Finallly...something useful said by Ambassador Llorens

Tiempo newspaper quotes Ambassador Llorens indicating that Honduras has substantially complied with the requisites to go back to the OAS (OEA in Spanish) http://www.tiempo.hn/web2/noticias/123-principales/17500-honduras-a-cumplido-con-los-requisitos-para-volver-a-oea.html

Of course Ambassador Llorens is following queue lines from the US Secretay of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton who indicated publicly in the OAS General Assembly meeting in Lima Peru, that it is time for Honduras to return to the OAS.

Well, I guess Mr. Llorens intervention may not be as valuable in the end. Returning to the OAS is something we have to carefully analyze whether is benefits the country or not  and under what conditions. Certainly, we know that this is a forum that is quite ineffective, partially controlled by the ALBA block, but who has some advantages in terms of addressing issues of legitimacy and exposure to international opinion and jurisprudence.

Apuntes de Honduras

El Comisionado de los Derechos Humanos en Honduras, el Sr. Ramon Custodio se lamento de la hipocresía y analfabetismo político de la OEA al no reintegrar a Honduras, optando por enviar una comisión de alto nivel para examinar el "progreso" del país en su retorno a la democracia. http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=141938

Amen Don Ramón. No sigamos perdiendo mas tiempo y recursos gastando pólvora en zopilotes. Ahondemos nuestras relaciones con países que nos han tendido la mano como amigos (Colombia, Perú, USA, Taiwan, Israel...) y abramos relaciones con otros países que puedan contribuir a nuestro desarrollo interno mediante el comercio exterior y el intercambio de tecnología y conocimiento. Aprendamos a vivir solos y a desarrollarnos internamente estimulando por supuesto sabiamente la inversión extranjera en producción (no mas dependencia a los mendrugos de la "comunidad internacional"), usando la mejor tecnología y conocimiento de donde venga, y produciendo bienes y servicios para mercados nacionales e internacionales.

Como buen cacique o jefe tribal, el tirano-que-no-lo-dejamos-ser, el Sr. Manuel Zelaya Rosales, desde su choza en Punta Cana en República Dominicana y dentro de sus obligaciones como asalariado de PetroCaribe y del Comandante Chavez, le ordeno a los miembros de su gobierno el no colaborar con la Comisión de la Verdad en Honduras http://www.hondudiario.com/l/content/ning%C3%BAn-funcionario-de-mi-gobierno-debe-colaborar-con-la-comisi%C3%B3n-de-la-verdad-zelaya. Será que al Sr. Zelaya solo le interesa que el mundo conozca "su verdad" o que no se conozca toda la verdad...punto. Desde las maletas de dinero que sus colaboradores sacaron de las bóvedas del Banco Central en Hondura dizque para la cuarta urna, el despilfarro de la cuarta urna misma, y el latrocinio generalizado de su gobierno...¿Como podemos olvidar o dejar pasar esto?

Better a full color one, then a hundred without color

A saying quoted by one of my favorite columnists, Mrs. Gloria Leticia Pineda, is to the point about our need to strongly put our position as Honduras to the world. My translation  is quite bad but could not do better..."mejor un colorado que cien descoloridos"

I agree with many things in Mrs. Gloria Leticia Pineda article in La Prensa of today where she argues that President Lobo should start governing and trust our national capacity to produce and make it as an independent country. Certainly, President Lobo needs to send messages to national and international investors that Zelaya is gone from our life and that the uncertainty introduced by Zelaya and his followers is being addressed through appropriate policies including that of respecting the Constitution, law and order, respect for the separation of powers, and equal protection under the law. This message has to be acted on with concrete steps to create the investment climate.

Please President Lobo do not dismiss our voices who are giving you constructive and well meaning advice. We want you to succeed as we know that your success as President will shape the future of our country for years to come. We want your strong leadership, that will steer the country to prosperity. We do not need, nor want, the future that Mr. Zelaya was promoting, that of a tyrant wannabe, who sought to destroy everything that a free, democratic and independent country, like Honduras, aspires to be as soon as possible.

We cannot ignore the examples of those that support Zelaya, who are blatantly demanding a return to "democracy" in Honduras, but some of them are not even remotely close to one. If anybody can tell me that Cuba and Venezuela are democracies...well I guess there are people out there who are delusional...

One needed political development...power to municipalities

We desperately need true decentralization and power devolution to the true stakeholders in the political process...we the people....

This starts by returning power to the smallest political structure we have in Honduras: the municipalities.

As written in an article by former Minister of the Presidency, Mr. Luis Consenza Jimenez, a person I respect a lot due to his capacity:

"In the end, the courageous action of our country-kin who presented the unconstitutionality lawsuit (against the "Estatuto del Docente") makes me think that not everything is lost. That we can still wake up and demand that justice is done and respect to the Constitution and our Rights, including those of municipalities. If we strengthen our families and municipalities, surely we will later be able to strengthen our national entities."

Well written, Mr. Consenza, well written.

Four very strong opinions regarding President Lobo's administration

My strongest belief is that Honduras needs to move on and become a prosperous nation. This process had to start with the success of the administration that took over after the Zelaya debacle. It really does not matter whether it was Lobo, Santos, Martinez or Avila; who had won the elections, what we needed was a successful administration that would allow us to rebuild and plan for the future riding on the belief and conviction of respecting the Constitution and having (finally) entered the era of law and order in Honduras.

Thus my expressed commitment to the current administration to ensure its success, whomever it where, to succced as the constitutionally appointed president arising from our elections in November 2009. I am however quite puzzled at the current actions from President Lobo, as I am having a great difficulty seeing this administration having the vision and will to move the country forward. Rather I am seeing more of the same vices slowly creeping into the actions and reactions of the Executive and the President himself. I honestly think (desesperately) that I need to be proven wrong in this perception.

Here are four very strong criticisms of the current administrations actions, especially with regard to Mr. Zelaya. These are from Juan Ramon Martinez (article in La Tribuna ), from Gaspar Vallecillo (article in El Heraldo), from Armando Cerrato (Article in La Tribuna), and that of Carlos A. Medina http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=138086

Please, Mr. Lobo, although we hope that your actions are part of a strategy that we are completely ignorant for being outside the loop, or that these actions have a purpose, please do not ignore the many voices that are building up. Remember, we cannot sacrifice the Constitution, the separation of power, law and order, trying to obtain short term gains. Let stand strong as we have the moral ground as we respected our constitution.
If we are wrong please prove us wrong...

The Rule of the Law - Michael P. Fay's caning in Singapore

In case you do not remember, Michael P. Fay is an American who's brief shot to fame came from his sentence to caning in Singapore as an 18-year old who was convicted of theft and vandalizing private and public property. Mr. Fay, a student at the Singapore American School was convicted for vandalizing cars in addition to stealing road signs to four months in jail, a fine of 3,500 Singapore dollars (US$2,414) and six strokes of a cane in the buttocks in a public place. After requests for leniency  by the US government, the Singapore President of the time, Ong Teng Cheong, reduced the number of strokes from SIX to FOUR, as a sign of good will to President Bill Clinton. The sentence was carried out May 5th 1994 at the Queenstown Remand Centre. After his sentence Mr. Fay left Singapore for good.

What does Mr. Fay's conviction and sentence in Singapore have to do with us in Honduras? Plenty. This is a sign of unwavering respect for the law and the un-ambivalent carrying out of justice in a country, in spite of external pressures. You may disagree that the penalty was excessive in Mr. Fay's case, but the matter of fact is that the rule of the law was respected and carried out without hesitation.


We, in Honduras, need to learn this lesson from Singapore, especially now that President Lobo is apparently considering putting ours laws to the side in order to gain international acceptance, and allow Mr. Zelaya to roam free in Honduras without facing justice. The Supreme Court, Congress and the Ministerio Publico, need to stand together in one voice and say "Yes, Mr. Zelaya is free to return anytime he wants. This is constitutional right. However,once he sets foot in Honduras he will be arrested and put under the jurisdiction of the legal system, unless his attorneys organize his voluntary presence in front of a judge - which by the way has to be approved in advance by a judge- an the submit to eventual judgement by the legal system. This process is contemplated within Honduran law.

Anything less, sends the message that the executive branch dominates other branches of government. This is a break from the idea of separation of powers and independence of the branches of government, which are the pillars of constitutional democracies. We cannot allow this to happen.

Some critical opinions on President Lobo strategy

"Inaudito e imprudente", el maniobrar político del presidente Lobo Sosa http://www.hondudiario.com/l/content/inaudito-e-imprudente-el-maniobrar-pol%C3%ADtico-del-presidente-lobo-sosa

Cohep pide a Lobo Sosa dedicarse a gobernar  http://www.hondudiario.com/l/content/cohep-pide-lobo-sosa-dedicarse-gobernar

Let me be clear. I, nor anybody, cannot deny the right of Mr. Zelaya of  returning to Honduras, but he has to face the legal system and all the formal criminal charges against him. Nobody is above the law, nobody.

In a very measured declaration former President Ricardo Maduro Joest, http://www.hondudiario.com/l/content/ni-pepe-ni-mel-pueden-estar-encima-de-la-ley-maduro has indicated that President Lobo may be already fed-up with the show put on by Zelaya and the ruthless pressures from the Chavez satellites (i.e. Correa, Ortega Morales and of course Zelaya who is a formal employee of Chavez) in explaining the current Lobo strategy. However, Maduro made the point that this is a country of laws and nobody is above the law. Hope he is right.

President Lobo please do not disappoint us...

Dear Mr. President Lobo:

I am hoping that your position as presented in Diario La Prensa (See an article in La Prensa today) where you indicate your willingness to go to the Dominican Republic and escort back Mr. Manuel Zelaya and that you have negotiated with the Ministerio Publico that Mr. Zelaya would not be prosecuted or detained for any political or common crime, is just a maneuver to disarm the public relations campaign displayed by Mr. Zelaya in global forums.

On the other hand, if these declarations are factually true, then you are turning your back to the country, the constitution, the rule of law and everything that we fought for during and after June 28. If this is true, you are giving free reign for anybody to repeatedly -and with impunity- violate any law and thus allow corruption to continue in our country. You are pursuing a mistaken policy of appeasement and not the best interest of the country. With what face can you prosecute any person in the future for political and/or common crimes, when you forgive now, without any penalty, Mr. Zelaya and his collaborators' crimes?

Mr. Zelaya and all his Cabinet members have to face the justice system in Honduras. This cannot be negotiated with anybody...period. We cannot forget or forgive the black suitcases that Mr. Zelaya's people withdrew from the Central Bank offices full of money to fund the illegal "cuarta urna" and other personal expenses. We cannot forget nor forgive his administration corruption, mismanagement, the polarization of the country, the violations of the Constitution including his attempts to illegally put himself as President for life...and the list goes on.

This is a matter of changing our culture for that of unwavering respect for law and order, for our Constitution and democracy, for self-respect and dignity. Please, please, please...do not disappoint us...The country is growing impatient and will start asking its rights again...

One more voice to our request for true independence....

From the pen of Mr. Orlando Henriquez who is requesting that we go alone and survive alone rather than trying to get the blessing from those who want to put their boot on our necks....http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=134447

The key, my fellow Hondurans, is to take positive steps, proactive steps, so that each of one of us who want a democratic, prosperous, equitable, and forward looking country, says it in a loud voice: We will not tolerate corruption, demagoguery, chicanery, improvisation, stupidity, politicking, and other ills such as those practiced by Mr. Zelaya and his henchmen. NO MORE....we will fight with reason and debate, with data and figures, with our presence and with our writing, with beauty and intelligence, with faith in our capacity to move forward and not let the spirits of the dark, destruction, buffonery, or violence triumph again.

Let's follow the advise of Mr. Juan Ramon Martinez http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=134446 and take proactive and intelligent steps towards our future, not our past.

And the list of people who needs to mind their own business continues to grow...

The Secretary General of the International Federation of Human Rights (IFHR),  Luis Guillermo Pérez Casas, indicated that putting General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez as Director of HONDUTEL and the further militarization of other public sector instances is further proof of the continuation of the coup-d-estat in Honduras. Mr. Perez Casas continues to say"while the State is not cleaned out of those who have provided incentives to the constitutional order and while Honduras continues with the severe violations to human rights in the country, it is our duty to continue the political pressure by the international community over Honduras".
  
Does anybody want any more proof of the well orchestrated and financed campaign against Honduras?. My favorite columnist, Juan Ramon Martinez, wrote it so clear that it gives me the chills, the well planned campaign will go on with a vengeance and in a blood thirsty manner against those who they (The resistencia high command) seem to have propitiated their precipitous fall from power, meaning the National Human Rights Commissioner, Dr. Custodio, General Romero Velasquez, and the Heads of the Supreme Court and Procuraduria General de la Republica. The smear campaign  will grow in intensity as time goes by.

We have to react in a conclusive and energetic manner to the sort of accusations such as the ridiculous statements made by this person Perez Casas. We have to and will denounce again and again the double standard used by this people to judge us in such a biased and loopsided manner, where the constitutional and common criminal crimes of Mr. Zelaya and his cabinet do not seem to matter and where they conveniently forget that unity means participation by all, not only the chosen ones or those that support their own purposes.

We need to tell the world again and again:

We will not lower our head anymore. If you want to accept us, do so, but we will not seek nor tolerate any more acceptance with conditions nor we will accept any more interference in our own internal affairs. If you do not accept these terms, you are free to withdraw your diplomatic representation from our country and return whenever you are willing to respect us as equals. Anything less will not be acceptable. Finally, we will not seek the blessing of any country, organization or the international community to conduct our affairs, laws, policies and government. We will join any organization that will benefit us in the long run and we will establish relations with any government who benefits us in the long run. Same with dropping any type of relation with any country who does not respect us.