Honduras: Discussions In Costa Rica Between Zelaya And Micheletti

by Yuliya Talmazan | July 19, 2009 at 02:59 pm

278 views | 20 Recommendations | 5 comments

[UPDATE -- July 20, 2009] Today, European Union announced a cut in aid to Honduras of up to $90 million over the failure of the Interim Government to find a solution to the current political stalemate.

The EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement: "In view of the circumstances, I have taken the difficult decision to suspend all budgetary support payments.

On Saturday, delegates representing the ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the de facto President Roberto Micheletti, have met on neutral territory in the capital of Costa Rica to discuss the political crisis that has unsettled Honduras in recent weeks. The result of the long negotiations on Saturday was a seven-point proposal made by the designated mediator Costa Rican President Oscar Arias that would see president Zelaya return to power. Zelaya attempted to return to Honduras on July 5, but his plane has been turned away by Honduran military blocking the landing lane. Representatives from Micheletti’s side gave no consent on Saturday, saying more time is needed for them to study the proposal.

The proposal involves:

1. Return of Zelaya to power until his presidential term expires in January of 2010
2. Moving up elections scheduled for late November to October 25 (shortening the wait-time by one month)
3. Establishing a national unity government (which would imply Zelaya and Micheletti working together upon Zelaya's return)
4. Providing amnesty for all political crimes (which would not allow for Zelaya's arrest upon his return)
5. Zelaya handing out the power to the Supreme Court of Elections a month ahead of the election, so as to guarantee the election voting procedure's impartiality
6. Setting up an international commission to oversee implementation of the accord
7. Zelaya renouncing all referendum attempts, so the Constitution stands unaltered

On Sunday, Zelaya released a statement saying he will not accept the unity government requirement of the proposal, which would require him to work side by side with Micheletti. Originally, Zelaya has agreed to a power-sharing "government of reconciliation." But, he went on to deny the allegations of his approval for unity government later.

Micheletti, on the other hand, rejected the proposals put forward by Oscar Arias on Saturday. Micheletti threatened to arrest Zelaya should the later decide to return to Honduras and said "no" to a possibility of Zelaya's reinstatement. Moreover, the Interim Government has issued a statement Sunday, claiming Zelaya will face penal trial for violation of Constitution. Zelaya vowed to return to Honduras despite the arrest warrant.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is the chief mediator and negotiator between the two sides involved in the political dispute. He said dialogue took place between the two sides on Saturday. Arias believes Zelaya’s return to power is an important first step that must be taken to reach a resolution.

Arias expressed his hope that this could be the first coup d' etat in history that ends up in peace.

Previous talks took place last weekend in Costa Rica, but lead to no agreements beings made. Meanwhile, demonstrations have broken out between the supporters of Zelaya and Micheletti in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

President Zelaya was ousted from the country on June 28, 2009, in a military-lead coup d'etat.

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Concerned Resident of Honduras

at 16:07 on July 19th, 2009

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Definition

coup (d'état) Show phonetics
noun [C] plural coups (d'état)
a sudden illegal, often violent, taking of government power, especially by (part of) an army:
a military coup

You seem to be a smart person and all in all I enjoy your articals but you make one mistake over and over, what has happened in Honduras was not a coup d'etat! If you read the definition above and apply it to the actions on June 28 they are not in anyway similar>

First, the action was initiated by Congress and The Supreme Court, a legal process.

Second, there was no violence.

Third, the military did not take control of power.

Fourth, the only thing the military did was do their consitutional duty and remove a traitor from offiice.

Babel-Fish

at 20:26 on July 19th, 2009

I totally agree, its of course frightening to other government leader else where that their own congress and supreme court could do the same to them and many of these leaders need to be ousted the same way.

Yuliya Talmazan

at 16:28 on July 19th, 2009

I appreciate your comment. The definition of coup d'etat is the sudden, unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, by a small group of the State Establishment — usually the military — to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military.

Most news sources, like New York Times, TimesOnline, CBC, Huffington Post, have used "military coup" terminology. While others like MSNBC and Washington Post used "coup d'etat." I understand there might be some lack of understanding and discrepancy in terms of the exact terms used to describe the situation in Honduras. However, in my opinion, given the lack of consistency in the media, both terms are acceptable.

Thanks for bringing this up though. It is definitely an important point.

Concerned Resident of Honduras

at 10:00 on July 20th, 2009

There are many definitions from different dictionaries but I choose the Cambridge dictionary as it seems it is used more commonly by academics. I also understand that many of the media outlets you talk about use the term but thats my point. Did they call it a coup d'etat when they impeached Nixon, removed Margrett Thatcher or ousted Prime Minister Brian Mulrooney! They seem to have a sliding scale for what they call fair in politics, one for first world countries and one for third world. So in conclusion I say that they call it the worst thing they can just for ratings and could care less about the truth!

Kathleen Moore, Canada (not verified)

at 14:31 on July 22nd, 2009

ZELAYA ouster is NOT a "military" coup

The Zelaya ouster was NOT a "military" coup. It was the removal of a constitutional usurper by lawful judicial authority.

The Zelaya movement relies on naive, unsophisticated individuals with no knowledge of Constitutional law and of how it functions. And that is particularly true of the so-called "journalists" pretending to cover it.

The Supreme Court of Honduras was bound by law to protect the Constitution, it did the RIGHT thing. The world press and media, and the UN and its lackeys, are misrepresenting domestic Constitutional fact and law in attacking Honduras.

For more detail on the constitutional law involved, read this blog:

http://honduras-not-a-military-coup.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Moore
Montreal, Canada
MY VIDEOS: http://hccvideocatalog.blogspot.com/