Tag: golpes de estados

To no one’s particular surprise, the Honduran Congress voted today not to restore duly elected and deposed President Manual Zelaya to power.  The vote wasn’t even close.  And of course, the United States immediately expressed its half-hearted disappointment at the vote.  Once again, the golpistas win, democracy loses, the US goes back to its early 20th century stance in the hemisphere, and life lurches on in Honduras.  Democracy is a big loser.  As is the stability of elected governments in this hemisphere.

Join me in the western hemisphere as seen from the south.

After months of repression by the golpistas in Honduras and resistance and demonstrations by pro-democracy forces, it appears that there’s finally been a deal to restore the rightful president Manual Zelaya to power for the last few months of his presidential term.  If that happens, the crisis in Honduras is over.

The New York Times says there’s a deal in its headline.  The details aren’t quite as firm:

A lingering political crisis in Honduras seemed to be nearing an end on Friday after the de facto government agreed to a deal, pending legislative approval, that would allow Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president, to return to office.

The government of Roberto Micheletti, which had refused to let Mr. Zelaya return, signed an agreement with Mr. Zelaya’s negotiators late Thursday that would pave the way for the Honduran Congress to restore the ousted president and allow him to serve out the remaining three months of his term. If Congress agrees, control of the army would shift to the electoral court, and the presidential election set for Nov. 29 would be recognized by both sides.

On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the deal “an historic agreement.”

“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,” Mrs. Clinton said in Islamabad, where she has been meeting with Pakistani officials.

The deal, however, hasn’t been inked yet.  There are details to be worked out between the golpistas and Zelaya, and of course, the Honduras Congress has to approve the pact:

Negotiators for both men were expected to meet Friday to work out final details. It was not clear what would happen if the Honduran Congress rejected the deal.

Passage could mean a bookend to months of international pressure and political turmoil in Honduras, where regular marches by Mr. Zelaya’s supporters and curfews have paralyzed the capital.

This is the most hopeful news since the June coup d’etat in Nicaragua.  I’m cautiously optimistic that democracy will now be restored in Honduras.

I know, I know.  I’m hypersensitive, I’ve lost my sense of humor, I’m out of touch with common reality. I’m making mountains out of mole hills.  And I sound angry.

All of that about me might be so, but today’s Washington Post article about Honduras seems to me to be a sign that the coup has won, as far as the Trad Media are concerned, and that deserves at least brief mention here.  Put another way, I don’t think you’re going to read more about Honduras in the Trad Media until the end of November when the presidential election is held there.

Join me in Tegucigalpa.

Maybe.  Today the BBC is reporting there’s a deal of sorts but it’s not giving any details:

 The political crisis in Honduras appears to be closer to a resolution after negotiators reached a deal.

However few details are known of the deal which has yet to be approved by ousted President Manuel Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti….snip

Mr Zelaya’s lead negotiator Victor Meza said the two sides had “agreed on one unified text that will be discussed and analysed by President Zelaya and Mr Micheletti.”

“I wouldn’t talk of an end to the political crisis, but an exit, yes,” he was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

Mr Zelaya has set a deadline of Thursday for agreement to be reached.

Reuters has the same story with some additional comments but no additional details:

The central issue being discussed was the return of Zelaya to power, but neither side was prepared to give details of the agreement and Micheletti’s negotiators did not immediately comment.

Still, army chief Romeo Vasquez, a key figure in the coup, also said a deal appeared close. “I know that we have advanced significantly, we are almost at the end of this crisis,” he told local radio HRN.

So maybe after all of this time there is an end to the golpe de estado in sight.  If the deadline is tomorrow, we should know tomorrow what, if anything, has been agreed to.

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simul-posted at The Dream Antilles

You will recall that the legitimate president of Honduras Manual Zelaya evaded the golpistas who wanted to arrest him and secretly returned to Honduras, where he found refuge in the Brazilian embassy.  First, there was this essay; then this. Zelaya’s still there. And this is an update on the present stand off.

Please join me in Tegucigalpa.

Manual Zelaya In The Brazilian Embassy, Tegucigalpa

The two sides aren’t talking to each other in Honduras, even though they are just miles from each other.  The golpistas use the military to repress the people on the streets and to continue the curfews.  The real president of Honduras has asylum in the Brazilian embassy.

Join me in Tegucigalpa.

Deposed, legitimate president Manual Zelaya of Honduras returned to his country and took shelter in the Brazilian Embassy, where he remains.  Thousands of Hondurans rushed into the streets to support his return.  And now, the golpistas have unleashed the expected repression.

Please join me on the streets of Tegucigalpa.