Honduras: Standing up to Petty Tyrants

I have a great deal more respect for Honduras and the people of Honduras.

They have endured a great deal, stood against a tyrant in Venezuela, opposed a stooge in Costa Rica and Bolivia, and refused to bow to Obama.

A truly historic time for Honduras and a great time for the people of Honduras in terms of identity and pride.  I am thinking about any other state that has stood against such odds - perhaps Poland and the Ukraine, against the Russians without US support in the last year.  Yet the Ukraine is ready to elect pro-Russians to their leadership, showing a capitulation to what Obama has conceded is an inevitability - Russian sphere of influence and the Ukrainians fall within it.  The funny part, or irony is - no one has conceded any sphere to us, and in fact the Russians and Chinese have taken Obama's actions thus far a sa sign of weakness and are pushing forward on Iran and Kazikstan and Uzbekistan - oil and gas pipelines.

In any case - Honduras has stood again and said no, they will not be part of the tyrants charade -

Honduras: Walking Away from ALBA



The Honduran Congress ratified interim President Roberto Micheletti’s decision to leave the Venezuelan-sponsored Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) on Jan. 12. This domestically significant move signals a reversal of the policies of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who had built economic and political ties to Venezuela, which was part of his opponents’ motivation behind the June 2009 ouster. However, Honduran dependence on imported fuels means legislators will attempt to keep an oil import initiative implemented under Zelaya intact for now.

The decision to exit ALBA was approved by 122 of 128 congress members, with the six opposing votes coming from five leftist Democratic Unity (UD) legislators and a single National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party (PINU-SD) member. ALBA financial aid to Honduras will be terminated as a result of the withdrawal, including $185 million earmarked for social programs to be returned Venezuela. Honduras will keep a donation of 100 tractors. After the congressional vote, an official said Honduras will not dismantle existing crude oil supply agreements with Venezuela under the Petrocaribe oil supply alliance, of which Honduras became a member in March 2008. Petrocaribe offers crude oil to member states, allowing them to cover up to 60 percent of payments up front with shipments of goods.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suspended oil shipments to Honduras, which reportedly totaled 20,000 barrels per day, in July 2009 after demanding Zelaya’s reinstatement. Honduran legislators have made it clear that they expect oil shipments purchased from Venezuela with Petrocaribe credits prior to the political crisis will still be supplied, despite the Venezuelan cutoff — but this situation places any resumption of oil shipments firmly at Venezuela’s discretion. After Zelaya’s ouster, Honduran officials claimed that a rupture with Petrocaribe would not cause fuel shortages in Honduras, saying Mexico and other Caribbean nations could become alternate suppliers. Officials said there had been fuel supply problems before the political crisis, but the interruption of Venezuelan shipments does not seem to have caused significant problems.

The Honduran decision seems likely to heighten already-simmering tensions between the politically isolated Central American nation and ALBA members, particularly Venezuela and Nicaragua. ALBA members have yet to recognize the interim government, and the Honduran rejection of ALBA seems likely to sustain this polarization for the foreseeable future. The decision signals a firm shift away from relations with Venezuela, for now, and reflects the interim Honduran government’s continuing rejection of outside political interference.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Honduras

Honduras: Standing up to the US, for all the right reasons.

Honduran President to Briefly Step Down During National Elections


Wall Street Journal
NOVEMBER 19, 2009, 4:49 P.M. ET
By JOSE DE CORDOBA

Honduras' interim president Roberto Micheletti will step down temporarily from his post for a week during the country's coming national elections, the Wall Street Journal has learned.

The move, while largely symbolic, is an effort by the interim government to boost international legitimacy for the Nov. 29 vote, which the government hopes will put an end to a political crisis that began with the June 28 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.

In a speech to be delivered late on Thursday, Mr. Micheletti is expected to say he will hand the reins of government to his council of ministers – basically, the cabinet – from Nov. 24 until his return to power on Dec. 2, according to a copy of a speech obtained by the Wall Street Journal. The president-elect is scheduled to take power in January.

In the remarks, Mr. Micheletti says his temporary absence from his post is meant to help Hondurans concentrate on the presidential elections instead of the political crisis, which erupted when the army kicked the president out of the country for allegedly wanting to extend his stay in power. Mr. Zelaya, a close ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, denies the charges, and has called on Hondurans to boycott the vote.

"It's symbolic, but the fact that Micheletti won't be presiding over the government when elections take place will help to some extent to help get other governments to come around to recognize the election," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank.

While the U.S. and some Latin American countries, such as Panama, have said they will recognize the new president, other countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, and those allied with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez have said they won't recognize the new government because Mr. Zelaya has not been restored to power.

Recently, Mr. Micheletti and Mr. Zelaya signed an agreement that called for the Honduran Congress to vote on whether to reinstate Mr. Zelaya as president, but Mr. Zelaya pulled out of the deal a few days after it was signed. The Honduran government is expected to vote on Mr. Zelaya's reinstatement after the election, but is widely expected to not allow him to return.

Mr. Micheletti said his temporary absence was not a "sign of weakness" by his government. "My action should be interpreted as a sign of strength and total and unquestionable confidence in the institutions of our country," Mr. Micheletti said, according to the copy of the speech.

During his absence, Mr. Micheletti said he expected the government to operate normally, but that he would immediately resume the presidency if there were some threat to the stability and peace of the nation, and "dictate with vigor and firmness the necessary measures to maintain order."








 
 
 
Honduras

Risk: Honduras takes a risky step, but shows it is more responsible and grown up than the US and Venezuela.

The Obama administration was clearly on view during the Honduran fiasco.  I really dislike Obama for his feckless policy toward Honduras - for cow-towing to Venezuela, and dictators in Latin America, and standing against freedom, and the people of Honduras.

Obama was acting on behalf of Chavez, and ended up at a stalemate with a tiny country who refused to budge despite sanctions, visas pulled, international pressure, business sanctions ...




