UPDATE ON HONDURAS SEPTEMBER 16 2009

By: Emile Schepers

1. MEETING OF ARIAS WITH 4 HONDURAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. Today Costa Rican President Oscar Arias met with four of the six presidential candidates in the November 29 elections. The two he didn't meet with are the ones who support Zelaya: The Democratic Unification Party's Cesar Ham and left-wing independent candidate Carlos Humberto Reyes, both of whom are calling for a boycott of the elections. It is not clear whether the fact that Arias did not meet with Ham and Reyes was by their choice or for some other reason. The meeting does not appear to have much of a result, though I have not seen a full report on it yet. Evidently all four candidates, including the Liberal Party's Elvin Santos and the National Party's Pepe Lobo, plus the candidates of two smaller parties, said they "support the Arias mediation" except for the idea of letting president Zelaya return. Ho-hum.

2. SPAIN SLAMS DOOR ON HONDURAN COUP BIGSHOTS. The Mexico-based website Milenio.com reports that today the Spanish government refused to allow a whole gaggle of Honduran coup honchos to enter that country. This was an action on the part of Socialist Party Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero in line with a decision of the European Union to stiff-arm the Micheletti-led coup regime. The people thus shown the door include the coup president of Congress (Jose Alfredo Saavedra Paz) and the head of the coup Supreme Court (Jorge Alberto Rivera Aviles), plus Supreme Court judge Jose Tomas Arita, coup interior minister Oscar Raul Matute, coup defense minister Adolfo Lionel Sevella, coup finance minister Gabriela Nunez de Reyes, coup minister of security Jorge Alberto Rodas Gamero, coup public works minister Jose Rosario bonnano Zaldivar, coup minister of inforation Rene Cepeda, and the prosecutor of the coup regime, Rubi Aguila. The Spanish government is demanding that the coup regime cooperate with the Arias mediation. What this whole crowd wanted to go to Spain for is not clear. It could be to see the bullfights. But more likely it is to (a) coordinate with Spanish ultra-rightists or (b) find places to stash their loot and hang out when it all blows up.

More tomorrow, no doubt.