Honduras sunk into further disarray on Friday after Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, ousted in a military-backed coup, said a US-brokered deal to end the nation’s four-month crisis had collapsed.
Presidential elections due on Nov. 29 were in jeopardy as Zelaya called for his supporters to boycott them and return to the streets of the polarized nation.
Hundreds marched from the Congress to the Brazilian embassy, where Zelaya has been holed up since Sept. 21, in a protest in the capital on Friday.
Zelaya said last week’s crisis deal was no longer valid after de facto leader Roberto Micheletti formed a new “national unity” government without his participation.
“The accord now has no value,” Zelaya said on Friday.
Zelaya said there was no point continuing with negotiations because “the agreements have been constantly violated.”
He also said that he had to “take some decisions,” without elaborating. He said he had not decided whether he would stay in the Brazilian embassy until his term runs out on Jan. 27.
The latest setback dealt a blow to foreign and US diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who had hailed last week’s agreement as a triumph for democracy.
“We urge both sides to act in the best interests of the Honduran people and return to the table immediately to reach agreement on the formation of a unity government,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in Washington.
“We’re disappointed that both sides are not following the very clear path laid out” in Costa Rican accords aimed at resolving the crisis, Kelly said.
The accord had given Zelaya and Micheletti’s camps until midnight Thursday to set up a reconciliation government to represent both sides.
Although it did not require that Zelaya be reinstated, the pact said that decision should be left to Congress, without setting a deadline for the vote, which has not yet taken place.
Shortly before midnight, Micheletti announced a unity government without including Zelaya ministers.
The ousted leader had refused to present nominees for the posts unless he was first reinstated to “reverse the coup” of June 28.
Zelaya reiterated Friday that he would not back this month’s presidential polls.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
RSS