A truth commission in Honduras will issue a report “on the events that led to the ouster of Manuel Zelaya” sometime this summer (note: El Tiempo says the report will be released “no later” than August, the AP says sometime in June). This according to former Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein, who will be chairing the panel that will also include two Hondurans and three additional non-Honduran members. It was recommended by Stein that those non-Honduran commissioners be former foreign ministers and former ministers of justice with a background in international law and human rights. And, further, Stein said Wednesday that he has offered President Pepe Lobo a list of potential candidates that he believes would be suitable for the openings. However, in the end, the decision will be the president’s to make, Stein commented.
Again according to El Tiempo, the group will begin their investigation on February 25. But there’s little mention about whether or not human rights abuses which occurred after the June 28 ouster of Manuel Zelaya will be considered—a point which many advocates of a truth panel have long insisted upon. This point has already caused tension with the Resistance who says no investigation and reconciliation process can successfully occur while rights abuses continue. On this issue, El Tiempo did report yesterday that a motion has been raised by some national deputies to overturn an executive decree (translation of decree here, from RNS) issued by the de facto regime of Roberto Micheletti which revoked broadcasting licenses from various opposition media outlets and censored free speech. But, says the right’s group Rights Action, other serious abuses continue. On Feb. 2, for example, two cameramen from Radio Globo were reported to have been kidnapped and tortured by individuals whom they identified as state security forces. And In these Times reports that 29-year-old trade unionist and active Resistance member, Vanessa Zepeda, was found murdered on Feb. 4 after being kidnapped leaving a union meeting. The Lobo government called the incident one of “common crime,” but the Resistance insists there are more direct connections related to Ms. Zepeda’s protest against coup leaders, her opposition to privatizations and economic reforms, and her Feb. 4 murder.
Meanwhile, the World Bank became the latest international institution to restore ties with Honduras, announcing yesterday that development aid totaling $390 million will now be restored.
In other stories today:
· On Haiti, the Miami Herald has breaking news that, behind the scenes, the Obama administration is pushing for the creation of an “Interim Haiti Recovery Commission” to oversee reconstruction in the country. The plan, formulated by US Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, was presented to top Haitian officials in recent days, according to the Herald’s Jacqueline Charles. Further, Ms. Clinton’s plan could potentially put her husband, UN special envoy and Haiti coordinator, Bill Clinton, at the commission’s head, with Haiti’s PM, Jean-Max Bellerive, as its co-chair. The paper goes on to say the commission’s top priority would be the creation of a “Haitian Development Authority to plan and coordinate billions in foreign assistance for at least 10 years.” Bob Maguire, Haiti specialist at Washington DC’s Trinity University, says Clinton would be both a “good” and “logical” choice for the position, were the commission to be created. But there continue to be other reconstruction plans and discussions circulating in Haiti. Prime Minister Bellerive called a meeting of international partners in Haiti Wednesday, according to the Herald, and up for discussion were various proposals. But he has told the Miami paper that the US plan is “very close to what is needed to ensure transparency, efficiency and a leadership role for the Haitian government.” In the end it seems the final decision for setting up any sort of commission rests with President Rene Preval who would have veto power over all actions taken.
· Other Haiti stories today include the Washington Post which begins its Haiti coverage with a piece looking at the country’s devastated infrastructure. The paper writes: “…volunteer engineers from several countries are scouring buildings that did not collapse, examining beams and supports and providing the same grim assessment: About 20 percent of the capital city's buildings were destroyed, but an even greater percentage left standing are so unsafe that they will have to be fixed before they can be occupied or will have to be torn down.” The AP writes that “wildly conflicting death tolls” offered from various Haitian officials are making it unclear exactly how many died during the earthquake. Communications minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue raised the number to 230,000 early in the week. Afterwards, Rene Preval was quoted as saying 270,000 had been buried but that number was later revised by officials who said the president meant to say “170,000.” Preval used that very different figure in an English-language interview when he was abruptly corrected by his communication’s minister who said, “No, no, the official number is 210,000,” a number nobody had used to that point. To that, Preval shot back, again in English, “"Oh, she doesn't know what she's talking about.” In short, nobody seems to really know—one month after the quake. And, moreover, Mr. Preval and his communications minister do not seem to be on the best of terms about it. Via CEPR’s new “Haiti Watch” blog which writes on an informal survey conducted by Oxfam, news that “most people have received very little direct information about the Haitian government’s plans to move people to new camps, leading to uncertainty about the strategy.” CEPR adds that “Leaving Haitians out of the planning of their own resettlement would be a violation of their international rights.” And more on the upcoming rainy season in Haiti at the LA Times.
· On Colombia, NACLA has a piece by journalist and historian Forrest Hylton who reports on a plan recently mentioned by the Uribe government to use students as spies in Medellin, and perhaps beyond. The Colombian president has said he’ll pay $50/month to informants who report to the government about suspicious behavior they see among military or police officers. But, says Hylton, waves of protest have already come from both teachers and students and that’s only likely to increase if the plan goes into effect nationwide.
· At Just the Facts, a second podcast from CIP’s Adam Isacson who discusses “civilian-military” relations around the region, including in Chile, Bolivia, El Salvador, Peru, Argentina, and Venezuela.
· Former Uruguayan dictator, Juan Maria Bordaberry, was sentenced to 30 years prison yesterday by an Uruguayan judge. His crime this time: “violating the constitution” when he led a 1973 coup that began 12 years of dictatorship in Uruguay. The sentence was the maximum possible for the crime of “dissolving Congress and banning political parties” after Bordaberry was elected in a contested vote in 1971. Bordaberry’s son, Pedro, ran for president last year but finished third.
· Mexican President Felipe Calderon says he will not remove the military from Ciudad Juarez amidst rising death numbers and increased protests. “The violence (in Ciudad Juarez) is not due to the presence of federal forces. The presence of the federal forces is due to the violence that was and still is there,” he said Wednesday. Meanwhile, in Colombia, Reuters reports that Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva believes a planned $55 million cut in US aid to the country will not undermine cooperation between Washington and his country in their mutual fight against drug traffickers. Silva says a State Department official had “assured him the reduction in aid was part of across-the-board belt-tightening in President Obama's 2011 budget proposal,” not a particular change in US Colombia policy.
· El País says Venezuela has lost its Health Minister, allegedly over disputes with President Chavez over the role of Cubans in the country’s health system. And from Mexico, the same paper reports, that Interior Minister Fernando Gomez Mont has abandoned the governing PAN.
· Finally today, mention of a new report out from the Council on Foreign Relations examining “mineral wealth and woes” in Peru. The full document is here.
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