OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza; US Deputy Ass’t. Secretary of State, Craig Kelly; an former Guatemalan Vice President, Eduardo Stein, all arrived in Tegucigalpa Monday for the installation of the OAS/US-backed truth commission, to take place today. Speaking with reporters, Stein, who will coordinate the commission’s work, said the investigation will “provide the Honduran people with recommendations for avoiding any repetition of incidents like that of June 28, 2009.” But, he added, it will be up to the Honduran institutions and people to decide which recommendations they “accept” and which they “reject.”
The estimated time frame for the commission’s work is eight months, although EFE’s reporting on the matter makes that timeline seem quite flexible.
Stein also recognized that many have already been critical of the truth commission process – from the right, left, and in between. In response, he told the press yesterday that “The truth commission has no limitations or any kind of exclusions in its way of working. We want to hear everyone, absolutely everyone, who took part.”
Some who oppose the international truth commission held an event yesterday to launch an alternative commission. Honduran human rights group and members of the FNRP organized under the “Human Rights Platform of Honduras” led the proceedings. But organizers of the alternative commission say there intent is not to set up a parallel body of investigation but rather to seek justice for ongoing human rights violations which have occurred over the last year.
On hand for yesterday’s alternative event were two former Nobel Peace Prize recipients: Guatemalan human rights activist, Rigoberta Menchú, and Argentine activist Alfonso Pérez Esquivel.
Blooomberg’s report on the Honduras situation paints the commission simply Honduras’s attempt to be re-admitted to the OAS and quell “investor concerns over political instability.” On this point, yesterday Costa Rican president Oscar Arias told his Honduran counterpart, Porfirio Lobo, that he would help in the readmission process by talking with regional powers Mexico and Brazil [according to AFP, the only countries in the region who have recognized the Lobo government are still Perú, Colombia, Panamá, Guatemala, El Salvador y Costa Rica.] However, South American UNASUR member states, meeting today in Buenos Aires, are expected to state their opposition to recognizing the Lobo government. According to Brazilian spokesperson, Marcelo Baumbach, Lula da Silva plans to warn against the “hasty recognition” of Mr. Lobo before “true national reconciliation” has occurred. Both the Brazilians and Nestor Kirchner (who will be elected UNASUR’s Sec. General today), said yesterday that an important step in this process is allowing former president Mel Zelaya to return to Honduras safely and with his full citizen rights intact and respected.
For more on Honduras, focusing on what she calls a “new culture of resistance,” historian Dana Frank has an in-depth report on the FNRP at NACLA.
To other stories today:
· In Bolivia over the weekend, the government of Evo Morales carried out the nationalizations of four major power companies, including the country’s hydroelectric plants. “Basic services cannot be a private business. We are recovering the energy, the light, for all Bolivians,” Evo remarked Sunday from Cochabamba. Profits from the nationalized companies will be invested into social programs for ‘marginalised’ indigenous communities in Bolivia, according to the president. Many analysts read Sunday’s nationalizations as the fulfillment of Evo’s campaign promise to recuperate basic services under the public sector’s control. Approximately 80% of Bolivia’s electricity generation will now be in state hands, says Reuters.
· The issue of energy generation is also gaining increased attention in Mexico. At Progreso Weekly, the Institute for Policy Studies’ Manuel Perez Rocha writes on the ongoing struggles of some 30,000 Mexican electricity workers who lost their jobs at Mexico’s Luz y Fuerza del Centro when the company was closed by President Felipe Calderon six months ago. The electrical workers union, the SME, has asked for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to provide “interim relief” and has also filed complaints with International Labor Organization (ILO). Meanwhile, in Mexico, says Perez Rocha, a hunger strike is being organized amongst some SME trade unionists.
· In the LA Times, Chris Kraul writes from Venezuela on how some trade unionists have joined the opposition due to falling standards of living and government intimidation of union organizing. According to the paper, the defection of blue-collar workers from the Chavez camp is “largely responsible for the slide in Chavez's approval rating to its lowest level in seven years.” That discontent, says Kraul, could translate into the opposition capturing “up to half” of National Assembly seats in September. According to political analyst, Ricardo Sucre, “there's a growing sense that the country is deteriorating and that Chavez is out of answers.”
· With more on Venezuela, Reuters looks at “key political risks” to watch in the country – among them, an economic recession and energy crisis; the upcoming electoral season; a struggling oil sector; and ongoing diplomatic tensions with countries like Colombia, key among them. Also, at the opposition blog, Caracas Chronicles, an interesting commentary critical of the internal election process of both the PSUV and the opposition MUD.
· In Argentina, the AP reports that former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was charged with an additional 49 cases of kidnapping, torture, and murder Monday. Videla is currently serving life sentences for crimes against humanity.
· In Washington, the Miami Herald says Senate Democrats argued Monday that Radio and TV Martí have failed in their objective and should be folded into Voice of America.
· On drugs and crime in the region, BBC Mundo says Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador are asking the US to assist them in the creation of a regional organization to fight organized crime. The idea was presented to Arturo Valenzuela in Guatemala yesterday, with Guatemalan officials saying such an organization might look like the UN-backed CICIG, but on a regional level.
· McClatchy reports on how the Mexican military’s reputation has taken a beating since being called on to provide internal security over the last three years.
· Colombia’s El Tiempo reports on the annual FBI summit for Latin America being held in Cartagena this week. It’s the first time the event has been held in Colombia. And the paper says the event seeks to improve integration of regional security efforts and criminal investigation procedures. At a parallel event, security officials can also apparently peruse the latest in security technology and “specialized services.”
· And I recommend a very interesting AP piece this morning which says Paraguay today is what Colombia was a few decades ago: “a country with vast stretches of territory beyond the reach of police, where a band of leftist guerrillas now has access to drug-trafficking cash to fund its war on wealthy landowners.” Astonishingly, the AP says “as much as 40 tons a year of Andean cocaine and 15 percent of the world's marijuana,” passes through Paraguay. And now President Fernando Lugo is apparently turning to Brazil for help. Lugo and Lula da Silva met on the Paraguay-Brazil border yesterday to discuss anti-drug/anti-crime cooperation. “The leaders shared no details about a security strategy,” according to reports, but both countries said the issue was atop the agenda.
· Finally, opinions. Robert Naiman, policy director of Just Foreign Policy, asks, at the Huffington Post, whether Brazil can help hold an attack on Iran at bay at the UN Security Council. Commenting on the issue of foreign policy in the current Brazilian election campaign, Naiman writes: “In the months ahead, I hope that most Brazilians come to see these initiatives not as Lula's foreign policy, but as Brazil's foreign policy, so that no matter who wins the election, Brazil will still be a global leader for peace.” Gina Montaner in the Miami Herald seems turned off by Hugo Chavez’s entrance into social media by way of his new Twitter account. And Bloggings by Boz has some interesting points for thinking about who has the right to call on the OAS for internal mediation. The case of Nicaragua brings the issue to the forefront, but the discussion could extend to opposition groups around the region.
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