The State Department has sent a letter to Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., regarding the administration’s policy toward Honduras. They appear to be walking back President Obama’s quick condemnation of President Manuel Zelaya’s ouster. From the State Department’s letter:
“The events of June 28 were preceded by a political conflict between President Zelaya and the other institutions of Honduras’ government. We energetically condemn the actions of June 28. We also recognize that President Zelaya’s insistence on undertaking provocative actions contributed to the polarization of Honduran society and led to a confrontation that unleashed the events that led to his removal. For this reason, our public statements and actions have focused on the importance of a negotiated, peaceful solution that restores democratic order in accordance with the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter…and enhances the rule of law.
With respect to the legality of actions in Honduras, we have suspended certain assistance as a policy matter pending an ongoing determination under U.S. law about the applicability of the provisions requiring termination of assistance in the event of a military coup. Our course here is consistent with past Department practice in similar situations in which aid that might be affected has been paused to ensure that the U.S. government stays on the right side of the law while a political crisis unfolds.”
Honduras’s interim administration has come in for worldwide condemnation for staging a “coup.” But based on this letter, the U.S. government is still deciding whether or not it really counts as a “coup.”
Honduras’s Supreme Court and Congress approved Zelaya’s removal after he attempted to hold a referendum on presidential re-election. Any attempt to re-elect a president is proscribed by Honduras’s constitution and punishable by loss of citizenship.
Lugar’s office denied our request for the letter, which we obtained anyway and made available here.
