Word: micheletti
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Days after ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti signed a U.S.-brokered accord on Oct. 30, resolution of their long-running standoff was delayed again. Under the deal, the Honduran congress must decide whether to reinstate Zelaya for the remainder of his term; a legislative committee declined to call a special session for the vote, opting to await an opinion from the Supreme Court on the matter...
Still, with time running out before the Honduran election, only stepped-up U.S. and international pressure brought Micheletti and Zelaya to an accord. The most effective prod: a threat not to recognize the results of the vote, which would render the next Honduran President persona non grata around the world. Another goad: the continuation of economic sanctions by Washington and blocs like the European Union, which are substantial hardships for one of the Western Hemisphere's smallest (7.8 milliion people) and poorest (a 70% poverty rate) countries...
...Honduras talks say that when Washington realized it could only get backing for the idea from a handful of countries like Peru and the Bahamas (not from major hemispheric governments like Brazil and Mexico, nor even staunch U.S. ally Colombia), it decided to turn the screws on Micheletti and make it plain that the coup government and its successor would be out in the global cold if Michelletti didn't relent. The U.S., says one high-ranking Latin American diplomat, "decided it had to stop sending [Micheletti] so many mixed signals that made him feel he could...
That new U.S. resolve started last week with a stern phone call from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Micheletti, who has cracked down on media outlets and civil liberties since Zelaya's return to Honduras last month. She then dispatched to Tegucigalpa a U.S. delegation led by Restrepo and Thomas Shannon, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Shannon downplayed any U.S. strong-arming, insisting the accord resulted "not so much from what we were telling Micheletti but from what other Hondurans were telling Micheletti." In a speech Thursday night, Micheletti called the Zelaya restoration concession "significant...
Honduras has hardly exited its bitterly polarized crisis. Even if Zelaya is reinstated, his powers will be significantly limited by some sort of unity government. Moreover, Micheletti and other coup leaders still feel Zelaya should be prosecuted for defying a Supreme Court order not to hold a referendum on constitutional reform. They were also worried that he planned to eliminate Honduras' ban on presidential re-election and turn the country into a puppet of his left-wing ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Those fears were the basis for the June coup. Many Zelaya supporters, meanwhile, feel Micheletti and other coup...