At Llorens Residence, Tense Meetings Show New Divisions Amongst Coup Backers

Important backers of the coup regime in Tegucigalpa are beginning to peel away from their hard line stance against ousted President Manuel Zelaya, agreeing that “something must be done to ease the political crisis engulfing Honduras.” This writes the LA Times today who reports on a tense Sunday meeting at the home of U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens which included OAS representative John Biehl (Chile), senior Honduran politicians, and members of the country’s business community. The paper says two significant results came out of the meeting: 1. Supporters of the Micheletti regime “have begun to temper their support for the de facto government they helped to install.” And 2. some now appear willing “to allow Zelaya to be reinstated and finish his term due to expire in January.” While the Honduran participants allegedly expressed their “visceral fear” that Zelaya had begun an “unwanted push toward socialism” in Honduras, the U.S. and OAS diplomats were said to have “repeatedly assured them Zelaya's authority would be strictly limited if he is reinstated.” One unnamed former Honduran president who attended the Sunday meetings tells the paper, “The international community [condemning the coup] has been unfair with us, but that pressure from the international community is what has pushed us to seek a solution.” Such a statement echoes that of business leader, Adolfo Facusse who told the LAT one day earlier that the business elite would give “a green light” to reinstating Zelaya should his powers be severely limited. However, Facusse seems to have added additional caveats Tuesday, maintaining that “Zelaya would be required to face prosecution on charges that Honduran courts have levied against him since he was deposed and demanding a 3000 man-multinational military force (including security forces from Canada, Panama, and Colombia) be brought to Honduras to verify and enforce the agreement.” Facusse also demanded compensation from the U.S. for the economic damage its sanctions have caused on the country. The AP adds that Facusse also discussed the idea of making current de facto president, Roberto Micheletti, a “congressman for life” as part of the proposal. Amb. Llorens is reported to have been meeting once again with politicians and business leaders on Tuesday while top military leader, Gen. Romeo Vazquez also remarked Tuesday that Honduras was “rapidly approaching a solution.”

However, there are still signs of skepticism. Speaking in Miami, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias discussed his most recent thoughts on the Honduran crisis as well, saying “the country can't have free and fair elections until its de facto government lifts a repressive decree that silenced opposition media and forbade public gatherings.” [Arias also had a great quote for reporters, saying “A coup dressed in fine silk is still a coup,” and, speaking of the Honduran constitution, the Costa Rican president said “I don't think there is a worse constitution on the face of this earth.”] RAJ adds that even while Micheletti (and the Honduran Congress) say a recent decree suspending constitutional guarantees could soon be lifted, various local radio stations are still being threatened with closure.

Outside Honduras, the New York Times and Washington Post both report on new high level talks between the Cuban government and U.S. officials that have occurred in the last weeks. State Dept. official Bisa Williams was in Havana to discuss restarting mail service between the two countries, but as the NYT writes, “Ms. Williams was also able to meet with a senior member of Cuba’s Foreign Ministry for broader talks and was given the opportunity to tour a Cuban agricultural facility and areas affected by hurricanes in the Western province of Pinar del Río.” Those talks are said to have included discussions on ways to increase cooperation on counternarcotics operations as well as migration issues. “Look at the momentum; look at the pace of these steps. It’s a departure from many, many years of practice,” CFR’s Julia Sweig tells the paper, while CDA’s Sarah Stephens says “While neither side is saying what was discussed, I believe that the president has authorized these talks because he has a plan for bridging the chasm between Cuba and the United States that has existed for 50 years.” The Post adds a bit of doubt, however, writing that the State Dept. denies the meetings were of great significance. “I wouldn't characterize this as any kind of a breakthrough,” spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters Tuesday. But, again, Sweig says to the Post that “she knew of no other case in recent years in which a U.S. diplomat had been invited to extend a visit and discuss issues affecting Cuba. During the migration talks that occurred every six months between the two countries from 1993 to 2003, she said, both governments sharply limited the movement of each other's diplomats.”

From Argentina, the Wall Street Journal writes of massive worker protests occurring in Buenos Aires after a Kraft Foods factory shut its doors because of the economic recession. Kraft workers had occupied their plant for nearly three weeks before being forcibly removed by Argentina police last Friday. The WSJ’s Matt Moffett and Taos Turner write: “Street protests by unemployed workers -- albeit much larger than the current demonstrations -- contributed to the downfall of several governments that came before Mrs. Kirchner's and that of her husband and predecessor, Néstor. But several years of economic growth, along with the Kirchners' political adeptness, allowed the government to co-opt many union leaders, as well as leaders of groups of unemployed workers known as piqueteros.” That relationship may now be fracturing.

Also, the AP writes that Chile has invited a skeptical Peru to observe military training missions which Peruvians have interpreted as threatening and want canceled. The Miami Herald says a World Bank economist is predicting Latin America will grow by 3% next year and become a “a leader” in the global economic recovery thanks to banking reforms and increased trade ties beyond the region. And finally, the AP says a new line of investigations have begun against the son of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a Chilean judge continues to unravel how the Pinochet’s made millions of dollars—found in secret overseas bank accounts after the dictator’s fall.

NOTE: Due to upcoming travels, morning briefings may not come out until later in the day on Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. My apologies in advance.

-jfs

Two Media Outlets Shuttered before the Honduran Congress Breaks with Micheletti

The government of Roberto Micheletti ordered raids and closures of two pro-Zelaya media outlets (Radio Globo and Canal 36) in Tegucigalpa Monday, just hours after suspending civil liberties in the country. The AP reported yesterday afternoon that, according to a spokesperson for the government, “the two outlets had been taken off the air in accordance with a government emergency decree announced late Sunday that limits civil liberties and allows authorities to close news media that ‘attack peace and public order.’” However, by late Monday, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and LA Times were all reporting that the de facto regime may now back down from its decision to suspend constitutional guarantees after the Honduran Congress said it would not support the measure. The NYT calls the words of congressional leaders (including the president of the Congress, José Alfredo Saavedra) “the first public fracture in the coalition that ousted President Manuel Zelaya,” adding that Mr. Micheletti himself appeared on television last night to ask for “forgiveness from the Honduran people.” He also indicated that he would ask the Supreme Court to lift the decree “as soon as possible.” The WSJ is even more optimistic that Micheletti’s words signal the end of the emergency decree, originally set to last 45 days. But the paper does add that Mr. Micheletti said that the decree would not be nullified immediately but rather “by the end of the week.” (RAJ at “Honduras Coup 2009 “ is much less optimistic, writing from El Heraldo’s coverage and concluding that the decree will remain in effect until the regime feels it “opportune” to lift it.) The LAT also emphasizes the notion of the decree being lifted at the most “opportune moment,” rather than immediately, and their coverage also emphasizes growing discontent within the Honduran business elite, “concerned that the country's isolation is damaging the economy and will imperil elections scheduled for November.” In an interview Monday, Adolfo Facusse, president of the National Industrial Association, said he now even supports the reinstatement of Mel Zelaya, albeit “with guarantees that Zelaya's power would be strictly limited.” [The AP also has an interesting report on how the Honduran business elite have become a central target of anti-coup protests].

Meanwhile, Mel Zelaya, still living and working in the Brazilian Embassy, spoke to the UN General Assembly yesterday by telephone while his foreign minister, Patricia Rodas, addressed the international body in-person. He declared, “Those who still harbored any doubt that a dictatorship has been installed here can lay those doubts to rest,” calling the Micheletti regime a “fascist dictatorship that has repressed that Honduran people.” Zelaya also gave an interview late last week to Time’s Tim Padgett, telling the magazine that contrary to Hugo Chavez's statements last week that he advised Zelaya to take refuge with the Brazilians, “No one knew” where he was headed. “I'm a great friend of [Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva], who has given me a lot of support, so going there was a sensible thing to do,” says Zelaya. For its part, the U.S., on the other hand, tried to distance itself from Mr. Zelaya’s words and actions Monday. The country’s representative to the OAS, Lewis Anselem, called Zelaya’s return to his home country, “irresponsible and foolish,” adding that, “he should cease and desist from making wild allegations and from acting as though he were starring in an old movie.” The U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, (the only ambassador from the hemisphere allegedly still in Honduras) was also busy meeting recently with four of the presidential candidates in scheduled November elections. La Tribuna has coverage of the meeting (as does RAJ) for which the “San José Accords” was the central item of discussion.

And finally, while international human rights groups like HRW and AI have issued statements in recent days, decrying a crackdown on press freedoms, as well as deaths (AI reported 5 dead last Friday, Zelaya backers say 10 have been killed), some advocacy groups are demanding the Obama administration finally condemn human rights abuses under the Micheletti regime. “After 90 days and not one word from the Obama administration on the abuses in Honduras, it looks an awful lot like a tacit endorsement of the repression by the U.S. government,” says CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot. But meanwhile, in the Miami Herald, Sergio Munoz argues that such words, particularly from Latin American leaders on the left, are a form of “doublespeak.” He writes: “Obama has said that he's ready to do whatever is necessary to improve the relationship with Latin America. In practical terms, that means he'll have to deal with these hypocrites. Most likely he'll try to avoid confrontation, aiming instead to improve cooperation. But the ball is not really in the United States' court.”

In other stories around the region this morning, AFP reports that in Ecuador, the government of Rafael Correa is facing perhaps the greatest social unrest of his presidency as indigenous groups protest against fears of water privatization in the country. According to AFP, the indigenous coalition, CONAIE, “charges that a water bill currently before the national assembly, where Correa's faction enjoys a majority, will allow transnational mining corporations to appropriate water reserves in areas close to their communities.” Police said they would launch a security operation to stop protests from becoming violent.

Also this week, EFE reports that Ecuador has joined the regional arms bazaar, negotiating the purchase of 12 new fighter jets from South Africa.

Following the African-South American summit in Venezuela, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and Hugo Chavez hung around to talk more. Among the topics covered: how a new international definition of “terrorism” might be formulated. The details of the proposal were not revealed, reports Reuters, but sources say the plan rejects “attempts to link the legitimate struggle of the people for liberty and self-determination” with terrorism.

The Miami Herald reports on the growing food crisis in Guatemala where drought, a fall in remittances, and high food prices are raising concerns about malnutrition and hunger in the Central American country. In response to the crisis so far, the government and aid agencies have delivered emergency food supplies to more than 300,000 families throughout the country. And Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile and other countries have delivered beans, corn and other food staples.

And finally, the AP reports from Peru that ex-president Alberto Fujimori pled guilty Monday to authorizing wiretaps and bribes to journalists, politicians, and businessmen. The current corruption case against the president—already jailed for human rights abuses—includes having secretly wiretapped 28 politicians, journalists and businessmen and bribed 13 congressmen, a TV station and a newspaper editorial board.

OAS Diplomats Expelled from Honduras, Brazil Threatened

Conditions for a negotiated resolution to the crisis in Honduras have drastically worsened as the de facto regime in Tegucigalpa began to retaliate against international organizations and governments that it believes are unlawfully aiding President Mel Zelaya. The New York Times reports this morning that four OAS diplomats have been expelled by the Roberto Micheletti-led government, and El Salvador’s El Faro reports that Brazil will lose its right to an embassy in the Honduran capital within 10 days if it continues to give shelter to Mr. Zelaya. Additionally, the Times writes that “the government issued a decree Sunday that banned unauthorized gatherings and allowed the authorities to shut down broadcasters and arrest anyone deemed to pose a threat to their lives and that of others.” According to the AP, however, many Zelaya supporters pledged to continue taking to the streets, even amidst the suspension of constitutional liberties, after Mel Zelaya called on backers to launch a “final offensive” against the coup government to mark the three-month anniversary of his ouster. The OAS officials restricted from entering the country by Honduran security forces—two Americans, a Canadian, and a Colombian—were all members of an advance team, planning the visit of an official foreign minister’s delegation, originally scheduled for late last week but postponed by the Micheletti government until later this week (one Chilean diplomat, John Biehl, was apparently allowed to enter). The reason for their arrest, according to Honduran foreign minister, Carlos Lopez Contreras: an early arrival. “They fell on us by surprise,” Lopez Contreras said Sunday. For its part, the OAS and its Sec. General, José Miguel Insulza called the arrests “incomprehensible, since it was the very same de facto government of Honduras that had agreed to the visit.” Meanwhile, Brazilian President Lula da Silva responded to weekend threats that his country would lose its embassy in Tegucigalpa in 10 days, saying “Brazil will not comply with an ultimatum from a government of coup-mongers.” Honduras also said it would not automatically accept back diplomats from Spain, Mexico, Argentina, and Venezuela while the Wall Street Journal writes that some local media outlets in Honduras are reporting that Mr. Micheletti’s own daughter, Siomara, may soon be assigned as a diplomat to Washington, D.C.

There are also reports in various media outlets of rights abuses, including deaths, likely attributable to the Micheletti government’s crackdown on protest. AFP and EFE say Fr. Andres Tomayo and other anti-Micheletti forces report the death of a university student (and asthmatic), Wendy Elizabeth Ávila, after being sprayed with “toxic gases.” (In the Miami Herald, Roberto Micheletti says allegations that security forces have used particularly “toxic” gases against protestors and the Brazilian embassy are false. CEJIL rejects this claim, confirming their use in a communiqué this weekend that also urged the Red Cross to enter the area around the Brazilian embassy). AFP also reports that “two gunmen on a motorcycle” shot and killed a candidate for deputy, Marco Antonio Villatoro, a member of the PINU social democratic party. The government denied that the killing had anything to do with anti-coup protests. Also, there was news late last week in the pro-Micheletti El Heraldo, that the IMF, in fact, deposited some $163 million, not with the de facto regime, but rather Mr. Zelaya’s Minister of Finance and Central Bank president in late August.

