Honduras Elections Update

I’ve put together some excerpts and links from news reports and opinions that have been published over the last couple of days on tomorrow’s vote in Honduras. Feel free to post others as they come out.-jfs

NEWS REPORTING

“Upcoming Vote a Boon to De facto Rulers,” LA Times

Excerpts:

“The de facto rulers of Honduras will observe more than elections Sunday: They staged the first military-backed coup in Central America in 16 years -- and got away with it.

Months of international efforts failed to reinstate President Manuel Zelaya, ousted June 28 and deported to Costa Rica. Instead, the most powerful outside mediator, the United States, agreed to recognize the outcome of Sunday's vote for a new president. Several other countries will not, saying that a "free and fair" vote cannot be held under the watch of a de facto
government….”

“...Leo Valladares, a former human rights ombudsman and law professor who did not support the coup, said Friday that the election may be a "first step" out of the crisis. But he said the next president must confront the underlying troubles that have polarized Honduras, which is run by a small conservative elite….”

“…"The U.S. needed a way out," said Christopher Sabatini, senior policy director for the Americas Society think tank. "But what we've done is allow a coup to stand. And I fear this will erode regional consensus about the defense of democracy. . . . The U.S. has lost its moral authority to push back" on other issues in the region….”

“Region Finds US Lacking on Honduras,” New York Times

Excerpts:

“Latin American governments accused the administration of putting pragmatism over principle and of siding with Honduran military officers and business interests whose goal was to use the elections to legitimize the coup.

“President Obama’s credibility in the region has been seriously weakened,” said Kevin Casas-Zamora, a Latin America expert at the Brookings Institution and a former vice president of Costa Rica. “In a matter of five months, his administration’s position on the coup has gone from indignation to indifference to confusion to acquiescence.”

In interviews, senior administration officials rejected that view, saying that their strategy shifted as the crisis evolved, but that they never abandoned the region’s shared principles…”

“…“They really thought he was different,” said Julia Sweig of the Council on Foreign Relations, referring to Latin America’s view of Mr. Obama, adding, “But those hopes were dashed over the course of the summer.”

“Costa Rica Vows to Restore Ties with Honduras,” AP

Excerpt:

“Arias' decision to acknowledge the next administration is a new setback for Zelaya, who is urging the international community not to recognize the vote.

Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, mediated unsuccessful negotiations to restore Zelaya to power. He now says the world should not punish Honduras' next government for the
coup.

``Why should we punish them with a second Hurricane Mitch by not recognizing the next government, isolating it, denying it cooperation?'' Arias said on CNN en Espanol.”

“Honduras Fearful Ahead of Disputed Poll,” AFP

Excerpt:

“Around 30,000 soldiers and police have been deployed nationwide to distribute electoral material and oversee the polls.

Amnesty International said Friday that security forces had stockpiled 10,000 tear gas cans and other crowd control equipment, and expressed fears that the de facto regime would use excessive force to clamp down on opposition to the polls.

Javier Zuniga, head of Amnesty's Honduras delegation, decried what he called "an environment of fear and intimidation."

Rights groups already expressed concern after several deaths and dozens of arrests in the aftermath of the coup.

They reported threats and intimidation of pro-Zelaya activists, while a subtler campaign of intimidation also appeared.

An ad in a newspaper sympathetic to the de facto regime warned voters this week that if they stayed away, their voting history could easily be traced on the Internet.”

“Obama Backing Honduras Election Crimps Latin Ties,” Bloomberg

“The clumsy handling of this issue when they had the backing of the entire hemisphere is simply an embarrassment,” said Robert White, a former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador under President Jimmy Carter who heads the Center for International Policy in Washington…”

“…“It makes it look like coups are a viable way out, and that is a terrible message for the region,” said Lisa Haugaard of the Latin America Working Group, a Washington-based human- rights advocacy coalition.

