UN cancels election aid to Honduras

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Irish Sun

UN cancels election aid to Honduras
Irish Sun
Sunday 13th September, 2009
(IANS)

New York, Sep 13 (Prensa Latina) The United Nations has decided to cut off a previously announced aid to Honduras for its upcoming elections, as a new action against the putschists who took over the country in June.

The contribution, which was expected to be channelled through the UN Development Programme (UNDP), was now cancelled and it will be announced Monday, Honduran envoy to the UN Jorge Arturo Reina told Prensa Latina Saturday.

In exclusive remarks to Prensa Latina, the diplomat explained that there is also a document drafted by Latin American countries for the UN to declare that it will not recognise any eventual election that the might be held by the putschists.

The text was proposed by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and assumed by the rest of governments in Latin America, according to Reina.

The Honduran crisis will be a main focus of attention during the first days of the 64th ordinary session of the UN General Assembly that is scheduled to start Tuesday.



Read more: http://story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/542677/cs/1/

[tritsofme]

1. Isn't the coup essentially mooted by the expiration of Zelaya's term in January?

He can't aspire to be restored after that point, can he?

Don't these new elections need to happen?

[Judi Lynn]

2. Zelaya to address UN General Assembly

Monday, 14 September 2009
Zelaya to address UN General Assembly

UN: Constitutional President of Honduras, Jose Manuel Zelaya will address the first session of the UN General Assembly, confirmed Honduran ambassador, Jorge Arturo Reina.

The speech by Zelaya will occur in the sixth turn of the Wednesday September 23 session, the diplomat declared to Prensa Latina.

The head of state is accompanied by chancellor Patricia Rodas, minister of the presidency, Enrique Flores and ambassadors of Honduras to the United States, Enrique Reina and to the UN.

Zelaya intends to express appreciation of the solidarity of his government by the UN and the international community against the coup that expelled him from power last June 28, explained his representative to the world organization.

Last July the General Assembly approved a resolution of condemnation against the coup and disturbance of constitutional order and democracy in the Central American nation.

The resolution repudiates the interruption of a legitimate exercise of power and withdrawal of the democratically elected president and demanded the immediate and unconditional restoration of the constitutional government.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/09/14/wld03.asp

[Judi Lynn]

3. Honduran presidential hopefuls to meet mediator

Sep 14, 8:58 PM EDT
Honduran presidential hopefuls to meet mediator
By MARIANELA JIMENEZ
Associated Press Writer

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) -- The international community's chief mediator in the Honduran political crisis said Monday he will meet with the country's presidential candidates to emphasize that upcoming elections will not be recognized if held under the government installed by a coup.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said he will meet Wednesday with at least four of the six candidates, including the top two contenders, in an effort to gain their support for restoring ousted President Manuel Zelaya before the Nov. 29 ballot.

Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been leading U.S.-backed efforts to restore Zelaya, said he will make clear that the world will not recognize the outcome of the election unless Zelaya is reinstated before then.

"The idea is to speak with them frankly," Arias said at a news conference in Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, where the meeting will take place. "What good is there for a presidential hopeful in Honduras to win the elections if his future government will not be recognized by the international community and the sanctions will continue or even increase?"

Arias said he hoped to persuade the candidates to back a compromise that he proposed weeks ago, which would return Zelaya to the presidency with limited powers until his constitutional term ends in January.

Interim President Roberto Micheletti has rejected the plan despite mounting international pressure since soldiers forced Zelaya into exile June 28 in a dispute over the ousted leader's efforts to change Honduras' constitution.

The United States and many Latin American countries have warned they will not recognize the November election unless Zelaya is put back in office. Last week, Washington increased the pressure by revoking the U.S. visas of Micheletti and 17 other Honduran officials.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_HONDURAS_COUP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-09-14-20-58-45