Fron Libertad Digital: HONDURAS RENUNCIA A SU PRESENCIA EN EL ORGANISMO
“En la OEA ya no existe espacio para los estados que aman su libertad” (brief translation: If you used this translation please credit me and link to this post)
The Micheletti administration renounced the OAS charter “effective immediately”, following José Miguel Insulza’s visit.
Vice-chancellor Marta Lorena Alvarado read the letter addressed to Insulza, which stated the government’s decision “the OAS believes that it no longer has room for Honduras, for the states that love their freedom and defend their sovereignty,” … “in spite of Honduras having taken part in the inter-American systen since its first stages in 1889.”
Video in Spanish here.
Another video from CNN International, with Alvarado reading the letter of resignation,
She read, “The Honduran government repudiates the pretension to impose unilateral measures against it,” and denounced the OAS’s “tolerance and silence” about threats of “use of force” coming from OAS member states (namely, Venezuela) against Honduras.
The Miami Herald,
Hours later, acting President Roberto Micheletti and vice chancellor Martha Lorena de Casco announced Honduras planned to withdraw from the region’s key diplomatic organization. The move preempts an OAS General Assembly meeting scheduled for Saturday, where Honduras was widely expected to be suspended from the group for overthrowing a democratically elected leader.
The OAS “tried to impose unilateral solutions. The government of Honduras repudiates such attempts to impose unilateral solutions and reaffirms its sovereignty,” de Casco said in a nationwide address. “The OAS is a political organizatioon, not a court of law. … There is no institutional crisis here.”
She ended her brief statement by invoking article 143 of the OAS charter — without elaborating what that article says. The OAS clause she cited calls for member nation to withdraw from the OAS after submitting a written complaint.
The Honduran Supreme Court rejected the OAS’s demand to reinstate the ousted President, Manuel Zelaya:
OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza was told the court’s position was “irreversible” when he met its president for two hours in the capital Tegulcigalpa.
By now even the BBC is saying
The new leadership enjoys the support of a substantial proportion of the population and says it stands for democracy, our correspondent reports.
It suggests that Mr Zelaya had despotic ambitions, and therefore the extreme action of removing him from power was justified.
More details on this AP report (via GoV, report also at the Wall Street Journal, emphasis added):
Jose Miguel Insulza, who heads the Organization of American States, flew to Honduras in an attempt to persuade the forces that ousted Zelaya to take him back in the face of overwhelming international condemnation and economic sanctions.
He met for two hours with Jorge Rivera, president of the Supreme Court that authorized the military to seize Zelaya on Sunday and fly him into exile.
“Insulza asked Honduras to reinstate Zelaya, but the president of the court categorically answered that there is an arrest warrant for him,” said court spokesman Danilo Izaguirre. “Now the OAS has to decide what it will do.”
…
Insulza also was meeting with leaders of Congress, “basically to clarify exactly what our position is.”
…
Micheletti asked Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu to help mediate the conflict, and she arrived in Tegucigalpa on Friday.
On his part, Insulza said the Honduran crisis will last a long time.
The photo shows Insulza in Tegucigalpa meeting with diplomats of the G-16 countries. The Panamanian government agreed to mediate today’s OAS meeting.
Hugo Chávez halts oil shipments to Honduras
The measure seeks to put pressure on the Honduras government to reinstate Manuel Zelaya, an ally of Chávez, as Honduras President. Zelaya was ousted in an army coup on June 28. In addition, Chávez admitted that he’s directly interfering in Honduran affairs,
Hugo Chávez said that he supports the return of deposed President Zelaya to Honduras by means of “a set of actions,” including contacts with military officers. Zelaya could return home “by land, air or water,” said Chávez in an address on Thursday in a state-run TV station, AFP reported.
“Zelaya will return to Honduras. It may be by land air or water. Nobody knows,” Chávez said, while he talked by phone with Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro, who is accompanying the ousted Honduras president.
“We are supporting his return to Honduras and we are planning several actions. (We are) contacting social leaders that are heading the resistance movements. We have contacted military leaders who disagree with what is happening in their country,” Chávez said.
UPDATE, 4:50PM
Sour grapes at the OAS: OAS Honduras’ interim government can’t withdraw
The caretaker government of Honduras cannot withdraw from the Organization of American States because it is not a legitimate government, a senior OAS official said on Saturday.
“Only legitimate governments can withdraw from an entity such as the OAS,” said Albert Ramdin, the OAS assistant secretary-general, told reporters before a special OAS meeting on Honduras.
He said the current “regime” in Honduras is not recognized as the country’s legitimate government.
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At the blogs:
Blogger Hunter Smith is now reporting from Honduras. Here are his
first impressions (h/t
Legal Insurrection).
Government Removes Zelaya’s Perks
Aside from canceling all of Zelaya’s government backed credit cards (before which, he had spent 80,000 dollars in less than five days), terminated also was the leasing of 50 luxury vehicles and 61 cellular phones with a credit of over 47,500 lempiras, and over 100 bank accounts, all backed by Honduran government funds.
The chancellor of Honduras confirmed that Mel Zelaya ordered the withdrawal of 40 million lempiras from the Central Bank of Honduras.
When the investigations were made at the presidential house, black garbage bags filled with thousands and thousands of dollars were found, as well as in almost every drawer.
Investigations documented over 600 million lempiras worth of expenditures that Zelaya had spent on his quest to hold the “opinion poll” to allow the fourth vote.
Witnessing Hope appeals for prayer and fasting for Honduras
Jason Poblete: Hondurans Seek Independence from Cuba-Venezuelan Meddling, Obama Officials Should Listen
Unless a resolution can be found for this matter consistent with Honduran law, it will be the Obama Administration that will set back the growth of Honduran democracy. It is seems to have an extreme obsession for meddling in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state through international organizations such as the OAS. In the process, it is making things easier for the enemies of freedom to further weaken rule of law and democratic institutions throughout the hemisphere.
This July 4, Stand for the Unalienable Rights of the Hondurans
Chavez Chess.
Post edited to add Miami Herald & blog items omitted
