Press Incredulous Over Ian Kelly Pronouncement On Restoral

Ian Kelly stepped in it today in revealing to the press just how shallow the State Department's respect of democracy is. In today's daily press briefing, Ian Kelly was asked to talk about Congress considering Zelaya's restitution after the November elections.

QUESTION: Ian, on Honduras, the parliament seems to have put off until after the election a decision on whether Zelaya will be restored. What does that do for the possible credibility of these elections?

Ian Kelly gave a rather long reply in which he talked about Craig Kelly's mission in Honduras, and then he said,

MR. KELLY: But since the accord never actually gave any kind of deadline by – to have this vote by the national congress, scheduling the vote on December 2nd doesn’t necessarily – isn’t necessarily inconsistent with the accord.

This made the questioner apoplectic. He can't believe he's hearing Ian Kelly say what Ian Kelly is saying....

QUESTION: What – I’m sorry. That’s – you’ve just opened your – this is – they’re going to have a field day with this. So it’s okay with you if five years from now, they go and come back and say, all right, yeah, Zelaya can go – he’s restored, when you can’t – you can’t be restored after you’re voted out of office if you’re not – he’s not even running.

MR. KELLY: That’s right. I mean, he – his term ends the end of January.

QUESTION: Yeah. And so it’s okay – so it’s okay with you, and you’ll – it will be all right and you’ll accept the results of the election, if they – even if they don’t put him back in when you --

MR. KELLY: Well, he’s not running. He’s not running for the election.

QUESTION: Yeah, but he’s going to be out – he’s effectively out of office. I mean, talk about – that’s the lamest of lame ducks. He’s not – he is – I’m confused. You no longer think that he has to be restored before he is voted out of office?

MR. KELLY: Well, it has been a very strong principle of ours that in order for the country to be reconciled, there has to be a restoration of the democratically elected president. That implies that he has to be restored before the end of his term, okay?

QUESTION: So basically --

QUESTION: All right. So 10 minutes – 10 minutes before the end of his term?

QUESTION: December – until the end of January it can be.

MR. KELLY: Look, I mean, clearly, he has to be restored in a timely way. And I don’t think we’ve ever said anything but that.

So, democracy can be restored any time up to the last second of Zelaya's term and that will be "in a timely way" and is officially blessed by the US State Department. Can their commitment to democracy get any shallower?

But wait, it gets better, because although Ian Kelly maintains its a Honduran crisis which requires a Honduran solution, he admits that the US has inserted itself into the middle of it.

MR. KELLY: It’s a Honduran crisis. And we want to make sure that --

QUESTION: Well --

MR. KELLY: -- the Hondurans are able to sit down --

QUESTION: -- you inserted yourself into it --

MR. KELLY: We have.

QUESTION: -- quite – so it’s no longer just a Honduran crisis. You’re involved.

MR. KELLY: Of course, we’re involved. We are involved because we want to be involved, because it’s important for us to be involved. We’re involved because they want us to be involved.

So we're involved, but not responsible. Its a Honduran crisis that demands a Honduran solution that we imposed in the form of first the San Jose Accords and when those didn't take, the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accords. We give lip service to democracy by considering any restoral of Zelaya up to seconds before the end of his term as "timely".

When asked what the US reaction will be if the Congress doesn't vote to restore Zelaya, even after the election, Kelly responds, "Well, we'll -- lets see then."

The US solution is to whitewash the coup as quickly as possible in order to restore the illusion of democracy on relations with Honduras.

Craig Kelly's only expressed concern in Honduras is with possible violence, whereas many, including Rodolfo Pastor Fasquelle, feel that the only result of this farce being perpetrated by the State Department will be violence. Neither Zelaya nor the Frente want violence but if there is violence, it will be as much because of decisions made in Washington, DC as it will be because of decisions made in Honduras.