Skip to main content

Honduras Talks End with No Agreement






11 July 2009

Milton Jimenez (l), member of the delegation of ousted Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya, talks to Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias after negotiations San Jose, Costa Rica, 11 Jul 2009
Milton Jimenez (l), member of the delegation of ousted Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya, talks to Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias after negotiations San Jose, Costa Rica, 11 Jul 2009
Talks between the ousted and interim governments of Honduras have ended, with no solution in sight.

Representatives of toppled President Manuel Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti failed to reach an agreement Friday during their second day of talks in Costa Rica.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is mediating the negotiations. He said the two sides have agreed to meet again.

Friday's talks took place one day after President Arias met separately at his home with Mr. Zelaya and Mr. Micheletti, who have refused to talk together.

The Costa Rican leader has been quoted as saying that resolving the crisis "could possibly take longer than one might have imagined." After the talks Thursday, the two rivals continued to maintain their unconditional right to lead Honduras.







The United States supports Mr. Zelaya and has refused to recognize the interim government, but is supporting the Costa Rica negotiations.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has criticized the talks and the Costa Rican president's decision to meet with Mr. Micheletti, referring to him as a "usurper."

Mr. Chavez' close socialist ally, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, also has made his views known. In an article published late Friday, Mr. Castro warned that Mr. Zelaya must be returned to power or Latin America could be swept by a wave of military coups. He attributed the threat to right-wing military leaders trained by the United States.

Mr. Zelaya is one of several leftist leaders in Latin America who have become allies of President Chavez and Mr. Castro.

The caretaker government has accused Mr. Zelaya of illegally trying to change the constitution in order to extend his term. The issue has deeply divided the country, where supporters of both sides have held competing demonstrations.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ASEAN pushes for resumption of N. Korea nuke talks

ASEAN and friends: Foreign Ministers from left, Vietnam's Pham Gia Khiem, South Korea's Kim Sung-hwan, Japan's Takeaki Matsumoto, Indonesia's Marty Natalegawa, and China's Yang Jiechi, hold hands during a group photo at the opening session of ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday. (AP/Dita Alangkara) Associated Press, Nusa Dua | Thu, 07/21/2011 2:19 PM Foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations are calling for a speedy resumption of talks aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. China, the US, Japan, South Korea and Russia had been negotiating since 2003 to persuade Pyongyang to dismantle the program in exchange for aid and other concessions. The North pulled out of the talks about two years ago after being censured for launching a long-range rocket. It has indicated a willingness in recent months to return to the table. The 10-member Association of Southeast As...

Judicial watchdog to visit Antasari in prison

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/15/2011 9:45 PM The Judicial Commission plans to send investigators to question former Corruption Eradication Commission chief Antasari Azhar regarding his belief that the panel of judges made mistakes during his trial. “We want to hear and collect evidence from his side, if there is any, about the judges during his trial,” Suparman Marzuki, the commission’s supervisory division chief, said Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. The Judicial Commission is in the middle of gathering evidence in response to an allegation by Antasari’s lawyer that the panel of judges took into consideration the wrong evidence during his trial. The South Jakarta District Court panel found Antasari guilty of murder and he is currently detained at Tangerang Penitentiary.