In other news this weekend, the New York Times reported Friday that an aide to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez said last week that his country was aiding Iran in the detection of uranium deposits in Venezuela. “Iran is helping us with geophysical aerial probes and geochemical analyses,” Rodolfo Sanz, Venezuela’s minister of basic industries and mining, told reporters outside a meeting of Latin American and African leaders in Porlamar, Venezuela. On Saturday, however, the AP says the story changed when Venezuela’s minister of science and technology insisted such cooperation was only occurring with Russia, not Iran.

The statements came as Venezuela hosted an African-South American summit, intended to bolster relations between the two continents. Reuters reports that Brazil’s Lula da Silva summed up the event’s central them best, saying “We have to construct a new alliance, discover opportunities and help ourselves mutually.” On substantive matters, leaders from both regions discussed ways to cooperate in mineral and oil development.

In the Miami Herald, Tyler Bridges reports on how Latin American countries are already recovering from the global financial crisis. “A year after the global financial crisis exploded, most Latin American countries are putting the tough times in the rearview mirror during the final three months of 2009. Brazil, the region's giant and the world's ninth largest economy, is leading the way, along with such other market-friendly countries as Peru, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Panama,” Bridges writes. But some countries continue to struggle, he adds. “The slow economic recovery in the United States is holding back Mexico and most Central American nations, with drug violence and swine flu also battering Mexico,” while arguing that “Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Argentina are lagging -- in part because their leftist populist leaders have scared away investors and unsettled consumers with policies that have included nationalizing companies or private assets.” Among the reasons for the economic recovery: improved trade relations with China, writes Bridges.

From the Washington Post, William Booth writes on a new Cuban agricultural policy that allows private farmers to use state land to make a profit. The Post writes that “Castro's government says it has lent 1.7 million acres of unused state land in the past year to 82,000 Cubans in an effort to cut imports, which currently make up 60 percent of the country's food supply.” Meanwhile, the Miami Herald this morning has a good summary of the various pieces of Cuba-related legislation circulating through the U.S. Congress right now, related to trade and travel specifically.

Finally, three opinions. In the Herald, Andres Oppenheimer calls Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-SC) blockade against the confirmation of Latin American diplomats “irresponsible.” As DeMint himself tells Oppenheimer, “I will not lift the hold on these nominations until the United States works out an arrangement with the Honduran government to recognize the outcome of the [planned Nov. 29] elections in Honduras and restores the U.S. foreign aid that has been cut by the Obama administration.” The Senator goes on. “They [the Obama administration] continue to use the misguided rhetoric that what happened in Honduras was a military coup, when it's obvious by the facts and the documentation that the Honduran government acted according to its own constitution.” Also in the Miami Herald this weekend, José Miguel Insulza and Sen. Robert Menendez co-author a piece on the “Inter-American Social Protection Network -- a hemispheric partnership that promotes opportunity, inclusion and prosperity.” First implemented in Latin America, the idea is now being imported in New York City, the program “fights inequality through smart social programs and it leaves behind undisciplined and ineffective handouts in favor of strategic and disciplined investments,” the two write. And in her Monday WSJ column, Mary Anastasia O’Grady brings us back to Honduras. She says the U.S. demand that Mel Zelaya be reinstated is “destructive.” And she goes on to attack Brazil for violating its own principle of “non-intervention” in the case of Honduras.

Initial Talks Between Zelaya and Micheletti Regime Make Little Progress

An official from the de facto regime of Roberto Micheletti met with ousted President Mel Zelaya on Thursday, reports indicate, but according to Mr. Zelaya the first set of talks went nowhere. This is according to the AP who says Zelaya spoke on TV channel 36 in Honduras after the first meeting with the unnamed Micheletti emissary and said the coup government had “taken an extremely hard stand,” presenting positions that are “totally outside any possibility of agreement.” There has been no word from the Micheletti camp on the meeting. Also, the AP reports that both the Micheletti government and Mr. Zelaya met separately with four of the candidates scheduled to run in November elections. Zelaya said he will also meet with business and social leaders from the country later this week. The reporting of Reuters on Thursday’s talks is slightly more optimistic. The news agency says the two sides “edged toward possible talks to end a standoff” and quotes Zelaya as telling reporters, “This is the first approach and we hope it advances. We are looking for a solution as soon as possible.” Reuters also writes that the UN Security Council is scheduled to meet today in New York to discuss the Honduran crisis, although a diplomat on the Council says the body is unlikely to take any formal action to actually reinstate Zelaya to the presidency. On the streets of Tegucigalpa, the AP also says in its report that security forces continued to surround the Brazilian embassy where Zelaya remains while away from the compound, life began to take on a new normalcy. “After days of paralyzing curfews, most children returned to school, planes began landing at the airport, borders were open and downtown streets were again crammed with taxis, buses and vendors hawking newspapers, snacks and bubble gum.” However, a partial curfew did remain in effect along the borders. Nevertheless, in many working class neighborhoods pro-Zelaya gatherings continued with some 3000 people marching through the city to the embassy on Thursday. And, according to AFP, over the weekend a new OAS mediation delegation is expected to arrive in Tegucigalpa, headed by Sec. General José Miguel Insulza. Insulza said earlier in the week that the parameters of the trip would be “dialogue and the San José Accords.” According to Insulza, the de facto regime has accepted the delegation’s trip to Honduras, after initial reports that Micheletti would not accept the group’s mediation any longer for being “biased.”

Also on Honduras, the New York Times has a terrific piece today on the role of the Honduran media over the last months. “While he was president, Mr. Zelaya bought jewels, paid for trips and maintained his horses with money he stole from the Central Bank and the Treasury, according to the television advertisement produced by the de facto government. Headlines from Honduran newspapers pop up onscreen as if to demonstrate the truth of the accusations,” writes the Times. Such ads have become “regular fare,” according to the paper, and the temperature of this media war has only increased since Mr. Zelaya’s return. One of the most bizarre claims of pro-government media: a report that “Brazil had promised to reinstate Mr. Zelaya in return for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.” For his part, the NYT does note that Zelaya still has his own outlets as well, particularly Radio Globo. There is more “futurology” in the Miami Herald this morning. Speaking with a popular movement leader in Honduras, three possible scenarios are outlined by the Herald. “1. The United Nations Security Council provides security for Zelaya to come back and finish his term -- a scenario Micheletti considers a deal-breaker. 2. Zelaya doesn't return to power, and popular movements that support him fight for the constituent assembly to change the constitution. Or 3. Elections are held, but the results would likely not be recognized by much of the international community. Zelaya would either go back into exile or stay at the embassy while Honduras' new leadership quells social upheaval.”

