EU Will Not Be Sending Election Observers to Honduras in November

The European Union has announced that it will not send election observers to Honduras for November elections since the country does not meet proper democratic conditions. In an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE, the director of the EU’s Commission on Foreign Relations, Stefano Sannino, said the EU was following other Latin American countries who had reached the same conclusion about the upcoming elections. The EU has not recognized the government of Mr. Roberto Micheletti, and negotiations for a Central American trade agreement with the EU were also suspended after the June 28 coup. Mr. Sannino reiterated that the EU still remains supportive of the San José Accords presented by Costa Rica’s Oscar Arias which calls for early elections, amnesty for political crimes, an end to Zelaya-backed efforts toward a constitutional assembly, and the formation of truth commission, among other points. Meanwhile, Oscar Arias announced a few days ago that the U.S. would be sending a new delegation of State Dept. officials to Central America “very soon” to once again analyze the negotiations process and situation in Honduras. Among the possible U.S. representatives who might make up the delegation is outgoing Asst. Sec. of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, Tom Shannon. EFE reports also that Mr. Arias believes the regime of Roberto Micheletti is “injuring the people and nation of Honduras” by remaining in power and said the country would simply be wasting money and resources by continuing forward with campaigns for the November vote if no other countries plan to even recognize the election’s results. In Washington, Reuters reports that the ranking member on the SFRC, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), spoke on the situation in Honduras at the annual CAF conference, held at the Carnegie Endowment for Int’l Peace. The senator said he had urged Zelaya to be “constructive” in finding a practical solution to the current crisis when he met with the Honduran leader last week, adding that he believed Zelaya had taken “provocative” steps both before and after his ouster that perhaps worsened the situation. Unlike other Republicans, however, Sen. Lugar said he was largely in agreement with President Obama’s handling of the situation thus far and said he continues to back the San José Accords advanced by Oscar Arias. And finally two lingering questions on sanctions. There appears to still be some doubt about whether or not IMF money, set to be delivered to Honduras, will be put on hold. Nicaragua’s El Nuevo Diario says the IMF, in a statement Thursday, remarked that it was still deliberating whether or not Honduras had the right to access some $102 million in IMF funds. And also, at “Honduras Coup 2009,” RAJ questions whether or not the U.S. has fully ended military cooperation with the Honduran armed forces as news leaks that Honduras will participate in “Allied Forces Panamex 2009 maneuvers” scheduled to begin to today.

The New York Times today has more coverage of Hugo Chavez’s visit to Russia, focusing on the Venezuelan leader’s declaration that he would recognize two pro-Russia, breakaway Georgian states as independent. Russia welcomed the decision, which follows that of Nicaragua, the only other country to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Arms deals were among the major topics of discussion with the Russians, as many have reported, perhaps a signal of a larger regional trend toward increased weapons spending. The AP also reports that Venezuela will aid in the remodeling of Bolivian military barracks near the Brazilian border. [Venezuela has provided aid for rural infrastructure projects as part of the “Bolivia cambia, Evo cumple” program begun in 2007.] And more on the Brazil’s own mission to revamp its military arsenal with new jet purchases is reported by Bloomberg which says U.S.-based Boeing may now be competing with France’s Dassault Aviation to win a lucrative fighter plane deal with the Brazilians. Brazil’s Defense Minister Nelson Jobim told reporters Thursday that competition was “heating up” and that it was now Dassault’s turn to present a final offer.

Also on Venezuela, Bloomberg is reporting that an Andorran court has frozen the bank accounts of individuals close to the Chavez government over investigations related to international terrorism financing. The accounts include those located in Miami, Panama, Andorra, and China. And Venezuela has decided to suspend both cargo and many passenger flights between its country and Colombia [although no commercial airlines currently even from Venezuela to Colombia]. And a note on Colombia where the AP is reporting that retired General Francisco Pedraza was arrested Wednesday in connection to issues of homicide, forced displacement, and terrorism in the state of Cauca in 2001.

From Cuba, the Miami Herald reports on a blogger competition, the country’s first ever, which some say represents a “vibrant blogosphere” despite “vast legal and technical obstacles.” The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that the country has “at least 25 independent journalistic and regularly maintained blogs, 75 others based on more personal interests and nearly 200 produced by government journalists.” The watchdog group concludes, however, that Cuba must “stop harassing bloggers and independent journalists and remove legal barriers to Internet access” and calls on the international community “to push Cuba in that direction.”

Finally, from Mexico, as HRW issued a new statement demanding the U.S. insist on human rights compliance by the Mexican government before releasing Merida Initiative funds, there are also reports from the AP that the military has arrested a man suspected of being believed in a series of violent attacks in Ciudad Juarez that took the lives of 18 individuals. The detained is said to belong to the group “La Linea,” a hit man group working in close collaboration with the Juarez cartel.