Writing in the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Berman argued that "our patience is not without end" and called on Clinton to formally determine that Zelaya was removed in a military coup.
"This one looks, walks and quacks like a duck. It's time to stop hedging and call this bird what it is," the California Democrat Berman wrote.
"And if, for whatever reason, the State Department lawyers do not conclude that this was a coup, Congress should examine other ways by which it can directly affect the flow of aid."
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSN0338092
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
OPERATOR: Our next question will come from Sergio Davila. Your line is open.
QUESTION: Hi. It’s Sergio Davila from Folha de Sao Paulo. I have two questions, actually. Does the State Department consider what happened in Honduras a coup d'état? If not, why not? And also, is there any other country that is under the same visa suspension as Honduras is now?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you also for you question. We have already stated that we do believe that this was a coup against the genuinely elected president. I can’t comment about what’s going on in other parts of the world. Right now, we’re focused right here, right on Honduras.
QUESTION: And so – sorry, just a follow-up. If this is a coup – the State Department considers this a coup, what’s the next step? And I mean, there is a legal framework on the U.S. laws dealing with countries that are under coup d'état? I mean, what’s holding you guys to take other measures according – the law?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I think what you’re referring to, Mr. Davila, is whether or not this is – has been determined to be a military coup. And you’re correct that there are provisions in our law that have to be applied if it is determined that this is a military coup. And frankly, our lawyers are looking at that exact question. And when we get the answer to that, you are right, there will be things that – if it is determined that this was a military coup, there will be things that will kick in.
As you know, on the ground, there’s a lot of discussion about who did what to whom and what things were constitutional or not, which is why our lawyers are really looking at the event as we understand them in order to come out with the accurate determination.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/aug/128373.htm
Why Obama Won't Use the M-Word for Honduras' Coup
Honduran soldiers supported by an armored vehicle remain inside the presidential palace.
Jose Cabezas / AFP / Getty
The Obama Administration tried again this week to take on the coupsters of Honduras. With more than two months passed since Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was exiled in a military ouster — and less than three months to go before his impoverished Central American nation holds new presidential elections — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jabbed harder at the coup leaders to get them to let Zelaya back into Honduras and finish his democratically elected term. The U.S. cut all non-humanitarian aid to the de facto government, about $32 million; revoked the visas of all civilian and military officials who backed the June 28 coup, and threatened not to recognize the results of the Nov. 29 elections unless Zelaya is returned to office.
But the Administration also sent a significant mixed signal. It didn't use the m-word: Military. Its lawyers have determined that while Zelaya's overthrow was a coup d'etat, it was not technically a military coup. The main reason: even though soldiers threw Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint, in his pajamas, he was not replaced with a military leader. Instead, Micheletti, a civilian who headed Honduras' Congress, was made President. Other "complicating factors," as the U.S. calls them, include lingering questions about which Honduran institution — Congress, the Supreme Court or the Army — actually ordered Zelaya's removal after he openly defied a high court edict not to hold a non-binding referendum on constitutional reform.
The legal semantics matter. If the State Department labels a coup "military" — the most brutal and anti-democratic kind of overthrow — it automatically triggers a suspension of all non-humanitarian and non-democracy-related U.S. aid. In the case of Honduras, State Department officials insist that those measures have already been taken without the military-coup tag. But critics, who fear Obama is keeping the Honduras coup designation downgraded to mollify conservative Republicans, argue that further steps, like freezing Honduran bank accounts in the U.S., are still available to the Administration. (Read about President Obama's challenge in Latin America.)
Either way, foreign policy analysts say Obama is setting a precarious precedent by trying to have it both ways. In the future, restless militaries in other countries may look at the U.S.'s Honduras ruling and decide coups are worth chancing as long as they don't install a guy wearing epaulettes in the president's chair. In that scenario, a full-bore U.S. aid cut-off won't kick in by default — and there's always the possibility, they'll reason, that the White House won't adopt enough punitive steps to make them cry uncle in the end.
The U.S.'s non-military coup rating is especially dicey given that two of Honduras' neighbors, El Salvador and Guatemala, recently elected leftist presidents who could also find themselves in the crosshairs of their countries' overweening generals. "I think the armies and the business elites they back in those countries are watching the Obama Administration's moves on Honduras very closely," says Vicki Gass, a senior associate at the independent Washington Office on Latin America. While Gass applauds Clinton's threat to reject Honduras' November election results as a "very positive step that shows the U.S. is serious again about multilateral effort in Latin America," she fears the U.S. has "created risks in other countries" by not designating Honduras' putsch as military.
