Thomas Shannon as the U.S. ambassador to Brazil, after accepting the United States' role in allowing the Hondurans decide the fate of their political system through a vote in Congress and recognition of the upcoming November 29th elections. According to a press release on the Senator's website, the announcement came after he "secured a commitment from the Obama administration to recognize the Honduran elections on November 29th, regardless of whether former President Manuel Zelaya is returned to office and regardless of whether the vote on reinstatement takes place before or after November 29th." The release continues, quoting Senator DeMint: "I trust Secretary Clinton and Mr. Shannon to keep their word, but this is the beginning of the process, not the end."
This announcement led to concern that the United States is determined to recognize the November 29th elections regardless of whether the Tegucigalpa-San José Accords are fully implemented, and therefore has given the Honduran Congress and the Micheletti government an excuse to hold on to power. During the daily press briefing last Friday, Department spokesman Ian Kelly was repeatedly asked if Senator DeMint's statement was correct. Spokesman Kelly did not have an answer, however an official response to those questions was released on the State Department website later in the day, which ended with this statement: "Our commitment is to the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord and its implementation. Our commitment to support the Honduran elections is the product of that agreement. Failure to implement the accord could jeopardize recognition of the election by the international community."
Latin American countries, including Brazil, are "loudly demanding Mr. Zelaya's return," according to the Wall Street Journal. This had created speculation that the United States' role and image in Latin America could be jeopordized if the U.S. does not hold to their initial call for Zelaya's reinstatement.
Over the weekend, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who played an important role in the initial drafting of the San José Accord, also made a statement on the breakdown of the new Accord. According to the Spanish newspaper El Dia, Arias affirmed that "the de facto Honduran Government never had the will to solve the political crisis resulting from the coup d'etat, and specified that 'they are only looking for, through delaying tactics, time to pass and for the elections to come (on November 29th), risking that the future Government will not be recognized by some countries.'"
According to RAJ at the "Honduras Coup 2009" blog, there is confusion on whether or not the Supreme Court will meet this week to discuss the legality of Zelaya's restitution. Reports early in the day yesterday suggested that the Honduran National Congress announced it will wait until November 17th for the reports it has requested from the Supreme Court and the attorney general. A later report suggested that the Supreme Court had determined it would not give the report to Congress because "it has an appeal of the decree that removed him from power before it." Yet a report issued around 8:00 pm Monday night suggested that the Supreme Court will convene on Wednesday to "analyze if the restitution of Manuel Zelaya Rosales should proceed, as the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord indicated."
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the acting president who deposed him in a June coup, Roberto Micheletti, arrived at an agreement last night to restore Zelaya to the presidency. Zelaya would complete his term under a power-sharing agreement, the product of a U.S. and OAS diplomatic offensive. The agreement still needs to be approved by the Honduran Congress, most of whose members supported the coup in the first place.
Acting President Micheletti announces the accord and lays out its main points (text / video).
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applauds the "breakthrough." (text)
OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza lauds the accord as "a moment of great satisfaction." (text)
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon is "encouraged." (text)
In a private ceremony this morning, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield and Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez signed the “Complementary agreement for cooperation and technical assistance in defense and security,” which formalizes a U.S. presence at seven Colombian military bases for ten years. We still do not know what else is in this agreement, which was negotiated in secret and will not require the approval of either country’s Congress, though in the United States it will be shared with both houses’ foreign relations committees before it goes into effect. (We will add a link to the agreement once we obtain a copy.)
Declaration from the Colombian Presidency (text - English and Spanish)
The U.S. embassy in Bogotá says "this Agreement is a natural part of our relationship." (text)
The U.S. embassy has produced a new "fact sheet" about the agreement, but it is only just over a page long. (PDF)
Negotiations in Honduras have reached another standstill, as the 6th point of the San José Accord - Zelaya's return to the presidency - remains the major sticking factor. On Monday evening, both ousted President Manuel Zelaya and de facto President Roberto Micheletti said they are open to new proposals and that negotiations have not failed, yet they both have repeatedly rejected any proposal offered by the other side.
Last week, Zelaya set a deadline for negotiations to end on October 15th, or risk a delay in the planned November 29th elections. October 15th passed with no agreement. Since then, the deadline has been extended at least three times: first to Friday October 16th at noon, then to 4:00 pm on Friday, and then to Monday evening.
Here is an overview of the past week's events in Honduras. All of our previous updates on Honduras can be found here.