OPINION: THE AMERICAS
NOVEMBER 1, 2009



Hillary's Honduran Exit Strategy


Honduras signs a deal that means international recognition of the November 29 elections.




By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY



If there is one person in Honduras who is more despised these days than deposed president Manuel Zelaya it is a foreigner who goes by the name of Hugo. We refer here not to the Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez but to U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens.

Many Hondurans, including, rumor has it, President Roberto Micheletti, see Mr. Llorens as the principal architect of a U.S. policy that has caused enormous Honduran hardship.

There is a chance that the agreement signed late Thursday between the interim government and Mr. Zelaya will put an end to that suffering. Finally the U.S. and the Organization of American States (OAS) have agreed to step aside and allow Honduran institutions to decide if Mr. Zelaya is to be reinstated. Without international meddling, it is quite likely that Mr. Zelaya will be refused the presidency once more.

Yet many risks remain, starting with the fact that though the U.S. said it was going to butt out of Honduran affairs, old habits die hard. Referring to Mr. Zelaya's bid for reinstatement, Thomas Shannon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric affairs, said last week, "That's the issue that's the most provocative and the one we will be watching most closely." Mr. Shannon should try watching the World Series instead.

The need to dictate to Hondurans how to run their country has been the problem from the start. The moment the Honduran Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Mr. Zelaya in June for organizing mob violence and attempting to overthrow the constitution Mr. Llorens anointed himself colonial viceroy in charge of imposing U.S. will. Plenty of Molotov-hurling leftists also took Mr. Zelaya's side. But Mr. Llorens staked out a position for the U.S., defending the legitimacy of the erratic former president. The U.S. ambassador used every weapon he could lay his hands on to try to force the country to restore Mr. Zelaya to power.

This violated Honduran sovereignty. But Mr. Llorens's boss back home, Barack Obama, seemed more interested in appeasing U.S. enemies than standing by friends, or even sticking to his pledge not to meddle in other countries' affairs. Mr. Chávez and Fidel Castro were supporting Mr. Zelaya, and Mr. Obama apparently wanted to be part of the gang.

Clearly no one in Washington expected it to be so hard to break the will of Hondurans. That effort became even more embarrassing when zelayistas mounted a campaign of terror, kidnapping and murdering Honduran authorities and their relatives. There were at least three such incidents in two weeks. The terrorists were also sabotaging the country's electricity grid. To avoid further taint, the U.S. sent a delegation to strike the compromise reached late Thursday.

The spin is that Mr. Zelaya will return to power. But the Honduran Congress will decide that, using opinions from the Supreme Court, the attorney general and other legal experts. Since it was the court and Congress that threw Mr. Zelaya out, this is positive. Yet if the court, which has the legal upper hand, stands firm and Congress reverses itself in favor of Mr. Zelaya, there will be a constitutional crisis.

That's not impossible, as the Zelaya reputation for buying votes is legendary. In May, the mayor of Tegucigalpa publicly denounced an offer by the Zelaya government to pay him $15 million to support a referendum on rewriting the constitution. Mr. Chávez has money too, and so do other drug-trafficking terrorist organizations around the region, like Colombia's FARC and numerous Central American gangs. These groups are notorious for infiltrating institutions. Honduras isn't immune.

Yet it is likely that the interim government decided to take the gamble because it believes that the high court and Congress, which both voted overwhelmingly to strip Mr. Zelaya of the office, will stand strong. In return for this risk, it gets U.S. and OAS recognition of the Nov. 29 presidential elections.

What is more, there will be no amnesty for Mr. Zelaya. He already has more than a dozen outstanding arrest warrants against him, and when he steps out of the Brazilian Embassy it is fully expected that he will be detained. The agreement also says that there will be no constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution so as to end presidential term limits.

Unnamed U.S. officials have told the press that Mr. Zelaya probably is coming back, turning up the heat on Honduras's Congress. And the OAS's General Secretary José Miguel Insulza is making noise about returning to Honduras to involve the OAS in Congress's decision. But Mr. Shannon reiterated to me yesterday that the U.S. believes this is now an issue for Honduran institutions to settle. He completely rejected a report in Sunday's El Pais newspaper claiming he is lobbying for votes for Mr. Zelaya's return.

By signing this agreement, Honduras helped Mr. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton save face. In return, Mrs. Clinton should tell Mr. Insulza to stay out of the country and its affairs. She should also tell U.S. officials to cease and desist with their pro-Zelaya rumors. While she's at it, the secretary could reassign Mr. Llorens. Havana comes to mind as a suitable posting. He will be greeted as a hero by the Castros and will find it easy to continue his friendship with Mr. Zelaya.










Honduras

Obama and Honduras: Still meddling

Obama's meddling in Honduran internal affairs.

It was wrong when it was Bush, and Obama promised he would not meddle in the internal affairs of other countries, he said this during the campaign, and then in June and July when Iran sat on the edge of a revolution - he stated he would not get involved.  Yet, he did get involved in Honduras - to topple the government that Constitutionally deposed a corrupt leader.  Corruption and traitorous action is determined by the law as defined by the Honduran Supreme Court - not a mob and not Chavez.





The latest round of talks began last week when top diplomats from the United States and other countries flew to Honduras and made clear that Zelaya's reinstatement was the only way for the Central American country to regain international recognition.










Obama and Honduras

Chavez Wins, Honduras Loses

Thank you Mr. Obama, for meddling in the internal affairs of another country in opposition to our laws, your own promises and public statements, and forcing a country to accept a man back, their Supreme Court, Congress, and the laws of that country did not want back.

And NO, Mr. Obama, it is not the people of Honduras who win - it is Chavez ... no one else.  No matter how hard you try to pretend, it is still only Chavez who wins.


With each passing day, and each decision you make, your inexperience and foolishness show.  What is worse, they will harm other people, in other countries.






Deal may return Zelaya

October 15, 2009


TEGUCIGALPA. Honduran negotiators have reached agreement on ending a political crisis triggered by President Manuel Zelaya's ouster in a June coup.

