Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Manuel Zelaya
Having already taken what some South American leaders considered a weak response to the coup that ousted Honduras’ leader Manuel Zelaya, the Obama administration signaled last week that it may further back away from helping the former president return to power in order to placate Republicans in Congress. The shift in policy by the State Department, put forth in a letter to Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking GOP member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, was made because Republicans have been blocking the confirmations of two key appointees to diplomatic posts—Arturo Valenzuela, Obama’s choice to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Thomas Shannon, his choice for Ambassador to Brazil.
In the August 4 letter to Lugar, Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Richard Verma wrote that the State Department was willing to admit Zelaya was partly responsible to blame for his ouster, after he tried calling for a referendum to allow him to seek re-election. “We also recognize that President Zelaya’s insistence on undertaking provocative actions contributed to the polarization of Honduran society and led to a confrontation that unleashed the events that led to his removal,” Verma wrote.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are divided over how the Honduran crisis should be resolved. Democrats support Zelaya’s return as president, but with limited powers, while Republicans reject the idea altogether. GOP lawmakers have been wary of Zelaya’s political alignment with other leftist leaders in Latin America, such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Jorge Yllesca, a political consultant based in Honduras, said a compromise could be reached with current Honduran leader Roberto Micheletti stepping aside and allowing someone else, such as the president of the Congress or the chief justice of the supreme court, to assume the presidency.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
U.S. Drops Call to Restore Ousted Honduran Leader (by Tyler Bridges, McClatchy Newspapers)
Senator Fears Letter Sends Wrong Signal on Honduras (by Ginger Thompson, New York Times)
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