Last Wednesday, reports emerged claiming that negotiators had reached an agreement on wording regarding the return of Zelaya to the presidency. The only step remaining was to run the new wording by Zelaya and Micheletti for approval. Micheletti rejected the text, and restated his view that "The 29th of November, no one, absolutely no human being, will be able to stop the elections in this country. They will be free and transparent. Here the anger, we won't permit it, nothing from nobody."
Last Friday at 4:00 pm, which was the third deadline offered by Zelaya, the Micheletti delegation made their "final" offer to Zelaya. Micheletti's delegation proposed that the Supreme Court decide the issue of restitution, stating "As for the pretense of citizen José Manuel Zelaya Rosales to return to the Presidency of the Republic, we condition our accord on the institutional criteria of the Supreme Court of Justice, as the entity constitutionally charged with the application of the law."
In response, Zelaya suggested that Congress, not the Supreme Court, decide on the agreement: "We respectfully solicit the National Congress that, following the opinion of the pertinent instances, including the Supreme Court of Justice, if it considers it necessary, emits the corresponding decision to this point of the proposal of the San José Accord."
Neither delegation agreed to the other's proposal, and the deadline to reach an agreement was extended again by the Zelaya delegation, giving Micheletti the weekend to decide whether to accept his proposal. A representative of Zelaya said on Friday that if no agreement was reached by Monday, "then the dialogue is broken."
Late Monday, the Micheletti negotiators offered a new proposal: to wait for reports from the Congress and the Supreme Court to be published before taking up the question of Zelaya's return to the presidency. Following the trend that has emerged throughout the negotiation process, Zelaya immediately rejected this proposal, calling it "insulting". Both parties declared talks suspended once again, but stated they would remain open to new proposals.
Also on Monday, Micheletti repealed the decree that restricted constitutional freedoms, including curbs on protests and opposition media. As a result, Radio Globo, one of the media outlets shut down after the enactment of the decree, returned to the airwaves.
Former Secretary of State James Baker had an op-ed in the Washington Post calling for people to "stop looking backward" and instead to "look forward" to the November 29th elections and a compromise between Zelaya and Micheletti. He ends the op-ed, writing "The United States should embrace this realistic compromise and announce its support for the pending election in order to persuade the parties in Honduras and the countries of the Organization of American States to do the same. And as it advocates international recognition of the results of the election, the United States should, of course, do everything possible to help ensure that it is free and fair."
Time's Tim Padgett had an article on Friday suggesting that the United States may be changing its position on the November 29th elections. Padgett writes that "there are growing signs that the U.S. may be willing to abandon that condition. A number of well-placed sources in Honduras and the U.S. tell TIME that officials in the State Department and the U.S.'s OAS delegation have informed them that the Obama Administration is mulling ways to legitimize the election should talks fail to restore Zelaya in time."
At the State Department's daily press briefing today, spokesman Ian Kelly said, "We just urge the two sides to stick to it, and we urge the de facto regime in particular to help open a pathway for international support of the election by concluding the agreement. We believe that an agreement is – could lead to elections that are internationally recognized, and is ultimately the way out of this crisis."
At the end of last week, at the meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for Peoples of Our America (ALBA) in Cochabamba, Bolivia, the organization's members discussed the possibility of imposing an economic embargo/blockade on Honduras. However, by the end of the meeting, the organization's declaration only expressed support for democracy in Honduras and recognized ousted President Manuel Zelaya as the legitimate leader of the country.
A Reutersarticle reported last week that human rights groups have linked "at least 10 deaths to de facto rule under Roberto Micheletti." The article continued to cite reports of beatings by soldiers, police using tear gas to disperse protesters, and threats being sent via text message to pro-Zelaya activists.
A delegation from the Organization of American States went to Honduras yesterday to look into the reports of possible human rights violations since the June 28th coup d'etat. According to AFP, the delegation will spend two weeks in the country investigating the claims and speaking with members of both the de facto government and the groups opposing the coup.
Last Wednesday, the Organization of American States led a delegation of top officials to Honduras to commence a dialogue between the de facto Micheletti government and ousted President Manuel Zelaya. One day later, the OAS top officials, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon, left Honduras. While reports did not indicate a breakthrough in negotiations, the members of the delegation characterized their visit as "a positive step even though the rivals appeared as far apart as ever."
Over the weekend, Micheletti announced a new decree that threatens broadcasters with closure for airing reports that "attack national security," despite his announcement that he would repeal the decree suspending important civil liberties early last week.
Here is today's update on the situation in Honduras, which covers the past few days.