The Obama Administration has political reasons for eschewing the m-word. The most important is that calling an overthrow a military coup requires certification by Congress — where Obama and Clinton foresee a fight they'd rather avoid. Conservative Republicans are angry at Obama's support of Zelaya, who they insist was trying to remove presidential term limits in Honduras and usher in a socialist government like that of his oil-rich left-wing ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. As a result, they're blocking a number of the White House's State Department appointees, including Arturo Valenzuela, Obama's pick to oversee western hemisphere affairs.
But in a Los Angeles Times op-ed last week, Democratic Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that whatever Zelaya's alleged infractions, they should have been addressed legally, not militarily. "It's time to call this bird what it is," a military coup, and move on with whatever tougher sanctions that might mean in order to get the Micheletti regime to back down, Berman wrote. Obama and Clinton still feel a negotiated settlement in Honduras can be reached. But the Micheletti regime, which human rights groups say has cracked down violently on many Zelaya supporters (a charge it denies), has so far indicated it won't be swayed by the latest U.S. sanctions.
A negotiated settlement is indeed the preferred solution. But the problem is that the U.S. loses leverage in that process when, by not calling Zelaya's ouster a military coup, it gives coup leaders the impression that what they did was merely second- or third-degree coup-mongering instead of the first-degree military kind. When the military hauls away a democratically elected president, it's a military coup, period, regardless of who takes power afterward. It's a rule that needs to apply not just in Honduras, but whenever the U.S. has to take on coupsters.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1920725,00.html
In today's pages: A coup in Honduras, graffiti in Los Angeles
September 3, 2009 | 1:37 pm
Official Washington is waiting for the State Department to determine if this summer's events in Honduras constitute a coup. Actions may speak louder than words, but in this case, one word alone could affect the course of democracy in the Western Hemisphere.
U.S. law requires that foreign assistance, with the exception of humanitarian and democracy-related aid, be suspended for "the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree." A formal determination by the State Department would trigger this suspension, whereas previous uses of the word "coup" by U.S. authorities have not. The matter will be on many minds today as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
Luis J. Rodrigez, author of the L.A. classic "Always Running: La vida loca, Gang Days in L.A.," has something to say about City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's vow to crack down on graffiti:U.S. law requires that foreign assistance, with the exception of humanitarian and democracy-related aid, be suspended for "the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree." A formal determination by the State Department would trigger this suspension, whereas previous uses of the word "coup" by U.S. authorities have not. The matter will be on many minds today as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
City Atty. Trutanich, you don't have to take my word for this. It shouldn't be hard to find out how a helping hand instead of another injunction can work for thousands of young people who can also transform their lives, given the proper framework and mentoring many of us are willing to provide.
Let's work together to keep young people out of prison instead of pushing more and more of them behind bars. Community regeneration can be a reality for all our neighborhoods -- not through injunctions, but injections of hope.
The Times editorial board weighs in on the return of film to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and critiques the Obama administration's failure to depart, sufficiently, from the Bush standard on rendition.Obama's interrogation policy will improve the United States' image among nations whose cooperation is vital in the struggle against terrorism. Sadly, the administration hasn't made a similarly clear break with the past in its new policy on the transfer, or "rendition," of suspected terrorists to countries with abysmal human rights records. Obama agrees with the task force that destination countries must offer credible assurances that prisoners won't be tortured, and that there should be "private access" to transferred prisoners. But it isn't clear whether such access would include visits by the Red Cross or other humanitarian agencies. Besides, once a prisoner is delivered to a repressive regime, U.S. leverage will be limited.
The ed board also calls on Obama not to let entitlement-fueled deficits get out of hand:
Putting those entitlements on a more sustainable path isn't as sexy as providing universal health insurance, saving troubled borrowers from foreclosure or reining in the financial institutions that ran amok during the housing bubble. But that task, like the slumping economy, is something Obama inherited when he won the White House. Congress can make a down payment of sorts by enacting a healthcare reform package with meaningful cost controls -- more meaningful than the ones in the current bills. But the longer it waits to solve the long-term problems in the federal programs for the elderly, the tougher the choices will be.