And with Honduras opinions today, the Washington Post must have some secret sources on how exactly Mr. Zelaya got back to Tegucigalpa. The paper writes: “The result [of negotiation failures] was this week's Venezuelan-engineered secret return by Mr. Zelaya to the country and his appearance in the Brazilian Embassy, from where he has sought to foment the populist revolution that he has wanted all along.” The paper goes on to argue that “Such behavior ought to deter any responsible member of the Organization of American States -- starting with Brazil -- from supporting anything more than a token return by Mr. Zelaya to office” and says only supporting November elections is the proper way out of the crisis. The Miami Herald seconds the Post’s assessment that Zelaya’s return was “stupid,” writing “Far from helping to resolve the political crisis, his reckless move made matters worse. It increased political tension throughout the country and reduced the chances of finding a peaceful diplomatic solution.” The MH also seems to hint at the belief that the Obama administration has not put its full effort into resolving the crisis. And also in the MH, columnist Carlos Montaner says others should follow Panama’s lead in recognizing November elections. (Panama became the first Latin American country to say they would do so last week).

In other news, the LA Times, while featuring an unflattering photo of Arturo Chavez, does report that the former state prosecutor has been confirmed as Mexico’s new Attorney General. Legislators backed his confirmation in a 75-27 vote in the Senate, over objections from some human rights groups in the country.

The Miami Herald has a special report from Guatemala where Ezra Fieser says the recent arrests of 10 men for the killing of Rodrigo Rosenberg some four months ago serve as a reminder that “that organized crime and the police and military remain bedfellows in Guatemala.”

The New York Times reports on G-20 meetings which began yesterday in Pittsburgh and writes the international group, including developing countries like Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, will likely replace the G-7 as the forum for international economic policy discussions. The NYT argues: “The move highlights the growing economic importance of Asia and some Latin American countries, particularly since the United States and many European countries have found their banking systems crippled by an economic crisis originating in excesses in the American mortgage market.”

And on Venezuela, the AP also focuses on how the South American nation is trying to cultivate new South-South relations, particularly with Africa. According to CIP’s Adam Isacson, “Chavez, who is quite popular in many African countries, is continuing to round up countries that have poor relations with the United States, regardless of their leaders' reputation, in an attempt to outweigh U.S. influence. He clearly believes there's strength in numbers, and sees Africa as a way to add to his numbers.” Meanwhile, in Venezuela, fines will soon be issued against cable television stations that air the popular animated television series “Family Guy.” In a somewhat fundamentalist turn, the country’s justice minister says the show promotes marijuana use, the AP reports.

Reports of Repression Rise in Tegucigalpa. And a Break in Curfew

Another day has passed and still no talks between Manuel Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti, reports the New York Times this morning. “We need to sit down face to face,” Zelaya tells the Times in a phone interview from the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa on Wednesday. But, the paper reports, Mr. Zelaya continues to use intermediaries to bring about just such a meeting with the de facto leadership. For his part, Mr. Micheletti is also trying portray himself as the one who is prepared to negotiate, albeit less successfully. His foreign minister Carlos Lopez Contreras read a statement produced by the Micheletti regime saying talks could be held between the two parties but that would not nullify the arrest warrant issued against Mr. Zelaya by the Honduran Supreme Court. “I think that what the whole world should understand about this country is that there is no immunity for anyone -- for anyone,” Micheletti told CNN en Español. “And, no one can be above the law.” In short, let’s talk, says Micheletti, but you, Mr. Zelaya, will have to be on the other side of jail bars first. Meanwhile, on the streets of Tegucigalpa, curfew was suspended for six hours on Wednesday, allowing many Hondurans to leave their homes legally to gather food and necessary supplies. The AP also reports that the de facto regime will lift curfew, apparently indefinitely, beginning Thursday morning. Even through curfew, however, thousands of Zelaya supporters have remained vigilant in front of the Brazilian embassy for nearly three days now. In an interview with the Miami Herald Zelaya claimed he was being “threatened with death” by “Israeli mercenaries” (strangely, essentially the same McClatchy report on this scratches the word “Israeli” in the description of supposed mercenaries). “I prefer to march on my feet than to live on my knees before a military dictatorship,” Zelaya declared, words that I believe can first be attributed to Emiliano Zapata. Outside the embassy, Amnesty International has condemned the aggressive tactics of the Honduran security forces to dislodge protests, including the firing of tear gas at the Brazilian embassy. The protests have, from all accounts I have read, remained relatively peaceful, and have spread to a number of neighborhoods throughout the city which are being covered less by major media outlets.

Also on Wednesday, the Honduran police announced that all meetings of more than 20 individuals were no longer to be tolerated in the capital. The LA Times confirms this morning the death of at least 1 Zelaya supporter and says “more than one hundred” have been detained. AFP confirms the death of at least two individuals, as reported by the Honduran national police. And Bloomberg says the Honduran economy has “come to a standstill” since Mr. Zelaya returned on Monday. “The curfew is costing the Central American nation’s economy $50 million a day,” Jesus Canahuati, vice president of the local chapter of the Business Council of Latin America tells the news service. The $14.1 billion economy, has lost as much as $200 million in investment since the military ousted Zelaya from office on June 28, Canahuati said. All of this has led to at least one candidate running in November elections, Porfirio Lobo, to demand that Micheletti dialogue with Zelaya. And in New York City for UN General Assembly meetings, Lula da Silva spoke forcefully yesterday, calling for the reinstatement of Zelaya immediately. “Unless there is political will, we will see more coups like the one that toppled the constitutional president of Honduras,” he told the GA. Sec. General Ban Ki Moon said the UN had ended technical assistance for upcoming Honduran elections. And Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is scheduled to speak today.

In opinions around the major papers this morning, the Miami Herald’s Andres Oppenheimer is the only one who weighs in on Honduras. He argues that the “fate” of the crisis will depend on riots and deaths. As an unnamed Latin American diplomat tells him, “if there are big riots and deaths, the United States and Latin American countries will be more likely to step up their pressure for Zelaya's return to office.” In three possible scenarios, Oppenheimer says 1. “chaos might be followed by intervention,” likely by the U.N.; 2. Short-lived chaos might be followed by elections in November; or 3. Some form of a unity government could be formed through negotiation. “Either way, as often happens, this crisis is likely to fade away from the headlines soon,” argues Oppenheimer. “Neither Zelaya nor Micheletti are deep-thinking statesmen, nor charismatic leaders. I would be surprised if many of us will remember their names a few years down the road -- let alone miss them.” Also, very interestingly, Boz has gotten a response from Washington Post editorial page editor, Fred Hiatt, about the Micheletti op-ed the paper ran on Tuesday. Hiatt tells Boz that the paper decided to run the piece before Zelaya’s return and stands by its decision to identify Micheletti as “president of Honduras.” “As to his title--generally (maybe not entirely consistently) we go with facts on the ground, rather than wishes. I believe Aung San Suu Kyi's party won the 1990 election in Burma and she is the rightful leader of her country, but I don't call her prime minister when I write about her.”

