It’s difficult to escape Honduras for more than a couple of days it seems, particularly as a crisis continues to fester and an election appears just over the horizon (Nov. 29 to be exact). Apparently the State Dept. also agrees, returning one of its top diplomats to Tegucigalpa Tuesday for two days of meetings with both Roberto Micheletti and Mel Zelaya. This time it was Deputy Ass’t Sec. of State, Craig Kelly, going it alone. As the New York Times reports Kelly’s goal is simply to get both sides to follow through with their commitments made under the Oct. 30 “Tegucigalpa-San José Accord.” But so far nothing, says Radio Globo, who reports that Kelly and U.S. Amb. Hugo Llorens offered a “new” proposal to both sides which included Micheletti stepping down, the formation of a real unity government, and the appointment of current Minister of Government, Oscar Matute, as president until Congress votes on Zelaya’s restitution. According to Honduras commentator Rosemary Joyce notes, it’s essentially the same package rejected last Friday. [One more note from Honduras this morning. Honduras’s Tiempo reports that the Honduran Congress has received back its first reply from one of the three bodies from which it requested an opinion before it will vote on Zelaya’s restitution. But the country’s human rights ombudsman, Ramon Custodio Lopez must not have fully understood the request as he simply wrote down the events that led to the June 28 ouster of Zelaya, with no opinion on whether or not he should be restored power. The Congress waits still for the Attorney General and Supreme Court to “weigh-in.”]
In Washington, DOS has come under intense criticism by some (and praise by a few others, particularly the Sen. Jim DeMint gang) in recent days for announcing it would recognize Honduran elections, even without the restitution of Mr. Zelaya to the presidency prior. Rep. Howard Berman, for one, phoned Deputy Sec. of State, Jim Steinberg, Tuesday to express his frustration with the change in U.S. position. “It was not a feel-good phone call,” his aide tells the Times. Ditto for Sen. John Kerry who remarked that “an abrupt change” of policy toward Honduras “caused the collapse of an accord it helped negotiate.” And reportedly Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) is on her way (or already in) Tegucigalpa as well, but perhaps still without an Embassy shuttle service, according to the Washington Note’s Steve Clemons. More on this in the coming days. Meanwhile, outside the U.S. State Dept. in Washington, protestors gathered to oppose the U.S.’s policy flip flop. Spokesman PJ Crowley seemed only slightly amused:
QUESTION: And I’m sure you’re aware of the protesters out front who are saying that this is a sham election.
MR. CROWLEY: Yes, I heard them myself. (Laughter.)
The change also put the U.S. at odds with the much of the hemisphere and the OAS whose Sec. General, José Miguel Insulza, said this week that no election observers will be sent to Honduras. The lone OAS dissenter: the United States’ representative to the body, Lew Amselem. “I’ve heard many in this room say that they will not recognize the elections in Honduras,” Mr. Amselem commented Tuesday. “I’m not trying to be a wise guy, but what does that mean? What does that mean in the real world, not in the world of magical realism?”
Finally, DOS also confirmed the confirmation of Arturo Valenzuela as the new U.S. Ass’t. Sec. of State for W. Hemisphere on Tuesday after the Senate voted to approve last Friday. Some Honduran papers say Tom Shannon was confirmed as Ambassador to Brazil as well but I’ve seen nothing yet at DOS to back that up. In Tuesday’s DOS briefing, in fact, Crowley said: “a great American, Tom Shannon, will continue to focus on – as the Ambassador-designate for Brazil. Tom was up on the Hill for further meetings with the Senate. And we certainly continue to encourage the Senate to act on his confirmation as soon as possible.”
Around the region this morning:
· The Wall Street Journal has more on the brief detainment and beating that Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez received over the weekend—at the hands of Cuban security officials. The paper says the event was the first known case of physical abuse against a dissident blogger in the country, adding: “Until now, Cuba's growing blogger movement has been tolerated by the government, mostly because Internet access is restricted on the island. But the attack on Ms. Sánchez could signal that tolerance is waning.” Earlier this year, Ms. Sanchez won a top journalism prize from Columbia University for her blog Generación Y but was barred by the government from traveling to New York to accept the award. The Miami Herald, for its part, condemns the actions of the Cuban police forces in an editorial today. Also from Cuba, the Miami Herald’s Cuba blog reports that a U.S. science delegation, led by Dr. Peter Agre, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has arrived in Havana for three days of citizen diplomacy. New America’s Steve Clemons is also with the group, as is Colin Powell’s chief of staff, Col. Larry Wilkerson.
· In Colombia, the LA Times reports on news that 9 Colombian soldiers were killed in a grenade ambush by some 200 FARC guerrillas in Southwestern Colombia. Chris Kraul speculates that the event could be part of a FARC campaign to disrupt upcoming presidential elections in the country. The incident could also be connected to recent military attacks on the FARC which reportedly killed 3 FARC rebels over the weekend.
· In Haiti, the AP reports that new PM Jean Max-Bellevire has been officially approved as the country’s next premier. “The Chamber of Deputies voted 70-2, with two abstentions, to back the appointment of Bellerive, who in a question-and-answer session with lawmakers earlier in the day promised to court investors and lift people out of poverty in the hemisphere's poorest nation,” says the wire service.
· And there are multiple reports of blackouts and water shortages across parts of South America this morning. In Venezuela, Simon Romero writes for the Times (as others have in recent days) that blackouts and shortages are getting increasingly worse in the country. Rural areas are being particularly affected as the government cuts electricity for hours each day to save energy. “Even as the oil boom was enriching his government and Mr. Chávez asserted greater control over utilities and other industries in this decade, public services seemed only to decay, adding to residents’ frustrations,” writes Romero. The situation in Brazil and Paraguay is perhaps less systemic. The famed Itaipu dam that provides a significant amount of power to both countries malfunctioned Tuesday, the NYT also reports, but power was being restored by early Wednesday.
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