TEGUCIGALPA — The camp of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya called Tuesday for the cancellation of elections held under the regime which backed his June 28 ouster, and Zelaya's immediate reinstatement.
"The elections have to be cancelled. We're demanding the restoration of democratic order," top Zelaya aide Carlos Reina told journalists shortly after exiting the Brazilian embassy, where he had been for 72 days with the ousted leader.
Both sides in the five-month crisis appeared more determined to stick to their positions after Sunday's controversial polls, in which conservative Porfirio Lobo claimed victory.
Lobo says he will seek to form a national unity government in an attempt to overcome deep rifts in the impoverished and polarized nation.
Reina said Lobo had not made any attempt to talk to Zelaya, who was ousted after critics said he acted against the constitution and tried to illegally extend term limits.
Zelaya "accepts no dialogue with the de facto government which aims to whitewash the coup," Reina added.
Reina said Zelaya sought to complete his four-year term, including the time lost since the military packed him away in his pajamas in June.
Following a crisis agreement, which Zelaya has rejected as invalid, Congress was Wednesday to vote on Zelaya's brief reinstatement until his term expires in January.
Reina called for protests outside the congress and disputed its authority to decide on Zelaya's fate, after having backed his ouster in the first place.
Sunday's vote has bitterly divided the Americas, pitting the United States, which supported it as a first step out of the crisis, against regional powerhouse Brazil.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned Tuesday that cooperating with Lobo would pose a "serious threat" to democracy in Latin America.
Critics see Zelaya's reinstatement as a possible way out of the five-month crisis, and a way to add legitimacy to Lobo's presidency.
Zelaya's bitter rival de facto Roberto Micheletti, who stepped down briefly during the election, has said he will return to the helm of the country on Wednesday.
Hundreds of Zelaya supporters drove across the Honduran capital late Monday in a noisy protest to reject the elections, for which they said turnout figures, of more than 60 percent, had been inflated.
Rights groups said the elections were marred by the lack of international consensus, and slammed a military crackdown on journalists and activists since the coup.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jNfOTp_WuO_XJEkdqKNqpnkxYjsw
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Honduras crisis splits Ibero-American summit
The crisis in Honduras has dominated the Ibero-American summit and exposed deep divisions between those taking part.
Brazil, for example, condemns Sunday’s election, maintaining that recognising it would be tantamount to accepting the coup that took place in June. Colombia and some smaller states support the ballot, won by an opponent of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. So, in a closing statement, summit host Portugal, Spain and Latin American countries avoided passing judgement on the poll. Instead, they settled for condemning the coup, calling for Zelaya to be reinstated and urging national dialogue in Honduras. Evoking “very intense”, last minute negotiations, Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates dared to use the word “consensus.” No country, he stressed, objected to the final declaration. euronews journalist María Piñeiro, speaking from the summit, said: “There was no consensus on Honduras or on climate change, one of the issues that should have been at the heart of discussions between the Ibero-American countries at this summit in Estoril, with just a few days to go until the Copenhagen summit gets underway.” And, highlighting that fact, Greenpeace campaigners scaled the Belém Tower in Lisbon. “Our climate, your decision”, was their message. Their banner did not remain in place for long and nine activists were arrested.
Source:euronews.net
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Ousted Honduran leader urges region to reject vote
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya sent a letter to divided Latin American leaders Tuesday urging them to reject elections held under the coup-installed government and help restore him to power.
"I ask you not to recognize the electoral fraud and for your cooperation so that this coup d'etat does not remain unpunished," the leftist leader said in a letter released from the Brazilian Embassy, where he is holed up under threat of arrest.
Western Hemisphere countries united to condemn Zelaya's June 28 ouster but are divided on whether to recognize Sunday's presidential vote.
The United States, which cut off development aid and anti-drug trafficking cooperation with its impoverished ally after the coup, says Hondurans have the right to choose a new leader regular elections that had been scheduled before the putsch. Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia and Panama share that stance.
But Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other left-led governments say recognizing the election amounts to legitimizing Central America's first coup in 20 years.
Porfirio Lobo, a wealthy rancher from the opposition National Party, overwhelmingly defeated Elvin Santos of the ruling Liberal Party, which largely turned against Zelaya and supported his ouster. Zelaya, whose single, four-year term ends Jan. 27, was not a candidate.