In other news this morning, the NYT also reports on a new survey that shows many Mexicans still have strong desires to move to the U.S., even amidst recession. “In spite of high unemployment in the United States and strict border enforcement, one-third of Mexicans say they would move to this country if they could, and more than half of those would move even if they did not have legal immigration documents, according to a survey published Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.” 57 percent said that those who leave home to settle here have better lives, while only 14 percent say life is worse in the United States.

In Venezuela, the head of the country’s cable television chamber says the government is preparing to impose new regulations on the media, particularly cable television. According to the AP, “the government outlined the new rules to the cable companies this week and said they will be published in the Official Gazette in about 15 days.” The rules will allegedly require that at least 70 percent of the content of cable channels be produced in Venezuela.

The Miami Herald has a disturbing story this morning on the violent business of human smuggling of Cubans through Mexico, both by Cuban American and Mexican groups.

And the Wall Street Journal reports that Chevron, currently the defendant in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit with the Ecuadorean government, has just filed a countersuit against that same government under international trade law.

Standoff at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa Continues

A day after the Washington Post let de facto president Roberto Micheletti break the news that Mel Zelaya had surreptitiously arrived back in Honduras, the paper’s Mary Beth Sheridan writes this morning that both Micheletti and Zelaya both “insisted that they would not back down” on Tuesday. Micheletti, in a Tuesday interview, said he had no plans to cede power to Mr. Zelaya while Zelaya seemed willing to stay hunkered down in the Brazilian Embassy for some time longer. The Post does note that “unofficial contacts” have been made between the two sides, and as the BBC reports this morning, Mr. Micheletti may be caving in slightly. The British news service says Micheletti has offered to talk to Zelaya, if the ousted leader first accepts a plan that would allow November elections to go forward as scheduled. For his part, Mr. Zelaya has called the offer “total manipulation.” Meanwhile, inside the Brazilian embassy, many of the over 85 supporters and advisers that had remained at Zelaya’s side over the last day seemed to have left, according to AP reporting. Water and electricity at the embassy had been cut for a period [although most say these services have been restored], but airports and border crossings in the country appear to be still closed and a round the clock curfew is still in effect throughout Tegucigalpa. [The U.N. even struggled to find food to deliver to those who defied the curfew to stay at the Brazilian embassy, having to deliver hot dogs.] The AP also says local media reports are saying that as many as 3 Zelaya supporters had been killed—allegations the government has denied. [The Miami Herald reports that others are saying just 1 was killed and some 300 detained but accurate figures remain difficult to find. The LA Times says the government’s numbers are 170 detained, nobody killed] However, this does not seem all together unlikely as Reuters reports that “Hundreds of security forces, some in ski masks and toting automatic weapons, cordoned off a large area around the embassy building.” According to HRW America’s director, José Miguel Vivcano, “Given the reports we have received, and the poor track record of the security forces since the coup, we fear that conditions could deteriorate drastically in the coming days.” The Wall Street Journal is reporting now that Brazil’s president, Lula da Silva, is calling for a special meeting of the U.N.’s Security Council to address the situation in Honduras. But, in the opinion of the Inter-American Dialogue’s Michael Shifter, things do not look so hopeful. “The Micheletti government has its back up. From their point of view, this is the worst kind of imperialism. This is not likely to lead to a peaceful solution.” It’s noteworthy that the strongest words (and indeed actions) have come from Brazil, says the CSM. Indeed, as Latin American leaders arrived in New York this week for the UN General Assembly, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who the coup government has blamed for nearly everything that has gone wrong in Honduras, has even cancelled a public event he was supposed to do in the city today, with his consulate saying Mr. Chavez did not want to draw attention away from Mr. Zelaya and the Honduras situation.

And, finally, the question still remains: How in the world was Zelaya able to get back into Honduras unnoticed? The New York Times explores this question. “In a car trunk? With the help of loyal soldiers? In a disguise? Under the protection of other countries? Every option was being considered and debated in Tegucigalpa, where the population is very much divided on Mr. Zelaya.” But still nobody is completely sure.

In opinions on Honduras today, the Miami Herald, somewhat strangely, has decided to re-print Roberto Micheletti’s factually dubious op-ed, published yesterday in the Washington Post. And, as yesterday, they’ve decided to stick with Mr. Micheletti’s by-line: “Roberto Micheletti is president of Honduras.” The Wall Street Journal also has an editorial today, saying if violence breaks out in Tegucigalpa, President Obama and Sec. of State Clinton “will bear no small part of the blame.” “Every major Honduran institution supported the move, even members in Congress of his own political party, the Catholic Church and the country's human rights ombudsman. To avoid violence the Honduran military escorted Mr. Zelaya out of the country. In other words, his removal from office was legal and constitutional, though his ejection from the country gave the false appearance of an old-fashioned Latin American coup,” the paper provocatively writes. And the WSJ goes on: “Now that he is back, Mr. Zelaya and his allies aren't calling for calm. His supporters have flocked to Brazil's embassy with cinder blocks, sticks and Molotov cocktails. "The fatherland, restitution or death," he shouted to demonstrators outside the embassy. In anticipation of trouble and with concern for public safety, President Roberto Micheletti announced a curfew. But when police tried to enforce the curfew, the zelayistas resisted and there is now a Honduran standoff.” And finally, Reuters has a terrific photo series from the streets of Tegucigalpa, worth viewing.

There are other still other important happenings outside of Honduras this morning. The AP reports from Venezuela that the country’s police forces have captured an American pilot wanted on cocaine trafficking charges in the U.S since 2007. Venezuela’s Justice Minister, “held up the arrest as proof of Venezuela's determination to combat organized crime and drug trafficking. U.S. officials have been critical of Venezuela's efforts to stop drug smuggling.”

Reuters and others report that the busiest overland crossing between the U.S. and Mexico was shut down by the U.S. for several hours Tuesday after Mexican human traffickers tried to enter the country. The incident occurred at Tijuana, the news agency says, and some 70 illegal immigrants were found in the back of three vans trying to enter the country. “The brazen attempt was unprecedented at the heavily guarded crossing where helicopters circle overhead and armed agents with dogs keep watch at a series of staggered checkpoints,” writes Reuters.

