Honduran Leader Backs Return of President

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times

Honduran Leader Backs Return of President
By GINGER THOMPSON
Published: July 29, 2009

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – The head of Honduras’s de facto government, Roberto Micheletti, has expressed support for a compromise that would allow the ousted president of his country to return to power, according to officials in the de facto government and diplomats from the region.

But the nation is so polarized over the possible return that Mr. Micheletti is reaching out to other regional leaders for help in building support for such a deal, especially among the country’s elite, the officials said.

Mr. Micheletti has repeatedly refused to entertain the reinstatement of the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya. But on Wednesday, the officials said, Mr. Micheletti called President Óscar Arias of Costa Rica, who has tried to mediate a diplomatic solution to the Honduran political crisis, to express his support for a 12-point plan Mr. Arias presented. The plan, known as the San José Accord, would allow Mr. Zelaya to return as president, although with significantly limited powers.

The officials said that Mr. Micheletti warned President Arias that he had not been able to persuade other parts of the Honduran government, or the leaders of the Honduran business community, to go along with the proposal. So he asked Mr. Arias to consider sending a prominent international political figure to help him stem the fierce opposition.

One of those mentioned as a possible envoy was Enrique V. Iglesias, the former head of the Inter-American Development Bank and current secretary general of the Ibero-American Cooperation Secretariat, which was created in 2005 to increase cooperation between Spain, Portugal and Latin America.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/world/americas/30honduras.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

[timeforpeace]

1. Well played, sir, well played.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Honduras: Micheletti appoints death squad veteran

Honduras: Micheletti appoints death squad veteran
by World War 4 Report
Share this on Twitter - Honduras: Micheletti appoints death squad veteran Fri Jul 24, 2009 at 04:27:49 PM PDT
Billy Joya Améndola, leader of the notorious 316 Battalion, is among veterans of the bloody 1980s repression who are now taking the helm of the Honduran security forces.

World War 4 Report's diary :: :: Fears that the de facto regime in Honduras is availing itself of expertise in repression from the bloody years of the 1980s were vindicated by reports that coup-installed President Roberto Micheletti has appointed as special advisor one Billy Joya Améndola—named as one of the principal leaders of the 316 Battalion death squad.

Joya Améndola, who apparently operated in the '80s as "Dr. Arranzola," is also named as a founder of the semi-official "Lince" and "Cobra" death squads. Human rights groups in Honduras charge he is responsible for at least 11 extrajudicial executions, as well as the April 1982 kidnapping and torture of six students. He apparently received training in Argentina from Gen. Guillermo Suárez Mason AKA "Pajarito"—who would later be convicted and imprisoned on charges related to 30 murders and 200 kidnappings. (See obituary, The Independent, June 23, 2005.) Joya Améndola also obtained a scholarship from the Honduran army to study in Augusto Pinochet's Chile.

The Spanish government sought the extradition of Joya Améndola various times after 1985, but the Honduran judicial system has never responded. Ironically, when a judge in Tegucigalpa issued an order for his arrest on kidnapping and torture charges in 1995, he took refuge in Spain, and remained there as an asylum applicant until he was expelled in 1998. (Gennaro Carotenuto, Italy, July 5, translated by Quotha.net)

Hugo Maldonado, director of the local Human Rights Committee in San Pedro Sula, says that the de facto regime is purging Zelaya sympathists from the security forces, and the most reactionary elements of the army are now in control. He named Joya Amendola and retired Gen. Daniel López Carballo as the men overseeing this reshaping of the security forces. (Público, Spain, July 22)

A graduate of the US Army's School of the Americas (SOA), Gen. López Carballo, told CNN that the coup was warranted because Venezuelan President Chávez would be running Honduras by proxy if the military had not acted. SOA graduates who led the coup include armed forces chief Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez and air force chief Gen. Luis Prince Suazo.

More:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/24/757525/-Honduras:-Micheletti-appoints-death-squad-veteran

Not so well played, "sir."

[Alamuti Lotus]

6. These two stories have a coherent storyline

Micheletti eagerly wants Zelayev to return, as that makes it easier to knock him off with one of his SOA grads.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Sure would save them the embarrassment of trying to construct a fool proof legal prosecution!

Bringing in their death-squad killer/torturer commando would relieve them of the obligation to explain to the world why they violently overthrew an elected President, and clearly didn't have the means to take him to trial on any legal charges.

The Billy Joya's name surfaced in another article yesterday, from The Nation:

Waiting for Zelaya By Greg Grandin
July 28, 2009

~snip~
Then there's Fernando--a k a Billy--Joya, a former member of Honduras's infamous Battalion 316, a paramilitary unit responsible for the deaths of hundreds in the 1980s. Joya had previously fled the country on charges of, among other atrocities, having kidnapped and tortured six university students in 1982. But he's resurfaced as "special security adviser" to Micheletti's government. He's been seen walking side by side with Micheletti in a pro-coup "March for Peace and Democracy," and he's appeared on local talk-shows as an "international analyst," justifying the overthrow of Zelaya by invoking his admiration of Augusto Pinochet (lucky for Lanny Davis, Joya stays off CNN). And none other than Pinochet's daughter Lucia has endorsed the coup, praising Micheletti for continuing her father's legacy, fittingly so since the International Observation Mission--made up of representatives from fifteen European and Latin American human rights organizations--has warned of ongoing "grave and systematic" political persecution.

At least nine people have been assassinated or disappeared in the past month, with one body dumped in an area used by death squads in the 1980s as a clandestine cemetery. Among the executed, disappeared and threatened are trade unionists, peasant activists and independent journalists. They include Gabriel Fino Noriega, a reporter for Radio Estelar, in the department of Atlantida, shot dead leaving his work, and Roger Ivan Bados, a former union leader turned reformist politician, pulled off a bus following a pro-Zelaya demonstration and killed. Progressive Catholic priests have likewise been targeted, including Father José André s Tamayo Cortez, a prominent advocate of environmental and social justice, who went into hiding after receiving death threats following his participation in an anti-coup protest, in the department of Olancho. The Jesuit Ismael Moreno, director of the independent provincial Radio Progreso, has also been harassed by the military.

A member of the International Observation Mission told me that the number of killings and disappearances are likely higher than documented, as security forces reign with impunity in some remote, rural areas, making it nearly impossible to report such crimes. The army has also taken advantage of the crisis to conduct "forced conscriptions," kidnapping the teenage sons of peasant families--a practice that was commonplace throughout Central America through the 1980s, during the dark days of oligarchic rule, and only recently abandoned in Honduras.

More:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090803/grandin

[bemildred]

3. He could just resign? nt

[cal04]

4. Mediator calls for continued sanctions in Honduras

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD99OHSK80

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Wednesday that foreign governments should keep on applying sanctions against Honduras' interim government even as its leaders expressed interest in further negotiations on ending the standoff.

Arias, who sought unsuccessfully to mediate a compromise between ousted President Manuel Zelaya and his foes, said the interim administration "isn't convinced" and "hasn't yet recognized that President Zelaya should be reinstated."

Arias told reporters at a regional summit in Costa Rica that "sanctions should continue to be applied." Some governments have frozen aid programs for Honduras or canceled visas for officials connected to the interim government.


Honduran coup leaders open to talk but not on Zelaya
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN29992583


Al Giordano is now reporting from Honduras
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/

[Judi Lynn]

7. Too bad Hillary doesn't seem to value Arias' belief, since she's the one who pushed

for him to mediate this crisis, when it was actually appropriate for the O.A.S. to deal with it originally. She knew where the OAS stood, as both the OAS and the UN have condemned this thuggish crime, as well as the E.U. I'd like to know why her input carried so much weight over a strictly Honduran situation.

