HONDURAS UPDATE AUGUST 23 2009

By Emile Schepers

Not a huge amount of new news today, but please keep in touch tomorrow which will be a very important day because of the visit of the OAS foreign ministers to Tegucigalpa and of a delegation of coup supporters to DC.

1. MEANING OF PRO-COUP SUPREME COURT DECLARATION DEBATED. There is now debate about the meaning of the declaration of the pro-coup Honduran Supreme Court yesterday rejecting any return of Zelaya unless he is put on trial for treason and abuse of power. This is being seen by some as the coup de grace to the mediation effort of Costa Rican president Oscar Arias. If that is the case, the question is what tactics are to follow? Zelaya and his followers are steering clear of calling for armed struggle, which they think would play into the hands of the coup regime. The coup regime acts as if it is not afraid of pressure from the Organization of American States or the United Nations, which they see as irrelevant given that the vast bulk of Honduran trade is with the United States, which has not wanted to impose more sanctions.

2. COUP FIGURES COMING TO WASHINGTON D.C. TOMORROW, CISPES ASKS HILLARY CLINTON NOT TO MEET WITH THEM. The coup regime headed by Roberto Micheletti is said to be sending an “official” delegation to Washington D.C. tomorrow to meet with various U.S. persons including officials of the U.S. government. There is worry that if the coup group are allowed to meet with Secretary of State Clinton or other higher level officials, it will be seen as legitimizing the coup and the government that resulted from it. CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) asks that everybody call the State Department first thing tomorrow to insist that such meetings, especially with Ms. Clinton, not take place. The number is 202 647 4000.

3. VENEZUELAN, ARGENTINE DIPLOMATS ARE GROUNDED, SAYS COUP REGIME. The Micheletti regime has ordered all Argentine and Venezuelan diplomats not to leave their embassy premises, because they refused an order to leave Honduras by Friday August 21. The two governments have refused to comply with the order because they don’t recognize the Micheletti government as the legitimate government of Honduras. If they left the embassy premises and were arrested or manhandled by Honduran troops or police, it would be a radical escalation of the crisis.

Tune in tomorrow.