Zelaya's FM presses Congress for immediate presidential restitution

[L. Coyote]

Source: Xinhua

2009-11-05 13:27 BJT

TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The foreign minister of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Wednesday urged the National Congress to restore Zelaya to power by Thursday.

Patricia Rodas told a press conference that the de facto government intended to delay or not to implement the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Agreement, which was signed on Friday and foresees Zelaya's immediate restitution.

Earlier in the day, the Verification Commission of the agreement ruled out the possibility of immediate restitution, saying that everything would be done "step by step."

.....

"President Zelaya continues staying in the Brazilian embassy ... and he will continue leading the Honduran resistance if he is not restored by Thursday," Rodas added.

............

Read more: http://english.cctv.com/20091105/102811.shtml

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Previous LATEST thread:

Zelaya's Hopes of Return Fade in Committee Vote
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Judi Lynn]

1. Apparently no one will be coming the the aid of the beaten, tortured, murdered population.

The only thing which would get instant US attention and participation would be a violent resistance by the people, and this would undoubtedly bring the US military to support the coup government...

Damned pathetic.

[Bacchus39]

14. I heard someone say tha ALBA, the Venezuelan economic bloc which Honduras belongs

was going to step in and "do something". are they aiding the beaten, tortured, murdered population?? not. The US brokered the agreement. Its implementation is up to Honduras. The restoration is up to Congress. THAT was the agreement.

[Judi Lynn]

2. The U.S. and Colombian Roles in the Honduran Crisis

The U.S. and Colombian Roles in the Honduran Crisis
November 05, 2009 By Garry Leech
Source: Colombia Journal

Many analysts and sectors of the mainstream media have suggested that the apparent ineffectiveness of the U.S. government to resolve the crisis in Honduras is evidence that the influence wielded by the region's superpower is waning. They argue that the assertiveness of Brazil in its efforts to have Honduras' coup regime step down and re-instate the country's democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya illustrates how the balance of power in the region has shifted. But such conclusions might well be premature. After all, given the stubbornness of the coup regime headed by Roberto Micheletti, it could be argued that it is the United States, and by extension its ally Colombia, that are getting their way in Honduras and not Brazil and its leftist allies Venezuela and Bolivia.

Many of those who suggest that the Honduran crisis is an example of Washington's waning influence in Central American affairs, including Time Magazine and the Los Angeles Times, point to the ineffectiveness of the Obama administration to resolve the situation. There is of course an assumption that the Obama administration and Congress actually want the re-instatement of Zelaya as president. But the administration's actions following the June 28 coup—and the rhetoric of many members of Congress—contradict this assumption. The Obama administration refused to label Zelaya's overthrow as a military coup even though Honduran troops seized the president and forced him to leave the country. Labelling Zelaya's ouster a military coup would have required that the Obama administration immediately cut-off all military and economic aid to Honduras. The United States did eventually cut military and economic aid to the coup regime but refused to withdraw its ambassador.

Also following the coup, Obama and his secretary of state Hilary Clinton called for a negotiated settlement to the crisis rather than the unconditional return to office of the country's democratically-elected president as most other countries around the world were demanding. Given Zelaya's close ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Washington was not eager to see to Zelaya re-instated in the presidential palace. Despite carefully structured statements intended to suggest that the United States was supporting democracy, its support for negotiations and its lack of firm action clearly illustrated that the Obama administration had no intention of pressuring the coup regime to unconditionally surrender power. In August, Zelaya noted Washington's unwillingness to defend democracy in Honduras stating that "the United States only needs to tighten its fist and the coup will last five seconds."

Meanwhile, several Republican members of Congress have openly supported the coup regime and have worked hard to influence the Obama administration's response to the crisis. Florida Congressman Connie Mack, the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, visited Honduras in July and met with Micheletti. Mack declared that Hondurans "don't want us to stand with the ‘thugocrats' of the Western Hemisphere like Hugo Chávez." In early October, four more U.S. Republican lawmakers visited Micheletti in Honduras' presidential palace in a show of support for the coup regime.