When will it finally be realized this country does NOT have the right to assume any control over any part of the other countries in this Hemisphere?

Oscar Arias has done everyhing within his power to encourage negotiations, and acquired an agreement last week, perhaps even earlier with Zelaya which was wildly rejected by the coup leader.

Hillary Clinton should surely back the very man she promoted as the mediator, since he worked so diligently to reach a solution, and he steadfastly recommends SANCTIONS, and reinstatement of Honduras' elected President until the next election in November.

[L. Coyote]

5. What a crock of propaganda this piece is.

If you can overthrow a democracy, you should be able to persuade people to return to demnocracy!! Do'h!!

Just how oxymoranic can a dictator be?

[Judi Lynn]

8. Honduras: pressure builds on coup regime as Mesoamerican summit opens

Honduras: pressure builds on coup regime as Mesoamerican summit opens
Submitted by WW4 Report on Thu, 07/30/2009 - 02:29. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, hosting the 11th regional Tuxtla Group Summit in the Pacific coast resort of Tamarindo, called for "absolute ostracism" of the de facto government in Honduras until it accepts his proposed "San José Accord"—a compromise plan that entails returning the ousted president to power. Arias said the de facto regime "isn't convinced" and "hasn't yet recognized that President Zelaya should be reinstated." He said that "sanctions should continue to be applied."

Zelaya, camped out on Nicaragua's northern border, has been invited to the summit, but it is not known if he will attend. Among the presidents of the Central American nations, only Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega is not attending. The presidents of Mexico and Colombia are both in attendance.

Reflecting the sense of deja vu on the isthmus, Arias said, Arias said: "What is frustrating is to see how Latin America looks to be perpetually on the verge of development, trying to cross the threshold. Then it turns on its hinges like a revolving door to go return to the same place it was 10, 20 or 30 years ago." (Tico Times, Inside Costa Rica, AFP, AP, July 29)

Tide turning against coup regime?
The US July 28 revoked the diplomatic visas of four Hondurans now serving under Roberto Micheletti's de facto government. Arias said the move shows that Washington is willing to exert "strong pressure" to reach a settlement. (Bloomberg, July 29)

In a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Honduras-operating companies Nike, Adidas and Gap called for "peaceful and democratic dialogue, in place of military action." While the letter stated the companies "do not support, have not suported, and will not support" any parties to the conflict, it did express support of US, UN, EU and OAS efforts to bring about the "restoration of democracy in Honduras." (Honduras Laboral, July 30, quotes retranslated from Spanish)

An earlier statement by industry groups only called for maintaining "stability" in Honduras.

Armed forces blink?
The Honduran armed forces have issued a statement agreeing not to block Arias' plan, and the National Congress has said it will study the terms. On the eve of last weekend's protests at the Nicaraguan border, armed forces chief Gen. Romeo Vásquez told Honduras' Radio Globo, one of the few media outlets critical of the coup: "We will not fire on our people." "The armed forces are not the ones responsible for this internal division," Vásquez said on the radio show, during which he also talked with Zelaya's wife Xiomara Castro, who remained in Honduras and has been prevented from reaching the border. (AFP, July 25) (Despite this assurance, there was in fact deadly repression at the protest.)

More:
http://ww4report.com/node/7636

[Judi Lynn]

9. Micheletti Backs Arias’s Plan to End Honduras Crisis, NYT Says

Micheletti Backs Arias’s Plan to End Honduras Crisis, NYT Says
By Andres R. Martinez

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Honduras’s acting President Roberto Micheletti has agreed to back the San Jose accord that would allow for ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to power, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed officials.

Micheletti called Costa Rican President Oscar Arias today to tell him he needs help convincing other leaders in Honduras to support the agreement, the New York Times reported, citing officials in the acting government and diplomats in the region.