Reuters also writes that in Cuba, “Authorities have circulated a ten-point agenda for thousands of open-ended meetings over the next month at work places, universities and community organizations to rethink Cuban socialism, focused on the economic themes highlighted by Castro in a speech to the National Assembly in August.” However, the discussion guide seems to make clear that “questioning the communist-ruled island's one-party political system established after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, or calling for a restoration of capitalism, are off limits.”

And finally, in an opinion in the LA Times, Brazil’s Lula da Silva pens a piece on the G-20 meetings, set to open Thursday in Pittsburgh. He demands action from developed countries in following through with proposals to reform the global financial system, writing the following: “we in Brazil are dismayed at the reluctance of developed countries to embrace proposals for reform of the IMF and the World Bank. There is fierce resistance to putting teeth into financial markets' oversight mechanisms. Banks are going back to the very practices that precipitated the recent chaos. Bankers continue to be overpaid, while millions of men and women lose their jobs… We want the kind of governance that makes our interdependence an inducement for self-interested solidarity instead of a pretext for the strong to always come out ahead. The G-20 offers an extraordinary chance for us to prove that this is no rose-tinted daydream.”

"Through Rivers and Mountains," Mel Zelaya Sneaks Back into Honduras

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has reentered the country for the first time in over 85 days after making what he described as a “15 hour trek”…” “through rivers and mountains” by automobile, avoiding military checkpoints in the process. Four others are said to have accompanied Mr. Zelaya on his journey. And as the New York Times’ Elizabeth Malkin reports, Zelaya now finds himself held up in the Brazilian embassy which offered him refuge after his arrival in Tegucigalpa. However, both the OAS and Brazil deny aiding Mr. Zelaya in his actual return to the city. Speaking from the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings in New York City, where Mr. Zelaya was supposed to speak Thursday, both Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Costa Rica’s Oscar Arias urged Zelaya and de facto president Roberto Micheletti to begin dialogue now (and Arias even said he would go to Tegucigalpa if he was asked to). For his part, Zelaya tells the AP that he is indeed attempting to make contact with members of the interim government to do just that and said Monday that now was a time of “reconciliation.” But Micheletti told reporters late Monday that “Arias' mediation in Honduras' political problem has ended ... and he has absolutely nothing else to do in this conflict.” The interim leader’s first act, after demanding the Brazilians hand over Mr. Zelaya to the Honduran courts for prosecution, was to reinstate curfew in the capital city as Zelaya supporters amassed in front of the Brazilian embassy. He also found time to write a quick op-ed in the Washington Post it seems. “My country is in an unusual position this week. Former president Manuel Zelaya has surreptitiously returned to Honduras, still claiming to be the country's legitimate leader, despite the fact that a constitutional succession took place on June 28. Amid all of the claims that are likely to be made in coming days, the former president will not mention that the people of Honduras have moved on since the events of that day or that our citizens are looking forward to free, fair and transparent elections on Nov. 29,” he writes. He goes on to insist that all democratic institutions remain under civilian control, and that press freedom, human rights, and freedom of assembly remain “vibrant.”

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the OAS called an emergency session late last night, and Brazil’s foreign minister Celso Amorim insisted that the inter-American body now renew its efforts to resolve the crisis. The Wall Street Journal reports that OAS Sec. General José Miguel Insulza may go to Tegucigalpa today where the country’s teacher’s union is expected to go on strike once again, demanding Zelaya’s reinstatement. And the hopes of Honduran analysts are mixed after Monday’s dramatic events, with some warning of violence and others hoping the crisis could be winding finally. “Despite human rights concerns [of possible violence], this might just break the impasse,” says WOLA’s Vicki Gass in the LA Times. While Brookings’ Kevin Casas-Zamora tells Bloomberg that “What we’re about to witness is a series of demonstrations and counter-demonstrations and there’s also a great risk of violence.”

In other news, the Wall Street Journal also has a report this morning from Peru where the paper says a recent spike in crime, corruption, and drug related violence has some fearing “one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America” could soon be derailed. “Peruvian cocaine exports, according to one study, have overtaken those from Colombia, though Colombia remains the world's leader in cocaine production,” the WSJ writes. And more than 50 police officers have been killed this year in drug-related attacks. Public opinion is also turning against government anti-drug efforts. According to a recent Ipsos-Apoyo poll, 55% of Peruvians now view drug traffickers and government officials as “closely linked” to one another. 72% believe the police have been infiltrated by traffickers and over 60% say the country’s judiciary has been compromised.

The LA Times meanwhile writes that Arturo Chavez, Mexico’s newly designated Attorney General, is again coming under intense heat as the Mexican Congress questions him over his role in failing to solve human rights abuse cases while a top prosecutor in Juarez. The 13-member justice committee in the Mexican Senate must decide whether or not to recommend Chavez to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. According to the LAT, “Rights advocates have lobbied the Senate to reject Chavez, taking aim at his tenure as attorney general in the northern state of Chihuahua, where more than 350 women have been killed in the border city of Ciudad Juarez since 1993.”

And finally, from Venezuela, relatives of those killed in the Caracazo massacre are applauding a new decision by the Venezuelan government to identify victims killed during the mass riots of 1989 and investigate responsible police and army officials. Official numbers say at least 300 were killed during the Caracazo, but many rights advocates say the number could be significantly higher.

Roberto Micheletti Gets Casual, Speaks with Fox News

“It is beautiful here!” the television interviewer began. “This is a quiet country, and a happy country, and one of the most beautiful places all over Honduras,” the program’s guest responded, dressed up in his best Hawaiian vacation shirt. So began one of the most bizarre interviews I, for one, have seen in quite some time as de facto Honduran leader, Roberto Micheletti sat down with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren on the Honduran coast. Speaking in English, Mr. Micheletti had a chance to tell his side of story for over 30 minutes, discussing the Honduran constitution and its apparent “un-amendability,” the pernicious influence of Venezuela in his country (including his claim that Venezuela manufactured the recent CIDH human rights report on Honduras), and, even the fact that President Mel Zelaya was forced out of the country in his pajamas (He was offered a suitcase with some clothes, says Micheletti). In short, the interview is a must watch. Also on Honduras, President Barack Obama once again insisted that both Mr. Zelaya and Mr. Micheletti support the terms of the San José Accords while doing an interview with Mexico’s Univision. But Mr. Obama did not seem to totally rule out supporting Honduran elections under the current regime, as Sec. of State Clinton hinted at two weeks ago. “I believe that this [accepting of the Accords] would make the coming elections much more legitimate,” Obama remarked. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is critical of the EU’s stance on Honduras, arguing that sanctions and the withdrawing of ambassadors from the Central American countries stands in stark contrast to its policy toward Iran, for example. WSJ columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes this morning that the U.S. is “trying to force Honduras to violate its own constitution.” O’Grady says a new report by the Congressional Research Service declares the following: “Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system.” And in the CS Monitor, Eric Farnsworth of the Council of the Americas, also writes critically of the U.S. policy toward Honduras, arguing the U.S.’s apparent decision to not recognize elections under the Micheletti regime could push the crisis “beyond its natural election season conclusion.”