And last, but hardly least, columnist Meghan Daum analyzes the phenomenon of the tea-partying, Whole-Foods-shopping conservative.The Honduran Impasse
How the de facto government, and congressional Republicans, serve the purposes of Hugo Chávez.
Saturday, September 5, 2009It follows that the best solution to the crisis is that laid out in July by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. Under its terms, Mr. Zelaya, who was arrested and deported by the military in June, would be allowed to return and resume his post -- thus reversing the clear breach of democratic order that occurred. However, the president would have to form a unity government under international supervision, he would have to abandon his attempt to hold an illegal referendum on changing the Honduran constitution, and he would have to leave office when his term ends in January.
This outcome would be a victory for the Hondurans who supported Mr. Zelaya's ouster because they feared he was attempting to mimic Mr. Chávez's dismantling of Venezuela's democracy. Mr. Chávez would lose his Honduran puppet by means he could not contest: A new president would be chosen in an internationally monitored election this fall.
By refusing to accept the Arias plan, Honduras's de facto government -- and its supporters in Washington -- are playing into the hands of the Latin American left. The Tegucigalpa administration of Roberto Micheletti is trying to resist pressure to allow Mr. Zelaya's return until the election is held and Mr. Zelaya's term expires. That would serve to undermine the legitimacy of any new president and prolong the crisis indefinitely. That's why the Obama administration was right to formalize a suspension of $31 million in aid this week and to join other Latin American governments in saying that "at this moment" it "would not be able to support the outcome of the elections."
The administration's action was not without risk. If the Micheletti regime digs in its heels, the result could be the very destabilization that the United States and its moderate allies hope to avoid. But the Obama administration won't have much chance of rallying Latin American governments against the anti-democratic abuses of Mr. Chávez or Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega if it is not willing to use its leverage in Honduras, a country whose economy would collapse without aid, free trade and worker remittances from the United States.
In fact, it seems probable that Mr. Micheletti's government would have yielded by now if not for the encouragement of Republicans in Congress. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) seems to think the best way to help Honduras is to block the confirmation of crucial administration diplomatic appointments in Latin America, including Arturo Valenzuela, a highly respected scholar and diplomat who should be helping to untangle this mess as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. Once again, the only beneficiary of such obstructionism will be Mr. Chávez.
An old-fashioned coup in Honduras?
Security forces have been guarding the presidential palace
It was business as usual at the mall, as many Hondurans continued to shop - appearing untroubled - even unaware of their change of government.
But outside the forbidding grey-stoned presidential palace, there was proof of the extraordinary events that were taking place.
No more blind eyes
Looking at it made me think that some things really have not changed since the heyday of Latin American coups in the 1970s and 1980s.
You really can take over a country by seizing control of a few key buildings. If the soldiers are on your side, or if you are the army, it is relatively easy.
But something has changed, which is going to make the ousting of President Zelaya difficult to sustain.
A global consensus has been reached, that military coups of any form are unacceptable.
Forty years ago, plenty of blind eyes would be turned in the White House, when the telex arrived announcing that another Central American leader had been forced from power. Those days it seems, are over.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8129422.stm
LEGITIMACY OF NOVEMBER ELECTION
Washington has already suspended about $18 million that would be formally cut if the determination is made because of a U.S. law barring aid "to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree."
U.S. officials said the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government corporation that gives funds to poor countries with sound policies, had about $135 million in aid for Honduras that would have to be scrutinized and could be in jeopardy.
Despite worldwide condemnation of the June 28 coup, the de facto government led by Roberto Micheletti has said it will not be pressured into stepping down.
Micheletti has rejected proposals by mediator Oscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica, that would have allowed Zelaya to return to power before November elections.
Speaking in Washington on Tuesday, Zelaya said he trusted the international community would not recognize the election or its winner if he is not restored to office before the vote is held.
"How can legitimate, transparent and democratic elections be held?" Zelaya told a news conference, citing political repression of his followers by the de facto government.
While the Organization of American States condemned Zelaya's ouster and suspended Honduras' membership, some countries in the hemisphere now believe the election of a new government in November might be the best way out of the Honduras stalemate.