Micheletti asked Arias to send a “prominent international political figure” to help overcome internal opposition, the newspaper said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=a7v4Z21SjaWk

[Judi Lynn]

10. Once Again South America Comes to Washington's Rescue

Once Again South America Comes to Washington's Rescue
Honduran Coup Over?
By GREG GRANDIN

Bloomberg is reporting that Honduran coup leader, Roberto Micheletti has accepted the Arias plan, which means -- if true -- that Manuel Zelaya will be, with conditions, as president. Though Micheletti is still begging for time, saying he needs Arias’s help in convincing his co-coup leaders to agree.

The terms are unclear about what is covered in the Arias’ amnesty, but it is doubtful there will be any investigation or prosecution of the human-rights violations that have taken place, including nine, perhaps ten murders, all against Zelaya supporters, over the last month.

The very fact that there are conditions on Zelaya’s return, and that there were negotiations, granted legitimacy to the coup leaders. But, and this is a big but, the very fact of Zelaya’s return is important for three reasons:

1. The momentum building in Honduras could continue, including an emerging alliance between the traditional, organized left (unions, peasant organizations, politicians), new social movements, real democrats, and the long-suppressed reformist wing of the liberal part (of course, it could fizzle out; if this new alliance put its energies into backing a presidential candidate in the coming elections, which are presumably advanced from November to take place in October, and that candidate lost, it could effectively end any energy (but right now, social movements are saying that no matter what the Arias accords say, they plan to still push the idea of a constitutional amendment). .

2. Potential coup plotters in neighboring Guatemala, and possibly El Salvador, must be discouraged. They were hoping Honduras might offer a model to follow, what with peasants on the march in Guatemala (protesting, among other things, transnational mining and biofuels) and a center-left president in office who refuses to repress them, and the FMLN in power in El Salvador. If Zelaya returns, this is a set back for them.

3. Perhaps most important on an international level, it delays the maturation of the budding alliance between neoliberals like Lanny Davis (who stands in for the broader Clinton camp) and neo-cons like Reich and Roger Noriega, who have developed close ties with Colombia, Venezuelan self-exiles, and displaced neoliberals from Bolivia. It also strengthens the relatively more sane tendency within the Obama foreign-policy coalition. One underreported aspect of the coup is that Nike, Adidas, Gap, and Knights Apparel lobbied Washington to restore Zelaya. They have maquilas in San Pedro Sula and were afraid of further labor unrest, which I guess is what passes these days for the modernizing bourgeoisie…

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/grandin07302009.html

[Joanne98]

12. Honduran leader softens tone in fight over Zelaya

Source: Reuters

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' de facto ruler called on Wednesday for new talks to solve the country's political crisis and a source said he might be willing to allow the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya under strict conditions.

Roberto Micheletti, named by Congress as president after Zelaya was toppled in a coup last month, asked for a special envoy to come to Honduras "to cooperate in the start of dialogue in our country."

Under pressure from the United States to reverse the coup, Micheletti softened a previous hardline tone and said many Hondurans could play a role in solving the crisis.

"This dialogue, this effective communication should include all parts of civil society, our churches, professional groups, student groups, business associations, media, political parties," he said in a statement read out on television.

Micheletti asked mediator Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to send Enrique Iglesias, a former president of the Inter-American Development Bank, to Honduras to breathe life into crisis talks that were all but dead.

Washington has demanded Zelaya's reinstatement and on Tuesday revoked diplomatic visas for four members of Micheletti's administration


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE56T0IF20090730

[billyoc]

13. Pinochetletti is going in a jumpsuit.

If he's lucky.

[formercia]

14. I think some lower level B* holdovers gave the golpistas the go ahead

Bahia de Golpistas. :rofl:

[fascisthunter]

15. I don't trust him... I'm Sure Zelaya knows enough not to as well

if they assinate this guy, there's going to be mayhem...

[Enrique]

16. omg, possible envoy Enrique Iglesias?

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/20001873/Enrique+Iglesias.jpg