Honduras could lose up to $42.5 million in U.S. aid
Since the coup in Honduras on Sunday, the United States has been working closely with the Organization of American States and other governments to bring about a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the crisis in Honduras - basically, to reinstate President Manuel Zelaya as the President of Honduras as quickly as possible. However, if the diplomatic efforts of the international community prove unsuccessful, the United States must cut off foreign aid allocated to Honduras under the 2009 Foreign Operations bill - as stipulated by Section 7008 "Military Coups" of that bill. Section 7008 of the Foreign Operations Bill reads: "None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available pursuant to titles III through VI of this Act shall be obligated or expended to finance directly any assistance to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree." Funds allocated under Titles III through VI cover a large majority of the economic and military aid Honduras receives from the United States, including programs such as Child Survival and Health, Development Assistance, Millennium Challenge, Peace Corps, International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, and International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement. If President Zelaya is not reinstated as the President of Honduras, the Central American country could have up to $42.5 million in U.S. economic and military aid cut for FY 2009 (this dollar amount represents total aid allocated to Honduras under Titles III - VI of the Foreign Operations bill for Fiscal Year 2009 - see the Just the Facts database). Section 7008 does read that "the provisions of this section shall not apply to assistance to promote democratic elections or public participation in democratic processes," so this amount could be lower if any of the economic aid was allocated specifically for those purposes. Because both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have agreed that what took place in Honduras last Sunday was a "coup," and the United States has signed onto the strong OAS resolution condemning the coup and demanding the reinstatement of Manuel Zelaya as the President of Honduras, the law stipulated under Section 7008 of the Foreign Operations bill should be applied. However, the United States has yet to cut aid to Honduras, perhaps while they wait to see if President Zelaya will be reinstated within the week. According to State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly, "the facts are that the constitutional order in Honduras has been overturned." However, there is "a process that we need to follow, and that we are following now. And its a legal matter." In other words, while all facts point to this being a coup, the State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh must make the final determination on whether Honduras' coup falls under Section 7008. President Zelaya had planned to return to Honduras on Thursday, escorted by the heads of the OAS and the U.N. General Assembly, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, and Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. However, after the OAS gave the coup leader Roberto Micheletti three days to restore Zelaya to power or risk Honduras' suspension from the group, Zelaya decided to wait until the weekend to attempt his return, according to the Associated Press. The United States also may be waiting for this time period to pass before cutting all aid allocated under the FY2009 Foreign Operations bill. State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly, on the other hand, did say that the determination by State's Legal Adviser "won't take long."