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Caribbean-Latin America
US envoys in Honduras to pressure sides over crisis
2009-10-29
TEGUCIGALPA, Oct 28 (Reuters) - An emergency delegation of senior U.S. government officials arrived in Honduras on Wednesday for a last-ditch effort to resolve an impasse between ousted President Manuel Zelaya and the country's de facto leaders since a June judicial order coup. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Tom Shannon, his deputy Craig Kelly, and Dan Restrepo, the White House's special assistant for Western Hemisphere affairs, touched down at Tegucigalpa airport and left for meetings without speaking to reporters.

They met Zelaya at the heavily guarded Brazilian Embassy where he has been holed up since he snuck back into the country last month. They will also likely sit down with current de facto leader Roberto Micheletti, who was installed by Congress after the June 28 military coup.

"They're urging both sides to show flexibility and redouble their efforts to bring this crisis to an end," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in Washington.

Repeated efforts to reach an agreement have stalled over the issue of whether Zelaya can be reinstated to complete his term, which is due to end in January. The latest round of talks collapsed on Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants Zelaya and Micheletti to return to the negotiating table before a Nov. 29 presidential election. Washington has threatened not to recognize the vote unless a deal is reached, and Zelaya says the vote will be invalid if he is not returned to office first.
What say the people of Honduras, or do they not matter?
"If the proposal is to reinstate me after the elections, I cannot endorse the elections," Zelaya told Reuters in a telephone interview after his meeting with the U.S. officials.

The leftist leader was toppled after he violated the Honduran constitution angered business leaders, the military and political rivals by moving Honduras closer to Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez.

The judicial order coup in the impoverished coffee-producing country has sparked the most serious political crisis in Central America in years, and posed a challenge to U.S. President Barack Obama after he vowed to improve relations with Latin America.

Irked by Zelaya's stay in Brazil's embassy, the de facto government presented a formal complaint against Brazil with the International Court of Justice in The Hague for intervening in Honduras' internal affairs, Carlos Lopez, who acts as Micheletti's foreign minister, said on Wednesday.

"A diplomatic mission should not be used as a trampoline, a platform ... for national politics," Lopez told reporters.

It was not clear if the court would consider the demand since the de facto leaders are not recognized internationally.

Brazil, trying for a more muscular foreign policy in the region, stepped up its role in the crisis when it gave Zelaya, his family, and a group of supporters, refuge in the embassy.

Critics say the United States is not doing enough to pressure Micheletti and is taking a sideline role by letting Latin American governments and the Organization of American States take the lead on Honduras policy.

Human rights groups have documented major abuses by the de facto government and say free and fair elections will be impossible after Micheletti curbed civil liberties and temporarily shut opposition news outlets last month.
How about the shooting of government leaders recently? Is that a human rights violation?
More than a dozen members of the U.S. Congress wrote to Obama this week, urging he refuse to recognize elections organized by Micheletti's government.
Posted by:Steve White

#1  COUP

I do not think that word means what you think it does.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-10-29 10:36  

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