Zelaya returns to Honduras
The Washington Times reports that Manuel Zelaya has returned to Honduras despite the fact that he could be imprisoned. Hiding out in the Brazilian Embassy, Zelaya called for his supporters to peacefully protest in the capital and for the army to refrain from pounding on them;
Mr. Zelaya told the Associated Press that he was trying to establish contact with the interim government to start negotiations on a solution to the standoff that started when soldiers who flew him out of the country June 28.
“As of now, we are beginning to seek dialogue,” he said by telephone, though he gave few details. Talks moderated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias have been stalled for weeks over the interim government’s refusal to accept Mr. Zelaya’s reinstatement.
He also summoned his countrymen to come to the capital for peaceful protests and urged the army to avoid attacking his supporters. “It is the moment of reconciliation,” he said.
Roberto Micheletti, the interim president of the de facto government pleads his case in the Washington Post;
The international community has wrongfully condemned the events of June 28 and mistakenly labeled our country as undemocratic. I must respectfully disagree. As the true story slowly emerges, there is a growing sense that what happened in Honduras that day was not without merit. On June 28, the Honduran Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Zelaya for his blatant violations of our constitution, which marked the end of his presidency. To this day, an overwhelming majority of Hondurans support the actions that ensured the respect of the rule of law in our country.
Underlying all the rhetoric about a military overthrow are facts. Simply put, coups do not leave civilians in control over the armed forces, as is the case in Honduras today. Neither do they allow the independent functioning of democratic institutions — the courts, the attorney general’s office, the electoral tribunal. Nor do they maintain a respect for the separation of powers. In Honduras, the judicial, legislative and executive branches are all fully functioning and led by civilian authorities.
The country’s elections are still scheduled for November, and Micheletti promises to turn over the reins of his goverment in keeping with the Honduran Constitution;
The winner of the November election will take office as president of Honduras in January 2010. At that moment my transitional administration will cease, and the newly sworn-in president will hold all the authority vested to him by our country’s constitution.
So with just a few months left in his term, why would Zelaya even bother to risk the lives of common Hondurans, except for the sake of his own ego? Mary Anastacia O’Grady wrote in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal that Obama has left the matter for Secretary of State Clinton to settle and she’s been doing a piss-poor job of it. This is a problem that the Hondurans need to settle on their own – like the Obama Administration is handling unrest in Iran.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Foreign Policy