Last week, Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley commented on Assistant Secretary Thomas Shannon's trip to Honduras with the OAS delegation at a Foreign Press Center briefing:
Tom Shannon, as the assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, is doing what we’d expect him to do. Today, you have a very important mission by the Organization of American States to Honduras. The United States has been very supportive of this mission, and it is appropriate that the United States should be a part of this mission.
Micheletti told the OAS delegation on Wednesday that "the elections will take place on November 29th, the only way they can be stopped is if they attack us or invade us."
Micheletti also told the OAS diplomats that "We are not afraid of the United States, nor of the State Department, nor of Mexico or Brazil. But we are afraid and panicked when it comes to Zelaya."
Negotiators for ousted President Zelaya insisted last week that an agreement be found by October 15th, or they would risk "a delay in the late November presidential and legislative elections."
On Thursday, the OAS delegation in Honduras released a statement which outlined the agenda for dialogue and the necessary conditions for dialogue to take place.
The three agenda items agreed upon were:
a) The signing of the San José Accord;
b) The establishment of commissions for the purpose of conducting a detailed discussion and of proposing changes and updates to points in the San José Accord on which there is agreement, and to establish a timeline for their implementation.
c) The proposal and design of a methodological approximation of a new Political and Social Pact for Honduras.
The three conditions for dialogue were:
1) The reestablishment and permanency of all constitutional guarantees;
2) The restitution of all press media whose functions were interrupted; and
3) That normal access and consultation of President Zelaya and his representatives be allowed in the Table of Dialogue.
On Friday, the United Nations working group on mercenaries "voiced concern at reports that former paramilitaries from Colombia had been recruited to protect wealthy people and property in Honduras" after the coup d'etat, reports Reuters.
The joint statement made by the working group urged "the Honduran authorities to take all practical measures to prevent the use of mercenaries within its territory and to fully investigate allegations concerning their presence and activities."
On Saturday, Micheletti imposed a new decree, under which "the frequencies of radio or television stations may be canceled if they transmit messages that incite national hate and the destruction of public property." The decree also allows government officials to monitor and control broadcast messages that "attack national security."
According to the New York Times, the de facto Micheletti government has spent at least $400,000 on a lobbying campaign in Washington. The Washington Post cites the lobbying costs at at least $600,000.
Two Republican members of Congress, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) and Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) continue to express their support for the de facto regime in Honduras and pressure the Obama administration to recognize the November 29th elections. On the floor of the House of Representatives, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen spoke about her recent trip to Honduras, while Senator Jim DeMint published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal over the weekend.
Here are excerpts from Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's remarks:
I have just returned from Honduras, where I had the opportunity to see with my own eyes what is happening on the ground there. Let me tell you, Madam Speaker, it's very quiet on the streets of Tegucigalpa. Despite the efforts of the pro-Zelaya camp to create the impression that chaos is reigning in Honduras, there are no tires burning in the streets, there are no massive protests urging Manuel Zelaya's return, no collapse of democratic order or institutions.
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The people of Honduras do not want Manuel Zelaya back in office. The Honduran people do not want outside actors infringing upon and determining their democracy and their rule of law. For the Honduran people, the November 29 elections are the solution, they are the way forward, and I couldn't agree with them more.
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Madam Speaker, I'm concerned that if we in the U.S. continue along this misguided path and continue to impose this misguided Zelaya-centric policy, that the goodwill and the respect and the admiration that the U.S. currently enjoys in Honduras will now start to dissipate. We can't afford for that to happen. The United States has always been the beacon of democracy. How can we take this undemocratic way forward for Honduras?
While in Honduras, I spoke to dozens of Hondurans, from nonpartisan members of civil society to former Zelaya political allies, from Supreme Court judges to presidential candidates and even personal friends of Mr. Zelaya. Each relayed stories of a man changed and corrupted by power.
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As all strong democracies do after cleansing themselves of usurpers, Honduras has moved on.
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America's Founding Fathers—like the framers of Honduras's own constitution—believed strong institutions were necessary to defend freedom and democracy from the ambitions of would-be tyrants and dictators. Faced by Mr. Zelaya's attempted usurpations, the institutions of Honduran democracy performed as designed, and as our own Founding Fathers would have hoped.
Hondurans are therefore left scratching their heads. They know why Hugo Chávez, Daniel Ortega and the Castro brothers oppose free elections and the removal of would-be dictators, but they can't understand why the Obama administration does.
