Honduras rejects OAS appeal to restore president
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras rebuffed a personal appeal from the Americas' top international diplomat Friday, refusing to restore President Manuel Zelaya and setting the stage for a dramatic showdown when the ousted leader returns to reclaim power this weekend.
Jose Miguel Insulza, who heads the Organization of American States, said after meeting with Honduras' Supreme Court, Attorney General and other political figures that he had found no willingness to return Zelaya to office ahead of a Saturday morning deadline. Zelaya was toppled in a military-backed coup on Sunday and flown out of the country.
"We wanted to ask that this situation be reversed," Insulza told a news conference in the Honduran capital, where he had arrived Friday on a personal mission to demand Zelaya's reinstatment. "Unfortunately, one must say that there appears to be no willingness to do this."
The OAS will meet on Saturday to decide whether to expel Honduras from the regional organization, he said, a move that could lead to further sanctions against one of the Americas' poorest countries. Suspension by the OAS could also encourage other organizations and countries to suspend aid and loans to Honduras.
Hours earlier, Honduras' Supreme Court, which had authorized Sunday's coup, said it wouldn't agree to reinstate the toppled leftist leader.
"Insulza asked Honduras to reinstate Zelaya, but the president of the court categorically answered that there is an arrest warrant for him," said court spokesman Danilo Izaguirre, referring to Supreme Court President Jorge Rivera. "Now the OAS has to decide what it will do."
Insulza said late Friday that Honduran officials had given him documents showing that charges are pending or have been brought against Zelaya, charges that purportedly justify the coup.
Insulza had conceded before traveling to Honduras that his mission was unlikely to succeed, saying: "It will be very hard to turn things around in a couple of days."
During the trip, the diplomat also met with the two main candidates in Honduras' Nov. 29 elections, as well with the leftist Popular Block, an umbrella group of farm, labor and student groups that largely supports Zelaya.
But he said he would not see Roberto Micheletti, whom Congress named president after Zelaya's ouster, in order to avoid legitimizing the government.
Micheletti's foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, said that Insulza "can negotiate all he wants, except for Zelaya's situation."
"That is not negotiable because he cannot return to Honduras, and if he does he will be arrested and tried," Ortez said.
Recent comments
When the OAS tried to intervene in Venezuela's internal affairs,...
OAS is chicken | July 4, 2009 at 2:54 p.m.
I do not understand the position the US administration (Obama) are...
US Position | July 4, 2009 at 12:20 p.m.
Respect Honduras' sovereingty if they want to get rid of their...
Provo Joe | July 4, 2009 at 9:15 a.m.
- House passes health care bill 10:47 p.m.
- 4A volleyball: Bruins beat Pioneers 10:47 p.m.
- 2A: Broncos stampede South Sevier 10:46 p.m.
- Utahns swap clunkers for trucks 10:45 p.m.
- Utahns in House oppose reform bill 10:44 p.m.
- Inventor Robert Rines dies 10:42 p.m.
- Iran releases 3 journalists jailed 10:42 p.m.
- Child killed after being run over 10:36 p.m.
- 1A: Rebels, Holmes just too much 10:34 p.m.
- Utes pound winless Lobos 10:33 p.m.
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
207 - Dirk does dirty work in Dallas
190 - Letters: Care not a right
190 - Lobo suspended
171 - Speed has never been BYU's game
136 - Hall, Cougars crush Cowboys
121 - RSL rallies to advance
102 - Prep football: San Juan vs. S. Sevier
102 - Thousands protest health bill
99 - Provo company innovating engines
98
Why do so many people live so close to refineries in Utah and elsewhere?
Good job Utah. enjoy your win against New Mexico High....you are about to be...
I knew it, here come "the Sloanaholics!" spare all of us nighty nite
It is important to remember that consensus does not mean universal agreement....
Think about it, we have the following key players: 1) A guard who cannot...
The debacle continues. It was no big deal beating the Spurs the other...
always underestimate the costs and overestimate the benefits, and think the...
Giving credit to Altamont for coming out not scared and playing hard. That...
Uh-oh, right-wing heads are already exploding. Something good must have...
Who cares about this issue. Whoever is right, partially right, politically...
This is the Sloan-O'Connor system in all of its glory. Jerry will not change...

