Honduras: OAS Foreign Ministers Visit, Get Nowhere – 25 August 0900

A delegation of Organization of American States (OAS) foreign ministers visited Tegucigalpa yesterday but failed to move the interim government to restore ousted president Manuel Zelaya. The delegation included foreign ministers of Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama, and was accompanied by OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza.

The effort is backed by Washington, but tepidly. The Obama administration, while condemning Zelaya’s ouster, has noted that he had taken “provocative” actions prior to being removed, and has said that it is not considering economic sanctions against the interim government.

The OAS is continuing to endorse a plan proposed by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias to return Zelaya to power, albeit with limited authority, but, with the United Sates softening its support for Zelaya’s return, the interim government has little incentive to reverse its position. With the next presidential election drawing ever closer, the chances for the reinstatement of the leftist former president grow slimmer by the day.