HONDURAS UPDATE AUG 3 2009

By Emile Schepers

Here is the latest on Honduras, as of 10 PM Monday August 3, 2009

1. NEW OAS DELEGATION TO TALK TO MICHELETTI. The Organization of American States is meeting on Wednesday to discuss sending a new delegation to talk to coup leader Roberto Micheletti on Wednesday, Aug. 5, to see if they can talk him into backing off his refusal to consider a return of president Zelaya. Potential members of this delegation include regional foreign ministers. The inititive was announced aftr a meeting among OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, Spanish First Vice President Teresa Fernandez and the Secretary of the Ibero-American Summit, Enrique Iglesias. Earlier, Micheletti has specifically asked for Iglesias to be send in as a negotiator. Micheletti says he agrees to some of the points that Arias, as mediator, has suggested for agreement, but not to the return of Zelaya as president. Since all the other points in the two proposals that Arias has presented are concessions to the coup regime, this is going to be a non-starter from the point of view of Zelaya and his supporters.

2. ZELAYA TO MEXICO, BRAZIL. This week president Zelaya will be going to Mexico City on Tuesday to meet with Mexican president Felipe Calderon, and then possibly to Brazil to meet with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and/or other Brazilian officials. The agenda is to shore up opposition to the coup and support for Zelaya’s return to the presidency.

3. CORREA CALLS FOR NON-RECOGNITION OF HONDURAN ELECTIONS. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is going to ask the Organization of American States to formally un-recognize the coming national elections in Ecuador because as he says “Any election under a de facto regime has no validity”. The elections are scheduled for November 29 and the parties evidently have already selected their candidates, but it is clear that parties and candidates of the left are not going to be allowed to campaign openly or perhaps even be on the ballot. This will leave basically the Liberal Party and the National Party in the running, both of which are considered right wing bodies.

4. NO CHANGE IN H RES 430. There are no new sign-ons today either on H RES 630, which denounces the coup and calls for Zelaya’s restoration to power, or H RES 619, which applauds the coup and calls for the Obama administration to recognize the Micheletti regime. Congress is in recess, but that should be an opportunity to visit your representatives in their district offices.

That’s all for now.