Washington's close ally Colombia is the other country in the hemisphere that has been reluctant to pressure the coup regime in Honduras. In fact, the Uribe government welcomed a delegation from the coup regime and, according to members of the delegation, Colombian officials stated their support for the new Honduran government. Additionally, more than $6 billion in U.S. military aid over the past decade has strengthened the Colombian military to the point that it is now less reliant on right-wing paramilitary death squads to carry out its dirty war. As a result, the Uribe government was able to "demobilize" many of the country's paramilitaries in recent years because the U.S.-backed military has assumed a more direct role in the perpetration of human rights abuses. The supposedly demobilized paramilitaries are now free to offer their services to help protect the interests of rich landowners and industrialists in other countries. This is exactly what has occurred in Honduras as more than 40 Colombian paramilitaries have been imported to protect the economic interests of the elites with what appears to be the acquiescence of the right-wing coup regime.

More:
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/23063

[L. Coyote]

3. Deal to restore Honduras President languishes in Honduran Congress

Deal to restore ex-president languishes in Honduran Congress
By TYLER BRIDGES; McClatchy Newspapers
Published: 11/04/09 3:08 pm
CARACAS, Venezuela -- http://www.thenewstribune.com/apheadlines/world/story/9...

A U.S.-mediated pact reached last week that aims to return deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to office and end the country's destabilizing political crisis is in danger of unraveling as Honduras' Congress takes its time to consider the deal.

Zelaya's supporters say that failure to approve it in the next few days would kill the final opportunity to legitimize this month's presidential elections .....

.. Honduras' congressional leadership has postponed the crucial vote by asking the country's Supreme Court, attorney general and human rights ombudsman to give nonbinding opinions on the legality of Zelaya's return.

Congressman Antonio Rivera said Wednesday that the entities might need as long as two weeks to offer their views.

.....

Those who oppose Zelaya's return say they can't trust a man who allied with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega

.......

Zelaya's supporters have promised to disrupt the elections if he doesn't return to office, and almost all foreign governments have said they won't recognize the winner of the presidential election unless Zelaya is allowed to finish serving his term.

.....

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

We welcome comments. ........

[Vidar]

16. Their congress is much like ours: venal, corrupt & useless.

[L. Coyote]

4. One Step Forward in Honduras

Note the guy taking pictures of the protestors.

========================
One Step Forward in Honduras
November 5, 2009 | Special from rel-UITA
Honduras, Nov. 4 - Photo: Giorgio Trucchi, rel-UITA



HAVANA TIMES, Nov. 5 - The Executive Board of the National Congress met and decided to urgently send a copy of the “Tegucigalpa-San Jose Agreement” to the Supreme Court, the Public Ministry and the Attorney General to obtain the opinions ... a Verification Commission was established and empowered with unrestricted authority to substantiate compliance with the agreement.

.... Since early Wednesday morning, hundreds of Hondurans flooded into the square in front of the National Congress with hope that the Executive Board of that branch of government would meet to decide one of two things: whether to convene a plenary session to familiarize the deputies with the agreement or if it would ask for an opinion from the different state authorities not involved in the negotiations.

People took up position a few yards from the large police and military presence that guarded the entrance of the legislative building. Those citizens waved their flags, banners and signs demanding the immediate reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, while chanting the slogans used during 128 days of peaceful and determined resistance.

After several hours, deputies of the Party of Democratic Unification (UD) and liberal representatives of the non-coup-supporting forces announced that, contrary to their proposal for the immediate convening of a full House session, the majority of the Executive Board had decided to urgently send a copy of the agreement to the Supreme Court of Justice, the Public Ministry and the Attorney General’s office ....

Despite the protests of those present, who continue to fear this to be another delaying tactic by the deputies who openly supported the coup d’état and the ousting of Zelaya, deputies and leaders of the National Front Against the Coup d’état urged people to continue with the struggle, to double their efforts and to continue putting pressure on the deputies through an even more massive citizens’ presence in front of the Congress.

“We are making a call for people to concentrate here in Tegucigalpa until the deputies approve the restitution of President Zelaya,” said Rafael Alegría, a leader of the National Front Against the Coup.
“We urgently request that this point be discussed and that what the people are requesting be approved, because without reinstatement there will be no election. On Thursday, November 5, the ‘Government of Unity and National Reconciliation’ will be established, which must to be presided over by Zelaya,” said Alegría..........

On Wednesday, thousands of people arrived in Tegucigalpa to begin a vigil in front of the Congress....

........ much MORE ..... http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=15826

[L. Coyote]

5. With new accord signed President Zelaya urges Hondurans to be vigilant

With new accord signed President Zelaya urges Hondurans to be vigilant
By Berta Joubert-Ceci - Nov 4, 2009 9:36 PM - http://www.workers.org/2009/world/honduras_1112 /


Nov. 2 — After 125 days on the streets protesting the military coup that had deposed their elected president, the people of Honduras have finally seen a positive sign that could lead to the reinstatement of President José Manuel Zelaya .... Micheletti is the illegal and criminal “golpista”—coup leader—who seized the Honduran presidency on behalf of the country’s oligarchy and transnational corporations .... Most of the corporations operating in Honduras are U.S.-based.........

