Quote of the day: Honduras
"The State of Honduras is committed to respect the rights of Mr. Zelaya to due process."
--Roberto Micheletti, head of a government that refused to allow Zelaya a trial and instead illegally exiled him.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Can somebody report on why Zelaya, through Nicaragua and Venezuela at the OAS meeting, is apparently backing off from his acceptance of the San Jose accords?
"Venezuela y Nicaragua pidieron expresamente al Consejo que hiciera constar en acta sus reservas sobre la declaración, a su juicio no suficientemente fuerte. El retorno de Zelaya a Tegucigalpa ha creado “una situación nueva”, opinó el embajador venezolano, que exigió a sus pares que den un apoyo para su retorno al poder.
Venezuela and Nicaragua have said the San Jose proposal is no longer the negotiating point as there is a new reality.
Al final del debate, el ex embajador hondureño ante la OEA, Carlos Sosa, partidario de Zelaya, expresó su malestar ante los periodistas.
“El representante del presidente Zelaya soy yo, no es el presidente Ortega ni el embajador de Nicaragua”, criticó Sosa.
There is also confusion among the Zelaya ranks. Telesur is reporting the same "he no longer accepts San Jose" story as La Prensa.
Was Zelaya's acceptance of Arias proposal just a tactical move based on his weak position in exile?
I would wait to hear what Zelaya himself says.
Will he turn himself in?
http://laprensa.hn/Ediciones/2009/09/22/Noticias/Fiscalia-Zelaya-sera-llevado-a-los-tribunales
From a basic negotiating standpoint, it makes sense for Zelaya to wait and see how the next 48 hours or so play out before putting all his cards on the table. My guess is that he's still open to accepting the San Jose Accord if that's the best deal he can get. But would he take a better deal? Of course.
According to La Prensa.hn, Zelaya supporters were removed from the embassy area at some point this morning. There are roadblocks set up to prevent people from entering the capital.
A police car was set on fire, and water cannons were used to break up the crowd.
I wonder about the all day curfew. It does make preventing mass protests easier, but I also wonder if it might help trigger violence, because you have a bunch of worked up Zelaya supporters sitting around with nothing to do but think about what they can do? Not a prediction, just thinking aloud.
What is the next step for Zelaya? I imagine there could be a quiet period, as each side tries to assess the situacion, but I imagine at some point Zelayas supporters will try to get to the streets and protest.
What happened involved more than water cannons, and the origins of violence are pretty clearly with the de facto regime.
Constitutional rights are suspended (so much for protecting the Constitution); gunshots were fired (despite the denial of the regime, our sources are academics living in the vicinity); at least one hospital reports multiple deaths during the repressive attack.
I thought this was an even more egregious quote by Micheletti (in the Washington Post, no less):
They (coups) do not guarantee freedom of the press, much less a respect for human rights. In Honduras, these freedoms remain intact and vibrant.
Is whoever actually wrote this crap even in Honduras??
And this is classic - had me laughing out loud:
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.
So a so-called arrest warrant (without trial or due process) is enough to "mark the end of his presidency" in Honduras.
From CNN:
One image broadcast on the station showed a policewoman punching a handcuffed woman in the face.
...
The Honduran government also has placed sharpshooters near the embassy and is blasting the compound with loud noise to drive people inside "crazy," Zelaya said.
Unfortunately, CNN repeats this old conjecture again:
The measure (non-binding poll) would have asked Hondurans whether they wanted to place a referendum on the November presidential ballot, which would convene a constitutional assembly to allow a president to run for a second consecutive term.
How exactly does CNN know that an Assembly would have even been created, let along what it's composition would be and if it would lead to a proposal to change this particular Article. That is quite a crystal ball to be so definitive?
just let's work towards freedom in this county so that their people can stay there or go back to their homeland...this would make them happy.
Post a Comment