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Pedro Gonçalves

BBC NEWS | Americas | Americas group suspends Honduras - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8134699.stm

Honduras Manuel Zelaya OAS

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 05 Jul 09 - Cached
  • The Organization of American States has suspended Honduras in protest at the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya.
  • The OAS approved suspending Honduras by 33 votes to zero, with Honduras itself not voting.
  • The OAS approved suspending Honduras by 33 votes to zero, with Honduras itself not voting. It was the first time the organisation had taken such a measure since Cuba was suspended in 1962, when it allied itself with the USSR.
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  • Earlier, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Honduras called on the ousted president not to return from exile, in order to avoid provoking what he called a "bloodbath".
Pedro Gonçalves

Organisation of American States decides to readmit Cuba | World news | guardian.co.uk - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...cuba-oas-usa

Cuba Organization of American States US

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 04 Jun 09 - Cached
  • The Organisation of American States tonight lifted Cuba's half-century-old suspension in a dramatic decision to bring Havana back into Latin America's diplomatic fold.The pan-regional body rebuffed the United States, which lobbied against the move, and revoked a 1962 cold war measure which had marked the communist island as a pariah.
  • Cuba said it had no interest in rejoining the OAS, which Fidel Castro this week called a "Trojan horse" for US interests, but the opening of the door was a diplomatic victory for Havana and exposed Washington's isolation.
  • Much of Latin America once considered Castro an anachronistic despot but since the 1990s the "maximum commandante" has won respect as an elder statesman and symbol of Latin American nationalism. Only the US still lacks diplomatic relations with the island.
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  • The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said Havana should not be readmitted until it made concessions on democracy and human rights, a line echoed by the advocacy group Human Rights Watch which said political prisoners and repression continued under President Raul Castro.
  • Those arguments were swept away by largely leftist governments who thought the organisation had been beholden to Washington for too long. "The vote to readmit Cuba to the OAS represents an unprecedented assertion of Latin American power in a hemispheric institution long dominated by the US," said Daniel Erikson, an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank and author of The Cuba Wars.
Argos Media

BBC NEWS | Americas | Clinton admits Cuba policy failed - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8005153.stm

US Cuba Cuban Embargo Hillary Clinton Organization of American States Raul Castro

shared by Argos Media on 18 Apr 09 - Cached
  • US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that US policy towards Cuba has failed, welcoming an offer to talk from the Cuban president.
  • She said the US was "taking a serious look" at how to respond to President Raul Castro's comments, which she called an "overture". Mr Castro had said he was ready for discussions covering human rights, political prisoners and press freedom. The US passed a law this week easing restrictions on Cuban Americans.
  • The move will allow Cuban Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money home more easily.
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  • Mrs Clinton made her comments about Cuba in the Dominican Republic, ahead of the Summit of the Americas that begins in Trinidad and Tobago later on Friday. "We are continuing to look for productive ways forward because we view the present policy as having failed," she said at a press conference.
  • Cuba is excluded from the summit, which includes 34 members of the Organisation of American States (OAS), though Latin American leaders have been calling for the communist country to be readmitted. OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said on Friday he would ask the organisation's members to readmit Cuba, 47 years after it was suspended.
  • Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he would veto the final declaration from the OAS summit because of Cuba's exclusion.
Pedro Gonçalves

Honduras to meet OAS but tells Zelaya don't come | International | Reuters - 0 views

www.reuters.com/...idUSN0211965120090703

Honduras Manuel Zelaya Roberto Micheletti OAS

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 03 Jul 09 - No Cached
  • Micheletti said he could be open to holding an early presidential election and even a plebiscite on bringing Zelaya back to serve the last few months of his term, if that would calm the global storm over his ouster.
  • "For the peace and calm of the country I would prefer he (Zelaya) does not come in," Micheletti told Honduran radio on Thursday. "I do not want even one drop of blood spilled in this country," he said, adding that Venezuela's firebrand socialist President Hugo Chavez was steering Zelaya's moves. Earlier, he told reporters he would be "in total agreement" with bringing forward a November 29 presidential election. "I have no objection if it would be a way of resolving these problems," he said. A referendum on reinstating Zelaya to serve the rest of his term was also possible, he said, although it would be "difficult" to hold one immediately.
  • The crisis has split Hondurans, with supporters of the coup holding rallies and pro-Zelaya demonstrators mounting rowdy protests, burning tires and building barricades, in recent days. Several dozen pro-Zelaya activists have been arrested.
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  • Polls show Zelaya's popularity had dropped to 30 percent in recent months. The army, courts and Congress all opposed his quest to lift presidential term limits.
  • Zelaya has vowed to go back and serve the rest of his term, but the new government says he will be arrested if he goes to Honduras and there is "no chance" of him returning to office.
Pedro Gonçalves

