Honduras round-up

For those whose attention spans have waned on the prolonged and confusing Honduran presidential crisis, here are a few updates worthy of noting:

Costa Rica's President Arias is slated to meet with four of the 6 main presidential candidates tomorrow, including the two main candidates (Pepe Lobo and Elvin Santos) in an effort to persuade them to bring ousted president Manuel Zelaya back before the November 29th elections.

Meanwhile, governments the world over continue to threaten and repeal aid to Honduras. Days after the US canceled its MCC program, the EU, which had already repealed both military and humanitarian assistance programs, has announced further sanctions including restrictions on political contacts with member governments. For the time being, only the US maintains a diplomatic envoy in Tegucigalpa. In Geneva, the Honduran envoy to the UN Human Rights Council was ordered to leave in mid-session, as the regime he represents was declared illegal by participating Latin American countries such as Cuba, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

It remains utterly unclear at this point whether any agreement on Zelaya's return has any chance of succeeding, and whether or not the presidential elections in November will be able to gain legitimacy both in Honduras as well as around the world. It does seem apparent, however, that allowing Zelaya to return in one way, shape or form is the now clearest (if not cleanest) path to a resolution of the current impasse over electoral legitimacy.