Manuel Zelaya left Managua, Nicaragua on Thursday, headed for the Honduran border. He arrived in the town of Esteli, about 25 miles south of the frontier and has set up what the AP calls his “base” in a hotel there, apparently planning his strategy for reclaiming the presidency with close aides. He now says he will attempt to reenter Honduras on Saturday with a group of supporters, according to a New York Times briefing, telling the Honduran military to not “aim your rifles at the representative of the people or at the people” themselves. The Defense Ministry, however, issued another statement saying it cannot be responsible for the security of Zelaya if he chooses to return. “We cannot be responsible for the security of people who, to foment general violence in the country, are capable of having their own sympathizers attack them,” they said Thursday. Meanwhile, along the Honduran-Nicaraguan border crossing of Las Manos, the Miami Herald reports that riot police “stood shield to shield and more than a dozen armed police patrolled” the area. A number of buses were stopped as the approached the border on the Honduran side, some filled with Zelaya supports who continued the journey to the border crossing on foot to await their deposed president’s return. While protests against the coup regime have continued with roadblocks throughout much of the country, there were some worries that enthusiasm for a Zelaya returning might be waning. According the Herald, “protest organizers were counting on the powerful teachers union to bolster Thursday's national strike, but many schools in southern Honduras were open and operating normally.” The LA Times adds in its coverage of the situation that a curfew of 6pm has been reinstated by the government along the border in an attempt to discourage crowds from amassing there. A less restrictive curfew remains in effect in other parts of the country. And, finally, I recommend reading Adam Isacson’s opinion piece on the situation in Honduras which can be found at Open Democracy.net. He lays out particularly well the various options for the U.S. government and looks at what might be next for Honduras. Both Narco News and Honduras Resists also have very detailed reports on events on the ground in Honduras, as they develop.
The Washington Post writes in an editorial this morning about a meeting held earlier in the week between OAS Sec. General José Miguel Insulza and three elected Venezuelan leaders, including Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma and two state governors. All three are opposition figures who, writes the paper’s editorial board, have been stripped of their control over key services and duties by President Hugo Chávez. The paper criticizes Mr. Insulza and the OAS for saying the inter-American body can do little to prevent the actions of Mr. Chávez while at the same time the organization continues vigorously to advocate for the return of Manuel Zelaya, a Chávez ally, in Honduras. The WP’s conclusion from all of this: “The weakness of the Democratic Charter is that it protects presidents from undemocratic assault but does not readily allow OAS intervention in cases where the executive himself is responsible for violating the constitutional order -- as Mr. Zelaya did before his ouster. The Honduras crisis provides an opportunity for the Obama administration to seek changes in those rules.”
And the LA Times asks on its editorial pages today, “Is Mexico under Attack by its military?” Citing recent reports of serious human rights violations committed by the army, the paper questions whether or not the Obama administration should change its policy for supporting security forces in the country. The LAT writes that “the army is one of the few respected state institutions in Mexico, but the growing list of allegations against it undermines its credibility -- and potentially its success.” In particular, the military has been unable or unwilling to prosecute individuals among its ranks for their criminal abuses, say many advocacy groups. The paper agrees and follows Human Rights Watch and others in arguing: “No country should have an army that is above the law, a condition that's poisonous to democracy. But until Mexico acts, the United States should make the case for justice by trimming a symbolic 15% from its aid package.”
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