Zelaya advises vigilance

In an interview Nov. 1 with TeleSUR, the Venezuelan-based television network, President Zelaya sent this message: “We celebrate this accord but we also caution the international community that the struggle, the purposes and objectives that we have planned for the reversal of this coup have not finished. ... For the moment, I urge the international community to remain firm in your positions so that we are victorious and that this accord can be completed. Be firm until the accord is carried out. ... In these accords, there is always the possibility of manipulation, of obscure games that they can play among themselves. That is why we should be vigilant until the accord is carried out.”

This statement is in sharp contrast to those of Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens, who talk of the accord as a consummated fact. Llorens has called on the international community to immediately normalize relations with Honduras and accept the result of the Nov. 29 elections.

What does the Resistance say?

Workers World spoke on Nov. 2 with Wendy Cruz from Vía Campesina, one of the organizations of the Front. She said that the Resistance will continue strong and in the streets until Zelaya is back in office......

...............

[Mudoria]

6. Seems even the members of his own party in Congress don't want him back..

that says a lot...

[L. Coyote]

9. A few are blocking the opportunity of the entire Congress to restore democracy, so Honduran

for the few to rule over the masses.

Honduras does not have well-defined black and white, or red and blue party lines. Don't expect unanimity along party lines there like in the USA.

[roody]

15. What does it say?

[boppers]

19. I think it says what they said before they booted him.

To effectively control the levers of power, one needs more than an executive position... *especially* in a representative democracy.

He had chunks of the press, chunks of the congress, chunks of the churches, chunks of the courts, and chunks of the military. He didn't have enough support, of enough groups, to effectively defy any one group, let alone several.

[roody]

20. What is the representative democracy?

[boppers]

21. In this case, it would be the elected parties of congress.

I'm not aware that judges or religious leaders or the press or the military are being elected there...

However, their congress seems to be an elected body, with all the messiness that entails.

[roody]

22. Was Zelaya elected?

[boppers]

24. Yes, Zelaya was elected, as was congress...

... your point?

[Judi Lynn]

7. Dr. Luther Castillo -- Voice of the Voiceless in Honduras

Dr. Luther Castillo -- Voice of the Voiceless in Honduras

San Francisco Bay View , News Report, Willie Thompson, Posted: Nov 05, 2009

“Doctor Luther! Doctor Luther, give it to the Honduras oligarchy hard!” Dr. Luther Castillo, who represents the National Resistance Front against the Military Coup in Honduras, brought to San Francisco the echoes of Cuba’s former President Fidel Castro on Thursday night at the Centro del Pueblo. He spoke for almost two hours with passion, conviction and a keen understanding of the savage rule of the minority oligarchic coup government in Honduras.

“More than 40 people have been shot down in the street and many women have been raped by the coup government. Ten families who control 90 percent of the wealth have closed the Garifuna hospital. They have expelled the Cuban doctors and teachers who treat the sick in isolated communities and eliminated illiteracy in six months.

“These oligarchs haven’t paid taxes or utilities for 38 years. They live in big houses and refuse to pay minimum wages to the workers. How can we be at the side of these rapists and assassins?” he asked rhetorically in response to a questioner who said she and her Honduran family represent the minority who support he coup government in Honduras. The audience of more than 100 Hispanic-, African-, Asian- and European-Americans shouted their enthusiastic support for Dr. Luther.

The National Resistance Front against the Military Coup in Honduras has been demonstrating in the streets of Honduras for more than four months and has absorbed the repression of the coup government. The Resistance is now asking for the support of the international community.

“Companeros y companeras, it’s time to raise our voices and to call on the heroic people of the United States in order to stop the barbarity of the coup government in Honduras. Where are the voices of humanity? Where is the solidarity? Where is the Nobel Peace Prize?” Dr. Castillo asked finally with sarcasm.

“We are not in agreement with the compromise of San Jose, Costa Rica,” he said. “The oligarchy cannot name their family members to lead us. We have decided to be the voice of the voiceless and the poor because no clean election can be held under the present conditions in Honduras.”

More:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?...

[EFerrari]

8. I'd like to hear the defenders of these bastards explain to me

how closing the Garifuna hospital is "defending democracy".

