Zelaya
Calls For New International Laws
Against Coups, Slams U.S.
By Alexander Manda
Mexico City - Ousted
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on
Wednesday called for new international laws
specifically applying to coups and slammed
what he called "lukewarm" U.S. pressure
against the interim Honduran government
during a two-day visit to Mexico.
"There is no specific measure in
international laws that recognizes a coup as
a crime nor that designates the punishment
that follows a coup," Zelaya said in a
speech to Mexico's upper legislative house,
the Senate. "The coup in Honduras has
exposed all of this."
He said that coups should be treated as a
crime against humanity because they violate
citizens' right to vote.
Zelaya also told Mexico's Senate that the
United States had not done enough to bring
down the post-coup regime.
Zelaya's remarks came after media published
a letter from the U.S. State Department that
said the U.S. policy on Honduras' political
crisis was not based on supporting any
particular individual, indicating softening
support for Zelaya.
"We have rejected calls for crippling
economic sanctions and made clear that all
states should seek to facilitate a solution
without calls for violence and with respect
for the principle of nonintervention,"
Richard Verma, U.S. assistant secretary for
legislative affairs, said in the letter that
was dated Tuesday.
In his speech, Zelaya said the United States
had been "lukewarm in acting," and urged
Mexico's President Felipe Calderon to raise
the topic this weekend with U.S. President
Barack Obama who will attend the Security
and Prosperity Partnership Summit in
northern Mexican city Guadalajara.
"The U.S. is also at risk if violence
increases in the region," Zelaya added. The
United States is Honduras' biggest trading
partner and the largest single aid donor.
Zelaya also appeared to be more confident of
returning to serve out his term in Honduras,
which ends next January, and said Honduras'
business people had visited him in Nicaragua
to offer him support.
Zelaya has a base in Nicaragua close to the
Honduras border, where he had tried in vain
to enter his own country.
In Honduras, Romeo Vasquez, head of
Honduras' armed forces, told media on
Wednesday that the military would respect
whatever solution reached under the
mediation of Costa Rica's President Oscar
Arias.
Arias has hosted mediation between Zelaya
and interim government leader Roberto
Micheletti. He has proposed a seven-point
solution which includes Zelaya's return as
president and an amnesty for coup leaders.
However, Micheletti has repeatedly said
Zelaya could not return to his country as
president, but only to stand trial for
treason.
Domestic pressure increased as Honduran
media reported on Wednesday that pro-Zelaya
students protested and clashed with police
near a university in the capital city of
Tegucigalpa.
It was also reported that staff at 28
hospitals, including 15,000 nurses, declared
an indefinite strike, joining public school
teachers who have been off their jobs for
weeks.
Zelaya said the coup plotters had
underestimated opposition both at home and
abroad and from all sides of the political
spectrum.
Mexico's President Calderon made clear his
opposition to the de facto government at a
welcoming ceremony for Zelaya on Tuesday.
"From the day of the despicable coup, we
have shown solidarity with Honduras and
supported the reinstatement of Zelaya as the
country's president," Calderon said.
Zelaya, who arrived in Mexico City on Monday
night, will travel to Brazil on Wednesday at
the invitation of Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva, continuing his
"diplomatic crusade" in Latin America to
seek support. |
