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OAS PERMANENT COUNCIL ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON THE SITUATION IN HONDURAS

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted Friday a resolution on the situation in Honduras expressing support to the institutions of the country, calling upon all political actors to respect the rule of law and asking the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, to urgently establish a Special Commission to analyze the developments in Honduras.

The text of the resolution, adopted by unanimous consensus, was worked out for several hours by a working group, created by the Permanent Council, where all regional groups were represented.

The resolution includes three items. In the first one, the Permanent Council accepts the request of the Government of Honduras “to provide support to preserve and strengthen the democratic institutions of the country, within the framework of the rule of law.”

The text also calls upon “all political and social actors involved to ensure that their actions respect the rule of law, in order to avoid a disruption of the constitutional order and of social peace that might impair peaceful coexistence among Hondurans.”

The third item instructs the OAS Secretary General “to establish a Special Commission to visit Honduras as a matter of urgency, with a view to analyzing the facts and contributing to broad national dialogue aimed at finding democratic solutions to the current situation, and to report back to the Permanent Council.”

The Permanent Council says that it adopted the resolution “concerned that recent events in the Republic of Honduras may jeopardize the democratic political institutional process and the legitimate exercise of power.”

The Special Meeting of the Permanent Council took place at the request of Honduras. The permanent representative of the Central American country to the OAS, Ambassador Carlos Sosa, sent a message of gratitude to the other Member States before reading the resolution.

“Honduras is deeply grateful to the 33 friends in this organization for their ideas, their contribution, their solidarity, their concern about the peace and calm of the State of Honduras and their respect to its legitimate democratic institutions. Therefore, thank you very much,” said Ambassador Sosa.

The permanent representative of Brazil, Ambassador Ruy Casaes, who proposed the resolution to be adopted by consensus, stressed the “great effort” made by all Member States to reach an agreement about the “difficult moment” Honduras is going through.

At the beginning of the Permanent Council all countries expressed their support to the democratic institutions of Honduras, and called all citizens and institutions to respect the rule of law. Participants in the meeting also included the representatives of Nicaragua (on behalf of the Central American Integration System, SICA), Belize (on behalf of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM), Venezuela (on behalf of the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty, ALBA-TCP), and Paraguay (on behalf of the Common Market of the South, MERCOSUR), as well as Mexico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, United States, Chile, Canada, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia.

Reference: E-211/09