“Hondurans Hope Vote will End Standoff,” Wall Street Journal

Excerpt:

“For the provisional government, pinning all hopes for future legitimacy on Sunday's vote may prove risky should there be even the slightest turbulence -- missing ballots or violence, for example -- on Election Day. "The worst outcome would be a contested election with fraud charges on one or both sides," says Riordan Roett, a Latin America expert at Johns Hopkins University. " That would open a fracas."

OPINIONS

“Elections in Honduras Ought not be Blessed,” Sarah Stephens, Huffington Post

Excerpt:

“Thousands of individuals opposed to the coup have been subjected
to arbitrary arrest and many charged with political crimes such as "sedition." In Honduras, our delegation met numerous people who'd been beaten by police and the military, and one 13-year old boy who'd been shot in the stomach by security forces. A mother came to us in tears, wondering when her son would be able to return from exile after his role in the resistance had put him in danger and forced him to flee.

"Sham Elections in Honduras," George Vickers, Foreign Policy

Excerpt:

“Although coup leaders and others question Zelaya's method and motives, this crisis has revealed that many Hondurans still want a significant reform of their country's Constitution. It was the United States' own handpicked negotiator, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who called the Honduran Constitution "the worst in the world." With neither any clause for impeachment nor any recourse for amendment, Arias had the document dead to rights. And it is easy to imagine the events of June repeating themselves if serious debate over constitutional reform does not continue once the facade of democracy is restored. Indeed, it is just this sort of national conversation that the majority of Hondurans still seem to desire. Just one month ago, 54 percent of Honduran respondents told a U.S. polling firm that a constitutional assembly would now be the best way for resolving the current crisis.”

“Basic Conditions for Free and Fair Elections Do Not Exist,” LAWG/WOLA

Excerpt:

“In a context of current repression by the armed forces of public protests and a history of military dictatorship in the not-so-distant past, the visible, widely-reported presence of the armed forces, repeatedly announced by the government, introduces a visceral undercurrent of fear. By international standards, Honduras falls short of providing a safe climate for free or fair elections.”

“No Fair Election in Honduras Under Military Occupation,” Dana Frank, Huffington Post

Excerpt:

“President Obama should join the rest of the world and immediately declare the elections fraudulent and demand the immediate restoration of President Manuel Zelaya, the withdrawal of the Honduran military, and a delay of the election until three months after Zelaya has been full reinstated.”

“Sunday’s Elections Risky Option in Honduras,” Christopher Sabatini/Daniel Altschuler, Huffington Post

Excerpts:

“But perhaps the greatest loser will be the hemispheric consensus to defend liberal democracy. In the last three decades, from Haiti to Peru, the region has effectively pushed back on coups and democratic transgressions. Allowing the Honduran coup to stand has eroded this hard-won consensus…”

“…Fingers are crossed throughout the Americas for a speedy conclusion to the Honduran crisis. But Sunday's elections may not present the exit we all hope for. Instead, no matter how transparent they may be, Sunday's elections may mark a defeat for the hemisphere's ability to stand firm against coups, rein in overzealous presidents, and hold fast to a conception of liberal democracy on which we should all be able to agree.”

“The People of Honduras have been Betrayed,” James Burgess, New Statesman

Excerpt:

“The events unfolding in Honduras set a dangerous precedent in Latin America, and threaten the hard-won democratic progress made across the continent in recent years. Whilst Obama's hands are tied by domestic affairs and conflict elsewhere, the spectre of US support for right-wing Latin American military coups is making its ominous reappearance.”

“Honduras’s Democratic Solution,” Editorial, Washington Post

Excerpt:

“The lesson of the Honduran crisis is that the United States cannot always pursue such multilateralism and also support democracy. Too many Latin American governmentsare more interested in backing leaders who share their political inclinations than in upholding the rule of law. While loudly denouncing the "coup" against Mr. Zelaya, they have ignored the rigging of elections and the violent suppression of opposition by fellow leftists. In rejecting their attempt to nullify Honduras's democratic vote this Sunday, the Obama administration has taken a relatively isolated stance -- and a correct one.”