BBC NEWS | Americas | Zelaya's jet blocked in Honduras - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8135358.stm

Honduras Manuel Zelaya

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 06 Jul 09 - Cached
  • Honduras's ousted President, Manuel Zelaya, has failed in a dramatic attempt to fly back to his country.His plane circled the Tegucigalpa airport, but it could not land as the authorities had blocked the runway.
  • Earlier at least two people were killed as troops fended off Zelaya supporters converging on the airport.
  • Mr Zelaya, who was ousted a week ago, has now arrived in neighbouring El Salvador where he is due to meet regional leaders, who support him.
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  • After several failed attempts to touch down at Tegucigalpa airport, where military vehicles were placed on the runway, the plane eventually flew to Nigaragua, where Mr Zelaya met President Daniel Ortega.
  • The deposed Honduran leader went on to El Salvador where he was due to meet the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay and the head of the Organization of American States (OAS).
  • On Saturday, the OAS suspended Honduras - the first time the organisation had taken such a measure since Cuba was suspended in 1962, when it allied itself with the USSR.
Argos Media

BBC NEWS | Americas | Obama offers Cuba 'new beginning' - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8004798.stm

US Obama Cuba Hugo Chavez Raul Castro Organization of American States

shared by Argos Media on 18 Apr 09 - Cached
  • President Barack Obama has said the US seeks a "new beginning" with Cuba and an "equal partnership" with all the nations of the Americas.
  • Mr Obama was addressing Latin American and Caribbean leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. The summit follows a thaw in US-Cuban relations. Cuba is not at the summit.
  • Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed an offer for talks from Cuban President Raul Castro, saying the old US policy had failed. Mr Castro said on Thursday that he was ready to talk about "everything" with the US, including human rights, political prisoners and freedom of the press. His comments came after the US eased its long-standing embargo of the communist nation, allowing Cuban-Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money home more easily.
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  • Speaking to leaders gathered in Port of Spain, Mr Obama declared: "The US seeks a new beginning with Cuba."
  • "I know there is a longer journey that must be travelled to overcome decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day," he said.
  • Cuba is excluded from the summit, which includes 34 members of the Organisation of American States (OAS), though Latin American leaders have been calling for the communist country to be readmitted.
  • speaking on Friday in the Dominican Republic, Mrs Clinton acknowledged that US policy towards Cuba had "failed" and said Washington was "taking a very serious look at how to respond."
  • Addressing the summit, Mr Obama said he wanted to move forward with a sense of "equal partnership" with all the nations of the Americas despite decades of mistrust.
  • Mr Obama earlier greeted and shook hands with Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, during an impromptu meeting. Photographs released by the Venezuelan government showed Mr Chavez - one of the Bush's administrations most strident critics - smiling and clasping hands with Mr Obama at the start of the summit.
  • Before the summit began Mr Chavez appeared to chastise the US for its approach to Cuba, which is not a member of the OAS. In a pre-summit statement, he also said that "there is more democracy in Cuba than in the United States". But he greeted the US president warmly when the opportunity arrived, gripping the Mr Obama's hand in welcome. "I greeted Bush with this hand eight years ago; I want to be your friend," Mr Chavez told Mr Obama, according to a Venezuelan presidential press office statement.
Pedro Gonçalves

Zelaya plans to return to Honduras to reverse coup | World news | guardian.co.uk - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...as-manuel-zelaya-military-coup

Honduras Manuel Zelaya

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 01 Jul 09 - Cached
  • Latin American dignitaries, possibly including Argentina's president Cristina Kirchner, are due to accompany Manuel Zelaya in a dramatic return to Honduras on Thursday to try to reverse a military coup which ousted him from power.
  • An uncertain greeting awaits. Clashes between security forces and pro-Zelaya protesters in the capital Tegucigalpa have left dozens injured and the new government has threatened to arrest Zelaya on sight.
  • Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the pan-regional Organisation of American States (OAS), agreed to accompany Zelaya. News agency reports from Buenos Aires said Kirchner, one of South America's highest profile presidents, would also join.
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  • The international community - including the US - swiftly rallied to Zelaya as the victim of an illegal overthrow which evoked grim memories of central America's cold war-era upheavals. The UN general assembly today condemned the coup and demanded Zelaya's immediate return to power.
  • Several Latin American countries have suspended trade with Honduras and the World Bank has "paused" lending, piling further pressure on the isolated government in Tegucigalpa to back down.The strongest language during the crisis has come from Chávez who urged Hondurans to rebel and reinstate his ally. "I'll do everything possible to overthrow this gorilla government of Honduras."
  • The authorities have shut down several TV and radio stations and those that remain on air have ignored the crisis and broadcast soap operas and cooking programmes. The new government said no coup had taken place and that Zelaya was constitutionally removed by the army with congressional and supreme court support.
  • The flamboyant landowner was elected in 2006 as a conservative but tacked to the left and became a Chávez ally. He was popular among many of Honduras's poor but concern over crime, corruption and his governing style lowered his approval rating to around 30%.He angered the courts, army, congress and his own party by trying to hold a non-binding referendum which may have paved the way for him to change the constitution to run again when his term expired.Days before the coup Zelaya fired the armed forces chief, who refused to cooperate in the referendum, and defied a supreme court ruling to abandon the vote.
  • As his ratings fell Zelaya clashed with the media over stories about crime and government corruption and became isolated in congress, with his own party turning against him.Accusations that he violated the constitution came to a climax over his push for a referendum which might have abolished presidential term limits. The courts, army and congress joined forces to oust him.
Argos Media