''We have agreed in a document on point No. 6, which relates to the restitution of the powers of state to where they were before June 28, 2009,'' Mr Zelaya's representative said.

Restoring the state to the situation before the coup would imply Mr Zelaya's return to office, which had been opposed by Robert Micheletti, the head of the coup-backed interim government.

Mr Micheletti and Mr Zelaya must now ratify the agreement reached by their representatives.





 
 
 
 
 
Honduras

Obama to Honduras: Collapse into a Civil War

Making the world safer, undermining one country at a time ...



Chavez, Lula, Obama Make Honduras Unstable: Alexandre Marinis


Commentary by Alexandre Marinis


Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- If Honduras descends into civil war, we can thank Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and credit Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with an assist.

Pushing the Central American nation to the brink is precisely what Chavez accomplished when he persuaded Lula to welcome ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya inside the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital, last month.

Reasonable people can argue whether Zelaya deserved to be tossed out of office. The fact is his ouster was legal, according to a detailed report issued by the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

The Honduran Congress has the authority to rebuke the president and decide constitutional intent, the report says. “In the case against Zelaya, the National Congress interpreted the power to disapprove of the conduct of the president to encompass the power to remove him from office, based on the results of a special, extensive investigation,” it states.

Chavez and Lula engaged in wise-guy diplomacy. Their actions violated international laws by helping Zelaya enter the country illegally. And they disrupted the economy of Central America’s second-poorest country, which was already reeling from the global economic crisis.

Besides acting unethically, the two Latin leaders showed they aren’t serious diplomats. We’ll see if this inaugurates a new era in which Brazil and Venezuela throw their weight around and increasingly interfere with their neighbors’ politics. If so, they will resemble the U.S., which Latin leaders have long criticized for butting into the region’s internal affairs by propping up or taking out national leaders.

Rough Transition

This much is already clear: Hondurans now seem farther away from a safe transition to a new democratically elected leader who adheres to the country’s constitution.

Don’t expect Zelaya to regain the presidency with full powers before the national election scheduled for Nov. 29. Less than 50 percent of Hondurans support their former leader and his approval rating has tumbled, according to a CID-Gallup poll taken two days after Zelaya was ousted in late June. Hondurans are evenly split about whether he deserved to be forcibly removed from office.

Zelaya provoked his opponents by trying to bend the constitution so he could seek another term as president. He was dragged out of the presidential palace in his pajamas and flown out of the country.

Sneaking In

His ambition endures, which is why Zelaya snuck back into the country last month in advance of the national election. He had tried unsuccessfully to re-enter Honduras in the three months since he was booted out. His most recent attempt might have failed too if the Brazilians hadn’t welcomed him inside their embassy.

By opening the doors to Zelaya, Lula allowed himself and his country to be used to promote the individual aspirations of a foreign leader. Zelaya’s situation in Brazil’s embassy is illegal, according to Jorge Zaverucha, a political scientist who directs the Center for Study of Coercive Institutions at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil.

Brazilian authorities claim they aren’t violating international law because they didn’t welcome Zelaya as an exile. They have refused to define his current political status by arguing they are simply offering him “humanitarian shelter.”

The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations doesn’t say that a diplomatic mission should take in a legally deposed president and let him use the shelter as his political campaign headquarters.

Taking Advantage

More important, Article 41 of the convention states that anyone enjoying the same privileges and immunity as Zelaya in Brazil’s embassy has “a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of the host country.

A leader who disrespected his own country’s constitution can’t be expected to follow international rules of conduct.

Protected by the inviolability of the Brazilian embassy, which is considered foreign soil in Honduran territory, Zelaya has given speeches to his followers from inside the mission, made political phone calls, held numerous media interviews and even incited a rebellion against the de facto government.

In turn, acting president and former head of Honduras’ National Congress, Roberto Micheletti, has also committed his share of mistakes. By exiling Zelaya to another country, Micheletti clearly violated the Honduran constitution.

Suspending Civil Rights

Then in late September Micheletti ordered military troops to shut down pro-Zelaya radio and television stations, banned protests for 45 days and suspended other civil rights. As a result, Honduras has reached a political dead end.

The most obvious way out of the stalemate is for a member of the international community to mediate an agreement between the two men to respect the outcome of the election. Achieving even that modest goal seems difficult at this point.

Micheletti is expected to allow members of the Organization of American States to enter the country this week to attempt to mediate a solution to the crisis. Meanwhile, Hondurans grow increasingly indifferent about the coming election. Only 43 percent of eligible voters say they will cast ballots and almost half believe the elections will be fraudulent.

One of Central America’s most unpopular presidents -- second only to Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, another of Chavez’s pals by the way -- Zelaya knows he can’t win a presidential election any time soon. Micheletti is just an interim political figure supported by less than a third of the population and, thus, unsuited to run for president. Neither man has a stake in smoothing the way for elections.

Making things even worse, President Barack Obama’s administration, which correctly criticized Venezuela and Brazil for letting Zelaya into Honduras, says it won’t recognize the scheduled November election unless the political crisis is resolved.

That gives carte blanche to Zelaya. The more turmoil Zelaya creates, the closer to civil war the country will be.








honduras

Honduras: THEY are after me, THEY are trying to gas me ...

This man was removed legally, and if not ... he is a paranoid delusional ... too much cocaine. He needs to be in a mental hospital.

I can only guess where he is getting his delusions from - Chavez is feeding him these insanities. And these are people Obama believes we need to build relations with. The fact insane people live on your street does not in any way require you to go up to them and have a conversation. No. It doesn't. They are not the sort you want to encourage.






They're torturing me, Honduras' Manuel Zelaya claims



BY FRANCES ROBLES
ESTEBAN FELIX/AP


Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya, talks while a supporter rests inside the improvised room in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, Thursday.

It's been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power. He's sleeping on chairs, and he claims his throat is sore from toxic gases and "Israeli mercenaries'' are torturing him with high-frequency radiation.