Lobo and interim President Roberto Micheletti say a large turnout Sunday showed a majority of Hondurans supported the vote and want to put the crisis behind them. Electoral officials say more than 60 percent of registered voters cast ballots.
But Zelaya, who had urged a boycott, insisted Tuesday that 60 percent of voters stayed home.
At least one independent monitoring group also reported a turnout rate much lower than the official one. Hagamos Democracia, the local partner of the U.S. National Democratic Institute, said its count of 1,000 polling stations put turnout at about 48 percent. They said the count had a margin of error of 1.8 percent.
NDI, a U.S. government-funded group that promotes democracy around the world, also sent monitors to Honduras but has not released its own assessment.
NDI president Ken Wollack said he could not comment on the official turnout rate but noted that Hagamos Democracia's count had a low margin of error and successfully projected the vote's outcome: 56 percent for Lobo and 38 percent for Santos.
However, he also said a 48 percent turnout would be consistent with a trend of increasing abstention in Honduras. Turnout was 55 percent in the 2005 election that brought Zelaya to office, 10 percentage points lower than in the previous election.
"In terms of the conduct of the election itself, I think there is a sense that it was a generally, with some exceptions, a peaceful and orderly process," Wollack told The Associated Press.
However, he said campaigning was complicated by curfews, the periodic closures of opposition-aligned media and the arrest of Zelaya supporters.
Marco Aurelio Garcia, foreign adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, told reporters Monday night that the elections appeared to show strong "popular participation, and we can't be indifferent to that political fact," Brazil's O Globo newspaper reported Tuesday.
But at a summit in Portugal, Silva maintained Brazil's position against recognizing the election.
"We can't pretend nothing happened," Silva said Tuesday before leaving the gathering of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. "If this state of affairs is allowed to remain, democracy will be at serious risk in Latin and Central America."
Summit participants demanded Zelaya be restored to finish his term, but could not agree on whether to recognize Lobo's incoming government.
The United States is also urging Zelaya's return to power and hopes the two sides will return to the negotiating table before his term ends.
Under a U.S.-brokered pact, Congress must vote on whether Zelaya should be restored to power as head of a unity government. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin that debate Wednesday.
However, Zelaya's chances of returning to office look increasingly slim. In an interview with AP on Sunday, Zelaya said he would not return to the presidency even if Congress votes him back in.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9CAOD5O0
"I ask you not to recognize the electoral fraud and for your cooperation so that this coup d'etat does not remain unpunished," the leftist leader said in a letter released from the Brazilian Embassy, where he is holed up under threat of arrest.
Western Hemisphere countries united to condemn Zelaya's June 28 ouster but are divided on whether to recognize Sunday's presidential vote.
The United States, which cut off development aid and anti-drug trafficking cooperation with its impoverished ally after the coup, says Hondurans have the right to choose a new leader regular elections that had been scheduled before the putsch. Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia and Panama share that stance.
But Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other left-led governments say recognizing the election amounts to legitimizing Central America's first coup in 20 years.
Porfirio Lobo, a wealthy rancher from the opposition National Party, overwhelmingly defeated Elvin Santos of the ruling Liberal Party, which largely turned against Zelaya and supported his ouster. Zelaya, whose single, four-year term ends Jan. 27, was not a candidate.
Lobo and interim President Roberto Micheletti say a large turnout Sunday showed a majority of Hondurans supported the vote and want to put the crisis behind them. Electoral officials say more than 60 percent of registered voters cast ballots.
But Zelaya, who had urged a boycott, insisted Tuesday that 60 percent of voters stayed home.
At least one independent monitoring group also reported a turnout rate much lower than the official one. Hagamos Democracia, the local partner of the U.S. National Democratic Institute, said its count of 1,000 polling stations put turnout at about 48 percent. They said the count had a margin of error of 1.8 percent.
NDI, a U.S. government-funded group that promotes democracy around the world, also sent monitors to Honduras but has not released its own assessment.
NDI president Ken Wollack said he could not comment on the official turnout rate but noted that Hagamos Democracia's count had a low margin of error and successfully projected the vote's outcome: 56 percent for Lobo and 38 percent for Santos.
