Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo was sworn in as Honduran president today amidst a country still in political turmoil.“We are emerging from the worst political crisis in our history,” declared Lobo during his inauguration speech in which he briefly paused in order to sign an amnesty decree for deposed president Manuel Zelaya. That order was approved by Honduras’ Congress yesterday and also includes amnesty for the generals behind last June's controversial ouster.
While the crowd at the ceremony reportedly applauded Lobo’s move they also supposedly jeered his thanking of foreign diplomats including Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and Dominican President Leonel Fernandez. Fernandez- who attended today’s inauguration- was key in brokering a deal last week facilitating the safe passage of Zelaya from Honduras. Zelaya is expected to soon leave from the Brazilian Embassy where he has been since September and travel as a private citizen to the Dominican Republic and possibly Mexico. (Update: Zelaya arrived safely in the Dominican Republic Wednesday evening).
Despite Lobo’s optimism, Honduras has been mired in a deep political division that was exacerbated by Zelaya’s ouster. Though it’s expected that some international aid will be restored to Honduras Lobo will have his hands full trying to tackle the country’s poverty:
Human rights groups documented serious abuses, including deaths, as security forces cracked down on pro-Zelaya protesters and media outlets in the weeks following the coup.Image- CNN
Lobo, a wealthy landowner from the same ranching province as Zelaya, says he wants to get beyond Central America's worst political crisis in decades and get aid flowing again.
"Due to the political crisis, Honduras has lost $2 billion dollars in foreign aid and international investment," Lobo said as he was being sworn in.
Online Sources- BBC News, Reuters, Dominican Today, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Xinhua, New York Times
Erwin, is it just me or have the Dominicans been in the middle of maybe three moments of nifty diplomacy. There was the Rio Group summit in March (Correa and Uribe, something else I think, and now this.
ReplyDeletePresident Fernandez has used his diplomatic strength to act as a broker in several instances like the Rio Group session or the deal with Lobo. It will be interesting to see how he will handle the political consequences of neighboring earthquake-hit Haiti.
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