Update on Honduras
Almost two months ago, on Sunday, June 28th, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was removed from office by the Honduran military and put on a plane (in his pajamas) to Costa Rica. The world immediately condemned the coup, yet the de facto government led by interim president Roberto Micheletti still remains in power and President Zelaya remains outside of Honduras. Since the coup, the United States, the Organization of American States and several Latin American governments have been working together to bring about a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the crisis, which has centered on calls to reinstate Manuel Zelaya as president and allow him to remain in office until his term ends in January 2010. In addition to negotiations between the two parties led by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, many efforts have been made to pressure the interim government to step down, including suspending the government from the OAS, revoking U.S. visas of top interim government officials, and cutting off various sources of aid to the country. However, the situation in Honduras has not improved and over the past week, two reports have been released citing human rights abuses carried out by the de facto government. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an arm of the OAS, released a report citing "an alarming pattern of widespread abuses and restrictions of civil liberties ... since the June 28 coup," and Amnesty International published a report "documenting repression and physical beatings carried out by Honduran security forces on supporters of President Manuel Zelaya." Seven OAS-member foreign ministers and OAS secretary general José Miguel Insulza are now making what appears to be a last ditch effort to resolve the political crisis with a two-day visit to Honduras. The delegation, which the United States "firmly supports," will meet with both Zelaya supporters and coup supporters (including business leaders, Supreme Court justices and members of the interim government), with the goal of restoring democracy with the return of President Zelaya and acceptance of President Arias' proposed framework solution, known as the San José Accords. However, both the interim government and the Supreme Court have called such a solution "non-negotiable." The elections in Honduras are now only two and a half months away, and it appears that the de facto government is trying to hold out until November, with the belief that "once the vote is deemed free and fair, all will be forgiven and Honduras can start the new year with a clean slate." However, the OAS mission believes a solution must be found prior to the elections or the results will be illegitimate. To catch up on all of the news coverage on the situation in Honduras since the coup, click here.