Honduras crisis: mediator calls for Manuel Zelaya's immediate return

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Telegraph

Honduras crisis: mediator calls for Manuel Zelaya's immediate return
The mediator in the Honduras crisis, Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, has proposed a return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya to the Central American nation by Friday.

Published: 2:21AM BST 23 Jul 2009

"We ask Congress to return the situation of the executive power... to its state prior to June 28," Mr Arias said.

"That implies the return of Manuel Zelaya to the presidency until the end of the current period," he added, on presentation of a document calling for Mr Zelaya's return on July 24.

He said Mr Zelaya and the coup leaders should turn to the Organization of American States for a new mediator if they refuse to sign the plan.

The 11-point plan also calls on Mr Zelaya to drop efforts to reform the Honduran Constitution an initiative that provoked his June 28 ouster in a military coup.

In response, the Honduran de facto government said it will send the s proposal to Congress and the judiciary.


Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/honduras/5890627/Honduras-crisis-mediator-calls-for-Manuel-Zelayas-immediate-return.html

[timeforpeace]

1. Zelaya and Chavez said Zelaya was coming back today.

[earcandle]

2. Are they sending that to OUR CONGRESS? or their congress? I am confused?

[IDFbunny]

3. Honduran Congress.

They impeached him after he was arrested.

Both sides would have to forswear retaliation.

[harmonicon]

4. I never thought I would seriously have to ask this, but: why do you hate democracy?

[formercia]

6. Do you think the coup leaders are democratic?

I don't.

[harmonicon]

7. I sure do not.

However, the person who I was responding to seems to think they are and that this coup is not a coup and is all on the up and up.

[IDFbunny]

8. If OUR congress and supreme court had have thrown out the chimp

with military assistance you'd have protested it I'm sure? If unfixed elections go forward on 11/29/09, then yes, they are being democratic. The Honduran congress impeached Z unanimously, even his own party repudiated his attempted power grab. That should be by itself telling. I love democracy, don't doubt it. I suppose you think it would be democratic to roll in our tanks in, arrest their democratically congress and supreme court and forcefully re-install Zelaya with a congress of our making, which is what's being proposed?

[harmonicon]

10. what world are you living on?

Why do you think most world governments have refused to acknowledge the coup leaders as a legitimate government? Why do you think governments have cut off aid to Honduras? Why do you think there are protests and blockades? Do you even understand what impeachment is?

As for what could/should have been done with Bush, that isn't really relevant to the discussion here. As for having the supreme court throw him out... wtf?! that's not how shit works in the US.

As for what you've called "Z"'s "powergrab", it was an un-binding referendum to gauge public opinion. Some "powergrab" that.

[IDFbunny]

11. A different one I guess

I admit I don't understand why Congress, all political parties, the supreme court, pretty much the entire government have no credibility with world bodies and opinion and that Zelaya is the harmless, innocent, never-broke-any-laws darling of the world. Why do you think that even his own party turned on him? I can't prove anything but I do believe the congressional side (based on Zelaya's utterances and the extremes he was going through; Chavez printing the ballets and using mobs to steal them from army posts) that this not so innocent referendum, which was explicitly unconstitutional for the president to push, was going to be used to whip up mobs and make a constitutional conventional binding before the November elections. I still think Zelaya was and still is determined in becoming, with help from Chavez and Obama, President-for-life. If Zelaya becomes another 2-bit latin-american dictator, which seems likely after another very bloody "regime change", then I don't know what to say anymore. It's hard for me to believe anybody would applaud this.

Do you think the entire Supreme Court and every Congress member voting for removal should be brought out in front of a firing squad or hanged for treason? Do you believe Zelaya should be president after his term is over in November?

If OUR congress had failed to dot every i and cross ever t in removing Chimp, and done it while he was away or with military assistance I wouldn't have complained. If our supreme court had issued an arrest warrant for the chimpster and/or smirk, I have to think it would be binding and the Marshall's or the Marines would have made the arrest.

[harmonicon]

12. Zelaya is a class-traitor, which is why his party turned on him

He decided to side with the people. There was nothing unconstitutional about his proposed non-binding opinion referendum. I'm glad that he's a class traitor; I think a lot of people in the US government could learn from such people. We've had them before: Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt for starters.

What kind of help do you think he planned to get from Chavez and Obama (and what do you think these two men have in common, apart from both being democratically elected presidents?)? "President for life"? You've got to be kidding me. He was - if he couldn't run again - backing the leftist candidate. That's why they got rid of him. How many 2-bit Latin American dictators are left anymore? Very few, as far as I know, if any. The democratic wave that has been sweeping over Latin America, heralded in by the likes of Lula and Chavez has done away with much of that.

What on earth makes you think I would want anyone brought in front of a firing squad or hanged? If you hadn't noticed, I'm a member of a largely leftist discussion board. Protip: we're not so hot on the death penalty, and are super keen on the rule of law. If you don't like that, maybe you should take your right-wing, bat-shit-crazy, facts-ignoring, ignorant eyes somewhere else to read.

As for our congress removing Bush: that was never fucking going to happen. Pretending so is like guessing what would happen if I were to one day start shitting candy canes. Just so you know, if that eve happened, I don't know what the fuck I'd do.

[excess_3]

5. how much jail time is Mr Z looking at? /n/t

[fascisthunter]

9. you'd have to ask a right wing Honduran

I'm sure they already got their talking points in order.