The big news is no news out of Honduras. Nothing much has happened over the past few days in Honduras. There is a steady hum of quotes by officials, protests, diplomatic discussions and accusations, but in the end, there has been no significant change for about a week. Rumors of progress on the Arias negotiations, which would have been significant, seem to have been shot down by Micheletti.
Zelaya continues to promise resistance against the Micheletti government. He has set up camps on both sides of the Honduras-Nicaragua border. More protests are scheduled for this week. Micheletti did lift the curfew in much of the country, but they also cracked down on protesters, particularly near the border. At least 3 protesters have been killed. No word on if or when Zelaya will attempt another reentry into the country.
Reuters is among the media outlets covering the economic effects the coup will have on Honduras. One of the tragedies coming out of this event is that Honduras is taking an economic hit, one that will hit the poorest in Honduras and one that will continue affecting the country even if the coup is fixed today.
Greg and RAJ both discuss poll numbers from last year that suggest Honduras was among the most politically and economically dissatisfied countries in the region.
President Obama was interviewed on Univision about the topic and said the following (I'm sure he said it in English, but I can only find the quote in Spanish): "Queremos que esta situación se solucione de forma que el presidente Zelaya pueda volver, concluir su período y que haya elecciones legales que sean reconocidas, que sean congruentes con la Constitución. Debe haber alguna manera de solucionar esto de forma que no genere violencia pero tampoco un mal precedente."
The Micheletti government is angry about the US revocation of diplomatic visas as well as a recent meeting between Ambassador Llorens and President Zelaya in Managua. Micheletti's officials said they may revoke the US visas as retaliation, which could lead to questions over whether the ambassador will be forced to leave the country.
So yes, there have been plenty of stories, but very little actual news. From that perspective, the coup government had another successful week in running out the clock. It would be wrong to call the Micheletti government stable, but they did manage to hold their ground for a week. More protests are scheduled for this week and more diplomatic pressure is coming. Elections are still scheduled for November.
