Honduras row endangers EU-Latin America summit

[dipsydoodle]

South American leaders have threatened to pull out of a scheduled EU-Latin American summit in Spain if Honduras President Porfirio Lobo attends.

Leaders of the 12-nation South American Unasur bloc, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, urged Spain to uninvite Mr Lobo.

The Honduran leader was voted into power last year, following a coup which was denounced across Latin America.

Regional powers expressed their support for ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8663136.stm

[Judi Lynn]

1. That's the only righteous position to take. Very appropriate.

No one needs to confer with a man who is allowing his police, military to torture and assassinate his political opposition.

Thank you, dipsydoodle. :woohoo:

[rabs]

3. Gorilobo will be going to Madrid this month ...

... but "in a gesture of grandeur,(1), he will not attend the EU-Latin American conference.

But he is planning to attend the EU-Central America portion of the summit.

(1) Wording from the golpista El Heraldo sewerpot of a newspaper in Tegucigalpa.

----------------

Off topic but thought you would be interested in this from Buenos Aires today (English translation is from TELAM):

----------------------------------
POLITICS
Argentine Foreign Ministry warned against "illegal acts" in Malvinas Islands
Télam. National News Agency of Argentina. May 6, 2010.

The Foreign Ministry warned Britain on Thursday that Argentina "shall take all the necessary actions" to prevent the Rockhopper Exploration company from proceeding in the exploitation of oil in the Malvinas Islands, an activity it depicted as "an illegal action", as reported by Télam.

The communique issued by the Foreign Ministry reads as follows:

"Argentina rejects in the most vigorous manner the attempt of to illegally seize natural, non-renewable resources that belong to the Argentine people and advises both the United Kingdom authorities, that permit such exploration, and the company involved in these illegal activities, that the Argentine Government shall continue denouncing at all the international forums this illegal British action. It shall also take the necessary measures, according to International Law, to avoid the continuation of these illegal activities".

"In this sense, our country has permanently protested before the United Kingdom Government for these unilateral and illegal activities, and in view of their continuity it had to take the decision of denouncing the provisional Agreement on hydrocarbons with the United Kingdom in 1995. At the same time, through the adoption of Decree No. 256/2010 its rules of application, the Argentine Government is acting with decision in the control of maritime traffic between the continent and the islands, through actions aimed at sanctioning all those companies that get involved, directly or indirectly, in the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the disputed area.

In view of the British illegal exploration of our non-renewable natural resources, Argentina enjoys the invaluable support of the international community, and especially of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, that last February, at the summit held at Cancun, approved a Special Communique on Hydrocarbons Exploration at the Continental Platform, that backs the Argentine stand on this issue".

------------------------

The Brit response should be interesting.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Recommending #1.

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: