Parties deny any secret agreements in Honduras crisis

November 2, 10:50 PMOrlando Republican ExaminerBlas Padrino

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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs Thomas Shannon

AP photo/Arnulfo Franco

Since the negotiators representing the interim government of President Roberto Micheletti and deposed rival Manuel Zelaya signed an agreement to end their constitutional dispute, there have been rumors of side deals between the United States and the opposing parties. Those rumors have been denied by all sides involved.

However, it is not clear that there is a unanimous interpretation of the accords. Tomorrow, the ‘verification commission’ called for under the pact will be installed and its four members will be sworn in. They include a member designated by each side and two selected from the international community. The latter are former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos and U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.

A ‘national unity’ government is to be named by Thursday and the National Congress is charged with determining whether Mr. Zelaya will be reinstated. The former president has interpreted that part of the agreement to mean that the National Congress must reinstate him on Thursday. However, the leader of the legislative body has said that they will take the necessary time to determine whether Mr. Zelaya will be reinstated or not. The National Congress is currently in recess and not supposed to meet until after the November 29 elections, which will require that it be called to a special session. The agreement also requires the legislature to consult with the Supreme Court on the matter.

While the United States and the Organization of American States pressured Honduras to reinstate Zelaya through political and economic sanctions, the international united front began to show cracks when several Latin American countries, including Panama and Colombia, balked at withholding recognition of the winner of the November elections as Honduras’ legitimate president. At that point, the international community was forced to look for a face-saving agreement to get beyond the crisis.

nfortunately, the insistence by the OAS, the United Nations and the United States on demanding Zelaya’s reinstatement helped to polarize public opinion in Honduras and only served to aggravate the problem. The attitude of U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens was especially harmful. From his office in Tegucigalpa, he orchestrated the effort to undermine the interim government by applying pressure on civic and business leaders to denounce Zelaya’s removal by the Congress and Supreme Court. In an op-ed piece in today’s Wall Street Journal by Mary Anastasia O’Grady, she argues that, once the crisis is resolved, the Obama Administration would do well to name a new ambassador to Honduras.

In the end, Undersecretary of State for Latin America Thomas Shannon, who was involved in the negotiations last week, categorically denied that the United States demanded Zelaya’s reinstatement under the accord and stated that the decision will be entirely up to the Honduran institutions. Hopefully, his statements will dispel any doubts concerning the matter.

For additional information:
La Prensa article on denial of side agreements (Spanish)