However, he also said a 48 percent turnout would be consistent with a trend of increasing abstention in Honduras. Turnout was 55 percent in the 2005 election that brought Zelaya to office, 10 percentage points lower than in the previous election.
"In terms of the conduct of the election itself, I think there is a sense that it was a generally, with some exceptions, a peaceful and orderly process," Wollack told The Associated Press.
However, he said campaigning was complicated by curfews, the periodic closures of opposition-aligned media and the arrest of Zelaya supporters.
Marco Aurelio Garcia, foreign adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, told reporters Monday night that the elections appeared to show strong "popular participation, and we can't be indifferent to that political fact," Brazil's O Globo newspaper reported Tuesday.
But at a summit in Portugal, Silva maintained Brazil's position against recognizing the election.
"We can't pretend nothing happened," Silva said Tuesday before leaving the gathering of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. "If this state of affairs is allowed to remain, democracy will be at serious risk in Latin and Central America."
Summit participants demanded Zelaya be restored to finish his term, but could not agree on whether to recognize Lobo's incoming government.
The United States is also urging Zelaya's return to power and hopes the two sides will return to the negotiating table before his term ends.
Under a U.S.-brokered pact, Congress must vote on whether Zelaya should be restored to power as head of a unity government. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin that debate Wednesday.
However, Zelaya's chances of returning to office look increasingly slim. In an interview with AP on Sunday, Zelaya said he would not return to the presidency even if Congress votes him back in.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9CAOD5O0
Honduran activist Jose Lagos dies in Miami
Jose Lagos, a self-styled political activist from Honduras and a longtime fighter in South Florida's myriad immigration causes, died Sunday of cancer at Jackson Memorial Hospital, his family said. He was 45.
``My brother was very special: He was a humane man and a good leader,'' said Burij Muchnik, Lagos' half-brother, 58, a physician assistant.
As director of the nonprofit Honduran Unity, Lagos was visible on South Florida streets and at news conferences -- almost always clad in a classy suit. He sought to advance not just the rights of his fellow Hondurans and other Hispanics. He also expanded his advocacy work to include Haitians.
``He was a unifer,'' said Jean-Robert Lafortune, president of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition. ``His cause was not focused on the Honduran people but on the whole South Florida mosaic of immigrants.''
Lagos was born April 11, 1964 in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa where he attended a Catholic high school. In 1985, Lagos and his family relocated to Miami, and he would soon enroll at Miami-Dade Community College. He left with an associate's degree in business administration.
Lagos and his family did what they had to get by. They sold hotdogs from carts in downtown Miami.
In 1990, Lagos started to focus on immigration-related work, working as the executive director of an association that helped medical school graduates from other countries obtain their physician's license.
Years later, he would focus full-time on helping immigrants. In 1997, Lagos and Muchnik formed Honduran Unity. The nonprofit was the springboard on which they launched their advocacy work. They protested fee hikes for immigrants applying for citizenship or temporary work permits. They alerted immigrants to scams claiming to help applicants secure visas. And they organized charities.
Federal immigration policies were once known for pitting some groups against others in South Florida. But immigration advocates say Lagos was instrumental in showing Hispanic and Haitians the strength in joining forces. In recent years, Lagos teamed up with Haiti advocates in their fight for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS.
``It's taken a lot of work to bridge that gap but Jose was instrumental in making a lot of gains in that regard,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami. ``He felt all immigrants should be treated fairly and justly.''
A year ago, doctors diagnosed Lagos with cancer. Therapy followed with radiation and chemotherapy. But he always found time for his cause.
In July, a visibly ill Lagos and scores of others rallied outside a Little Havana church. They protested the imminent suspension of international aid to Honduras, which they argued hurt everyday people. The aid was yanked anyway.
That same cause -- the support for a de facto government that he and many South Florida exiles believed was a symbol that opposed the region's rise of populism -- carried him to the end. Lagos died at 4:27 p.m. Sunday, the same day voters in Honduras and in the United States cast their ballots in hopes of a new beginning for the Central American nation.
Lagos is survived by a sister, Josela, and five half-brothers and -sisters, among them Muchnik.
Funeral services are pending.
