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CENTRAL AMERICA |
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Micheletti
Government Says Talks to Resolve Honduras
Standoff Collapsed
TEGUCIGALPA -- A representative of the
government of Roberto Micheletti
acknowledged the failure of talks aimed at
resolving the Honduran political crisis, as
deposed President Mel Zelaya's camp had said
hours earlier.
"We understand that the proposals - from
Micheletti's delegation - were completely
rejected" by representatives of Zelaya,
Vilma Morales said in a prepared statement
Friday afternoon.
She added that Micheletti's delegation had
demonstrated from the beginning its
willingness to resolve the crisis through
dialogue and that it continues to have the
same will and commitment to seek a
negotiated solution.
"We can only express our regret for not
satisfactorily concluding the negotiations
due to the intransigence of our
counterparts," Morales said, in reference to
the end of the current round of talks that
began Oct. 7.
Both Morales and another negotiator for the
Michelleti government, Arturo Corrales, told
reporters that Zelaya's side was responsible
for cutting off the dialogue.
Corrales added that "other spaces will be
opened," without elaborating.
A spokesman for the Micheletti camp, Armando
Aguilar had told Efe earlier Friday that his
delegation was "preparing a
counter-proposal," but that apparently was
rejected by Zelaya's delegation.
A representative of the Organization of
American States who accompanied the talks,
meanwhile, expressed optimism that a
solution can still be found.
OAS special envoy John Biehl told Efe that
his organization will always believe an
agreement can be reached to the crisis
stemming from the forced departure of Zelaya
in June.
He told a press conference that a majority
of Hondurans support a plan put forth by
Micheletti that calls for both him and
Zelaya to renounce their claims to the
presidency and for a third party to serve
out the rest of Zelaya's term, which ends in
January.
But Zelaya's delegation has consistently
said that such a solution is unacceptable.
"If the coup d'etat can't be reversed, no
democracy in Central America and Latin
America can be at ease, because (putschists)
will find an ideal, simple path: stage a
coup and whitewash it later with an
election," Zelaya representative Mayra Mejia
said Friday, alluding to Honduras' Nov. 29
presidential ballot.
The Zelaya camp, run by the former president
himself who is holed up at the Brazilian
Embassy in Tegucigalpa, where he emerged
after secretly slipping back into the
country on Sept. 21, claims it has made
numerous concessions to achieve an accord
with Micheletti.
They argue that the ousted president agreed
to preside over a national-unity government
for the balance of his term, which ends in
January.
Zelaya also pledged to abandon his push for
constitutional reform, an initiative
bitterly opposed by the military, the
political establishment and the few dozen
families who dominate the Honduran economy.
Those points were contained in a plan laid
out by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to
resolve the crisis triggered by the June 28
putsch.
In the eyes of Constituional scholars and
most Hondurans, Zelaya’s ouster was not a
coup. The soldiers who escorted Zelaya from
the presidential palace were enforcing a
Supreme Court order after Zelaya refused to
comply with their earlier order banning his
planned referendum on revising the
constitution to allow for unlimited
presidential terms. The Constitution calls
for immediate disempowerment of any official
who does so.
Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution
says “Any citizen who has already served as
head of the Executive Branch cannot be
President or Vice-President again. Whoever
violates this law or proposes its reform, as
well as those who support such violation
directly or indirectly, must immediately
cease in their functions and will be unable
to hold any public office for a period of 10
years.”
The Organization of American States, the
United States and the European Union have
been pressing Micheletti to accept the San
Jose Accord, a proposal put forward by Costa
Rican President Oscar Arias.
The plan calls for Zelaya to return and lead
a national unity government for the few
months left in his term, and for a political
amnesty that would protect both sides in the
dispute.
Time is running out before presidential
elections scheduled for Nov. 29, as both the
European Union and Washington have said they
will not recognize the winner of that
balloting unless Zelaya is restored to
office beforehand. Elections have
traditionally been the only way that coups
and changes of government have been
peacefully resolved in Latin American
history.
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