Obama Calls for Thaw in U.S. Relations With Cuba - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...18prexy.html

US Cuba Organization of American States Hugo Chavez Cristina Kirchner Lula da Silva Daniel Ortega

shared by Argos Media on 18 Apr 09 - Cached
  • President Obama, seeking to thaw long-frozen relations with Cuba, told a gathering of Western Hemisphere leaders on Friday that “the United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba,” and that he was willing to have his administration engage the Castro government on a wide array of issues.
  • in another twist, Cuba’s strongest ally at the summit, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, no fan of the United States, was photographed at the meeting giving Mr. Obama a hearty handclasp and a broad smile.
  • Cuba is not on the official agenda here; indeed, Cuba, which has been barred from the Organization of American States since 1962, is not even on the guest list. But leaders in the hemisphere have spent months planning to make Cuba an issue here.
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  • This week, the president opened the door to the discussions by abandoning longstanding restrictions on the ability of Cuban-Americans to travel freely to the island and send money to relatives there.
  • “I know there is a longer journey that must be traveled in overcoming decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day,” Mr. Obama said, adding that he was “prepared to have my administration engage with the Cuban government on a wide range of issues — from human rights, free speech, and democratic reform to drugs, migration, and economic issues.”
  • He said the United States needed to acknowledge long-held suspicions that it has interfered in the affairs of other countries. But, departing from his prepared text, he also said the region’s countries needed to cease their own historic demonization of the United States for everything from economic crises to drug violence.“That also means we can’t blame the United States for every problem that arises in the hemisphere,” he said. “That’s part of the bargain. That’s the old way, and we need a new way.”
  • On Cuba, the president’s words were as notable for what he said as for what he did not say. He did not scold or berate the Cuban government for holding political prisoners, as his predecessor, George W. Bush, often did.
  • But he also did not say that he was willing to support Cuba’s membership in the Organization of American States, or lift the 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, as some hemisphere leaders here want him to do.
  • “Let me be clear,” he said. “I am not interested in talking for the sake of talking. But I do believe we can move U.S.-Cuban relations in a new direction.”
  • The new tone from Washington drew warm praise from leaders like President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina and President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua. Mr. Ortega, who said he felt ashamed that he was participating in the summit meeting without the presence of Cuba, evoked images of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, saying, “I am convinced that wall will collapse, will come down.”
  • Mrs. Kirchner praised Mr. Obama for “what you did to stabilize the relationship from the absurd restrictions imposed by the Bush administration,” adding: “We sincerely believe that we in the Americas have a second opportunity to construct a new relationship. Don’t let it slip away.”
  • Mr. Obama’s speech on Friday night was only the latest in a string of overtures between the countries. On Thursday, Raúl Castro, Cuba’s president, used unusually conciliatory language in describing the Obama administration’s decision to lift restrictions on family travel and remittances.
  • “We are willing to discuss everything, human rights, freedom of press, political prisoners, everything, everything, everything they want to talk about, but as equals, without the smallest shadow cast on our sovereignty, and without the slightest violation of the Cuban people’s right to self-determination,” Mr. Castro said in Venezuela during a meeting of leftist governments meant as a counterpoint to this weekend’s summit meeting in Trinidad and Tobago.
  • On Friday, Mrs. Clinton responded, saying, “We welcome his comments, the overture that they represent, and we’re taking a very serious look at how we intend to respond.”
  • Earlier this week Brazilian officials signaled in Rio de Janeiro that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, potentially flanked by the Colombian president, Álvaro Uribe, would raise the issue of accepting Cuba into the Organization of American States at the summit meeting. Cuba’s “absence is an anomaly and he is waiting for this situation to be corrected,” Marco Aurélio García, Mr. da Silva’s foreign policy adviser, told reporters.
  • On Friday, the secretary general of the O.A.S., José Miguel Insulza, said he would call for Cuba to be readmitted. And Mr. Chávez recently said he would refuse to sign the official declaration produced at the summit meeting because Cuba was not invited.
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