Week Summary, November 9-15

November 15th, 2009

On Tuesday US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Craig Kelly was sent to Honduras to try to get Zelaya and Micheletti back at the negotiation table. He left the day after with no results. Congress has still not been called to decide on the restoration of Zeleya.

U.S. Tries to Salvage Honduras Accord

The US position continues to be that they will recognize the elections and their result, whether or not Zelaya is reinstated. Panama and Colombia have joined them in that position. On Thursday, 240 academics and experts on Latin America send an open letter to Obama, urging him to change his position and join most of the international community in condemning the fraudulent electoral process and their outcome. They proposed an interesting alternative solution of the crisis – namely to postpone the elections and start all over the campaigning period of three months starting the moment Zelaya is reinstated:

Over 240 Academics and Experts on Latin America Call on Obama to Denounce Human Rights Abuses by Honduran Dictatorship

On Wednesday, the European Parliament discussed their position on the elections in Honduras. Still, however, there is no consensus in the parliament on the issue:

Political situation in Honduras with a view to the elections on 29 November 2009 (debate)

Some countries have stated that they would recognize the elections only if Zelaya is reinstated before November 29. Yesterday Zelaya issued an open letter to US president Obama, stating among other things, that he will not accept a restoration with the sole purpose of legitimizing the elections. Two weeks before the Electoral Day, it is too late. There is no way to turn the elections into a free and fair process now. Read the letter in Spanish here

During the week a growing number of candidates have been redrawing their candidatures, starting with the independent candidates who support Carlos H. Reyes, and then a huge number of candidates from the liberal party, PINU and UD. After yesterday’s statement from Zelaya it is expected that even more will redraw. The Resistance is still calling for a boycott of the elections, tearing down campaigning material, demonstrating on a daily basis at the congress building and promoting political consciousness all over the country.

Honduras: Why the resistance will boycott the November 29 election; Zelaya on accord

Honduras: ‘The elections are fraudulent’

As military presence is being doubled until elections (for security reasons the coup government says) random violence is growing and stays unpunished. The Resistance is gathering evidence of the fraud which they know will happen during the elections. Some days ago a conversation between the liberal presidential candidate Elvin Santos and his campaigning coordinator Marlon Lara was recorded, proving that they are receiving a huge amount of public money (59 million USD) for their political campaign.  Hear the conversation here (Spanish).

Here are some pictures of the demonstrations.

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