[L. Coyote]

10. Honduran Human Rights Expert Calls on Obama to Denounce "Grave Human Rights Violations"

Honduras' Most Prominent Human Rights Expert Calls on Obama Administration to Denounce "Grave Human Rights Violations"

Too Late to Have Free Elections This Month, She Says from Washington
And now the U.S. government says we can have free elections in less than three weeks

Washington, D.C. (Vocus/PRWEB ) November 5, 2009 -- http://www.prweb.com/releases/cepr/Bertha-Oliva/prweb31...


Bertha Oliva, the head of Honduras' most well-known and respected human rights organization, called on the Obama administration to denounce the "grave human right violations" in Honduras.

"How can it be that the United States government is silent while Hondurans are subjected to arbitrary arrest, the closure of independent media, police beatings, torture and even killings by security forces?" asked Oliva.

Oliva is the General Coordinator of COFADEH, the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared and Detained in Honduras. She is currently in Washington, D.C., to brief Members of Congress, their staff, and other policy makers on the situation in Honduras.

Oliva's grim assessment of human rights and civil liberties under the more than four months of coup government is shared by major international human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and others.

"And now the U.S. government says we can have free elections in less than three weeks," said Oliva. "That is a sick joke." ............

[L. Coyote]

11. Nicaragua: Zelaya's Reinstatement, a Must

http://www.periodico26.cu/english/news_world/november20...

Nicaragua: Zelaya's Reinstatement, a Must

Managua, Nov 4, (PL).- Honduras Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas reiterated Wednesday in Managua, Nicaragua that the reinstatement of Honduras Constitutional President Jose Manuel Zelaya is vital to start the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Agreement.

The Foreign Minister of Honduras Constitutional government talked in a press conference about the statements given on Tuesday by US Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, in which he talked about the accord.

She said it is a bad interpretation of Shannon and stressed there will be no pact if Zelaya is not reinstated. .........

[L. Coyote]

12. Honduras reaches deadline for new unity government

Honduras reaches deadline for new unity government
By JUAN ZAMORANO (AP) – 2 hours ago - http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMG...


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Efforts to create a unity government aimed at ending Honduras' political standoff appeared to be dragging past Thursday's deadline, though representatives of the overthrown president and his rivals reported progress.

An accord forged last week with the help of U.S. diplomats gave the two sides until Thursday to install a government with supporters of both interim President Roberto Micheletti and ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who was removed in a June 28 coup.

There is no deadline, however, for Congress to decide whether to reinstate Zelaya to the presidency. And at least one official has indicated that could be delayed until after the Nov. 29 presidential election,.....

Negotiators for the two sides said Thursday they were still mulling over possible candidates to compose the multiparty government.

"We are in the stage of reviewing names," said Arturo Corrales, who represents Micheletti. ..............

[L. Coyote]

13. Citing change in Honduras policy, Sen. DeMint ends holds on nominees

So now Sen. DeMint is announcing US foriegn policy changes for Obama and Clinton????

================================
Citing change in Honduras policy, GOP senator ends holds on nominees
By LESLEY CLARK - McClatchy Newspapers - http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/13189...


WASHINGTON - An outspoken critic of the Obama administration's handling of the crisis in Honduras dropped his opposition to two State Department nominees late Thursday, saying the administration has reversed course.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said on the Senate floor that he'd spoken with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told him that the administration would recognize the election Nov. 29 in Honduras "regardless of whether former President Manuel Zelaya is returned to office."

"I am happy to report the Obama administration has finally reversed its misguided Honduran policy and will fully recognize the Nov. 29 elections," DeMint said, noting that the stance means he'll lift his objection to the nominations of Arturo Valenzuela to be assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs and Thomas Shannon to be the U.S. ambassador to Brazil.

At Valenzuela's confirmation hearing July 8, DeMint argued that the administration had made the wrong call by pushing for ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's return to power.

But on Thursday, DeMint said that he'd spoken with Clinton and Shannon, who had told him that the U.S. would recognize the outcome of the Honduran elections regardless of whether Zelaya is reinstated.

............

[EFerrari]

17. That's disgusting.

[boppers]

18. He pissed off (and defied) a congress, but expects them to re-instate him?

He really does seem to believe what he's saying, at least. +1 for integrity, -1 for social awareness skills.

[L. Coyote]

23. New LATEST compilation: Ousted Honduran leader says US-brokered pact has failed to end crisis

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...