Tegucigalpa - The active involvement of the United States
government is necessary to solve Honduras' ongoing political crisis,
many analysts said, more than a week after President Manuel Zelaya
was ousted in a coup.
The first request came from Zelaya himself late Sunday, after he
failed to land in capital Tegucigalpa and despite the support of the
United Nations General Assembly, Organization of American States
(OAS) and the governments of Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay and
Venezuela.
'As of tomorrow (Monday), whatever happens in Honduras will be the
responsibility of powers, especially of the United States,' said
Zelaya.
Political analyst Kevin Casas, a former Costa Rican vice
president, said what was happening in Honduras was 'a farce that the
international community has to stop.'
'I think that North American diplomacy has to be less subtle and
that they have to send a delegation to speak with Honduras' de facto
president and with Zelaya.
'And they should also (talk) to some governments like those of
Mexico and Brazil and other countries in the area. Costa Rican
President Oscar Arias has already offered his help,' Casas told
broadcaster CNN.
Casas argued that the United States must take on a leadership role
to prevent countries like Venezuela and Nicaragua from using the
Honduran crisis for their own benefit.
He added that if the administration of US President Barack Obama
could not look for a way out of the Honduran crisis then it was
unlikely that it 'can solve the real crises there are in the world.'
The possible intervention of a third country has the backing of
Honduran politicians like Elvin Santos, Zelaya's former vice
president, who resigned in December to stand for the presidency.
'We are in a hurry to have dialogue and we will propose that such
a dialogue, which has so often taken place in Honduras and which has
not borne fruit and has led to these circumstances, will this time be
carried out in another country,' said Santos.
The government set up after the coup on Monday sent a six-member
mission to Washington to give its version of events in the troubled
Central American country. However, the US has said that it would not
engage in talks with a de facto government.
Some analysts are suggesting an early presidential election as a
way out of the crisis. Elections are currently scheduled to take
place late November.
However, Juan Ferrera, coordinator for Honduras' National Anti-
Corruption Council, told the German Press Agency dpa that even if the
election is held early it should afford voters the necessary
guarantees.
'We demand a clean, transparent job, that guarantees that power is
granted to whomever the people decide,' Ferrera said.
Ernestina Mejia, a former legislator of Zelaya's Liberal Party,
said the ousted president enjoys no immunity in Honduras because such
protection from prosecution for public servants was abolished in
2004.
Since the coup on June 28, Honduras has been rejected by the
international community and suspended from the OAS. Protests have so
far killed two people, while ten others were wounded.
The OAS suspension will entail economic losses, which is bound to
worsen the effects of the global financial crisis on Latin America's
third-poorest country that depends on loans from multilateral
agencies and the remittances from its expatriates.
USA
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