"We are being threatened with death,'' he said in an interview with The Miami Herald, adding that mercenaries were likely to storm the embassy where he has been holed up since Monday and assassinate him.

"I prefer to march on my feet than to live on my knees before a military dictatorship,'' Zelaya said in a series of back-to-back interviews.

Zelaya was deposed at gunpoint on June 28 and slipped back into his country on Monday, just two days before he was scheduled to speak before the United Nations. He sought refuge at the Brazilian Embassy, where Zelaya said he is being subjected to toxic gases and radiation that alter his physical and mental state.

Witnesses said that for a short time Tuesday morning, soldiers used a device that looked like a large satellite dish to emit a loud shrill noise.

Honduran police spokesman Orlin Cerrato said he knew nothing of any radiation devices being used against the former president.

"He says there are mercenaries against him? Using some kind of apparatus?'' Cerrato said. ``No, no, no, no. Sincerely: no. The only elements surrounding that embassy are police and military, and they have no such apparatus.''

Police responded to reports of looting throughout the city Tuesday night. Civil disturbances subsided Wednesday afternoon, when a crush of people rushed grocery stores and gas stations in the capital.

Israeli government sources in Miami said they could not confirm the presence of any "Israelis mercenaries'' in Honduras.

Zelaya, 56, is at the embassy with his family and other supporters, without a change of clothes or toothpaste. The power and water were turned back on, and the U.N. brought in some food. Photos showed Zelaya, his trademark cowboy hat across his face, napping on a few chairs he had pushed together.

"Look at the shape he's in -- sleeping on chairs,'' de facto President Roberto Micheletti told a local TV news station.

Micheletti took Zelaya's place after the military, executing a Supreme Court arrest warrant, burst into Zelaya's house and forced him into exile. The country's military, congress, Supreme Court and economic leaders have backed the ouster, arguing that Zelaya was bent on conducting an illegal plebiscite that they feared would ultimately lead to his reelection.

Micheletti said he was prepared to meet with Zelaya and a delegation from the Organization of American States, but only to discuss one topic: November elections.

On Wednesday, the U.N. cut off all technical aid that would have supported and given credibility to that presidential race. Conditions do not exist for credible elections, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

"I proposed dialogue, and they answered with bullets, bombs, a state of siege and by closing the airport,'' Zelaya said.

Zelaya told The Herald that Washington should be taking a stronger stance against the elite economic interests that "financed and benefited'' from the coup that ousted him three months ago.

If President Barack Obama hit Honduras with commercial sanctions or suspended free-trade agreements, the coup "would last just five minutes.''

The Obama administration suspended economic aid to Honduras and withdrew the visas of members of the current administration.

About 75 percent of Honduras' commerce depends on the United States, Zelaya said. And because powerful economic forces were behind Zelaya's ouster, Obama should hit those forces where it hurts most, Zelaya said.

"I have told this to Obama, to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to the U.S. Embassy here and anyone else who will listen,'' Zelaya said. "They know how to act. Until now, they have been very prudent.''

With Micheletti showing a new willingness to talk with the OAS, and the U.N. Security Council set to meet to discuss the embassy situation soon, it isn't the moment for more penalties, the U.S. State Department said.

"Right now, when there are openings for dialogue, is not the time to announce new sanctions,'' a State Department official said.

Dates for the OAS visit, which could include emissaries from 10 countries, are being worked out, the official said.

Spokesman Ian Kelly said the U.N. Security Council meeting came at the request of the Brazilian government. No date has been set for the meeting.

"In general, we continue to work with our partners in the U.N. and the OAS to come up with means to promote a dialogue and defuse the tensions, of course with the ultimate goal of resolving the crisis,'' State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said at a media briefing in Washington. "And we're continuing our consultations with our partners in the region, and enlisting wherever we can their assistance in this process.''

The U.S. Embassy here spent the day denying rumors that Zelaya planned to move to American grounds. The rumor may have started because U.S. Embassy vehicles were used to evacuate Zelaya supporters who left the Brazilian Embassy willingly Tuesday.

"The embassy has been turned into a bunker for Zelaya,'' Assistant Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado de Casco told The Herald. "He's turned it into his headquarters, and he is using it to call for insurrection.''

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told CNN en Español that his government asked Zelaya to tone down his rhetoric while he remains an embassy guest.

"The word `death' should not even be mentioned,'' he said.

Rioting broke out in various parts of the capital Tuesday night, and lines hundreds deep formed at supermarkets when desperate shoppers scrambled to buy food after a round-the-clock curfew was briefly lifted.

"I have no food in my house,'' said Patti Vásquez, a housewife who, after two hours, still had not reached the front doors of a supermarket in an upscale shopping mall. "I need to get milk and juice and eggs.''

Zelaya says he has no plans to leave the embassy anytime soon.

. "I am the president the people of Honduras chose,'' Zelaya said. "A country can't have two presidents -- just one.''


Miami Herald staff writer Jim Wyss and special correspondent Stewart Stogel contributed to this report.














Honduras

Honduras on the Brink, and Brazil Tipping it Over

It looks like Brazil is staying out of Honduras' internal affairs, minding its business, and not meddling. Glad to see that. After all, most of what we hear from the South is how the US is always meddling. I am pleased that these countries do not meddle. I am waiting for Venezuela to get into this, after all - none of those countries like the US meddling, so they completely understand.






Curfew imposed in Honduras after Zelaya's return

21 Sep 2009


TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Honduras' de facto rulers imposed a curfew on Monday after ousted President Manuel Zelaya returned the country and took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy, a spokesman for the interim leaders said.

"The government has declared the curfew for the entire country from 4 in the afternoon until 6 a.m. to conserve calm in the country," spokesman Rene Zepeda told Reuters.

Thousands of Zelaya's supporters surrounded the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, with a 100 police wearing riot gear deployed nearby.








Honduras

Honduras Independence Day

Happy Independence Day in Honduras.


These people and their law, have stood against the United States, and pressure from the world, to capitulate to meritless demands.

