I/II. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/30/obama-wants-president-reinstated/?feat=home_headlines
Tuesday, June 30, 2009Obama wants Honduran leader reinstated Stephen Dinan <http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/stephen-dinan/> (Contact<http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/stephen-dinan/contact> ) President Obama on Monday called the coup that ousted Manuel Zelaya as president of Honduras "not legal" and joined with the voices of leaders across the Americas in demanding that democracy be respected. Mr. Zelaya was arrested Sunday morning and flown into exile in Costa Rica, but Mr. Obama said he "remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there." "It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections," Mr. Obama said after meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at the White House. Roberto Micheletti, whom the Honduran Congress appointed to fill out Mr. Zelaya's term, said the ousted president had been removed legally by the nation's legislature and courts for trying to stay in office beyond the nation's term limits and for pushing what the courts deemed an illegal referendum to aid his bid. "We respect everybody, and we ask only that they respect us and leave us in peace, because the country is headed toward free and transparent general elections in November," Mr. Micheletti told HRN radio. Protests outside the presidential palace grew from hundreds to thousands, and on Monday afternoon, soldiers and police advanced behind riot shields, using tear gas to scatter the protesters. The demonstrators, many of them choking on the gas, hurled rocks and bottles, the Associated Press reported. Security forces fired rifles, but it was not clear whether they were using live ammunition. There were no immediate confirmations of injuries. Reporters saw at least five people detained. In criticizing the coup, the U.S. joined with leaders of nations ranging from Venezuela to Cuba, according to news services. The Associated Press reported that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to "overthrow" the new government, though Mr. Micheletti shrugged off the threat, telling a radio station: "Nobody scares us." Leftist leaders pulled their ambassadors from Honduras. Mr. Obama, acknowledging a "dark past" in which the U.S. ignored democracy in favor of political stability or geopolitical interests, said America has moved beyond that. "I think both Republicans and Democrats in the United States have recognized that we always want to stand with democracy, even if the results don't always mean that the leaders of those countries are favorable toward the United States," he said. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. is worried that Mr. Zelaya was defying court orders. She also said that although it appears to be a coup, the U.S. is stopping short of officially designating it as such because that would mean U.S. aid would be halted. "We are withholding any formal legal determination," she said. Mr. Zelaya is an ally of other leftist Latin American leaders such as Mr. Chavez. Honduran soldiers stormed the president's residence Sunday morning, hours before a referendum Mr. Zelaya had called to alter the constitution's term limits. News services reported tanks in the streets and soldiers in riot gear in the capital, Tegucigalpa. The Organization of American States will hold an extraordinary general assembly meeting Tuesday to discuss the coup. Mr. Zelaya, meanwhile, will address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, a U.N. official confirmed. II. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062904239.html *U.S. Condemns Honduran Coup* Still, Administration Steps Lightly By Mary Beth Sheridan Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, June 30, 2009 President Obama said yesterday that the military ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and could set a "terrible precedent," but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States government was holding off on formally branding it a coup, which would trigger a cutoff of millions of dollars in aid to the impoverished Central American country. Clinton's statement appeared to reflect the U.S. government's caution amid fast-moving events in Honduras, where Zelaya was detained and expelled by the military on Sunday. The United States has joined other countries throughout the hemisphere in condemning the coup. But leaders face a difficult task in trying to restore Zelaya to office in a nation where the National Congress, military and Supreme Court have accused him of attempting a power grab through a special referendum. Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said the situation presented a dilemma for the United States and other countries. Zelaya is "fighting with all the institutions in the country," Hakim said. "He's in no condition really to govern. At the same time, to stand by and allow him to be pushed out by the military reverses a course of 20 years." U.S. officials had tried ahead of time to avert the coup, warning the Honduran military and politicians against suspending democratic order. The U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, sheltered one of Zelaya's children to prevent him from being harmed, according to Carlos Sosa, Honduras's ambassador to the Organization of American States. But the Obama administration has had cool relations with Zelaya, a close ally of Venezuela's<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/venezuela.html?nav=el> anti-American president, Hugo Chávez. While U.S. officials say they continue to recognize Zelaya as president, they have not indicated they are willing to use the enormous U.S. clout in the country to force his return. Asked whether it was a U.S. priority to see Zelaya reinstalled, Clinton said: "We haven't laid out any demands that we're insisting on, because we're working with others on behalf of our ultimate objectives." John D. Negroponte, a former senior State Department official and ambassador to Honduras, said Clinton's remarks appeared to reflect U.S. reluctance to see Zelaya returned unconditionally to power. "I think she wants to preserve some leverage to try and get Zelaya to back down from his insistence on a referendum," he said. Zelaya clashed with the Honduran Congress, Supreme Court and military in recent weeks, particularly over his promotion of a referendum that might have permitted him to run for another four-year term. The Congress and Supreme Court said the referendum was illegal. The Congress overwhelmingly voted to depose Zelaya after he had been forcibly removed. Lawmakers then named a new president, Roberto Micheletti, from the same party. Obama repeated yesterday that the United States viewed Zelaya as Honduras's president and that "the coup was not legal." "It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections," he told reporters after a meeting with Colombian President Álvaro Uribe. Clinton told reporters that the situation in Honduras had "evolved into a coup" but that the United States was "withholding any formal legal determination" characterizing it that way. "We're assessing what the final outcome of these actions will be," she said. "Much of our assistance is conditioned on the integrity of the democratic system. But if we were able to get to a status quo that returned to the rule of law and constitutional order within a relatively short period of time, I think that would be a good outcome." The Obama administration has pledged to work more closely with Latin America and not dictate policy in its traditional back yard. But the United States has several points of leverage: It is Honduras's biggest trading partner, and President Obama has requested $68 million in development and military aid for 2010. Portions of that aid, which are provided directly to the government, would be cut off in the event of a coup. Congressional officials said last night they were not sure exactly how much that amounted to. Honduras also is a recipient of a five-year, $215 million Millennium Challenge grant that is conditioned on the country remaining a democracy. The United States also has a close military relationship with Honduras. Hundreds of Honduran officers participate in U.S. military training programs each year, more than most other Western Hemisphere countries. Among those who have attended such training is the senior military officer of Honduras, Gen. Romeo Vasquez, who was dismissed by Zelaya prior to the coup. After that dismissal, other senior Honduran military leaders resigned, including the Air Force commander, Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo. Vasquez attended the Pentagon-run School of the Americas in 1976 and 1984, and Suazo attended in 1996, according to Army records of graduates obtained by a watchdog group. A spokesman for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, which replaced the School of the Americas in 2001, said the records of graduates obtained by the group, School of Americas Watch, are accurate. "We have a strong military relationship with them and in . . . military exchange training that takes place, we emphasize civilian control of the military" as well as human rights and the rule of law, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. A contingent of about 600 U.S. military personnel is based at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras as part of Joint Task Force Bravo, which mainly supports disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping and counternarcotics activities in Honduras and the region. The Organization of American States has summoned the hemisphere's foreign ministers to Washington to discuss the crisis. Clinton said the United States is pushing for a delegation to be sent to Honduras after the session. The United States has been a strong backer of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, a document signed by OAS members in 2001 that commits them to observe the "right to democracy." Violators can be suspended from the organization. OAS members issued a statement calling for "the immediate, safe and unconditional return" of Zelaya to the presidency. *Staff writer Ann Scott Tyson contributed to this report.* --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