The high-level mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) arrived in Honduras today to begin a dialogue, dubbed the "Guaymuras Talks," between ousted President Manuel Zelaya and the de facto government led by Roberto Micheletti. OAS representatives remain relatively positive that the new round of talks will successfully bring an end to the country's current political crisis, yet neither party has backed down on the main roadblock: whether Zelaya should return to the presidency or not. So far, Zelaya's representatives have insisted that he be restored to power unconditionally by October 15th, while Micheletti's representatives are backing a plan to hold elections before allowing Zelaya's reinstatement.
Here is today's update on the situation in Honduras. Thanks to CIP Intern Hannah Brodlie, who contributed to today's compilation.
The OAS high-level delegation, led by Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, arrived in Honduras this morning, "with the purpose of promoting dialogue and the restoration of democracy in this country." In order to carry out the intended purpose, a "Dialogue Table" was installed among representatives of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and the de facto government in the Clarion Hotel in Tegucigalpa at 10:30 am this morning. The OAS has dubbed this round of talks as the "Guaymuras Talks."
The international delegation is composed of representatives from Guatemala, El Salvador, the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Jamaica, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Argentina, and Spain. Among the members of the OAS mission is U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs Thomas Shannon. A Senate vote on Assistant Secretary Shannon's appointment to be the U.S. ambassador to Brazil is currently being blocked, along with Arturo Valenzuela's nomination to take Shannon's place at the State Department. U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), disagrees with the stance the Obama Administration has taken on the current political crisis in Honduras.
During his opening remarks at the "Guaymuras Talks" today, OAS Secretary General Insulza explained that the restitution of Zelaya is still a main point in the negotiations, leading to a round of "boos" that did not cease until he finished his statement, according to La Prensa.
Army troops and police special operations officers have been heavily deployed throughout Tegucigalpa "in a bristling show of force as the talks began" in the Clarion Hotel, according to the Agence France-Presse.
OAS representatives have expressed strong hopes that their mission will successfully find a solution to the political crisis in Honduras, yet so far, neither party has publicly expressed a willingness to negotiate on one critical point: whether or not Zelaya should return to the Presidency. A Reuters article published today outlines the various outcomes that could result from the talks initiated today by the OAS. These outcomes include:
1) A limited deal is reached, and talks drag on: The San José Accord "could be modified, but without movement on the key issue of Zelaya's return the result may be a limited agreement to keep talking and concessions such as easing the security cordon around the Brazilian embassy."
2) Zelaya returns to the presidency with restrictions: "That would mean accepting the basic format of the San José accord. But the details of how to form a unity government and amnesty that would make his return possible would take longer."
3) A third party replaces both Micheletti and Zelaya: "Micheletti has already said he is willing to step aside if it helps resolve the crisis. But Zelaya seems less willing to accept that option given the international calls for his legitimate return. Another hurdle would be finding someone or a provisional coalition acceptable to all parties."
4) The talks fail, Honduras is further isolated and street protests grow: "Honduras, Zelaya and Micheletti would risk international condemnation and isolation if talks fail or drag on for weeks and protests or repression of them could spin out of control."
On Monday, Micheletti repealed the state of siege, which suspended important civil liberties. However, Zelaya dismissed the withdrawal of the emergency decree as a meaningless gesture, implemented only after arresting dozens of protestors and closing down two pro-Zelaya media outlets. "Roberto Micheletti continues to mock the people, declaring that he is completely revoking the decree after achieving the most possible harm," Zelaya said.
The two media organizations shut down as a result of the decree say that they still cannot broadcast normally, since seized equipment has not been returned. The owner of one of the shuttered media outlets called the lifting of the decree "a lie aimed at deceiving the international community."
Twelve indigenous people of the Lenca population sought political asylum in the Guatemalan Embassy. The three women, four men and five children said that they had been persecuted by the Honduran police. The group currently remains inside the Guatemalan Embassy awaiting a decision. According to a representative of an indigenous rights organization, if the asylum request is denied, the group may remain inside the Embassy and wage a hunger strike.
Anti-Semitic remarks by Radio Globo host and staunch Zelaya supporter, David Romero, caused international furor since they were published by the Anti-Defamation League over the weekend. On September 25, Romero said, "There are times when I ask myself if Hitler was or was not correct in finishing with that race with the famous Holocaust. If there is a people that do damage in this country, they are Jewish, they are Israelis."
Romero has since apologized for his comments, noting that his own grandfather was a Jewish immigrant from Czechoslovakia. Additionally, the Anti-Defamation League noted that there are only approximately 100 Jewish families in Honduras.
