Friday, July 17, 2009

Negotiations in Honduras

Apparently two terms have been reached in the Honduran negotiations (so we can now actually call them negotiations). The first is amnesty, so we may never get to hear the prosecution try to make their case. The second is a unity government of some sort. It is notable that Oscar Arias automatically rejected the demand by Micheletti that he step down in return for Zelaya not returning as president.

Arias says Zelaya must come back as president, and the essential question is whether he would do so with reduced powers until the November presidential election.

There is also no more talk of pushing up the elections. As commenters here have noted, that would also violate the constitution, so I assume they would prefer not to violate it once again.

At this point, we don't know where Zelaya is after his announcement that he would return to Honduras. That uncertainty puts the heat on the coup government.

Update: See comments below about how at this point these are goals and not accomplishments.

10 comments:

el callao 10:04 AM  

"unity government that would include members of all political parties"

What does this mean? The Congress is mostly made up of Liberals and Nationalists. The Supreme Court is only made up of Liberals and Nationalists. These parties supported the coup. Are some of these people going to be replaced by members of the PUD and independents in the "unity government"? Could, for instance, Carlos H. Reyes, be part of this "unity government"? Also, what does "limited presidential power" mean? Would Zelaya agree to come back only as a figure head while the same people run the government in the background?

Gabriel 10:16 AM  

But doesn't Zelaya returning with curtailed powers also violate the Constitution? Is there any provision for a 'reduced powers' presidency?

Slave Revolt,  11:58 AM  

No, effe the reduced powers talking points. This is time for insurrection--with the goal of punishing and delegitimating the coup and it oligarch supporters.

The US will eventually have to get it's antidemocratic, racist troops out of the Americas.

Unfortunately, the will be blood--because the empire doesn't respect democracy (other than the model here in the US, which is vacuous and dependent on 24/7 propaganda intended to enslave and render the citizenry passive spectators.

These necrophilic barbarians snuff out innocent civilians just to wake up in the morning. The crimes are obvious for all to see.

Appeasing these criminals doesn't pay, and the oligarchy news to be hounded all the way to Miami.

We have only just begun--this is a decades-long project toward liberation from under the boot of ecocidal degenerates.

These 'negotiations' were a ruse, a stalling tactic--and these events of late have demonstrated that the US State Department is contemptuous of democratic norms and popular left movements.

This is the time for violent insurrection, and driving out the imperial oppressirs is a necessary condition for the development of a democratic Honduras.

Gabriel 12:55 PM  

Just curious. All this talk of violence and blood, it doesn't actually involve YOUR blood, does it?

Slave Revolt,  1:53 PM  

I think that thee has been ample blood and violence directed at popular movements for decades.

Therefore, Gabriel, If I were you I wouldn't stand in the way of long oppressed people when the make a break toward liberation and away from the squalid, ecocidal, parasitic mindset that most of your comments epitomize.

Really, your support for the squalid ecocidal status quo is a form of self-hatred rooted in ignorance and fear--much like the reactionary women that opposed all forms of full enfeanchisement of women a century ago.

You are a mere fetter--and will be pushed aside and left to fester in your own--roundly rejected,anti-democratic worldview.

Being in revolt against this ecocide entails putting one's life on the line in solidarity with authentic human beings making a break toward liberation.

The slave in revolt: the most noble aspiration, the actualization of our common species-being.

leftside 2:05 PM  

This "power sharing" idea Arias has come out supporting is completely unacceptable. It is nonsense like this that probably has Zelaya making up his own script - supposedly returning today. There is simply no justification for this. It also tacitly encourages more coups if the worst result is going to be the ability to infiltrate the sovereign elected Exective with Cabinet individuals that suported the coup. Insane.

Justin Delacour 2:36 PM  

I completely agree, Leftside. Hillary Clinton is the new Neville Chamberlain of the Americas, and Oscar Arias is just playing her game of appeasement. These folks somehow think it's a good idea to appease the leaders of coups, but you just can't do that when there are retrograde elites in other parts of the region that would like to extra-legally overthrow the democratic order in much the same way that these gangsters have.

There's only one solution to this debacle, and that's Zelaya unconditional return to the office to which he was elected.

RAJ 2:50 PM  

Sorry, but the rumor started by the New York Times is not reliable. http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/07/no-terms-reached-oscar-arias-just-hopes.html has the details. What are in the actual source interview with Oscar Arias proposals became in translation certainties.

I had been waiting for the NY Times to correct this error, which we pointed out to them as soon as possible. Since that is obviously not happening, I would appreciate help in getting the word out that the NY Times mistranslated, or relied on mistranslation, of Arias' actual remarks, which are their cited authority for this claim.

Justin Delacour 4:01 PM  

Thanks, RAJ. I forwarded your website to Just Foreign Policy. They've managed to get the mainstream newspapers to issue a number of corrections on the Honduras situation.

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