struggle4progress: Zelaya sets midnight deadline for return to presidency

[rabs]

struggle4progress posted below on LBN about half hour ago. Deadline would run out in about three hours.

Source: Channel News Asia (MediaCorp)

Posted: 23 October 2009

TEGUCIGALPA: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Thursday set a midnight deadline for his return to office, or he will withdraw from talks with the de facto government, his chief negotiator said.

"If by 12:00 midnight (0600 GMT Friday) we haven't received an answer from (de facto leader Roberto) Micheletti's delegation, we'll consider the dialogue terminated," Zelaya's chief negotiator Victor Meza said after meeting behind closed doors with Micheletti's top negotiator.

Meza said he asked Micheletti's people to comply with the Organisation of American States' urging on Wednesday that Zelaya be reinstated.

"We're not prepared to allow the putschist regime to use the talks as a tool to delay a solution, to postpone a way out of the crisis, to play for time. The dictatorship is stealing time from the Honduran democracy," he added ...


Read more: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1...

[rabs]

1. Meza: "We will wait until midnight"

Zelaya negotiator Victor Meza just appeared on cholusatsur tv and said if there was not a serious counterproposal from the golpistas tonight, the dialogue would be over. He said the gorilettis had been playing with Zelaya with delaying tactics and "We have waited too long. The game is over at 12 (midnight)."

The golpista team's Vilma Morales announced about two hours ago that they rejected the ultimatum and would present another counterproposal at 10 a.m. Friday.

------------
Micheletti rechaza ultimatum de Zelaya

TeleSUR _ Hace: 01 hora
Los delegados del gobierno de facto de Roberto Micheletti rechazaron un ultimátum que impuso para las 06H00 GMT el mandatario depuesto de Honduras Manuel Zelaya para ser restituido en el poder y anunciaron que harán una contrapropuesta este viernes.

"Habiendo esta comisión rechazado categóricamente el ultimátum de las doce de la noche (06H00 GMT) para responder a la propuesta en la mesa, expresamos: que nuestra contestación o nuestra contrapropuesta será presentada mañana a las 10H00 (16H00 GMT)", anunció Vilma Morales, del equipo de Micheletti.

[EFerrari]

2. And in the middle of this, the harrassment continues.

Embassy occupants in Honduras: Army tunes torture
AP

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press Writer Juan Carlos Llorca, Associated Press Writer – Wed Oct 21, 9:58 pm ET

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who is holed up with a group of 30 supporters at the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras, complained Wednesday about loud music blasted by soldiers posted around the diplomatic compound.

Soldiers "are using powerful sound systems that can be heard from 20 blocks away. ... We can't fall asleep," Zelaya told a news conference.

Army chief of staff Gen. Romeo Vazquez denied claims of harassment, saying the all-night broadcast was a "serenade" intended to celebrate the country's Armed Forces day holiday.

snip

In 1989, when U.S. troops invaded Panama, then-president Manuel Noriega took refuge in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City. U.S. soldiers blasted the building with loud rock music until the Vatican complained, and Noriega finally surrendered.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091022/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup_6

(Emphasis mine)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Honduras talks break off again over Zelaya's return

Honduras talks break off again over Zelaya's return
Mica Rosenberg, Reuters
October 23, 2009, 7:47 pm

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Renewed talks to resolve Honduras' deep political crisis collapsed on Friday over whether leftist President Manuel Zelaya could return to power after he was toppled in a June coup.

This is the second time envoys of the ousted President -- who returned to Honduras last month to take refuge in the Brazilian embassy -- and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti have tried and failed to reach a negotiated settlement.

"As of now we see this phase as finished," Zelaya envoy Mayra Mejia said, referring to the dialogue shortly after midnight (2 a.m. EDT/0600 GMT).

A previous round of talks mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, and backed by the Organization of American States, also broke down in a stalemate.

Zelaya's camp earlier set an ultimatum for Micheletti's team to present a new offer and pledged to walk away from the table if the proposal did not include Zelaya's reinstatement.

Mejia, in the lobby of the Tegucigalpa hotel where the talks have been held for three weeks, said her team knocked on the door where Micheletti's negotiators were staying but got no response.

More:
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6382572/honduras-talks-break-off-again-over-zelayas-return/

[Braulio]

4. And if he doesn't get his way

Zelaya will get in his bed in the Brazilian embassy, eat a bunch of chips dipped in onion spread, and sing "Give Peace a Chance" a la Yoko Ono.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Huh? Do elaborate! Let's see all the bats and spiders you have hidden in your attic. nt

[AlphaCentauri]

7. well, lets not be surprised if a new leader surge from the ghettos

and takes the country to defeat the golpistas. There are always new revolutionaries in latin america many of them get kill trying other like Fidel live long lifes.

[Braulio]

13. I doubt it

Left wing revolutions are led by middle class or lower middle class blokes, usually in their late 20's or 30's, who don't have much experience in real life - they come mostly from universities or the media, a few have a military background. Right wing revolutionaries have mustaches, a military background, and like fried foood. Call it Braulio's Rule #1.

[Judi Lynn]

14. Keeping the fingers crossed, AlphaCentauri. The leader would be well-supported,

of course.

The people will never accept right-wing leadership for a very long time. They have had a refresher course on how well things go with murderous, greedy assholes at the helm.

[spanza]

8. I think they should give a reasonable period of delay

for Zelaya's supporters to reorganize around a candidate other than Zelaya, in normal conditions. These people have been politically handicapped and repressed for the last 4 months, so the de facto government can't impose them to switch from that condition to an electoral campaign in 2 weeks. Of course Honduras needs elections soon, but it has to be a fair process. A fracture like this one within a society needs to be repaired, not buried.

