Nov 19 2009
Original article, by Jorge Martin, via Socialist Appeal (UK):
As we explained in a previous article , the Tegucigalpa/San José Accord signed on October 30 by representatives of the legitimate president of Honduras, Mel Zelaya, and those of the coup regime of Micheletti, was in reality a farce.
Oct 30 2009
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.
Oct 27 2009
Columbus’s first voyage in 1492 combined with his religious motivations for making it led Pope Alexander VI to issue a Papal Bull in 1493.
Oct 25 2009
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.
Oct 23 2009
The news of an impending resolution to Honduras’s coup was hopeful, but apparently too good to be true. Today it’s clear that nothing has been decided, that rightful, democratically elected President Manual Zelaya is still stuck in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, and that the negotiations to resolve the crisis are now totally dead. This should not be a big surprise to anyone.
The New York Times reports:
Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya pulled out of talks with the country’s post-coup de facto leaders on Friday, throwing efforts to resolve a months-long political crisis back to square one.
Zelaya pulled his representatives out of meetings with envoys of de facto leader Roberto Micheletti that were the latest in a series of attempts to resolve the political deadlock sparked by a June 28 military coup.
“As of now we see this phase as finished,” Zelaya envoy Mayra Mejia said shortly after midnight (7 a.m. British time) at the hotel where both sides have been negotiating for three weeks.
All attempts to reach a deal have snagged over whether Zelaya can return to power for the last few months of his term, which ends in January.
“Post-coup de facto leaders” is an interesting turn of phrase. I prefer “golpistas.” Or if you prefer, “leaders of the coup d’etat.” But the bottom line is that no matter what you call Roberto Micheletti and his friends in the oligarchy, their coup continues despite virtually universal condemnation. And it only has to continue, as far as the golpistas are concerned, until November 29, 2009, the present date for elections of a new president. That date is right around the corner. The golpistas have no intention, none whatsoever of restoring Manual Zelaya to his rightful presidency. That is the one, single thing they will not permit. And, unfortunately, that’s the one single step the rest of the world believes is an essential first step to end the crisis.
This is what is called a deadlock.
The rest of the world may insist on restoration of Zelaya to the presidency as an initial step, and it may insist as well that the coup’s running the national election in November undermines the legitimacy of the “democratic election.” But the golpistas don’t see it that way. At all. To them, surviving all the diplomatic initiatives and the sternly worded verbal condemnations and the impounding of funds until there’s an election is the goal. They’ll happily argue about the legitimacy of the election after its been held. And nothing is going to budge them from their present stranglehold on Honduras’s government or move them to restore Manual Zelaya to the presidency.
The golpistas would rather clamp down on the demonstrators than move their position toward a possible resolution. This is what one should expect of them. The burden of the unrest, and especially the present damage to the Honduras economy fall on the poorest people in Honduras. These are not the golpistas. They are quite powerless to resist the military government and the US equipped and trained army.
And what of the US and it’s recently announced “better relations” with Latin America?
The deadlock in Honduras is proving a challenge for U.S. President Barack Obama after he vowed better relations with Latin America. Washington suspended the visas of more figures in the de facto government this week to pressure a settlement.
“The two sides need to seal this deal now. Time is running out,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said on Friday. “We have not given up on a deal yet … We are focussed on these guys sitting down and agreeing,” he said.
This is nice. There is no deal to seal. There is no agreement. And now there are no talks. Put another way, US insistence on an agreement is and continues to be an utter non starter. Similarly, negotiations brokered by Oscar Arias. Similarly, the impounding of non-essential US aid to Honduras. The golpistas have raised their middle finger and most observers are making believe it’s to tell which way the wind is blowing.
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simulposted at The Dream Antilles
Oct 14 2009
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
Oct 04 2009
Today is Sunday. Democratically elected, legal President Manual Zelaya of Honduras remains in sanctuary in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa. And the military golpistas remain in control of the Government. But today there is the tentative news of a beginning of negotiations finally to end the coup. The end of the crisis and the restoration of normalcy can’t come soon enough for the people of Honduras.
Join me in Tegucigalpa.
Oct 03 2009
Crossposted at Daily Kos
With all the uproar over Republican gloating over American failures, this bit of news has been almost totally overlooked, but it trumps any posturing over the Olympics by a long shot.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has announced that he will be visiting Honduras today to meet with the de facto regime of acting Honduran President Roberto Micheletti in sheer defiance of the position taken by the US government and (the) international community . . .
Bold added by diarist
Senator DeMint (R-SC) has been revealed as a member of the C-Street Family, a fundamentalist Christian group that admires Hitler and believes in the Supremacy of a Free Market supporting Jesus, and has just violated the Logan Act, a law that states that ONLY unauthorized citizens are forbidden from negotiating with foreign Governments. As of now, DeMint is acting against American interests.
And that makes him a traitor.
More below the fold
Sep 29 2009
Lest anyone think that the US had suddenly reversed centuries of supporting and/or creating rightwing, military coups all across Latin America and was going to stand firm in support of restoring democracy in Honduras, today the US sent unmistakable signs that it wasn’t changing anything. It was sticking with historical tradition. The US today lashed out at Manual Zelaya for returning to the country of which he is the legitimate president.
Join me in Tegucigalpa.
Sep 27 2009
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.
Sep 24 2009
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.
Sep 22 2009
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.