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U.S.-HONDURAS: Washington Stresses Urgency
of Unity Government
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON (IPS) - In a renewed effort to
save a U.S.-sponsored accord to resolve the
five-month-old political crisis in Honduras,
the U.S. State Department Friday called on
both sides to create a government of
national unity "without delay" and on the
Honduran Congress to "swiftly" consider the
restoration of ousted President Manuel
Zelaya.
Failure to do so would make it less likely
that the elections currently scheduled to
take place Nov. 29 will gain international
recognition, warned a State Department
spokesperson.
"Both sides need to return to the table and
negotiate the formation of a government of
national unity," the spokesperson told IPS.
"Both sides need to adhere to the spirit and
letter of the Accord that they signed,
including on the issue of President Zelaya's
restitution."
"The Tegucigalpa/San Jose Agreement provides
a pathway to free and fair elections, the
outcome of which, if handled accordingly,
will be widely accepted both within Honduras
and abroad," she said.
"Failure to implement the accord could
jeopardise recognition of the election by
the international community," she stressed,
adding that Washington is pressing the de
facto regime headed by Roberto Micheletti
and other actors in Honduras to avoid
"taking actions that would impede the
carrying out of free, fair and transparent
elections, such as (recent) decrees (by the
de facto government) that restricted civil
liberties and closed certain opposition
media outlets."
She also noted for the first time since the
Jun. 29 coup that ousted Zelaya sent him
into exile that Washington has been and
remains "concerned" about the human rights
situation in Honduras under the de facto
regime.
The spokesperson's statement, which followed
an intense, 48-hour mediation effort in
Tegucigalpa by Deputy Assistant Secretary
Craig Kelly, appeared designed to add
pressure on all parties in Honduras to
implement the Oct. 30 accord and to move
Washington closer to the position taken by
the Rio Group of 24 Latin American and
Caribbean nations which earlier this week
declared they would not recognise the
results of the impending elections unless
Zelaya was immediately restored to office.
"The Obama administration is ramping up
pressure on the Honduran Congress to fulfil
the spirit of the accord and vote for
Zelaya's return," said Michael Shifter, vice
president of the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD),
a Washington-based a hemispheric think tank.
"The statement is also signalling that, even
if Washington recognizes the election
results, the new Honduran government is
going to face real problems in dealing with
the rest of the international community," he
added. "And without backing away from its
position, the State Department is now trying
to bridge the gap between Washington and the
rest of the hemisphere on the Honduras
question."
The original accord provided for a
step-by-step process to restore the
constitutional order in Honduras, beginning
with the formation of a unity government and
ending in the Nov. 29 elections for a new
Congress and president that would assume
their positions in January.
Brokered by the U.S., the accord was backed
by the Organisation of American States (OAS)
and its member countries.
But Latin American leaders and some U.S.
Democratic lawmakers were shocked when, on
Nov 4, Washington's chief negotiator on
Honduras, Assistant Secretary of State
Thomas Shannon, told a CNN interviewer that
the U.S. would recognise the results of the
election regardless of whether Zelaya was
restored to the presidency.
U.S. officials – most recently Washington's
representative to the OAS, Lewis Anselem,
during a debate earlier this week – pointed
out that the literal terms of the accord did
not require Zelaya's restoration but instead
left it to the Honduran Congress to decide
his fate.
Shannon's position – apparently the result
of a deal with right-wing Republican
senators who until then had held hostage a
number of appointments to key positions in
the State Department's Western Hemisphere
Bureau - provoked cries of betrayal by
Zelaya, and his supporters and consternation
in the OAS and throughout Latin America,
particularly Brazil whose embassy in
Tegucigalpa has served as Zelaya's refuge
since he snuck back into the country in
September.
It also helped precipitate the apparent
collapse of the accord, as the leadership of
the Honduran Congress said they intended to
delay a vote on Zelaya's restoration at
least until after the elections and
Micheletti announced that he had put
together a unity government without any
input from Zelaya.
Meeting in Jamaica Nov 5, the Rio Group of
24 Latin American and Caribbean foreign
minister issued a communiqué insisting that
its members would not recognise the outcome
of the Nov 29 elections unless Zelaya was
immediately returned to office. OAS
Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza issued
a similar statement and announced that the
hemispheric group would not send observers
to the upcoming elections.
It is in this context that Friday's
statement – and particularly its exhortation
addressed to both sides to adhere to the
"spirit", as well as the "letter" of the
accord, including on the issue of President
Zelaya's restitution" – offers a potentially
significant, if subtle, change in
Washington's stance.
In another passage of the extensive guidance
prepared by the State Department, the
spokesperson conceded that "The accord does
not have an exact timeline for a
Congressional decision. However, the spirit
of the Accord suggests that the Congress
should deal with the issue in the most
expeditious manner possible. We urge the
Congress to move swiftly on this matter,"
she said.
"The Obama administration may have lost its
leverage (with Shannon's Nov 4 statement),"
said Shifter, "but it does not want to let
the Honduran Congress off the hook."
"It's a hopeful move, both because it
recognises for the first time that human
rights violations have taken place and that
elections will not be recognised
internationally unless the spirit, as well
as the letter, of the accord is complied
with." agreed Vicki Gass, a Honduras
specialist at the Washington Office on Latin
America (WOLA). "It's clear that the
administration is trying to repair the
damage it has inflicted over the last ten
days."
Gass, however, expressed doubt that the Nov
29 elections could still be considered
legitimate even if Micheletti and the
Congress heed Washington's new message and
restore Zelaya to office. Fifty-five of 128
Congressional candidates, and more than 100
of 298 mayoral candidates, including the
incumbent of Honduras' second largest city,
San Pedro Sula, have withdrawn from their
races, she said, as has Carlos H. Reyes, an
independent candidate who has been running
third of five decided among five candidates
in recent polling.
And, as the State Department spokesperson
noted, pro-Zelaya broadcast stations that
were closed earlier this fall are still
facing interrupted service on certain news
programmes, while an Oct 5 decree providing
for the revocation of the operating licenses
of media outlets deemed to violate national
security and public order remains in effect.
While Washington supports the elections, she
said, "it is self-evident…that while (they)
are a necessary element to restoring
democratic and constitutional order in
Honduras, they are insufficient by
themselves to achieving reconciliation in
Honduras and fully restoring the democratic
order."
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