Honduras In Limbo,
Awaits Foreign Aid Resumption
TEGUCIGALPA - Honduras is eagerly awaiting
the resumption of international aid that
should have been restored after the November
presidential elections but still remains
blocked, officials said.
The United States and other donors suspended
assistance programs in Honduras after
President Jose Manuel Zelaya was removed
from power on June 28, 2009.
Zelaya sneaked back to fight for
reinstatement with help from supporters, but
a November election ended his hopes. This
week he flew to the Dominican Republic,
which offered him a sanctuary.
Conservative businessman and politician
Porfirio Lobo won election as the new
president in a poll organized by caretaker
interim President Roberto Micheletti.
A formula brokered by the United States that
would have allowed Zelaya to preside over
the election did not win approval.
As a result, Lobo's inauguration was shunned
by most Latin American leaders and Lobo's
legitimacy as a constitutionally elected new
president was questioned by Zelaya,
opposition leaders, Honduras's neighbors in
Latin America and governments across the
world.
Faced with the newly installed Lobo, albeit
without the criteria insisted on by the
Obama administration and the Organization of
American States, diplomatic negotiators have
been trying to work out an accommodation.
Analysts said both the United States and the
European Union faced the unsavory task of
coming round -- gradually, outside the glare
of the media -- to the reality on the
ground.
After Lobo's election, the Honduran Supreme
Court exonerated all those involved in
Zelaya's removal, including Micheletti, and
told Zelaya he could also go without
prosecution for alleged abuse of power, the
charge that led to his downfall.
However, without a deal that will put an
international stamp of approval on Lobo's
presidency, Honduras faces an indefinite
period of isolation and continued aid
stoppages.
An EU statement on Lobo's inauguration gave
no hint if European aid would be resumed any
time soon. "The EU expresses its hope that
his mandate will usher in a new era and the
normalization of the relations of Honduras
with the EU and the international
community," the EU statement said.
U. S. Assistant Secretary for Western
Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela said
Lobo is taking his country "in the right
direction" but the United States has not
decided whether to restore aid to Honduras.
"We haven't made any determinations yet; the
U.S. will evaluate the situation before
restoring assistance," Valenzuela said
during a visit to Tegucigalpa to attend
Lobo's inauguration Wednesday.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
