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Honduras Swears in Porfirio Lobo as President
Honduras has sworn in newly-elected Porfirio Lobo as President, after months of crisis over the fate of his ousted predecessor, Manuel Zelaya.
Wearing the presidential sash, Honduras' President Porfirio Lobo, waves after being inaugurated as the new president during a ceremony in Tegucigalpa, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Mr Lobo has said his first task as president will be to guarantee Mr Zelaya's safe passage out of Honduras.
The removal last June of Mr Zelaya, who is holed up in Brazil's embassy in the capital, divided opinion in Honduras and internationally.
Several nations refused to recognise the legitimacy of November's election.
Election pledge
Mr Lobo was sworn in at an open air ceremony, in the capital Tegucigalpa.
He said: "I pledge to be faithful to the republic and ensure its laws are enforced."
The newly-elected president has said he wishes to restore international ties and ensure the resumption of foreign aid, principally from the US.
"Can you imagine starting a government with a president imprisoned in an embassy. It wouldn't be fair," he said.
Mr Zelaya has indicated that he is ready to leave Honduras.
"I have an invitation... to go to the Dominican Republic and I will accept... obviously with the approval of the new government," Mr Zelaya told local radio.
His departure will mark the end of his efforts to return to office after soldiers forced him into exile at gunpoint on 28 June. He returned in secret in September and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy.
Mr Zelaya was removed amid a dispute over his plans to hold a vote on whether a constituent assembly should be set up to look at rewriting the constitution.
His critics said the vote, which was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, aimed to remove the current one-term limit on serving as president and pave the way for his possible re-election.
Mr Zelaya repeatedly said he had no interest in staying in power but wanted to rewrite an outdated constitution to guarantee fairer representation for all Hondurans.
Military cleared
His ousting provoked international condemnation but diplomatic attempts to persuade the interim government to allow Mr Zelaya to return to office proved futile.
Several Latin American countries, including Brazil and Venezuela, said recognising the election would amount to condoning a coup.
But the US argued that Hondurans had the right to elect a president in an election that was scheduled long before the crisis erupted.
While Mr Lobo faces the challenge of bringing Honduras back into the international fold, the country's institutions have taken steps to put the crisis behind them.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared six military commanders of exceeding their authority when they ordered soldiers to expel Mr Zelaya.
And the Honduran Congress voted to approve an amnesty for both the military and Mr Zelaya, who had faced charges of treason.
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11 Comments so far
Show All...and all the little fascists lived happily ever after. The End
Lobos should watch his back....since the Honduran "supreme Banana court" has effectivily legalized military coups
If Zelaya has been granted amnesty as the BBC says, why is he being told to leave to country to go to the Dominian Republic?
BBC article lacks total context as to why the election was not conducted in a democratic fashion.
Dear Mr. Chavez and Mr. Morales,
Just a friendly reminder that you two might want to watch your backs a little more closely now. The US is on the march in South America, and we all know what that entails.
Peace from Colorado,
John
The US says let's overlook a military coup and pretend that nothing happened. That's nice, but you can't have a democratic election if it's overseen by a military coup.
Imagine if there were a left-wing takeover of Honduras. The leaders would be labeled terrorists and severely punished not let off the hook by the supreme court.
This is new and important information to me. How sad to realize that precisely because our government is endorsing this tainted election that I am sure that el Lobo is not going to be friendly to his fellow Hondurans. Brazil and Venezuala should hold firm in their condemnation with Brazil taking the lead.
Look at a map. Honduras adjacent to Guatamala, El Salvador, and Nicarauga. We must have many seasoned operatives from our campaigns in those countries that will be (are?) fielded in Honduras.
Let's see now. OK-got it! Instead of arms for hostages I could imagine a scheme of military aid for carbon credits. McCain'd jump on that.
Colonization by another name.
After the 10,000 soldiers are finished with their Haitian adventure, they should march right into Venezuela.
The minimum wage there - under that elected dictator Chavez - is much higher than the 22 cents/hour that the IMF recommends for developing countries.
And... oil.
Zelaya was still under indictment for embezzlement. I bet at this point, he needs to reevaluate. He went into exile in the DR and Lobo rode with him to the airport from what I saw on BBC.
Pretty horrible outcome frankly.
From http://quixote.org/repression-honduras
"After this video was finished, Cesar and Edwin began traveling around to the barrios in Tegucigalpa, showing the video, and educating people about what happened with the coup. This activity led to both of these young men becoming targets of the death squads."
From http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2278/1/
"those fearful for their lives cannot report to the police. Complaints they file, such as those of Santos and Walter, could soon become signatures to their own death letters."
From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O_0uJqoVtI
"A high ranking official at the election tribunal told me off camera that the president of the tribunal, Saul Escobar, on the night of the election, announced the number out of nowhere. When I asked the official to say that on camera, they responded, 'Do you really want me to get shot?'"
From http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1098&theme=rights&country=honduras
"Murillo was also a key witness to the murder of fellow teacher Roger Vallejo, who was shot in the head during violent repression by police forces in July. At the wake held to honour Vallejo's memory, teacher Martín Florencio Rivera was stabbed to death."
The Empire wins again.
Hoa Binh