The Washington Monthly

October 30, 2009

PEACEFUL RESOLUTION IN HONDURAS.... Matt Yglesias noted earlier that foreign policy achievements "have a way of not getting noticed if they don't involve killing anyone with high explosives. This is too bad, since finding ways to resolve conflicts that don't involve killing anyone with high explosives is generally preferable to approaches based on death and destruction."

That's a good point. And it's a reminder that the Obama administration's success in Honduras is laudable.

A lingering political crisis in Honduras seemed to be nearing an end on Friday after the de facto government agreed to a deal, pending legislative approval, that would allow Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president, to return to office.
The government of Roberto Micheletti, which had refused to let Mr. Zelaya return, signed an agreement with Mr. Zelaya's negotiators late Thursday that would pave the way for the Honduran Congress to restore the ousted president and allow him to serve out the remaining three months of his term. If Congress agrees, control of the army would shift to the electoral court, and the presidential election set for Nov. 29 would be recognized by both sides. Neither Mr. Zelaya nor Mr. Micheletti will be candidates.

On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the deal "an historic agreement."

"I cannot think of another example of a country in Latin America that, having suffered a rupture of its democratic and constitutional order, overcame such a crisis through negotiation and dialogue," Mrs. Clinton said in Islamabad, where she has been meeting with Pakistani officials.

The Micheletti government wanted to wait until after a Nov. 29 election, but the U.S., the U.N., and the Organization of American States said the way to secure international recognition of those elections was to strike an agreement on the restoration of the constitutional order now. The Obama administration sent two diplomats to the country on Wednesday, who helped strike the deal.

Zelaya, under the agreement, will return to office in a power-sharing agreement until the end of his term in January. Tim Fernholz added, "While the White House's domestic opposition will no doubt call this deal a sham or attack the president for helping restore a controversial leader to power, this outcome will likely improve inter-American relations, and that is a win for a relatively green foreign-policy team."

—Steve Benen 2:20 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (7)

Comments

Let's not forget the Philippines either

U.S. Military to Stay in Philippines

In a simultaneous counterinsurgency effort in the Philippines, members of the American force have completed hundreds of infrastructure projects, including roads, schools, health clinics and firehouses, conducted medical examinations and administered vaccines.
Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of American forces in the Pacific, said the force’s work was not yet done. “The successes we enjoy, and the gains, can tend to anesthetize us a little bit,” he said. “When the options were presented to our leadership, the decision was made to continue the Philippines mission.”

...

Even independent, nongovernmental organizations that normally look skeptically on American military efforts have praised the Philippines operation.
“In general, the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines has been regarded as a success story, especially in terms of winning hearts and minds through civic action and medical assistance projects,” said Mark L. Schneider, senior vice president of the International Crisis Group.

Posted by: koreyel on October 30, 2009 at 2:40 PM | PERMALINK

And Jim Demint, you can stick this straight up your ass.

Posted by: Patrick on October 30, 2009 at 2:45 PM | PERMALINK

what Patrick sez, sideways...

Posted by: neill on October 30, 2009 at 2:50 PM | PERMALINK

All in a day's work for Nobel Peace Prize winners.

Posted by: Marko on October 30, 2009 at 3:09 PM | PERMALINK

Patrick said it for me. Maybe Mitch McConnell can arrange for "private transportation" to send DeMint down to share a beer and a good cry with Micheletti.

Posted by: shortstop on October 30, 2009 at 3:16 PM | PERMALINK

It is an achievement, and kudos are also due to the movement on the streets of Honduras, the protesters who never quit, even when they were brutalized by the police.

The question that remains for me is why the U.S. wavered so much about Zelaya's return. Why, for instance, did we block a resolution in the OAS to refuse recognition of an election absent a restoratino of Zelaya to office (where he could have still been disciplined by the government for any convictions of wrongdoing). Why did our ambassador to the OAS call Zelaya's return to Honduras, a land where he is the elected president and where he had not been convicted of anything, absent an agreement with the coup regime that had already banished him and refused to talk to him, "irresponsible and foolish?"

It is important to recognize both Zelaya's return to Honduras and the brave protest movement as elements of this victory -- more so, perhaps, than U.S. leadership.

Posted by: Algernon on October 30, 2009 at 5:25 PM | PERMALINK

1. Zelaya is NOT all that.

2. The Obama Administration did not necessarily have that much to do with this.

3. The Honduran Congress has yet to indicate whether it will approve the deal between Micheletti and Zelaya. With just four weeks until the Honduran presidential election, it would be easy for it to run out the clock.

Posted by: SocraticGadfly on October 31, 2009 at 3:18 AM | PERMALINK