Arias Blasts Honduran Decree
By Frances Robles
Condemning the Honduran coup as a throwback
to Latin America's ugly history, Costa Rican
President Oscar Arias said Tuesday that the
country can't have free and fair elections
until its de facto government lifts a
repressive decree that silenced opposition
media and forbade public gatherings.
Speaking at the Americas Conference in Coral
Gables, the Nobel Peace Prize winner said he
spoke Monday with Honduras' acting President
Roberto Micheletti, who assured him that he
would withdraw a restrictive decree that
suspended some civil rights. But despite
Micheletti's promises, the decree issued
Sunday remains in place, critical news
stations remain shut down, and opponents are
worried.
``What kind of democratic elections are
these, in which public meetings cannot take
place without the authorization of the
army?'' Arias said.
``What kind of democratic elections are
these, in which the media can be closed for
opposing unspecified `government
resolutions?'
``Only the most forgetful of people could
read this decree without experiencing
memories of a terrible Latin American
past.''
Arias, who won the Nobel for his work
resolving the civil wars in Central America,
has served as a mediator in Honduras'
three-month political crisis.
He stepped in after Honduran President
Manuel Zelaya was forced out of the country
at gunpoint because he had insisted on a
controversial referendum the courts had
ruled illegal.
Zelaya later sneaked back to his country and
sought refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in
Tegucigalpa, which he refuses to leave until
he is restored.
The government installed after his ouster
says Zelaya must face treason charges and
insists that regularly scheduled elections
set for Nov. 29 are the only solution to the
political deadlock.
``We are being subjected to curfews every
day,'' said Martín Pineda, secretary general
of the opposition Democratic Unity Party.
``We don't know if on election day we're
going to be allowed to stand in poll
lines.''
Arias said the solution can't come from
elections alone.
``My message to the candidates is: who wants
to be president that is not recognized by
the international community?'' Arias said in
an interview with The Miami Herald. ``Who
wants to be president of a country that
turns into a Central American Albania?''
Arias refused to say whether, as president
of Costa Rica, he will recognize the
election results.
``I'm not the best person to be
interviewed,'' Arias said. ``I would lose my
credentials as mediator.''
He said he defines June's events as a coup
d'etat, even if others want to dress it up
as something else because it had the backing
of Congress and the military relinquished
power immediately.
``A coup dressed in fine silk,'' Arias said,
``is still a coup.''
Arias presided over an agreement that would
have allowed Zelaya to return as long as he
abandoned plans for the referendum and
everyone involved in his ouster got amnesty.
But for Micheletti, Zelaya's return is not a
bargaining point. The two men were never
willing to look each other in the eye, and
Micheletti has not budged an inch since
negotiations began in July, Arias said.
Arias also criticized Zelaya, who has given
heated speeches from the Brazilian Embassy
telling his followers to rise up against an
usurper government.
``The only way to have dialogue is
conversing like civilized people, not
calling for insurrection,'' Arias said.
The Honduran constitution's silence on
matters of impeachment fed the problem, he
said.
``I forced myself to study the Honduras
constitution,'' he said. ``I don't think
there is a worse constitution on the face of
this earth.''
The military environment that fostered
Zelaya's ouster should be no surprise in a
region that will spend $60 billion this year
on its militaries, even as 200 million Latin
Americans live in poverty, he said.
Costa Rica is the only country in Latin
America that has no army.
``Why are we surprised by a coup d'état in a
region where it seems to be more important
to feed the belly of a cannon than the belly
of a child?'' he said.
But for many people in Honduras who support
Micheletti, Arias lost his credibility as a
deal-maker.
``The president of Costa Rica turned himself
into an arbitrator, not a mediator,'' said
National Human Rights Commissioner Ramón
Custodio, who lost his visa to travel to the
United States for backing the current
government. ``He dictates conditions,
dictates resolutions. He did not look for
reconciliation or accords or solutions.
``He exhausted his quota as negotiator.''
Before Arias even spoke, dozens of
demonstrators had gathered outside the
Biltmore Hotel to protest his appearance.
Carrying posters and chanting: ``Elections
yes; Zelaya no,'' about 100 Hondurans and
Cubans picketed across the street from the
hotel where the conference is being held
through Wednesday.
``We don't want communism in our country,''
said Elsa Lara, a Honduran who favors
holding elections in November. ``We are here
to defend democracy.''
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
