STATE DEPT BRIEFING, JULY 13 - HONDURAS [View All]

[magbana]

"QUESTION: Just a change of subject. Honduras – there was a story over the weekend saying that Micheletti had voiced or held out the possibility of amnesty for Zelaya. And his exact quote was, “Asked about the possibility of amnesty, he said, ‘If he,’ meaning Zelaya, ‘comes peacefully first to appear before the authorities, I don’t have any problem,’” with amnesty, although those weren’t – I mean, he did say with amnesty. Do you find that idea an appealing one as a way to try to reach an agreement?

MR. KELLY: Yeah. Well, this is not an American process. It’s a process that we are putting all of – it’s a process led by Costa Rican President Arias that we are giving our full support to. And --

QUESTION: That sounds like an American process to me. (Laughter.)

MR. KELLY: We are supporting this process led by President Arias. It is not an American --

QUESTION: Whose country is in what part of the world?

MR. KELLY: It’s not a process that’s being led by the United States of America. (Laughter.) And we just have to give – we have to give time for this process to work. And I’ll just – we – we’re – as I say, we’re standing firmly behind President Arias. He said late last week that he expects to sit down again within a week with the two parties, and these would be the kinds of proposals I hope that both sides can discuss.

QUESTION: What has the Secretary been doing on this, calls or anything over the weekend?

MR. KELLY: Well, over the weekend, it was mostly Tom Shannon, our Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and NSC Senior Director Dan Restrepo, who were – who had a lot of conversations. They met with President Zelaya upon his return Saturday. They discussed, of course, the talks in San Jose and, of course, reiterated our support for the restoration of democratic order in Honduras and, of course, for President Arias’s mediation efforts. So it’s – we have had a number of conversations, but it’s been Tom and Dan who really have led the way – this weekend, anyway.

QUESTION: Did President Chavez call – we have a report that President Chavez called Assistant Secretary Shannon over the weekend. Is that correct? And what kind of a readout can you give us about that?

MR. KELLY: It is correct. I believe – maybe I should take this question. But it is correct; Chavez did call Shannon.

QUESTION: Over the weekend?

MR. KELLY: Yeah. Over the weekend. Let me take the question and see if I can get you a readout.

QUESTION: But on Friday, you published a statement on that.

MR. KELLY: Oh, okay.

QUESTION: I’m thinking that there was a – I thought there was an additional call over the weekend.

MR. KELLY: No, I think it’s just that one.

QUESTION: Well, can you double-check?

MR. KELLY: Yeah. Sure.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. KELLY: Thank you. "
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2009/july/125995.htm