US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged the Organisation of American States to readmit Honduras, which was suspended last year after the overthrow of president Manuel Zelaya.
| How nice of her, after the State Department pushed so hard to get Honduras suspended in the first place. |
Mrs Clinton said the new Honduran President, Porfirio Lobo had shown a strong commitment to democracy and the constitutional order.
| What magnificent condescension she displays, to be sure. One can almost see her patting the gentleman on the head as she said it. |
She was speaking at the OAS General Assembly in the Peruvian capital, Lima.
Most South American nations do not recognise Mr Lobo's government.
Although he came to office in elections scheduled before Mr Zelaya's removal, the vote was organised by the interim government that replaced the Zelaya administration.
Mrs Clinton said the region had seen Honduras elect Mr Lobo in "free and fair" elections and watched him form a truth commission to look into the events behind Mr Zelaya's removal from office.
But Brazil, which sheltered Mr Zelaya in its embassy in Tegucigalpa in support of his claim to return as president, urged OAS members not to rush into readmitting Honduras. "Honduras's return to the OAS must be linked to specific means for ensuring re-democratisation and the establishment of fundamental rights" Brazil's deputy foreign minister, Antonio de Aguilar Patrioto, said.
"It is essential to create conditions for former president Zelaya to fully participate in the political life of Honduras", he added.
Ecuador and Venezuela are also opposed to Honduras's readmission, | Quite a troika there, with Iran in the shadows. |
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