Source: miamiherald.com/
``My brother was very special: He was a humane man and a good leader,'' said Burij Muchnik, Lagos' half-brother, 58, a physician assistant.
As director of the nonprofit Honduran Unity, Lagos was visible on South Florida streets and at news conferences -- almost always clad in a classy suit. He sought to advance not just the rights of his fellow Hondurans and other Hispanics. He also expanded his advocacy work to include Haitians.
``He was a unifer,'' said Jean-Robert Lafortune, president of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition. ``His cause was not focused on the Honduran people but on the whole South Florida mosaic of immigrants.''
Lagos was born April 11, 1964 in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa where he attended a Catholic high school. In 1985, Lagos and his family relocated to Miami, and he would soon enroll at Miami-Dade Community College. He left with an associate's degree in business administration.
Lagos and his family did what they had to get by. They sold hotdogs from carts in downtown Miami.
In 1990, Lagos started to focus on immigration-related work, working as the executive director of an association that helped medical school graduates from other countries obtain their physician's license.
Years later, he would focus full-time on helping immigrants. In 1997, Lagos and Muchnik formed Honduran Unity. The nonprofit was the springboard on which they launched their advocacy work. They protested fee hikes for immigrants applying for citizenship or temporary work permits. They alerted immigrants to scams claiming to help applicants secure visas. And they organized charities.
Federal immigration policies were once known for pitting some groups against others in South Florida. But immigration advocates say Lagos was instrumental in showing Hispanic and Haitians the strength in joining forces. In recent years, Lagos teamed up with Haiti advocates in their fight for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS.
``It's taken a lot of work to bridge that gap but Jose was instrumental in making a lot of gains in that regard,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami. ``He felt all immigrants should be treated fairly and justly.''
A year ago, doctors diagnosed Lagos with cancer. Therapy followed with radiation and chemotherapy. But he always found time for his cause.
In July, a visibly ill Lagos and scores of others rallied outside a Little Havana church. They protested the imminent suspension of international aid to Honduras, which they argued hurt everyday people. The aid was yanked anyway.
That same cause -- the support for a de facto government that he and many South Florida exiles believed was a symbol that opposed the region's rise of populism -- carried him to the end. Lagos died at 4:27 p.m. Sunday, the same day voters in Honduras and in the United States cast their ballots in hopes of a new beginning for the Central American nation.
Lagos is survived by a sister, Josela, and five half-brothers and -sisters, among them Muchnik.
Funeral services are pending.
Source: miamiherald.com/
China expects early restoration of stability in Honduras
BEIJING, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- China hoped Honduras could restore stability at an early date, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday in response to questions on Honduras' presidential election.
Qin said China had noticed related reports on the outcome of the election, which said opposition leader Porfirio Lobo claimed victory on Nov. 29.
"China has not forged diplomatic ties with Honduras, but we pay close attention to its domestic situation," he said.
Qin said China hoped to see an early restoration of stability in Honduras, which would be in the interests of the Honduran people and conducive to peace and stability of Central America and Latin America.
China's principle on developing relations with other countries had been consistent and clear, and China would conduct exchanges and cooperation with others on the basis of the one-China policy, he said.
Source: xinhuanet.com
Qin said China had noticed related reports on the outcome of the election, which said opposition leader Porfirio Lobo claimed victory on Nov. 29.
"China has not forged diplomatic ties with Honduras, but we pay close attention to its domestic situation," he said.
Qin said China hoped to see an early restoration of stability in Honduras, which would be in the interests of the Honduran people and conducive to peace and stability of Central America and Latin America.
China's principle on developing relations with other countries had been consistent and clear, and China would conduct exchanges and cooperation with others on the basis of the one-China policy, he said.
Source: xinhuanet.com
Live From Honduras: Electoral Observations
On the evening of November 29, the Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) announced that a technical error had impeded the “second verification of data” in the tallying of the day’s election results. The error had occurred despite repeated TSE claims that the efficiency of its tallying process would enable Honduras and the world to become acquainted with the country’s next president within hours of the closing of the polls; not explained was the reason for urgency, as Honduras and the world already had two Honduran presidents to keep track of—one elected (Mel Zelaya) and the other the product of the June 28 coup (Roberto Micheletti).