They have earned their day.







independence

Obama to Honduras: I won't talk to you. I will talk to Chavez, Castro, and Amindinejad

Honduran leader says U.S. voids visa because of coup

Sat Sep 12, 2009


TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran de facto ruler Roberto Micheletti said on Saturday the United States has revoked his visa to pressure him to step down and reinstate exiled President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a June military coup.

Micheletti, however, was defiant of the latest move by Washington, which said earlier this month it was cutting more than $30 million in aid to the poor Central American country.

"We will not back down. Dignity does not have a price in our country," Micheletti told Honduran radio.

Asked if he his visa had been canceled, Micheletti said: "Yes."

"We received letters from the U.S. Consulate in Honduras which say that because of the what happened on June 28, our visas have been suspended," Micheletti said.

Micheletti has not visited the United States since the June 28 coup. A month after the coup, the U.S. State Department said it had revoked the diplomatic visas of four members of Honduras' de facto government, but did not name them.

Zelaya was ousted after he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.

The Honduran Congress named Micheletti to be interim president, and the country's Supreme Court said it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya.

The State Department said last week that it could not, for now, regard as legitimate Honduran elections scheduled for November because of Zelaya's overthrow.

Marcia Villa, a Honduran lawmaker and ally of Micheletti, said several top members of Micheletti's government, Honduran Supreme Court justices and a group of Honduran businessmen had also lost their U.S. visas.

Some Latin American leaders have suggested Washington apply more pressure, but some U.S. Republican lawmakers believe it has already done too much for Zelaya, an ally of Venezuela's socialist and anti-U.S. president, Hugo Chavez.





Honduras

Obama Hypocrisy: Honduras

The lists are endless - but immediately the question of - Americans are not special, we are no more special than anyone else, we should not and can not meddle in the affairs of other countries - and this is not meddling?

Honduras is standing up to enormous pressure. It is standing up for the rule of law, for democracy, and all Obama can do is turn on the people of Honduras and subject them to oppression in the form of Zelaya.

Obama has shown he does not care about freedom or democracy - he cares about promoting his values at the expense of all else.








US revokes visas of 4 Honduran officials

Jul 28, 2009
By MORGAN LEE and JUAN CARLOS LLORCA
Associated Press Writer

OCOTAL, Nicaragua (AP) - The U.S. government said Tuesday it has revoked the diplomatic visas of four Honduran officials, stepping up pressure on coup-installed leaders who insist they can resist international demands to restore the ousted president.

The U.S. State Department did not name the four, but a Honduran official said they included the Supreme Court magistrate who ordered the arrest of ousted President Manuel Zelda and the president of Honduras' Congress.


[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]










Obama

Honduras: The Way of the Left

The Associated Press has a very good story on Zelaya and his illegal bid to stage a coup in Honduras. Unintentionally they provide anyone willing and able to read, with the usual and standard protocol of the left -



Ousted Honduran president steps into homeland
By Morgan Lee
Associated Press Writer / July 24, 2009


Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Zelaya's trip "reckless." International leaders have urged Zelaya not to return to Honduras out of fear it would lead to bloodshed, but Zelaya said he had no choice after U.S.-backed talks with the coup-installed government failed to reinstate him.




The LEFT - typical.













leftists

Obama and Honduras: Not Getting Involvbed in the Domestic ...

Oh heck, why not. He only says he doesn't. Liberals are good about that sort of hypocrisy. Don't get involved in Iran, don't meddle in Egyptian issues, don't meddle in Syria or with Hamas ... but most certainly dictate to Israel and pressure Honduras.

Hypocrisy of the worst kind for the result will be the end of democracy in Honduras - ALL so Obama can make friends with Chavez. That is entirely what drives him. It is not reason, logic, or democracy. It is Obama's desire to make bridges with the leftists of Central America.

Obama was never qualified and shows each day why he is thoroughly unqualified.

Fortunately, the polls are beginning to show a turn. Can we survive another three years. We survived Carter, I guess we can survive Obama.





U.S. increases pressure on Honduras' de facto leaders

Secretary of State Clinton phones Roberto Micheletti, named president of the country after the June 28 coup, to warn him against letting talks falter.

By Paul Richter and Tracy Wilkinson 6:37 PM PDT, July 20, 2009
Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington and Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- The Obama administration has sharply increased pressure on the de facto government running Honduras following last month's military coup, hoping to break a stalemate in negotiations with ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton telephoned Roberto Micheletti, named president of the country following the June 28 coup, to warn him against letting the talks falter, said Clinton's chief spokesman, P.J. Crowley.

[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link.]



[This should thoroughly have Micheletti in knots - given how India treated her, pointing fingers at her, jabbing at her and informing her that she and the US were unqualified to lecture India ... if I were Michelletti, I would call Hillary up and tell her to take a broomstick ... ]












Obama

Once there was a Honduras that was Democratic and .....

Surprise Surprise. Any doubt this would have been the outcome.

Obama involved himself in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state for political reasons - prompted Arias as the mediator. Arias is a friend of Chavez and Zelaya. Is it any wonder, as a leftist himself, Arias sought to return his friend to power in Honduras?

Was there any doubt? Not for Obama.



Mediator’s Plan Would Return Honduran Ex-President

By ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: July 18, 2009

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — The mediator in talks seeking to break the deadlock between the deposed Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, and the de facto government that exiled him urged both sides on Saturday to agree to a plan that would return the ousted leader and grant a general amnesty.

The seven points proposed by President Óscar Arias of Costa Rica during a second round of negotiations at his house in the capital, San José, would require the political elite of Honduras to recognize Mr. Zelaya as the country’s legitimate president, which they have yet to do. The talks adjourned at 8:45 on Saturday night, as the representatives of the de facto government asked for a 15-hour break to consult with Tegucigalpa.

Throughout the day Saturday, both sides appeared to play to their hard-line supporters.
Mr. Zelaya promised to return to Honduras soon, in defiance of promises by the de facto government to arrest him.

The government of Roberto Micheletti, who was named president by Congress after the coup, threw up a raft of legal objections to the idea of letting Mr. Zelaya return under an amnesty.

Although Mr. Arias’s plan would restore Mr. Zelaya, it would also sharply curtail his powers and focus much of the country’s political energy on an early presidential election.

A source close to the talks said Mr. Zelaya’s delegation had agreed in principle to all seven points. But a former Supreme Court president, Vilma Morales, who is one of Mr. Micheletti’s delegates at the talks, told local radio that it was up to Congress, the Supreme Court and election authorities in Tegucigalpa to decide on most of the proposal.

As the talks went on, Mr. Zelaya, who was in neighboring Nicaragua, told Honduran radio that he would return home, perhaps as soon as Monday. His statements could heighten tensions in Honduras, which has been paralyzed by strikes and protests since the June 28 coup.

Mr. Zelaya tried to fly into the Tegucigalpa airport two weeks ago on a small plane provided by the Venezuelan government, but military vehicles parked on the tarmac blocked his approach. One supporter was killed when soldiers pushed back those who had come to greet him.

The ousted president’s wife, Xiomara Castro, leading protesters in Tegucigalpa on Saturday, said he would return within hours, “no matter the bayonets and machine guns” his supporters might face.

As the talks began Saturday about 11 a.m., Mr. Arias warned both sides that Honduras was facing increasing isolation. Mr. Zelaya has been recognized as the legitimate president by the United Nations, the Organization of American States and the Obama administration.

The Arias proposal would move forward by a month the general election scheduled for the end of November. The military would be placed under the command of the electoral tribunal to prevent any attempt to meddle in the balloting.

Mr. Zelaya would also have to give up any attempt to rewrite the Constitution to remain in office. It was his insistence on holding a referendum on a proposal to amend the Constitution that precipitated the coup.

Mr. Arias’s plan would create a national unity government made up of members of all political parties until the new elected government took office, as scheduled, at the end of January.
The proposal does not specify that any members of the Micheletti government would be included, which Mr. Zelaya has ruled out.

Mr. Arias’s proposal would also grant an amnesty for all political crimes both before and after the ouster of Mr. Zelaya.

In his statement at the start of the negotiations, Mr. Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his role in negotiating Central American peace accords, spoke of the weight of history in a region where the overthrow of elected governments has frequently punctuated an uncertain transition to democracy.

If an agreement was reached, “it would be the first time in Latin American history that a coup d’état is reversed by the will of both sides,” he said.

Mr. Micheletti had said he would step down if it would help end the conflict, but he had emphasized that he would not make way for Mr. Zelaya.

The Honduran coup has presented an unexpected test of Latin American policy for the Obama administration, which has thrown its support behind the mediation effort by Mr. Arias.













Honduras

Chavez: Interested in Democracy!

Chavez contacted US over Honduras: official

Jul 10, 2009
AFP


Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has contacted the US State Department's point man on Latin America to discuss the crisis in Honduras, US officials confirmed.

Chavez called Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon late Thursday "to discuss the current situation in Honduras and the ongoing negotiations mediated by Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias," the State Department said in a statement.

The call came in the midst of San Jose-brokered talks between aides of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and interim Honduran leader Roberto Micheletti.

The talks ended late Friday with no breakthrough.

In a sign of the pair's mutual hostility, the rival Honduran leaders never met face-to-face in a first session Thursday, preferring to speak to Arias separately before flying out of the country the same day.

Chavez said Friday that the negotiations, which are backed by Washington, are a "big mistake that come from the north."

The firebrand leftist leader, a top Zelaya supporter, warned that Arias receiving Micheletti amounted to a "trap" that was "very dangerous for democracy."

But State Department spokesman PJ Crowley countered that Chavez's statement was "premature."

"It's unclear what President Chavez thinks he's for and against. I believe at various times the Venezuelan government has been supportive of a process that would lead to President Zelaya's return," Crowley said.

"I believe that he has actually had some complimentary things to say previously about the role that President Arias might play."

Venezuela and the United States have moved to improve an often contentious relationship, following a summit of the Americas in April in Trinidad, where Chavez and US President Barack Obama met for the first time in their official capacities.

The United States returned its ambassador to Venezuela earlier this month, restoring diplomatic ties that were ruptured nine months ago with his expulsion in a row with Chavez.

The two countries earlier agreed to the return of their respective ambassadors, patching up a rift that opened September 12 when Venezuela declared US Ambassador Patrick Duddy a "persona non grata" and gave him 72 hours to leave the country.

Honduras: Obama, destroying democracy one country at a time.

The Obama Administration has thrown Obama's public statements about not interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries, out the window. Mr. Obama has demonstrated why 60 million people made a terrible mistake - and I don't forgive them for doing so, even now. He is recking relationships with countries, and smashing the respect built up over years for the US, in stupid actions.

None of his advisers nor anyone at the State Department seem to be paying any attention to the facts and instead are committed to unraveling a democracy in Honduras.

If we go back a few weeks: Zelaya wanted to hold a referendum to change the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Honduran law does not allow him to do a referendum. He told the Supreme Court he would do it anyway. He told the head of the army to handle the distribution of the ballots. The head of the army refused. Zelaya fired him. The Supreme Court told Zelaya to reinstate the fired commander. He refused.

The Congress opposed the referendum, the Supreme Court said Zelaya could not do a referendum. Zelaya said he could so he rallied a gang of thugs to break into the army barracks and steal the ballots and begin distributing them. What was the referendum all about ... the Honduran Constitution provides that a president hold office for four years and no more. Zelaya wanted to change it.

The Constitution of Honduras did not permit Zelaya to conduct a referendum or any change to the Constitution. The Congress, the Courts, the Army, the Constitution - all opposed Zelaya.

What does Obama do - support Zelaya. The OAS - throw out Honduras. The world banks - stop payments to Honduras. Nicaraugua's army is on Honduras' border. Chavez is involved, Ortega is involved, Castro is involved. Who does Obama support: the unconstitutional efforts of Zelaya, Chavez, Ortega, and Castro - against the democracy in Honduras.

Ousted Honduran president expected in Washington

Jul 6, 2009

By MATTHEW LEE

Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. officials say Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to meet ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this week. It would be the highest-level contact the Obama administration has had with Zelaya since he was deposed last week.


Zelaya is expected in Washington on Tuesday following an unsuccessful attempt to return to Honduras over the weekend that deepened the country's political crisis. The State Department says the administration remains committed to seeing a restoration of democratic order in Honduras and deplored the use of force against Zelaya's supporters.


Zelaya tried to fly back Sunday, but his plane was not allowed to land by Honduran authorities. Clashes between police and soldiers and thousands of Zelaya supporters left at least one fatality.





























Obama

Mr. Obama: See what happens when ...

... you show no backbone for legal and sovereign principles and instead side with dictators and tyrants to curry favor with ... Iran, oil, China, Venezuela (you choose).




Honduras says Nicaragua has troops moving on border


05 Jul 2009
Source: Reuters

TEGUCIGALPA, July 5 (Reuters) - Honduras' interim President Roberto Micheletti said on Sunday Nicaraguan troops were moving to the mutual frontier and urged Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to respect Honduran sovereignty.

He gave no further details about troop movements in Nicaragua which shares a border with Honduras to the southeast of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

His comments came as ousted President Manuel Zelaya attempted to fly home a week after he was ousted in a coup. Zelaya is a left-wing ally of Ortega and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

The interim government said it had contacted the Organization of American States to express its willingness to enter dialogue. The OAS earlier on Sunday suspended Honduras for refusing to reinstate Zelaya. (Reporting by Patrick Markey)


Nicaragua and Venezuela will assist Zelaya militarily, and will do so because the US has sided with Zelaya against the laws of Honduras, its Supreme Court, and its Congress. Because you chose to curry favor rather than stand on principle, scores of people will die and Honduras will become a new battlefield.

Wrong ideology Obama. Wrong ideas. Wrong time. Wrong place. Just WRONG.

You are simply too pathetic to understand.

















Honduras

Honduras: Obama Fails

Despite Obama demanding and then pleading for Zelaya to be returned to power - the Supreme Court of Honduras has said no. The law has spoken. the legal system has adjudicated the issue and Zelaya was found wanting.

Obama is upset - he isn't going to make friends with Chavez ... well, actually he is. His efforts will pay off - Chavez will appreciate Obama more. Win/Win. Maybe Obama was worried about a steady supply of coffee.






Honduras Court Rebuffs OAS on Zelaya's Return

By Brian Wagner
04 July 2009
Voice of America News


Jose Miguel InsulzaThe Honduran Supreme Court has rejected a call from the head of the Organization of American States to return deposed leader Manuel Zelaya to the presidency.

OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza flew Friday to Tegucigalpa for his first trip to the Central American nation since the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya this week. Insulza was barred from meeting with the new government because OAS nations have refused to acknowledge the leadership of interim President Roberto Micheletti.

Instead, Insulza met with Supreme Court justices who authorized the military to seize Mr. Zelaya and strip him of power last Sunday. Soldiers arrested the president in a pre-dawn raid at his home and forced him on a plane to Costa Rica.

Ousted Honduran Pres. Manuel Zelaya speaks at an Organization of American States meeting in Washington 01 Jul 2009After the meeting, Insulza told reporters that the interim government remains intent on holding on to power until new elections in November.

Insulza said the current government in power and all of the other institutions of government have shown no willingness to reverse their course.

A spokesman for the Honduran Supreme Court said justices told Insulza that Mr. Zelaya cannot be restored to power because he is facing a series of criminal charges. Officials have said Mr. Zelaya stands accused of 18 offenses, including treason and abuse of power, and will be arrested if he returns to the country.

Insulza has given Honduran officials until Saturday to return Mr. Zelaya to power, or the regional group will consider suspending the nation's membership. He said the possible suspension could trigger a series of consequences, such as withholding foreign investment.

Insulza said foreign lenders cannot lend to a government that is not recognized by the international community.Washington and scores of other countries are refusing to accept the new government, saying Mr. Zelaya remains the Honduran president. Earlier this week, the World Bank suspended loans to Honduras, which relies on the money for development and health programs.

Supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya march in front of the National Congress in Tegucigalpa, 01 Jul 2009Some experts say the best hope to resolve the standoff in Honduras may be a compromise, such as handing interim power to a third person until November elections, or moving up the vote.

Interim President Micheletti has said he is open to considering an early vote, if it will ease tensions between Honduras and its foreign allies.

During a rally Friday in support of the interim government, Marisabel Maldonado said she supports the proposal.

She said the best option may be to hold early elections, even though Hondurans are set to elect a new president in the regularly scheduled vote in November.

Maldonado was among thousands of Hondurans who wore white shirts and waved banners during a rally in front of the presidential palace. Supporters of President Zelaya held a separate march in the capital to demand the return of the ousted leader.






Honduras

Obama and Honduras

Honduras - the Supreme Court, its Congress, and people wanted the former leader to be gone - he is. Obama wants him back. Why? Simple enough - to curry favor with Chavez.


Apparently Honduras is not interested in what the US demands. Obama's demands fall on deaf ears. I suppose he will need to give them the evil eye.






Honduras rulers reject world pressure to reverse coup

Wed Jul 1, 2009 9:06pm EDT
By Patrick Markey

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The Honduran interim government defied international pressure on Wednesday and vowed there was "no chance at all" of ousted President Manuel Zelaya returning to office.

World leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have told the new rulers of the Central American country to restore Zelaya, a leftist who was toppled by the army on Sunday and sent into exile after a dispute over presidential term limits.

The Organization of American States gave Honduras an ultimatum early on Wednesday to allow Zelaya back into office by this weekend or face suspension.

But the interim government's response indicated there was little immediate hope of a negotiated solution to the crisis in Honduras, an impoverished coffee and textile producer.