Also this weekend, the last 15 U.S. troops left the Manta military base in Ecuador, writes the AP. But Ecuador insisted it would continue to cooperate with U.S. anti-drug efforts. “Relations with the U.S. remain very good. We have no problem in continuing to cooperate,” remarked security minister Miguel Carvajal. In Paraguay, the growing displeasure with the U.S. military’s presence in the region was also seen over the weekend as President Fernando Lugo announced his military would no longer undertake joint exercises with the United States in his country. While in Cuba, the Miami Herald says a new relationship is being forged between the Russian military and the Cuban military. According to reports late last week, Russian warships may soon arrive in the country along with Russian military officers who could help in the training of Cuban soldiers. And Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez responded to criticism of his country’s recent military purchases, calling U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton’s words about the matter “cynicism without limits.” Mr. Chavez is expected to address the issue of arms purchases at the UN General Assembly this week.

From Bolivia, the AP reports that the U.S. will be closing “some democracy promotion programs at the request of the Bolivian government.” One of the programs, run by AID, has helped “train local leaders,” but has come under much criticism by the Bolivian government.

In Colombia, new announcements this weekend from that country’s government indicate that the controversial DAS, accused of domestic spying, will soon be dismantled and a new agency created. The majority of the department’s 6000 current employees will be transferred to the criminal investigative unit of the Colombian police. The Uribe government also appeared to change its position this week on the issue of hostage releases. Reuters writes that Uribe agreed “to rebel demands that [the FARC] be allowed to free hostages one at a time rather than all at once, a reversal in government policy that could speed up releases.” The AP also reports that a FARC guerrilla who unknowingly aided in the release of three American contractors in Colombia last year was sent to the U.S. Saturday to face terrorism charges in U.S. court. The LA Times’ Chris Kraul reports that Colombia’s security crackdown in the port city of Buenaventura has been a major success with the homicide rate cut by one third and drug money seizures on the rise. And in Colombia’s daily El Tiempo, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter sits down to discuss the situation in both Colombia and Venezuela.

In other stories this morning, an interesting piece by the AP looks at the drug war in Puerto Rico, which the news service says the U.S. is having trouble keeping up with. The AP writes: “While most of the drugs reaching the United States arrive through the southwest border, an estimated 30 percent come through the Caribbean -- and of all the islands, authorities say, Puerto Rico is easily the biggest transshipment point. As American soil, it is attractive because drugs leaving here do not have to clear customs to reach the U.S. market.” The Washington Post reports on the apparent success of Sunday’s “peace concert” in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución, at which Latin pop superstar Juanes performed. And, in his opinion piece this morning, the Miami Herald’s Andres Oppenheimer, takes up the issue of Iran-Venezuelan relations. According to Oppenheimer’s reporting, Rep. Eliot Engel is expected to hold House hearings on the role of Iran in Latin America in October while certain members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have asked U.S. intelligence agencies to look into the claims of increased cooperation between the two countries. For his part, Oppenheimer himself holds back on any definitive conclusion on the matter, but argues “we can't rule out that -- in his quest for global notoriety -- Chávez's ties with Iran could one day drag all of Latin America into an international crisis.”

Contentious Media Law Moves Forward in Argentina

The lower house in Argentina approved new media legislation this week that “aimed at reining in media conglomerates and bolstering government discretion over TV and radio licensing.” The Wall Street Journal’s Matt Moffett reports on the matter, saying the Senate will now take up the bill, which, if passed, could curb the power of one President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s most powerful critics: the media group Clarín. Besides owning Argentina’s popular daily by the same name, Clarín also has interests in television and radio broadcasting. The bill has divided pro government and opposition legislators in Argentina. Indeed, nearly 100 lawmakers walked out of debate over the bill before a vote in the lower chamber in protest over numerous late changes to the text of the legislation (afterwards, the measure was approved in a 146-3 vote). Analysts are predicting an even more contentious debate in the Senate but many ultimately expect the bill to be approved. Interestingly, a majority of lawmakers agree the current media law must be revised, says the WSJ, as the current legislation was written in 1980, under Argentina’s last military junta. But critics contend the process has been moving forward with too little debate and has been politicized due to the Kirchners’ own battle with Clarín. The two had a falling out last year during protests that pitted farmers against the government over an export tax that the president had advocated.

The AP reports that press freedom in the region is also top on the agenda as newspaper executives meet in Caracas for meetings of the Miami-based Inter-American Press Association. The country who will receive the most attention is host Venezuela, says the wire service, where 32 radio stations and two small television networks were taken off the air last month. The AP says the government has also announced it plans to take some 29 other radio stations off the airwaves soon as well. “Our single largest preoccupation, I think, at IAPA is the move by President Chavez in Venezuela, also followed very closely by President (Rafael) Correa in Ecuador, to slowly but steadily transform a free and independent media into independent media under constant attack and harassment,” says Robert Rivard, editor of the San Antonio Express-News and president of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information. Expected to speak at the forum are former Bolivian president Carlos Mesa and former Peruvian head of state, Alejandro Toledo (who is also a new hire at Brookings, it turns out.).

Also from Venezuela, there was a new announcement from President Hugo Chavez yesterday, declaring that the country is considering allowing the Venezuelan air force to shoot down suspected drug trafficker airplanes in the country’s air space. However, writes the AP, Chavez “is not yet convinced it is a good idea.” “We are studying it. This is something tough. There are countries that have it: authorization to shoot down planes,” Chavez said. “I don't like the idea, but I'm thinking about it.” As reported earlier, Venezuela, along with Bolivia (and Burma) was recently decertified for the second straight year for “failures” in its counternarcotics efforts, according to the U.S. State Dept.

In other news this morning, the Government Accountability Office released a report on U.S. border security Thursday, citing numerous failures in the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to implement fences and other border security measures. DHS responded by saying they did not challenge the report’s findings, writes the New York Times, adding they were as frustrated as anyone else about the slow-going process. Also, the New York Times “Lens” blog looks at a new book on Venezuela by photojournalist Christopher Anderson, entitled “Capitolio.” Simon Romero writes that it “offers a stunning view into Caracas’s descent from its perch as one of Latin America’s most economically advanced, if unequal, cities into a place gripped by low-intensity chaos and fear.” Romero goes on: “The book’s name refers to a domed government building like one here in the old center built by Antonio Guzmán Blanco, a 19th-century despot. Capitolio, Mr. Anderson said, is also a metaphor for an oil country’s export of revolution even as its capital, Caracas, rots from within.”

