…as ultimatum draws to an end
Secretary General of the Organisation of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza travels to Honduras today to press the interim government on restoring power to ousted President Manuel Zelaya, but Insulza said firmly yesterday that they “are not going to negotiate”.
On Tuesday an OAS Special General Assembly in Washington gave the military-backed government in Tegucigalpa 72 hours to restore the elected government or face expulsion.
The OAS, which has taken the lead on restoring Zelaya after the military coup staged in the Central American nation several days ago, will make a final attempt at restoring normalcy. Chaos has erupted in Honduras following the removal of President Zelaya.
Secretary General Insulza met with CARICOM leaders yesterday during a caucus to discuss the crisis in Honduras among other issues and later held a press briefing at the Guyana International Conference Centre ahead of the opening of the regional Heads of Government meeting here.
The General Assembly will decide on possibly suspending Honduras from the hemispheric grouping this weekend following a report from the Secretary General. In a statement yesterday the OAS noted that the resolution passed on Tuesday said that if diplomatic initiatives fail in the 72 hours “the Special General Assembly shall forthwith invoke Article 21 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter to suspend Honduras’ membership.”
“We want to have the President back in Honduras and if they say lets discuss it then we will discuss the conditions and timing, but if we receive a clear reply that this is not going to happen we will report back to the assembly”, Insulza said.
The interim Honduran government has shunned international pressure for Zelaya to return, and is likely to ignore calls by the OAS to step down. To this, Insulza said, that the organization cannot speak of confidence with respect to an outcome. He said too that it would be difficult to restore normalcy within a few days.
The OAS is hoping to turn things around in Honduras and since the coup Insulza said that they have done “everything that can be done” to restore democracy. He noted if the interim government fails to step down sanctions could likely follow. Still, he stressed that the door would remain open for the government to change its mind.
The Secretary General was keen on the point of the OAS visiting Honduras not to negotiate, but to clarify “exactly what the opposition is”. He explained that they will ask the government to change what has been done and focus on restoring normalcy.
Prior to the democratically elected Zelaya being ousted the Secretary General said there had been no communication to the OAS about reported corrupt practices. However, he noted that a series of accusations has since appeared against Zelaya.
“…all this impropriety appeared to have happened within the last three or four days”, Insulza continued while stressing that there are [democratic] procedures to deal with such matters. Insulza added that a military coup is not one of those procedures.
The OAS General Assembly has asked the Secretary General and his team to undertake the necessary diplomatic initiatives to bring the situation in Honduras back to normal ahead of an emergency meeting this weekend.
The organization does not recognize the interim government of President Roberto Micheletti and is yet to hold any discussions with him or his political backers. The Secretary General is expected to meet with the head of the Supreme Court and members of congress when he visits Honduras.
Zelaya had attempted to change the constitution by way of a referendum when the military staged the coup. Zelaya’s opponents were fearful that the referendum would lead to Zelaya prolonging his presidency.
The ousted President Zelaya has promised to return and regain power amid mounting international support for his presidency, but has delayed the trip until the OAS wraps up its visit there. (Iana Seales)
