WASHINGTON – The Special General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) decided today to suspend immediately the right to participate in the institution of Honduras following the coup d’Etat that expelled President José Manuel Zelaya from power.
In a resolution adopted by acclamation by all Member States at the headquarters of the organization in Washington, DC, the Special General Assembly instructed the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, “to reinforce all diplomatic initiatives and to promote other initiatives for the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in the Republic of Honduras and the reinstatement of President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales.”
“No such initiative will imply recognition of the regime that emerged from this interruption of the constitutional order,” specifies the resolution, that invoked for the first time Article 21 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter
The document also encourages “the Member States and international organizations to review their relations with the Republic of Honduras during the period20of the diplomatic initiatives.” It also reaffirms that Honduras “must continue to fulfill its obligations as a member of the Organization, in particular with regard to human rights”, and urges “the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend human rights and fundamental freedoms in Honduras.”
The Special General Assembly was attended by the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the President of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, y President Zelaya, who announced his intention to travel tomorrow back to Honduras.
In his speech to the p lenary session, President Zelaya highlighted that “this is a very peculiar moment in the history of the Americas.” After explaining the circumstances surrounding of the coup d’Etat, President Zelaya stressed that “the Honduran people have lived already six days of repression. The people are suffering.” The Honduran leader praised the attitude of the OAS and its Member States: “You, by raising your voice, are giving hope to the Americas, and you are giving hope to the people of Honduras.”
The President of Argentina said that the detention and expulsion of President Zelaya from his country were the equivalent of “kidnapping the democratic restoration in Latin America”. After remembering the negative effects of several past coups in the continent, President Fernández de Kirchner expressed her support for President Zelaya and her wish that he be restored to power as an “act of=2 0justice to the people of Honduras and of unconditional respect of Human Rights.”
