Pres. Zelaya Announces He Will Return to Honduras on THURSDAY

[magbana]

acnnews 30
President Manuel Zelaya Announces his Return to Honduras

HAVANA, Cuba, June 29 (acn) Honduran constitutional president Manuel
Zelaya announced on Monday in Managua, Nicaragua, that he will return to
his country, in spite of the ongoing coup d’état in that Central
American nation.
During a meeting of the Group of Rio, urgently convened in Nicaragua
to join forces on the Honduran crisis, Zelaya assured that he will
travel from Washington to Honduras on Thursday, along with a commission
of return made up by his Latin American counterparts, Prensa Latina news
agency reports.
"I will fulfill my four-year term of office, whether you agree –the
ones in favor of the coup – or not”, stressed Zelaya, who was kidnapped
by hooded military and taken out of the country to Costa Rica and
arrived on Sunday night to Nicaragua.
I was expelled by force and will return on my own free will, said
the Honduran constitutional president, who also invited the General
Secretary of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza,
to accompany him in his return to Honduras.
Zelaya will travel to the United States on Tuesday, following an
invitation of the president of the UN General Assembly, Miguel D´Escoto,
an organization that has also condemned the military coup d’état in
Honduras.


worldnews/trm/trm/22:06

Anuncia presidente Zelaya su regreso a Honduras


Cuban News Agency
www.cubanews.ain.cu
[e-mail]

[rabs]

1. Saw on Telesur where Zelaya announced his return

Zelaya accepted Insulza's offer to go with him to Tegucigalpa, although Insulza looked none too happy at the prospect, but it was too late for him to refuse. Not known yet if other leaders will go with him.

Regarding the return, it occurs to me that several things could happen.

If the coup collapses by Thursday (and it could), then no problem.
If the golpistas are still hanging on, it could get dicey, with a very real danger of a massacre because social organizations have said their people will go welcome Zelaya at the airport.
The plane with Zelaya could be refused landing and fly on to Managua or elsewhere.
There could be threats to shoot the plane down (desperate golpists crazy enough for that.)
If army units do rebel against the golpistas and fighting breaks out among the troops, the situation would be to risky for Zelaya to return.

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

For those who did not see the meeting yesterday in Managua, a short update:

Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador have halted commercial trade on their borders with Honduras.
Venezuela has halted preferential oil shipments.
Chile has recalled its ambassador.
Mexico has suspended all relations and recalled its ambassador.
Brazil suspended return of its ambassador.
Peru delegate condemned the coup.
Argentina opened its embassy to receive Hondurans.
Colombia repudiated golpe.
There was no delegate from the United States present.
Obama statement on the coup was read at the meeting. Cuba's Raul Castro called for a round of applause for Obama.

[rabs]

2. Cristina will accompany Zeyala to Honduras on Thursday

Crawler on Telesur, citing official Argentine sources.

Others likely to join.

[rabs]

3. Update

on who will accompany Zelaya to Tegucigalpa on Thursday:

President Correa of Ecuador
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina
OAS General Secretary Miguel Insulza
UN General Assembly President Miguel D´Escoto

Another detail, the Obama administration has NOT yet suspended military aid, as stipluated by U.S. law in the event of a military coup.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Thank you for the information we clearly aren't going to get froGam our own corporate media.

It's a wonder we've heard anything about it at all!

I can't begin to imagine anything like this has ever happened, with leaders of other countries offering to accompany a wrongfully taken leader back to office.

They will all be open targets, too, going into a country in the illegal control of people representing only a narrow group of privileged greedy murderous opportunists, protected by the powers of the military they have commandeered.

Thanks for sharing the list of actions taken by other countries. I'm astonished to see Alan Garcia and Alvaro Uribe even pretend to condemn this fascist take-over.

This is completely unique.

[EFerrari]

6. Details.

:(

There's more than one hand here, bet me.

[AlphaCentauri]

7. in another discussion a person there mention that there were 8 million armed Hondurans

ready to defend their country in case of an invasion, lets see if those rifles show up.

[magbana]

8. World Bank 'Pauses' Loans to Honduras

These loans are often used to manipulate political situations. Hopefully, the loans will be resumed when Zelaya returns without any alteration in the terms. Zoellick's comments in the last paragraph are in that squishy Washington speak. Let's see what happens.
magbana

"World Bank 'pauses' loans to Honduras - Zoellick
Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:45am EDT

WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - The World Bank has "paused" all lending for development programs to Honduras following a military coup, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday.

