Bloggings by boz

Secretary Clinton met with Honduran President Zelaya to discuss the next steps to restore democracy in Honduras. The US played a major role in getting both Zelaya and Micheletti to agree to meet with Costa Rican President Arias tomorrow (Thursday). While neither side has signaled any movement towards compromise, the fact they're willing to sit down and meet is a good sign. Arias has made clear that he views Zelaya as the legitimate president of Honduras, but is willing to help these negotiations.

Some people have hinted that the selection of Arias is a shot by the US or others at OAS Secretary General Insulza. I don't think that was done intentionally. Arias was simply the person both Zelaya and Micheletti trust to mediate fairly.

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President Obama mentioned Honduras during a speech in Russia this week:

America cannot and should not seek to impose any system of government on any other country, nor would we presume to choose which party or individual should run a country. And we haven't always done what we should have on that front. Even as we meet here today, America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies. We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not.

I think the Obama administration response to the events in Honduras has been excellent (which I'll expand on in a future post) and this paragraph explains part of it. Being consistent on democracy issues, even when we have political disagreements, is key to repairing the US reputation in the hemisphere. While criticisms still come in from both the left and the right, I think President Obama is more concerned with improving the hemispheric relationship over the long term than responding to the short term whims of his critics. The administration's actions over the past two weeks will show results on that long-term agenda over the coming years.