[AlphaCentauri]

6. The election will be illegal even if Zelaya gets back in power

all these time the parties in power had the advantage to control the media and give their candidates more exposure, that is more like imposing a president than a democratic election.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Not to mention the police mangled a leftist candidate, which hospitalized him

with two broken arms. He's still in there, of course.

Won't be doing much campaigning from his bed in the hospital, will he?

That really cuts down on the competition if they can kill, imprison, or severely injure the leftist politican.

[Downwinder]

11. Any More on why they printed twice as many ballots as they have voters? n/t

[rabs]

12. 14 million ballots are on order

The TSE has ordered the printing of slightly more than 14 million ballots.

The population of Honduras is around 7 million, about 4 million said to be eligible to vote.

Ballots will be four point-something million for the presidential vote, four point-something million for legislative elections and four point-something million for local elections.

The TSE has a problem though. Couple of the candidates (Ham, Reyes) have not decided whether they will boycott the elections and if they do, the TSE would have to re-print another 4 point-someting millin presidential ballots.

The same goes for the legislative elections, and without doubt the local elections.

So the TSE may wind up printing millions and millions of ballots.

(TSE = Supreme Electoral Tribunal, whose three dudes were in Washington yesterday touting the electoral process.)

[spanza]

9. Restitution?

08:56 AM Tegucigalpa.- El equipo del depuesto presidente de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, dio por concluido en la madrugada de hoy el diálogo con el gobierno interino de Roberto Micheletti tras la negativa de éste a restituirlo en el poder, poniendo fin a 16 días de arduas negociaciones.

"Damos por agotado el diálogo, no podemos seguir dando plazos", afirmó Mayra Mejía, integrante del equipo de Zelaya después de que se cumpliera en la medianoche del jueves (06H00 GMT del viernes) el ultimátum que había dado el presidente depuesto a Micheletti para ser restituido en el poder.

La restitución de Zelaya es el principal punto del Acuerdo de San José, propuesto por el mediador en este conflicto, el presidente costarricense Oscar Arias, para poner fin a la crisis política desatada por el golpe de Estado del 28 de junio, informó AFP.

El gobierno interino, tras el ultimátum de Zelaya, anunció que este viernes hará una contrapropuesta.

"Nuestra contestación o nuestra contrapropuesta será presentada mañana (viernes) a las 10H00 (16H00 GMT)", anunció Vilma Morales, del equipo de Micheletti.

"Pedimos a nuestros socios de la mesa de diálogo que pongan a un lado los juegos políticos (...) y llegaremos a la meta final mañana (viernes)", agregó Morales.

Sin embargo, Mejía dijo que "la propuesta puede ser recibida por los representantes de la OEA (Organización de Estados Americanos)" que han estado acompañando el diálogo desde que se instaló el 7 de octubre y sólo se reanudaría si se habla de la restitución de Zelaya.

Mejía anunció que, en la mañana de este viernes, Zelaya "hará una reunión de trabajo para poder definir la ruta" que se seguirá.

La mesa de diálogo fue instalada el 7 de octubre luego de una visita de una docena de cancilleres y representantes de América y España y el secretario general de la OEA, José Miguel Insulza.

Las negociaciones giraron en torno a 12 puntos del Pacto de San José propuesto por el mediador, Oscar Arias.

Las dos comisiones negociadoras se pusieron de acuerdo en un 95% de los puntos del acuerdo de San José, entre ellos, la creación de un gobierno de unidad, la celebración de las elecciones el 29 de noviembre, no aplicar amnistía o el nombramiento de una comisión de seguimiento y otra de la verdad.

Asimismo, la delegación de Micheletti consiguió arrancarle la promesa a Zelaya que renuncia a convocar a una Asamblea Constituyente para reformar la Constitución, que fue lo que detonó el golpe del 28 de junio.

Pero los dos grupos chocaron en el verdadero problema: la restitución del mandatario.

Zelaya ya había rechazado la propuesta del gobierno de Micheletti el 19 de octubre. Este insistía en que sea la Corte Suprema de Justicia la que decida su restitución, mientras que el presidente depuesto prefiere que esta decisión recaiga en el Congreso.

La delegación de Zelaya accedió a volver a la mesa de negociación el jueves por la tarde brevemente, después de que, la víspera, el Consejo Permanente de la OEA insistiese a las partes que siguieran buscando una salida a la crisis.

Estados Unidos y otros países miembros endurecieron el tono al pedir al gobierno de facto mayor compromiso y evitar tácticas dilatorias.

El asesor del mandatario depuesto Rasel Tomé había asegurado el jueves a la AFP que Zelaya "condicionaba" el regreso a la mesa de negociación a la firma de su restitución. "De lo contrario, no tiene ningún sentido" seguir dialogando, aseguró.

El gobierno de Micheletti apuesta a las elecciones presidenciales del 29 de noviembre, a las que aspiran seis candidatos, con la esperanza de que la entrega del poder al vencedor el 27 de enero próximo aplacará las protestas internacionales por el golpe de Estado.

El mandatario depuesto cumplió el miércoles un mes refugiado en la embajada de Brasil en Tegucigalpa, adonde llegó el 21 de septiembre sorpresivamente tras burlar la fuerte vigilancia militar que ha desplegado el gobierno de Micheletti.


http://www.eluniversal.com/2009/10/23/chon_ava_equipo-de-zelaya-da_23A2939211.shtml