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HONDURAS:
Unilateral "Unity Government" Announced;
Deal "Dead"
By Thelma Mejía*
TEGUCIGALPA (IPS) - Ousted Honduran
President Manuel Zelaya said Friday that the
agreement reached last week to solve the
four-month crisis triggered by a coup d'etat
was "dead."
The de facto government led by Roberto
Micheletti, which took over after Zelaya was
removed from his home at gunpoint by the
military and sent into exile on Jun. 28,
announced late Thursday that he had formed a
"government of unity and reconciliation"
without the participation of the deposed
president.
The agreement signed on Oct. 30, under
pressure from a high-level U.S. mission,
stated that the Honduran Congress was to
vote whether to reinstate Zelaya to serve
out the rest of his term, which ends in
January.
The plan set a Thursday deadline for the
creation of a coalition government, made up
of representatives of both sides, to govern
until the new president to emerge from the
Nov. 29 elections took office.
In a nationally televised address,
Micheletti said his government had fulfilled
its part of the agreement by meeting the
deadline for the presentation of a new
cabinet, "in which Zelaya did not wish to
form part, although we are open to
incorporating the names he proposes."
Zelaya and the broad coalition of trade
unions, civil society groups and other
sectors that have expressed their support
for him in four months of street protests,
said the announcement "ridiculed" and
"betrayed" the spirit of the agreement,
which clearly required the ousted
president's participation in the new
cabinet.
He urged voters to boycott the upcoming
elections and called on the international
community not to recognise the results as
legitimate, unless he is returned to power
before they are held. He also said he would
not help "whitewash" the coup.
On Sept. 21, Zelaya slipped back into
Honduras and took refuge in the Brazilian
embassy in the capital. Since then, the
embassy has been surrounded by troops and
subject to constant harassment.
Human rights activist Reina Rivera with the
Centre for Investigation and Promotion of
Human Rights said the new cabinet did not
include the different social sectors, as
required by the agreement signed last week.
She also called it a "mockery" of President
Zelaya and "those of us who defend
democracy."
"Hondurans must keep fighting for democracy,
because we are in the shadow of the
military, the real power here, and this
business of the 'national unity cabinet'
sends out a negative signal aimed at
legitimising the coup d'état, thus setting a
bad precedent for the rest of the world. We
are hoping for a strong reaction from the
international community," she told IPS.
Indigenous activist Salvador Zúñiga told IPS
that "this is another slap in the face, a
mockery that makes us feel indignant, but
that pushes us to step up the struggle."
He said that "once again, history has shown
us that the United States is not anyone's
friend; we were once again betrayed when we
endorsed an agreement full of gaps and
capricious interpretations."
The accord, which culminated a month of
Organisation of American States (OAS)
sponsored talks between the negotiating
teams of Zelaya and Micheletti, required the
creation of a coalition government by
Thursday. However, it did not set a deadline
for Congress to rule on Zelaya's
reinstatement – the only point the two sides
had failed to agree on.
The president of Congress, Alfredo Saavedra
of the governing Liberal Party - to which
both the ousted and the de facto presidents
belong – denied that there were any
"delaying tactics," but refused to set a
date for the session that would consider the
question.
"Zelaya's reinstatement was left aside when
it was agreed that Congress would decide on
the issue, in consultation with the Supreme
Court," jurist Roberto Velásquez told IPS.
"No specific date for that was set…The most
important thing was to recognise the
validity of the elections, which was
guaranteed by the accord."
OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza
called Friday for compliance with the accord
"without subterfuges," and said the new
coalition government should "naturally" be
led by "the person who legitimately holds
the position of president."
Meeting in Jamaica, the foreign ministers of
the Rio Group, Latin America's largest
political coordinating group, called Friday
for the immediate reinstatement of Zelaya.
Many Latin American governments have made it
clear that they will not recognise the
results of the Nov. 29 elections unless the
president is restored to power.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly
said "Last week, Honduran negotiators
reached an accord that spelled out a
step-by-step process for Honduras to
re-establish democratic and constitutional
order and move toward national elections
with the support of the international
community. In the wake of the verifications
commission visit, the two sides made
significant progress toward a unity
government.
"For that reason we are particularly
disappointed by the unilateral statements
made last night…We urge both sides to act in
the best interests of the Honduran people
and return to the table immediately to reach
agreement on the formation of a unity
government."
Asked about the accuracy of a statement by
U.S. Senator Jim DeMint that he had received
assurances from the administration of
President Barack Obama that it would
recognise the elections in Honduras even if
Zelaya was not returned to power, Kelly
merely outlined the steps to be taken under
the agreement: first, the establishment of a
"verification commission, then the formation
of a government of unity and reconciliation,
then a Congress vote on the restoration, and
the elections. So far only one step has been
done."
"I think we're disappointed in both sides.
Both sides are not following this very clear
path which has been laid out in this
accord…A unilaterally decided government is
not a government of national unity," he
added.
Michael Shifter, vice president of the
Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think
tank, said the accord did not ensure that
Zelaya was reinstated. "So, with the U.S.
decision that they would recognise the new
government (regardless), the (Honduran)
Congress lost its incentive to vote for his
restoration, because they knew that the U.S.
had changed its position on recognising the
election results.
"The only possibility to salvage this is
simply try to put more pressure so that
Zelaya is part of the national unity
government…if it's only Micheletti people,
then it's a joke. If they make a mockery of
the accord, then the U.S. can back out."
The director of the Washington-based Centre
for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR),
Mark Weisbrot, said "I think they (the Obama
administration) are going to have to reverse
their position, because they're just as
isolated as (former President George W.)
Bush was vis-à-vis the hemisphere, in light
of the Rio Group's very strong statement.
Zelaya has to be reinstated immediately or
the elections are not going to be valid.
"If the administration is indeed willing to
recognise the elections with or without
Zelaya, as (Assistant Secretary of State for
Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas) Shannon
said on CNN, it will be directly opposed to
the rest of the hemisphere.
"This administration has not denounced the
human rights violations that are massive in
Honduras at this point, and they're going to
have to do that….From here going forward,
repression is going to be much greater," he
said.
The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
said that with the failure of the agreement,
it "urges the United States to not recognise
the results of the November election, and to
publicly and clearly state this position.
"To support the elections results regardless
of a return to democratic order will fatally
weaken the Obama administration’s stated
intention at the April Summit of the
Americas to rebuild a relationship with
Latin America based on partnership and
through working multilaterally.
"The indecisive position of the
administration since Jun. 28 has already set
back previously damaged relations with Latin
America even further. If the United States
takes an official position to support the
elections under the de facto regime of
Roberto Micheletti, the Obama administration
will be isolated from international allies
who will not recognise elections under
current conditions, including Brazil, Spain,
Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and El Salvador."
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