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.”
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