An accord in Honduras, a very different accord in Colombia
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the acting president who deposed him in a June coup, Roberto Micheletti, arrived at an agreement last night to restore Zelaya to the presidency. Zelaya would complete his term under a power-sharing agreement, the product of a U.S. and OAS diplomatic offensive. The agreement still needs to be approved by the Honduran Congress, most of whose members supported the coup in the first place.
- Acting President Micheletti announces the accord and lays out its main points (text / video).
- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applauds the "breakthrough." (text)
- OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza lauds the accord as "a moment of great satisfaction." (text)
- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon is "encouraged." (text)
In a private ceremony this morning, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield and Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez signed the “Complementary agreement for cooperation and technical assistance in defense and security,” which formalizes a U.S. presence at seven Colombian military bases for ten years. We still do not know what else is in this agreement, which was negotiated in secret and will not require the approval of either country’s Congress, though in the United States it will be shared with both houses’ foreign relations committees before it goes into effect. (We will add a link to the agreement once we obtain a copy.)
- Declaration from the Colombian Presidency (text - English and Spanish)
- The U.S. embassy in Bogotá says "this Agreement is a natural part of our relationship." (text)
- The U.S. embassy has produced a new "fact sheet" about the agreement, but it is only just over a page long. (PDF)
- Here is a video of officials signing the accord: