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...Micheletti's agreement. That's because the pact allowed for Zelaya to be restored to office before Honduras' Nov. 29 presidential election - a prospect Micheletti had fiercely opposed. But as the dust settles, the more common question this week is, What was Zelaya thinking when he signed this accord...
Days after ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti signed a U.S.-brokered accord on Oct. 30, resolution of their long-running standoff was delayed again. Under the deal, the Honduran congress must decide whether to reinstate Zelaya for the remainder of his term; a legislative committee declined to call a special session for the vote, opting to await an opinion from the Supreme Court on the matter...
Still, with time running out before the Honduran election, only stepped-up U.S. and international pressure brought Micheletti and Zelaya to an accord. The most effective prod: a threat not to recognize the results of the vote, which would render the next Honduran President persona non grata around the world. Another goad: the continuation of economic sanctions by Washington and blocs like the European Union, which are substantial hardships for one of the Western Hemisphere's smallest (7.8 milliion people) and poorest (a 70% poverty rate) countries...
...Micheletti, who has cracked down on media outlets and civil liberties since Zelaya's return to Honduras last month. She then dispatched to Tegucigalpa a U.S. delegation led by Restrepo and Thomas Shannon, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Shannon downplayed any U.S. strong-arming, insisting the accord resulted "not so much from what we were telling Micheletti but from what other Hondurans were telling Micheletti." In a speech Thursday night, Micheletti called the Zelaya restoration concession "significant" but acknowledged Hondurans "are clamoring to turn our history's page past these difficult moments." For his part, Zelaya...
Shannon, in turn, called the new accord proof that Obama's hemispheric doctrine of "dialogue and engagement" can work. The more imperious Latin America policy practiced by past U.S. administrations often actively supported military coups in the region. The agreement is also a rebuff to the congressional conservatives who have held up key diplomatic appointments (including Shannon's as Ambassador to Brazil) to protest Obama's designation of Zelaya's ouster as a coup...