"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.