Sen. Jim DeMint vs. President Obama and the Senate Democrats

Things are getting very interesting in the halls of the U.S. Senate and a small Central American country is at the center of debate. As the Washington Post reports this morning, the plan of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) to travel to Honduras this weekend was nixed yesterday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s chair, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). The SFRC chair, which must approve committee travel funding, argued that Sen. DeMint’s blocking of key Latin America diplomatic appointees led to DeMint’s own travels being reined in. DeMint, in turn, called Kerry’s actions, “unprecedented,” appealing his case to minority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell. Now, it seems, the Dept. of Defense will provide the S. Carolina Senator a means of transport south. Last night, the New America Foundation’s Steve Clemons went on Rachel Maddow to discuss the situation. Interestingly, Clemons said DeMint’s trip may even be violating the “Logan Act,” a little invoked law which would forbid a senator like DeMint from traveling to a foreign country to call on leaders to defy U.S. foreign policy. [In the case of Honduras, DeMint has said he would urge the coup government of Roberto Micheletti to resist U.S. pressure to reinstate ousted leader Mel Zelaya.] Foreign Policy writes on this all today, saying “Everyone has an idea for saving Honduras.” And the major Honduran papers, including El Heraldo and La Tribuna, are today reporting on the Republican delegation’s visit to Tegucigalpa as their top story. “The delegation visits the country with the objective of knowing first hand the advances made in the process of dialogue and the elections scheduled for November 29,” writes El Heraldo, without making reference to the intense U.S. Senate debate over the trip. La Tribuna meanwhile also runs an interview with former U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Crecencio Arcos, who says the U.S. should recognize November elections. “The important thing is that Hondurans resolve the problem, not the U.S. and not the OAS…,” says the former ambassador.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times has reports on the arrest of more than 50 Zelaya supporters occupying the National Agrarian Institute on Wednesday. The paper writes: “The arrests, which provoked sharp criticism from the international community, came in spite of overtures from the de facto government that it would revoke a decree passed on the weekend that curtailed civil liberties.” Venezuela’s El Universal says Roberto Micheletti confirmed that contacts exist between his government and Mr. Zelaya. However, Micheletti refused to offer any details on the matter. He also again reiterated his belief that constitutional guarantees should remain in place for the time being. I haven’t seen this elsewhere, but La Tribuna is also reporting today that Manuel Zelaya has indicated he’d be willing to submit himself before Honduran courts. “I am willing to go to the courts; it’s that they didn’t allow me to by taking me out of the country. I am willing to respond to the charges that there are against me…I returned because I’m innocent.”

And the Wall Street Journal reports that despair in Honduras has led many to simply put their faith in some form of divine intervention. The paper writes: “So every day, more and more Hondurans are calling on the Virgin of Suyapa, a 3-inch statuette of the Virgin Mary, made of dark wood and nicknamed La Morenita, or the Little Dark One, for help. Over the centuries, La Morenita, which was found on a hillside in 1747 and now makes its home at a small whitewashed colonial church near the capital, has been credited with sundry miracles, from curing kidney stones to ending a brief war.”

In other news, the Miami Herald writes on Haiti today, focused on former president Bill Clinton’s trade mission to the country which included various international investors. The paper also reports on a new GAO report which argues “A U.S. president has limited ways to ease the embargo on Cuba -- unless he or she certifies that Havana is moving toward democracy or Congress overturns U.S. laws on the sanctions.” The report had been requested by three supporters of a new Cuba policy: Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. ; Rep. Jeff Flake, R.-Ariz, and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. And the AP writes that Venezuela has agreed to turn over a major drug trafficker to the U.S. Julio Mendez, the apprehended individual, has been wanted by the U.S. since 2007 on cocaine smuggling charges.

An interesting note at Foreign Policy on relationships between Russian telecom company Scarlet, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Nicaraguan was, until a short time ago, the only country to recognize the Georgian breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia [Venezuela has since followed suit]. And FP suggests this may have to do with the sweetheart deals Scarlet is giving to the two countries.

In the LA Times an editorial on Chevron’s recent decision to file a claim in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague against the Ecuadorean government. The paper writes the following: “By going to The Hague before a verdict is issued in Ecuador, the company shuts out the private citizens who brought the suit and who have no standing there. This reframes the case as between Ecuador and Chevron, and if it succeeds -- shifting liability from the company to the Ecuadorean government -- it could have a chilling effect on people all over the world who are engaged in legal battles with multinational corporations.”

And, finally Brazil continues it rise onto the world stage, being selected to host the 2016 Olympics. The selection of Rio de Janeiro to host the event was the first ever for any South American country. And as the LA Times reports, the Brazilian economy isn’t doing so bad either. It’s now a leader in stoking up a global economic recovery.