"We're working closely with the OAS (Organization of American States) and looking to the OAS to deal with its handling of the crisis under its democratic charter," Zoellick told reporters, "In the process we have put a pause with our lending."

"We had some items which were going to go to our board and we have held those off for now," he told a conference call ahead of a scheduled meeting of Latin American finance ministers in Chile on July 2.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown and forced into exile in Costa Rica in the coup on Sunday, which has been condemned by the international community including leftist allies from the region.

Honduras borrows from the World Bank's fund that provides low-cost loans and grants to poor countries, and Zoellick said the country's allocation for the next fiscal year was around $80 million.

Asked under what conditions would the World Bank consider resuming lending to Honduras, Zoellick said: "It is a situation that is in flux and fluid and in this case we are trying to play a supportive role with the region and its overall goals to restore democracy." (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by W Simon)




"
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN30445897

[Judi Lynn]

4. He's got a lot of courage to go in there. The world will be watching, too, by god.

If they dare harm him it's not going to be easy for them to move forward, no matter what sleazy stunts they pull.

The people want their president back.

[EFerrari]

9. Al jazeera reports that Obama didn't meet with Zelaya and that a delegation

from the golpistas is heading to Washington.

[rabs]

10. Cristina is flying to Washington tonight from BA

Where she will hook up with Zelaya, D'Escoto and Insulza for the scheduled flight to Tegucigalpa on Thursday.

Insulza was quoted today as saying he was concerned over security for the visit. Big brave OAS honcho will probably be hiding behind Cristina. :rofl:

Not known yet how it will go down, if it does. They could fly directly to Tegu, or to Managua or Caracas to hook up with Correa and possibly Ortega and Hugo. Should know by tomorrow if anyone else is on board.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Honduras coup leaders get 3-day ‘ultimatum’

Honduras coup leaders get 3-day ‘ultimatum’
Regional bloc threatens action over ‘alteration of the democratic order’

updated 40 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Honduran coup leaders have three days to restore deposed President Manuel Zelaya to power, the Organization of American States said Wednesday, before Honduras risks being suspended from the group.

OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza delivered what he called "an ultimatum" as OAS talks regarding the crisis dragged into the early-morning hours. The talks began Tuesday afternoon.

In a sharply worded resolution, the OAS said it vehemently condemned the coup and "the arbitrary detention and expulsion" of Zelaya.

The coup, the resolution said, has produced an "unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order." The envoys demanded Zelaya's immediate and safe return to power.

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31677410/ns/world_news-americas/

[Judi Lynn]

12. It'll be a lot more respectful than the way he left.

Honduran president describes how coup unfolded
Edith M Lederer, Associated Press
United Nations, July 01, 2009
First Published: 13:12 IST(1/7/2009)
Last Updated: 13:28 IST(1/7/2009)

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya had been asleep for just over an hour when he was awakened by shouts, screams and hammering against the door of his residence. Looking out the window, he saw heavily armed soldiers subdue his guards and ran downstairs in his nightclothes.

Then, the soldiers broke down the front door.

Zelaya told the story of his overthrow Tuesday to sympathetic diplomats at the UN General Assembly who minutes earlier had voted by acclamation to demand his immediate restoration.

“I ran downstairs ... and sought to hide from the bullets that I could hear being fired,” Zelaya said, recalling how the military coup unfolded just after 5 am on Sunday in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Zelaya said he tried to call journalists to tell the world what has happening.

“I could hear rifle shots, and then once the hinges on the door gave way, and they entered, I still had my mobile phone in my hand,” he said.

At least eight soldiers pointed their rifles at him.

“And I was told: ‘Drop that mobile phone or we will shoot. This is a military order. Drop the phone. Drop it or we will shoot. Drop the phone,’” Zelaya said. “And I said, ‘if you have been ordered to shoot me then shoot me. I will not stand in your way. If that is your order ... shoot me. Do not make me suffer any longer, just do it.”

The soldiers snatched the phone from his hand.

More:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=NLetter&id=2516cab6-66f1-46d4-b7f6-e9343706ca98&Headline=Honduran+president+describes+how+coup+unfolded

[rabs]

13. Cristina was able to postpone her trip to Washington at the last minute

Argentine media jumped the gun last night, reporting she was on her way to Washington.

Cristina postergó su viaje a Honduras
La Presidenta tenía previsto partir esta noche desde el aeropuerto internacional de Ezeiza, en un vuelo de Aerolíneas Argentinas, hacia Washington, con el propósito de integrar la delegación de la OEA que acompañará el regreso a Honduras del destituido jefe de Estado de ese país.