Fausta’s Blog

At the WSJ: Mediator Chosen for Honduras
Costa Rica’s Óscar Arias, Nobel Prize Winner, to Help Settle Leadership Dispute

Costa Rican President Óscar Arias will mediate talks beginning Thursday to resolve Honduras’s political crisis, in an effort spurred by the U.S. to stave off confrontations between deposed President Manuel Zelaya and the provisional government that ousted him.

The U.S. also strengthened its support Tuesday for Mr. Zelaya, who was forced into exile by the Honduran army on June 28. President Barack Obama called for his restoration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with him in Washington.

At the BBC: Honduras rivals back peace moves

Juan Forero at the WaPo:

Speaking on Honduran radio from Washington, Zelaya said his reinstatement as president was “nonnegotiable.” “What this is, is not a negotiation,” he said. “This is the planning of the exit of the coup leaders.”

Monsters and Critics: Clinton: Costa Rica will mediate Honduras crisis

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has agreed to lead the mediating effort to resolve the political crisis in Honduras.
…
Arias will host the talks in Costa Rica, and the leader who replaced Zelaya, former speaker of the Congress Roberto Micheletti, has agreed to participate, Clinton said.

Arias confirmed he’ll meet with Zelaya and Micheletti tomorrow.

Miami Herald: Costa Rican president to mediate Honduras crisis
Talks between the ousted and de facto Honduran leaders, mediated by a Nobel Peace Prize-winning president, could begin Thursday.

The high-level meeting [Zelaya's] with Clinton signaled a higher degree of intervention by the United States, which has joined leaders across the Americas in trying to bring an end to the crisis that began with a predawn raid June 28.

According to La Prensa, EEUU parece abandonar a Manuel Zelaya
Clinton dijo que habló directamente con Micheletti, e indicó que éste aceptó que Arias asumiera ese papel en el conflicto “The US appears to abandon Manuel Zelaya. Clinton said she talked directly with Micheletti, and stated he accepted that Arias will assume that role in the conflict”; the article also says that for the first time she abstained from mentioning that the US insists on Zelaya’s reinstatement. This article, as you can see, directly contradicts the WSJ article above.
[note: Links to La Prensa apply only on the date posted since the website uses only one same URL for their top story, and they change their top story daily.]
Noticias 24: EEUU alude a la probable influencia de Venezuela en crisis de Honduras US mentions possible influence by Venezuela in Honduran crisis. Reuters mentions,

Valenzuela acknowledged “probably … significant influence” from Chavez on Zelaya, but said the Honduran military should not have deposed and exiled Zelaya without judicial process. Supporters of the coup in Honduras say it was a lawful removal.

Venezuela’s PDVSA has formally ceased oil delivery to Honduras

CS Monitor: Hondurans against Zelaya, but for the rule of law
Young professionals are struck with uncertainty. They want any political transition to be based on democratic principles.

Here in the US, GOP senators press administration not to back Zelaya

Seventeen Senate Republicans on Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging the Obama administration to reverse its rhetoric and support the removal of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

The GOP senators disagree with the administration’s use of the term “coup” for the events in Honduras, saying that Zelaya was removed properly. The senators also urge Clinton to meet with a delegation of Honduran officials currently in Washington with whom they met earlier Wednesday.
…

Zelaya was removed from power last week after moving to hold a non-binding referendum to change the country’s constitution to allow him to remain in office. Obama and Clinton have reacted strongly, but the Republicans say Zelaya was corrupt and that the U.S. should not seek to return him to power.

“It appears that the Honduran government operated under constitutional authority and that the removal of Mr. Zelaya from power was legal and legitimate,” the senators wrote to Clinton.

At the blogs:
Smoking Gun of Vennie Imperialism

From Ferdsblog:

Honduras is an example to the world. We don’t have oil or dollars, but we have balls.

Hunter Smith has video of yesterday’s demonstration.

CNN Falls For The Honduran Fauxtester

Unreal. ‘Honduras Hillary’ Meets With Zelaya …Update: McCain Counters Obama. Gateway Pundit also has a video of a Democracy Now report stating that “a group of right-wing Hondurans” are in Washington, ignoring the fact that they are members of Zelaya’s own party. Does that, then, make Zelaya a right-winger?

Cut funding for the OAS

Update, Thursday 9 July
Welcome, The Other McCain readers. Please visit often.

Tags: Fausta's blog, Manuel Zelaya, Mel Zelaya, OAS, Óscar Arias

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 5:05 pm and is filed under Costa Rica, Hillary Clinton, Honduras. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.