You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Caribbean-Latin America
Guatemala: Honduran leader must return before vote
2009-09-05
GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said Friday that scheduled elections in neighboring Honduras will not be valid if ousted President Manuel Zelaya is not reinstated before the Nov. 29 vote. "President Zelaya must be reinstated before the elections, because if he is not, the elections will not be legitimate," Colom said after meeting with Zelaya.

Other countries including the United States have also said they would not recognize the results of the presidential election under current conditions.

The government in charge since a June 28 judicial order coup that removed Zelaya has pledged to hold out against international isolation and pressure to reinstate the ousted leader and go through with the vote.

Observers say Zelaya's time is running out, with just over four months remaining in his term. But Zelaya said Friday there is no time limit on his fight and repeated previous vows to return home. "The time period for fighting a principle, for democracy and justice, is undefined and is part of a historic process," he said.

The United States cut all non-humanitarian aid to Honduras on Thursday to express its disagreement with the coup and ratchet up pressure on the interim government to allow Zelaya to return. The cutoff of $31 million in non-humanitarian assistance makes permanent a temporary suspension of U.S. aid imposed after the coup.

The decision drew praise from Zelaya and his ally President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Of course it did.
Chavez told Venezuelan state television by phone from Iran on Friday that "it's about time" Washington took action against the coup. He added that he hopes Washington will make good on its statement that it would not recognize the election under current conditions.

Zelaya said as long as the interim government refuses to yield, "all electoral activity is illegitimate."
Posted by:Steve White

#5  The cutoff of $31 million in non-humanitarian assistance makes permanent a temporary suspension of U.S. aid imposed after the coup. The decision drew praise from Zelaya and his ally President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

Obama is Chavez's skinny bitch and that's the way he likes it.
Posted by: ed   2009-09-05 15:31  

#4  sure seems like a lot of teh same characters that decry US Imperialism, outside intervention by neighboring countries, et al, are eager to tell Honduras how to run their country. F*ck em all
Posted by: Frank G   2009-09-05 13:21  

#3  The only threat he and his allies have left is that of refusing to recognize the new government that will be elected in November. It will be interesting to see if they can pull that off. I'm guessing that a fair number of countries will decide, in January, that Mel is irrelevant, since had he stayed in power he'd now be out of power.
Posted by: Steve White   2009-09-05 13:15  

#2  I agree. The sooner Zelaya returns to face the charges against him the better. That is, except for Zelaya.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon   2009-09-05 11:35  

#1  Sorry, dude. Presidency is 99% occupancy. A president is just a man, even if he is a sniveling leftist, wannabe tyrant.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2009-09-05 11:01  

00:00