Enrique Ortez, interim foreign minister, said Zelaya would be arrested if he came home and that the interim authorities were sure Zelaya had been removed in a legal process.

"We are not negotiating national sovereignty or the presidency," he told Reuters in an interview. "There is no chance at all" of Zelaya coming back to power.

The crisis in Honduras has spiraled into the worst political turmoil in Central America since the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, posing a test both for regional diplomacy and for Obama's ability to improve the United States' battered standing in Latin America.

The Honduran Congress has voted in a new government more favorable to the traditional business and ranching elite to replace Zelaya, who was toppled for trying to extend presidential term limits in power.

The president also upset the army, judiciary and members of his own Liberal Party for taking Honduras to the left.

In further signs of isolation of Honduras, the Inter-American Development Bank said it was pausing all new loans to the country until democracy is restored, while Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Europe will not talk to the new rulers if they attempt to get in touch.

"(The interim government) is going to try, but it's better they don't try, because they will not get an answer from us," he told Spanish state radio.

Mindful of its history of intervention in Latin America and, at times, of backing coups, Washington is trying to play a limited, behind-the-scenes role to show support for democracy and Zelaya's restoration without being accused of meddling.

STRESS TEST FOR U.S. DIPLOMACY

The Honduran coup has quickly become a "stress test" for the U.S. government's commitment to defending democracy in Latin America.

Washington, which has put off until next week a decision on whether to cut aid to Honduras, is letting the OAS take a leading role.

"We will wait until the (OAS) secretary-general has finished his diplomatic initiative and reports back ... on July 6 before we take any further action in relationship to assistance," a senior Obama administration official said.

The U.S. military postponed activities with Honduran forces while the Obama administration reviewed the situation, the Pentagon said.

The United States has a task force of about 600 troops in Honduras, a U.S. ally in the 1980s when Washington helped Central American governments fight Marxist rebels.

The Honduran Congress approved a decree to crack down on opposition during a nightly curfew imposed after the coup. The decree allows security forces to hold suspects for more than 24 hours without charge and formalizes the prohibition of the right to free association at night.

Pro-Zelaya protesters clashed with security forces near the presidential palace on Monday and demonstrators applauding the coup that installed interim President Roberto Micheletti took to the streets on Tuesday. Protesters in favor of Zelaya marched again on Wednesday.

"Micheletti is a puppet of the powerful and we don't want him as president," said a masked student who identified himself as Ramon.

Zelaya, who took office in 2006 and had been due to leave power in January 2010, had become a divisive figure in Honduras, a coffee, textile and banana exporter of 7 million people, especially after he allied himself with a firebrand socialist Chavez.

Zelaya gave up a plan to return home on Thursday, accompanied by a group of foreign leaders, to serve out his term. He said he now did not expect to return before the weekend.

The crisis erupted as the country struggles with a sharp decline in remittances from Hondurans living in the United States and in vital textile exports. Thousands of jobs have already been lost due to the slowdown in exports.

But coffee producers say exports have not been affected even after protesters blocked major highways in the interior.




(and yes, I understand the spelling of Honduras in the labels is incorrect, but ..)








Obama

Obama and Hondouras or Obama and Chavez or Obama and ...

Obama should stand up for Democratic principles.

The Honduran Supreme Court ruled the action about to be taken by the former president of Honduras was unconstitutional.

The Congress opposed the man.
His party opposed him.
The army opposed him.

He had lost the confidence of the government.

To prevent Honduras from becoming another Nicaragua or Venezuela, the army acted.

Obama's response - to stand with the former president and denounce the actions of the army and the Supreme Court and the Congress of Honduras.




Obama says coup in Honduras is illegal

Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:26pm EDT
By Arshad Mohammed and David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed.

"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there," Obama told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Zelaya, in office since 2006, was overthrown in a dawn coup on Sunday after he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.

The Honduran Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, and the country's Supreme Court said it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya.

The European Union and a string of foreign governments have voiced support for Zelaya, who was snatched by troops from his residence and whisked away by plane to Costa Rica in his pajamas.

Obama said he would work with the Organization of American States and other international institutions to restore Zelaya to power and "see if we can resolve this in a peaceful way."

"TERRIBLE PRECEDENT"

"It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections," Obama said, noting the region's progress in establishing democratic traditions in the past 20 years.

Despite Obama's comments, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration was not formally designating the ouster as a military coup for now, a step that would force a cut-off of most U.S. aid to Honduras.

Under U.S. law, no aid -- other than for the promotion of democracy -- may be provided to a country whose elected head of government has been toppled in a military coup.

"We do think that this has evolved into a coup," Clinton told reporters, adding the administration was withholding that determination for now.

Asked if the United States was currently considering cutting off aid, Clinton shook her head no.
The State Department said it was unable to immediately say how much assistance the United States gives Honduras.

The State Department has requested $68.2 million in aid for fiscal year 2010, which begins on October 1, up from $43.2 million. This covers funds for development, Honduran purchases of U.S. arms, military training, counter-narcotics and health care but does not include Defense Department aid, a U.S. official said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he did not believe Obama had spoken to Zelaya since the ouster.

He said the administration had worked in recent days to try to prevent the coup from happening, and "our goal now is on restoring democratic order in Honduras."

OBAMA CRITICISM

Analysts said quick criticism of the coup by Obama and Clinton on Sunday pleased Latin American countries bitter about the long history of U.S. intervention in the region.

The Obama administration's stance contrasted with the equivocal position taken in 2002 by former President George W. Bush's administration, which was seen as tacitly accepting a coup against Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez.

A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition he not be named said that by holding off on a legal determination that a coup has taken place, Washington was trying to provide space for a negotiated settlement.

[A negotiated setllement? What, so the guy returns. Obama is a nightmare for people who want to depose tyrants. He works for the tyrant and the status quo.]

"If we were able to get to a ... status quo that returned to the rule of law and constitutional order within a relatively short period of time, I think that would be a good outcome," Clinton said.

(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Xavier Briand)