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INSULZA: “RETURN OF HONDURAS TO OAS WILL BE POSSIBLE ONLY WHEN THE OUTCOME OF JUNE 28 IS OVERCOME”

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today stated during a special session of the Permanent Council held to analyze the political situation in Honduras that the agreements reached in relation to the following points are still fully in force: the condemnation of the illegitimate removal of Constitutional President José Manuel Zelaya that was unequivocally qualified as a coup d’état; the demand for the reestablishment of constitutional order in Honduras that includes explicitly the return of President Zelaya to his authorities; the total rejection of the de facto regime and its actions; the suspension of the State of Honduras from its participation in the OAS, in strict appliance of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and the diplomatic steps taken to fulfill our purposes.

Insulza also stated that “we all want a prompt return of Honduras, a founding member of the OAS, to the heart of the Organization. But that will only be possible when this country reaches a true restoration of its democratic regime and the outcome of the coup of June 28 has been overcome.”

Referring to the recent elections of November 29, the head of the largest hemispheric body warned that “an election does not erase, on its own, the forced deposition of the constitutional President, his expulsion from the country and his seclusion, even today, under precarious conditions in the enclosed Embassy of a sister country.”

Alluding to Porfirio Lobo, Insulza stressed that it is he who “can bring to an end the persecution of José Manuel Zelaya, break clearly and publicly from what happened in these months, fully reestablish the respect for human rights and public liberties, and summon all democratic forces to a great National Accord.”

The OAS Secretary General proposed that in the period of time until the inauguration of the new President a Government of Unity and National Reconciliation be immediately created “that would permit the beginning of reconciliation and prevent the new President from receiving his command from the hands of the authors of the coupe d’état,” as well as the normalization of the situation of the Brazilian Embassy and the full liberty of President Zelaya to live in his country “with respect for his rights and without further persecution.”

Also, the Secretary General appreciated the fact that immediately after June 28 all member countries of the OAS condemned the coup d’état, as well as the fact that no “State of the hemisphere or of the world has recognized the government of Roberto Micheletti.” This, he added, “is an enormous success for our Democratic Charter and constitutes a precedent that we must value and protect.”

“There has been much talk of the harm caused to the Charter by the coup in Honduras. But there has been less talk of the precedent established we must reinforce in the future: that in the Americas no one will again recognize a regime arisen from a coup d’état,” he concluded.

Reference: E-405/09