Guatemalan indigenous leader and 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú commented on the Honduran political crisis, saying that it "is ideological, political, institutional and economic, but it is also Central American." Menchú asked the United States to do more to pressure the coup government to restore Zelaya to the presidency, since the crisis affects all of Central America. "The fingerprints of past dictatorships are not dead in Latin America. The offshoots of the dictatorships have more political and economic force."
The advance mission for the upcoming Organization of American States (OAS) delegation of ten foreign ministers and Secretary General José Miguel Insulza arrived in Honduras last week to begin pushing for a dialogue between both de facto President Roberto Micheletti and ousted President Manuel Zelaya, and preliminary reports show that both parties have expressed a desire to talk.
Meanwhile, two different delegations of U.S. members of Congress traveled to Honduras on "fact-finding trips."
Here's is today's update on the situation in Honduras:
Two delegations from the U.S. Congress traveled to Honduras on "fact-finding trips."
The first delegation, led by Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), arrived in Honduras on Friday, despite an attempt to block the trip by Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts). Sen. DeMint was joined by Rep. Aaron Shock (R-Illinois), Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Illinois), and Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado). While in Honduras, the delegation met with de facto President Micheletti, as well as members of the Honduran Supreme Court, election officials and business and civic leaders.
Sen. Kerry tried to prevent the fact-finding trip due to the hold Sen. DeMint has placed on the confirmations of Arturo Valenzuela as the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, and Tom Shannon as the ambassador to Brazil. However, with the help of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the delegation received permission directly from the Defense Department to travel to Honduras.
Today, three of Florida's members of Congress, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Díaz-Balart and Mario Díaz-Balart (all R-Miami), traveled to Honduras to meet with Micheletti and to express their support for the November 29th elections. While in Honduras, the delegation also planned to meet with representatives of the opposition and of ousted President Zelaya.
The four OAS functionaries who were expelled from Honduras one week ago arrived in Honduras on Friday to prepare for the OAS mission of ten foreign ministers and OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, due to arrive in Honduras on Wednesday.
John Biehl, an OAS special envoy, held separate meetings with both ousted President Manuel Zelaya and de facto President Micheletti to advance the possibility of a dialogue, mediated by the OAS, between both parties. After his meetings, Biehl told reporters, "there will be a call next week for dialogue between the acting government and the other side and it will be accepted. That has already been agreed."
Reutersreports today, however, that while both leaders say they are ready for talks, their key demands remain unchanged: "Micheletti says Zelaya must face the courts and is resisting pressure to restore him to power, while Zelaya insists he be reinstated unconditionally."
Even though Secretary General Insulza was not due in Honduras until this Wednesday, it has been confirmed that he was in Honduras and met with de facto President Micheletti last week. An OAS press release reads:
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, confirmed on Saturday that in the last few days he met in Honduras with Mr. Roberto Micheletti. "The meeting was aimed at promoting a dialogue between the parties in the conflict with the goal of restoring democracy and the constitutional order in Honduras, with strict respect of the mandate given to the Secretary General by the General Assembly on July 4th", Mr. Insulza said.
Zelaya told reporters that "in order to begin a 'sincere' dialogue with the interim government civil liberties must be restored." Today, Micheletti announced that the Council of Ministers abolished the decree he imposed last week to suspend important civil liberties, stating that he made the decision to completely annul it since "it is no longer necessary because we have peace in the country."
Thirty-eight farmers who were imprisoned on Wednesday after police and soldiers removed them from the National Agrarian Institute building are now on a hunger strike "to demand a just trial, the restitution of president Zelaya, and respect for our right to the land."
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Venezuela -
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Brutal DEA agent murder reminder of agency priority Jerry Seper, The Washington Times
Brazil -
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Chile -
Chile's Pinera takes reins, though he's not in charge yet, The Los Angeles Times
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Uribe Checks Out Adam Isacson, Foreign Policy
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New U.S. House chairman has strong ideas on trade, Reuters, Forex Yard
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El Salvador -
Mucho ruido y pocas nueces Joaquin Samayoa, La Prensa Grafica (El Salvador)
Honduras -
Clinton Tries to Mend Honduras Dispute on Central American Tour Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Bloomberg, Business Week
Mexico -
La administracion del delito Alejandro Gertz Manero, El Universal (Mexico)
Venezuela -
Chavez afirmo que la gira latinoamericana de Hillary Clinton es para agredirlo, EFE, El Tiempo (Colombia)