The NYT also has an AP brief on discussions between U.S. and Cuban officials in Havana over the restarting of direct mail service between the two countries. Bisa Williams, deputy asst. secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, led the U.S. team of diplomats in what was the first arrival of U.S. diplomats to Havana for such talks since 2002. The AP also writes that Amnesty International has declared that an indigenous market vendor in Mexico, recently released from prison after spending three years in prison for a kidnapping she did not commit, deserves government compensation. “Nothing will replace the three years she lost, but it is vital that those responsible for this injustice be brought before justice, and that she receive an appropriate compensation,” says Kerrie Howard, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Americas. And, perhaps responding to new doubts in the U.S. over his role in the DAS domestic spying scandal reported in yesterday’s NYT, Colombian president Alvaro Uribe said Thursday he is in favor of eliminating the agency all together and giving its primary functions to the country’s police. Previously, Uribe had insisted DAS only needed a restructuring.

Finally, a couple notes from Honduras. The country’s newspaper El Tiempo reports that de factor leader Roberto Micheletti has had it with the mediation of Costa Rica’s Oscar Arias. On Thursday, Micheletti declared Arias has “stopped being the right mediator” for the crisis. The fiery leader also added once again that nobody can stop the electoral process in the country from proceeding forward. “It’s not only [Mr. Arias’s] his attitude, but it is that he has expressed that attitude in such a way that one day he comes out saying we must hold elections and the next he says no…” Meanwhile, the AP, in its reporting of Mr. Arias’s meetings with many of the contenders in Honduras’s November elections earlier in the week, emphasizes the hesitant nature of the candidates’ support for the Arias process. In particular, the AP notes strong criticism from many of the candidates, save the left leaning Cesar Ham, for tougher sanctions being imposed by the U.S. and also says these men seemed to be less than supportive of ousted President Mel Zelaya.

Domestic Spying Scandal Continues to Surround Uribe, Top Colombian Officials

The months long domestic spying scandal in Colombia has “enmeshed” President Alvaro Uribe in accusations that he may have been involved authorizing the surveillance of political opponents, human rights groups, and journalists. As the New York Times’ Simon Romero writes this morning, new records recently obtained by Colombian journalists from the newspaper Semana include phone calls between the U.S. embassy’s legal attaché in Bogota and a supreme court justice in the country who says Mr. Uribe’s supporters continue to be investigated for ties to paramilitary groups in the country. The most serious charges are still those leveled against Jorge Noguera, the former chief of Colombia’s spy agency, the Department of Administrative Security or DAS who is said to have provided information about trade union leaders and a prominent sociologist to paramilitary groups who eventually carried out their murders. While Mr. Noguera stepped down from his position in the DAS four years ago, new records seem to show that such spying, via wiretaps, may still be occurring. One human rights lawyer, who got part of his file recently released, says DAS records show “photos of his children, transcripts of phone and e-mail conversations, details on his finances and evidence that DAS agents rented an apartment across from his home to monitor him”—a situation he compared to one out of “The Lives of Others.” DAS works closely with U.S. intelligence on a number of issues, says the NYT, and last week DOS spokesman Ian Kelly called the most recent allegations of domestic spying, “troubling and unacceptable.”

In a series of drug-related Mexico stories today, the LA Times reports on yet another mass killing at a Mexican drug rehab clinic. In Ciudad Juarez, two doctors and eight patients were murdered in what was the second such killing in just two weeks. Nearly 20 were killed at a similar clinic in Juarez in early September. After Tuesday’s killings, the mayor of Juarez ordered 10 other rehab centers closed in the center due to irregularities in their permits and a lack of security. The chief of security in the city said the measures were to prevent another such massacre. Also in Ciudad Juarez, five others were killed early Wednesday morning, attacked a popular nightclub where many celebrated Mexico’s independence day. Five more were shot to death at a carwash in the city the same day. City officials called the killings part of drug gangs’ “war of extermination.”

The LAT also reports on the arrest of a former U.S. anti-drug official, formerly working in Mexico. Richard Padilla Cramer, once the ICE attaché in the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara, is now accused of working with drug cartels in the country, identifying “turncoats” and “advising” cartels on law enforcement tactics. Cramer was arrested in early September in his Arizona home, and investigators say the case is particularly worrisome given that his “his rank and foreign post made his work especially sensitive.”

On the drug issue in Bolivia, Bloomberg writes that Bolivia’s Evo Morales says his country’s anti drug forces seized some 19 tons of cocaine this year, an increase from the previous one-year record for seizures (11 tons) in 2005. He added that sophisticated labs in the country have been discovered without the aid of DEA officials who he expelled last November over a political dispute. Nevertheless, the Obama administration “decertified” Bolivian anti-drug efforts, the second such U.S. decision in the last two years, saying the country “failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months” to adhere to its ‘obligations under international counternarcotics agreements.’” WOLA and the Andean Information Network have rejected the U.S. decision, saying it is “unwarranted and risks unnecessarily complicating efforts underway to improve U.S.-Bolivian relations.” According to WOLA’s John Walsh, “Bolivia's decertification indicates that the Obama administration is out of step with developments in the region, and missing opportunities for more constructive relations.” (Check back at WOLA’s website www.wola.org for the press release, not yet posted).

In news from Honduras this morning, the AP reports that four candidates running for president in Honduras have agreed to support the San Jose Accords process, forwarded by Oscar Arias. After meeting with the Costa Rican president, the candidates released a statement saying they supported the return of Manuel Zelaya before November elections. However, says the AP, “the group stopped short of directly calling on the interim Honduran government to drop its opposition to the U.S.-backed agreement.” Cesar Ham, a candidate from a smaller left leaning party, refused to sign the statement, saying, in the AP’s words, “it was too weak to break the impasse gripping the Honduras.”

And South American defense and foreign ministers were unable to reach an agreement at Quito Unasur meetings on the issue of a new U.S. military presence in Colombia, writes Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the fear of an arms race in Latin America was a topic of discussion as Uruguay’s Tabaré Vázquez met with Sec. of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday (video here). The U.S. Sec. of State argued that Venezuela, in particular, should be “clear about its purposes” and “should be putting in place procedures and practices to ensure that the weapons that they buy are not being diverted” to insurgent groups, criminal organizations, or drug traffickers, reports the news service.

In other news, the Venezuelan Penal Forum, a human rights group in the country, says over 2000 critics of President Hugo Chavez have gone to trial over the last seven years for crimes related to protests against the government. In Brazil, two police officers were sentenced to approx. 500 years in prison each for the 2005 killings of 29 individuals near Rio de Janeiro. And Venezuela and China inked a 16 billion oil deal Tuesday that would give Chinese investors access to the petroleum rich Orinoco basin.