Zelaya hopes the U.S. government will step up pressure for his reinstatement with stiffer sanctions.
"No matter what we think of Zelaya (and I don't think highly of him) and his actions to change the Honduran Constitution, it is a fact that his mandate to govern was gained in a fully transparent election," Berman wrote.
"The longer it takes to right this wrong, the less legitimate the November elections will be, and the climb out of this hole will be all the steeper for the entire region." (Editing by John O'Callaghan)
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSN0338092
Washington has already suspended about $18 million that would be formally cut if the determination is made because of a U.S. law barring aid "to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree."
U.S. officials said the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government corporation that gives funds to poor countries with sound policies, had about $135 million in aid for Honduras that would have to be scrutinized and could be in jeopardy.
Despite worldwide condemnation of the June 28 coup, the de facto government led by Roberto Micheletti has said it will not be pressured into stepping down.
Micheletti has rejected proposals by mediator Oscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica, that would have allowed Zelaya to return to power before November elections.
Speaking in Washington on Tuesday, Zelaya said he trusted the international community would not recognize the election or its winner if he is not restored to office before the vote is held.
"How can legitimate, transparent and democratic elections be held?" Zelaya told a news conference, citing political repression of his followers by the de facto government.
While the Organization of American States condemned Zelaya's ouster and suspended Honduras' membership, some countries in the hemisphere now believe the election of a new government in November might be the best way out of the Honduras stalemate.
Zelaya hopes the U.S. government will step up pressure for his reinstatement with stiffer sanctions.
"No matter what we think of Zelaya (and I don't think highly of him) and his actions to change the Honduran Constitution, it is a fact that his mandate to govern was gained in a fully transparent election," Berman wrote.
"The longer it takes to right this wrong, the less legitimate the November elections will be, and the climb out of this hole will be all the steeper for the entire region." (Editing by John O'Callaghan)
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSN0338092
The U.S. State Department also moved to revoke the U.S. visas of some of the government's supporters and said it could not, for now, regard as legitimate Honduran elections scheduled for November because of Zelaya's June 28 ouster.
The United States did not, however, address the question of whether Zelaya was removed by the military despite the fact that he was arrested by soldiers while still in his pajamas, put on a army plane and flown into exile against his will.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE58251N20090903
OBVIOUSLY, U.S. CAN HAVE IT BOTH WAYS (ALLUSION TO OBAMA'S WORDS ABOUT WE HYPOCRITES NOT BEING ABLE TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS): MICHELETTI IN(PLAN A:COUP) OR MICHELETTI IN (PLAN B: ARIAS PLAN)?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you, Ian. I know you’ve already – most of you have had quite a bit of time with P.J. today, so I’ll be very brief.
The Secretary today underscored her very strong support for the San Jose Accord, and she noted that we’ve been devoting a great deal of diplomacy to the Arias process, urging both sides to reach an agreement in that framework. But she noted that because of continued resistance to the San Jose Accords by the de facto regime, that she had decided to announce three majors, which you know of, which were in our statement: the termination of a broad range of our assistance; the revocation of visas of members and supporters of the de facto regime; and a statement that, at this moment, we would not be able to support the outcome of scheduled elections and that we view the conclusion of the Arias process as providing a sound basis for elections to proceed.
I just want to add that this comes on top of earlier measures that we’ve taken: the earlier suspension of our assistance right after the coup; the pulling of a group of diplomatic visas; and also the closing of our nonimmigrant visa section to all but emergency cases.
And you know, having taken these steps previously and then the ones today, we will continue our efforts to press both sides to reach an agreement within the Arias framework. And it’s our very strong view that this framework offers the people of Honduras the best way forward as they try to restore democratic and constitutional governance, and also restore healthy relations with the rest of the region, including the United States.
So, again, very strong support for the Arias process. We believe the measures we announced today advance toward that goal, and we’ll be continuing the diplomacy to try and reach that end.
So with that, I’m happy to take questions.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/128653.htm
Honduras defiant over elections
 Roberto Micheletti has rejected a plan to reinstate the president |
The Honduran interim government says it will go ahead with presidential elections in November, even if results are not recognised by other countries.
It also told a visiting group of regional foreign ministers it was not concerned at international sanctions following the ousting of the president.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8221636.stm
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