Supreme Court Rules Against Zelaya Reinstatement

The Honduran Supreme Court offered its opinion on Thursday on the restitution of the deposed Mel Zelaya, the AP reports this morning. Their decision: Zelaya should not be restored to the presidency because of “criminal charges pending against him.” “While he faces judicial charges, he cannot return to power," SCJ spokesman Danilo Izaguirre said. Spain’s El Pais adds to the reporting writing that 14 of the 15 SCJ justices voted against the restitution of Mr. Zelaya. The ruling follows an August 21 decision by the Court which offered essentially the same position against reinstatement. Further, the non-binding resolution precedes a vote by the Honduran Congress on the matter, scheduled for Dec. 2—two days after Hondurans vote in national elections. For his part, Mr. Zelaya, still a resident of the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, reiterated his position, saying he has no plans of accepting the Honduran Congress vote on Tuesday given its “unilateral” nature.

All of this comes as the de facto regime continues to prepare for Sunday elections and the opposition continues to call for a national boycott. EFE reports that the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute have sent their election observers to Honduras for the Sunday vote, joining some 300 other international observers. The UN, OAS, and the internationally respected Carter Center have all said in recent days that they still will not send formal election observers to the country. For its part, the US embassy in Tegucigalpa has said that it, however, does plan to send representatives into the country to monitor election developments on Sunday. According to the Inter-American Dialogue’s Peter Hakim, the US will be walking a tightrope. “[Ass’t. Sec. of State] Valenzuela’s challenge is to find a formula that allows him to take advantage of the elections as a way to resolve the crisis without further polarizing inter-American relations.” Already this week there have been multiple reports about Brazil’s frustration with the US over the Honduran crisis. After President Lula da Silva reiterated his country’s decision not to recognize Sunday’s poll, his Foreign Minister Celso Amorim did attempt to patch up hard feelings, speaking with Hillary Clinton by phone for over an hour. After the conversation, Amorim insisted US-Brazil relations remained strong, despite “a little disappointment.”

On the ground in Honduras, the AP reports that 2 bombs were detonated as pro-Micheletti activists began a march in Tegucigalpa. Nobody was killed but a few injuries were reported. Members of the anti-Micheletti Resistance have said they are planning a mass protest march to take place on the day of elections. This according to Tiempo. At “Honduras Coup 2009” there is news that the Millennium Challenge Corporation has told the Central American Development Bank it must restart loans to Honduras, totaling $130 million, by February if it hopes to retain MCC funding. And with an opinion on Honduras this morning, Edward Schumacher-Matos writes in the Washington Post that the U.S. should hold firm to its recent decision to recognize Sunday’s vote. He writes: “There is good reason to believe that the election will come off favorably enough for Honduras to be accepted again. We will see on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Obama administration, despite being alone, is right not to panic.”

In other news around the region:

· In Uruguay, voters will also be heading back to the polls Sunday for round 2. According to Reuters, former guerrilla fighter Pepe Mujica is expected to win, giving the left leaning Frente Amplio another 5 years in office. Mujica currently leads the conservative National Party candidate, ex President Luis Lacalle, by about 8 percentage points.

· The Miami Herald reports on U.S. efforts to deliver food to Guatemala, in the midst of a “state of calamity” brought on by drought and rising food prices. U.S. food is being distributed primarily through four international organizations: Mercy Corps, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, and Share.

· The AP reports on Lula’s Thursday call to the West in which he said rich nations should be willing to pay Amazonian countries to not deforest the Amazon. The idea is similar to Ecuadorean demands that developed countries pay oil rich developing countries to keep their oil in the ground.

· And finally, in a WP editorial, the paper is very critical of Lula for accepting Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to town earlier in the week. “When even Russia is publicly discussing new sanctions against Tehran, the Brazilian government signed 13 cooperation agreements with the regime, prompting Mr. Ahmadinejad to predict that bilateral trade would grow fifteenfold,” writes the Post. “Brazil may yet become a regional power; Mr. Lula's mostly sensible domestic policies have made it stronger. But if it is to acquire global influence, Brazil will have to reform the anachronistic Third Worldism that informs its foreign policy.”