TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – The United States urged Honduras on Tuesday to form a unity government and establish a truth commission to investigate the country’s June coup, suggesting that US aid may hinge on these conditions.
Washington recognized the results of a November presidential election in the Central American nation over the objections of other regional governments but has said the vote itself is not enough to resolve the region’s worst political crisis in decades.
“We have some decisions to make, in terms of the nature of our relationship, the nature of assistance in the future,” US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said.
Craig Kelly, a senior US diplomat, is visiting Honduras this week to urge Honduras’ president-elect Porfirio Lobo and ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who was toppled by an army-backed coup on June 28, to seek an end to the country’s deep political divide.
Honduras’ economy, already struggling due to falling demand for its exports due to the global recession, has been hit hard after the United States and other foreign governments cut aid following the coup and businesses put off investment decisions due to political uncertainty.
Lobo has called on world leaders to restore aid payments but many European and Latin American countries have condemned November’s election organized by the de facto government as illegitimate.
The president-elect, who takes office January 27, has said little about Zelaya, who has been holed up inside the Brazilian Embassy for months with his wife and a handful of supporters.
