Every
day that goes by since the Oct. 29 peace accord in Honduras, raises the
possibility of more bloodshed, chaos and conflict. With consequences
this dire, there is no room for further delays or maneuvers to subvert
the agreement.
It was supposed to be relatively simple: The de
facto regime implicitly recognized that it's position was unsustainable
when high-level U.S. government officials and other international
leaders told them so last week. Cornered, it signed the agreement that
includes reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya.
Reinstatement
passes through what was meant to be a face-saving process of giving a
symbolic role to each of the three branches of government. The Supreme
Court, a body in tight alliance with the de facto regime and its
preferred arbitrator, would offer a non-binding opinion. The Congress
would then retract its decree calling for Zelaya's restitution, which
was largely symbolic since the president was kidnapped and forced out
of the country by the military. The forged letter of resignation also
presented in Congress has already been proven false so does not need to
be formally rescinded.
But as the days go by without a
Congressional decision, the press in Honduras, the United States and
around the world is reporting the same situation with wildly divided
interpretations. The last straw was Assistant Secretary of State Tom
Shannon's appearance on CNN saying that "Both
leaders took a risk and put their trust in congress but, at the end of
the day, the accord requires that both leaders accept its decision,"
and indicating that the U.S. would endorse elections staged by the coup.
Shannon's statement led many to believe that the U.S. government would
support an outcome that did not involve reinstating the elected
President.
President Manuel Zelaya, from his refuge in the
Brazilian Embassy wrote the following letter to Sec. of State Hillary
Clinton, asking for clarification of the current situation:
Tegucigalpa, November 3, 2009
To the Honorable Secretary Clinton,
Given
the surprising declarations today by Assistant Secretary of State
Thomas Shannon on CNN, where he speaks about the agreement ignoring the
fact that it is still in the process of being complied with, the
government of the Republic of Honduras respectfully requests
clarification from the Government of the United States.
We
recognize the right of the U.S. government to express itself freely,
but on this occasion we are obliged to publicly present this respectful
request to the Secretary of State of the United States, Mrs. Hillary
Clinton, to clarify to the Honduran people if her country's position
has been modified or changed regarding its condemnation of the coup
d'etat in Honduras, its commitment to comply with the resolutions of
the OAS and the United Nations, and its support and respect for the
democratic spirit of the Arias Plan, now ratified in the
Tegucigalpa-San Jose Agreement; or whether, rather than maintaining the
positions listed above, it now seeks to recognize the elections in any
case, without waiting for compliance with the accords, without
reverting the coup d'etat, and without resolving the profound crisis in
our country.
Congressman Cesar Ham, presidential candidate for
the Democratic Unification Party; Carlos H. Reyes, independent
presidential candidate; 50 mayors and 20 congressional representatives
of the Liberal Party and the list of congress members of the Innovation
and Unity Party (PINU) have reaffirmed their intention to withdraw from
the electoral process if President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales is not
reinstated in the Presidency of the Republic prior to the elections.
The National Front Against the Coup D'etat, made up of 42 grassroots
organizations, labor federations and indigenous and farmer
organizations, along with myself and my government, will also not
recognize the results of elections held under a military dictatorship
regime and proven violations of human rights.
Today the
Commission of Verification was installed as established in the
Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord, in which one of the members is the
Secretary of Labor of the Government of the United States. This is the
only commission authorized to interpret the agreement. Therefore, the
announcement today by Asst. Secretary of State Thomas Shannon conflicts
with the Commission of Verification.
Democracy is a universal
value and a right of the peoples. We are confident that the United
States, as it has done up to now, will continue alongside the Honduran
people and the Latin American community in this peaceful process of
rebuilding democracy and the rule of law in Honduras, by refusing to
recognize the use of military force to resolve political conflicts
through coups d'etat.
In expectation of your response, I reiterate to you my highest consideration.
Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales
President of the Republic of Honduras
