Micheletti Says He Supports Terms of "San Jose Accord"

The de facto leader of the Honduran government, Roberto Micheletti, has indicated his willingness to allow the reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya under a compromise agreement, reports the New York Times’ Ginger Thompson this morning. On Wednesday Mr. Micheletti apparently telephoned mediator Oscar Arias to say that he would support the terms of an agreement that the Costa Rican president has put forward, now known as the “San José Accord.” Among its 12 points is the return of Mr. Zelaya to the presidency, be it with “significantly limited powers. Nevertheless, opposition to Zelaya’s return remained strong among certain sectors of the coup government, leading Micheletti to request that an international envoy be sent to “stem the fierce opposition.” One potential figure being discussed is former IDB chief, Uruguayan Enrique V. Iglesias who currently serves as the head of the Secretaría General Iberoamericana in Madrid. But Arias also insisted that international pressure on the Honduran regime should continue as no official deal had yet been struck. Under the terms of the “San José Accord” presidential elections would also be moved up one month, from November to October and a general amnesty for “political offenses” would go into effect until after Zelaya leaves office. It is not yet clear, however, how “political offenses” will be determined. And, moreover, Zelaya, who earlier supported the 12 point plan, will now have to re-respond it would seem. In a side story, two Venezuelan diplomats remained held up inside their embassy in Tegucigalpa, refusing to leave after the de facto government expelled them last week. Zelaya supporters blocked the entry to the embassy to prevent any forcible entry by Honduran security forces. And on the opinion pages of the Miami Herald Marifeli Perez-Stable calls for an end to the “coup stalemate.” She writes that the Honduran coup, while it should be called such, is distinct from the bloody takeovers by the military during the 1970s. Interestingly, she mentions issues of poverty and an intransigent Honduran elite political/economic class as largely to blame for creating the environment which led to the June ouster.

Both the Washington Post and LA Times report this morning on the killing of a Mexican radio journalist in the Acapulco late Tuesday night. Juan Daniel Martinez’s body was found “beaten, gagged, and partially buried” on Wednesday in the state of Guerrero, writes the WP. He covered local issues, particularly crime, on his radio show, but no suspects have yet been apprehended. Additionally, as the LA Times reports, a separate killing took the life of a police commander and his family, including his four children. This murder took place in Ciudad Juarez where the officer had been investigating the murder of another journalist, was murdered in November. And the AP writes that U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, speaking in Mexico this week, said the U.S. will adopt a “wait and see” approach toward a new Mexican drug law that decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. “I guess if I was looking at it strictly from our viewpoint, the use of the government as a strong sanction is often pretty helpful in getting people into treatment. If the sanction becomes completely nonexistent I think that would be a concern, but I actually didn't read quite that level of de-facto (decriminalization) in the law,” Kerlikowske said. In 2006, the U.S. strongly opposed a similar decriminalization law put forward under the Vicente Fox administration.

Also on drugs this morning, the New York Times writes from Buenos Aires, Argentina where reporter Alexi Barrionuevo examines “paco” and poverty in Argentine villas. Paco, a very low quality, smokeable drug made from cocaine residue mixed with chemicals, including rat poison at times, has been called the “scourge of the poor” by Argentine politicians. And, according to Barrionuevo, it is the greatest social challenge facing villas like Oculta, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. It only arrived in Argentina in 2003 as a much cheaper alternative to cocaine, but “paco also wreaks havoc on the appetites of users, who literally die from not eating.” And, moreover, there is yet no clear treatment regimen that breaks addiction.

In other news, Reuters says Colombia will not cut trade with Venezuela, one day after Hugo Chavez’s put the two countries’ diplomatic relations on freeze. The OAS’s Sec. General, José Miguel Insulza, meanwhile, urged Chavez not to break of diplomatic relations after anti-tank weapons from Venezuela were allegedly found in the hands of FARC guerrillas. “I wish that a dialogue can be started to allow both sides discussing their differences in a fraternal environment, which is how differences should be dealt with between two fellow countries,” Insulza remarked on Wednesday. A Miami Herald editorial says Chavez’s “temper tantrums” are not fooling anyone, however. “The connections between the Chávez government and the FARC have been clear ever since the discovery of documents taken from guerrilla computers last year,” argues the paper.

In news that will undoubtedly affect Latin America in the coming years, the Wall Street Journal reports that the IMF will pump more money into low-income countries over the next five years. Some $17 billion are expected to be loaned out under “favorable terms” which include no interest through 2011. The IMF’s executive board also exceeded the calls of the G20 and agreed to loan out $8 billion over the next two years alone.

Finally today, the Miami Herald reports on Yoani Sánchez, the Cuban blogger whose weblog “Generación Y” was honored by Columbia University this week. Sanchez won one of four Cabot awards given out for excellence in reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean. An excerpt from her blog is reprinted here in the MH. She writes “I think I will use the prestige and protection that the Cabot Prize brings with it to continue to grow the Cuban blogosphere. . . . As I don't plan to wait to be allowed to open a school of digital journalism in order to realize this project, I will begin it with bureaucratic and legal formality.”