In a televised presentation at the Marriott Hotel in Tegucigalpa, TSE President Saúl Escobar declared that, instead of concealing the day’s technical error, the institution had “made the decision to [reveal] exactly what had happened.” Whether this triumph in TSE transparency was intended to serve as compensation for the lack of transparent election results was not clear, nor was why transparency did not extend to a revelation of what exactly the “second verification of data” consisted of or why it was not possible.
Other attempts to pass off failure as victory in the Honduran context included coup regime glorification of elections as the remedy to all political, social, and economic ills. During the Marriott presentation, TSE magistrate Enrique Ortez impassionedly decreed that the elections had been won by the “Honduran people” and that November 29 would be a date “recorded in gold letters.”
As for inferior records, TSE vote tallies for the presidential race were for the moment replaced with results offered by the TSE-approved association Hagamos Democracia, which assigned 55.77 percent of the vote to National Party candidate Porfirio (Pepe) Lobo and 38.58 percent to Liberal Party candidate Elvin Santos. Additional technical failures on the part of the TSE were observed on its website, which I visited the morning following the elections only to find that the link to “VOTE COUNTING AND THE TRANSMISSION OF PRELIMINARY RESULTS” did not exist.
Of the links that did exist, the one entitled “Virtual Observer: Watch the elections online” consisted of three live video options featuring different electoral scenes such as a desk with a scanner. The Virtual Observer had been advertised by the TSE as a way for the international community to witness Honduran democracy; as for non-virtual election observers, these included Israeli Ambassador to Guatemala and non-resident Ambassador to Honduras Eliyahu López and organizations such as the International Republican Institute, which in addition to supporting the 2002 coup against Hugo Chávez happens to have also cooperated in election-related projects in Venezuela and Nicaragua with Hagamos Democracia.
When I initially clicked on the Virtual Observer link I found not only the three videos but also election results for the five presidential candidates, although the figures listed for the total number of votes counted and the overall percentage of voter participation were both 0. A subsequent visit to the site revealed that the tallies had been removed and that only the videos remained; other technical inconsistencies included the TSE’s announcement that voter participation had been over 61 percent despite Hagamos Democracia’s calculation of 47.6.
The Virtual Observer section did not include an option to watch oral cellular phone transmission of electoral data, which was the process that had been hyped by the TSE and the Honduran media as enabling rapid determination of the next president and that was based on the distribution of 20,000 specially-purchased phones to electoral tables around the country. Rapidity was less of a priority among other organs of the Honduran state such as the National Congress, which had postponed consideration of Zelaya’s restitution until December and thus underscored the illegitimacy of the elections; as for the effectiveness of cellular transmissions of critical data, this was called into question by the frequency with which Honduran cell phone communications were reduced to such phrases as: “Can you hear me?”
The system lost further credibility yesterday at one of the electoral tables at the Tegucigalpa polling station of Iglesia Vida Abundante, where the woman in charge of reporting the results to the main TSE computing center proved less than certain as to reporting protocol but agreed that numbers involving multiple digits would probably be reported one digit at a time. She additionally assured me that whatever she reported would be recorded and shrugged at the possibility of a lack of cell phone reception at the time of recording; other technical obstacles were identified at a voting station in the lower-class neighborhood of El Pedregal, where the cell phones at several electoral tables were not functioning.
TSE President Escobar’s declaration that there was “absolutely nothing to doubt about these elections” was aided by Honduran media traditions of obsequiousness, manifestations of which included radio commentators vying to provide the most euphoric fabrication of Honduran hordes descending upon voting centers and the daily El Heraldo’s “minute by minute” election updates such as: “9.41 p.m.: Day of glory. Honduras is one big carnival.” Not explained was whether Honduran carnivals always entailed military and police repression of peaceful election day protests in San Pedro Sula.
A citizen at one of the voting centers claimed that past elections had been more celebratory in nature and cited the current absence of vehicular caravans—an absence that persisted until the following day when the Resistance proved its adeptness at organizing large numbers of like-minded automobiles. As for TSE magistrate Ortez’ proclamation that the countries of the world had the moral obligation to recognize the Honduran electoral process, it would seem that moral obligations might also be assigned to electoral magistrates claiming to speak for 7 million Hondurans.
Source: upsidedownworld.org
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