Government Admits Blocking Channel 36

An Italian website reports that, during an interview, Carlos Lopez Contreras, the de facto government's Foreign Minister, admitted that the government had banned Channel 36. Lopez Contreras told the Italian news source, Adnkronos International, that the ban on Canal 36 was justified.

"If we look at respect for freedom of speech anywhere in the world, and you actually hear what the channel is saying daily, you would see that in any country in the world, with or without elections, this channel would have been suspended."

Channel 36, also known as Cholusat Sur, publicizes the hypocrisy of the de facto government.

Respect My Authority!

Like the sad character of Eric Cartman from South Park, the de facto government has sent a demanding letter to the UN demanding that that organization "immediately cease its discriminatory activity".

Carlos Lopez Contreras, wrote to Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon on October 8. He write that "only the representatives confirmed by the government" represent Honduras. He objected to the UN's resolution of the 30th of June which qualified the events as a coup d'etat insisting it was a "constitutional succession". He wrote "if you do not enter into immediate contact with the legally established government, harm could come to the work of the resolution of the UN; I recommend that you inform yourself about the happenings in the country."

OAS Representatives Deported

Five OAS technical representatives, three Spaniards, one Columbian, and a US citizen, who arrived at Toncontin International Airport this morning were expelled from Honduras. All four arrived this morning at 9 am. Three were expelled on a COPA airlines flight this morning at 9 am while a fourth was expelled abord a later American airlines flight. El Heraldo reports that all four were deported because they arrived without the authorization of the de facto regime. La Prensa disagrees, and says they were deported because their governments do not recognize the de facto government. A Chilean who accompanied them as part of the team was allowed to remain. All of them were deported after being held for 6 hours, on flights bound for San Jose, Costa Rica.

Yesterday Carlos Lopez Contreras, Foreign Minister of the de facto regime, had invited the OAS delegation to visit. In a press release yesterday he emphasized that the political crisis in Honduras needed a Honduran solution, and that it was no threat to international peace, that there were no international interests. None-the-less he invited the OAS delegation to visit "on a precise date", along with the support staff they require, "so that they might witness the level of advance of the internal dialog." Lopez Contreras's statement didn't specify the "precise date" so we can only guess that its not today.

Lopez Contreras issued a separate press release on Friday telling foreign governments that had broken relations with Honduras that "make it known that the government (of Honduras) will not receive diplomats from these countries unless their respective governments proceed to negotiate with the Foreign Minister of thde Republic about the re-establishment of same."

False Dialogue?

Will the real Carlos Lopez Contreras stand up. Last evening, Carlos Lopez Contreras, Foreign Minister for Roberto Micheletti, said "Neither the OAS nor the international community should intervene," that the crisis should be solved by Honduran's using Honduran law. This seems very clear. It's a response to the OAS President José Miguel Insulza's offer to come to Honduras to facilitate dialogue between Micheletti and Zelaya.

However, unreported in Honduras, but reported in the English language press, today Carlos Lopez Contreras "invited a representative group of foreign ministers" from the membership of the OAS, US State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly informs us. These foreign ministers are invited to travel to Tegucigalpa for talks. Ian Kelly says the US "welcomes this announcement and looks forward to supporting that initiative."

Either Carlos Lopez Contreras has had a complete change of heart about the OAS and dialogue, or this has another meaning. I'd like to believe he's had a change of heart, but I don't. As I outlined in our posting Non Talk Talks, this is not really an effort at dialogue to resolve the issues in any way the international community would recognize; this is more of their "get people to listen to us" program. While details are scarce at this point, it appears that Carlos Lopez hand picked the group of foreign ministers, and I'd be surprised if he doesn't try to control their contacts once they're in Honduras.

UPDATE 5:24 PM PDT: Clarin, an Argentinian newspaper, reports that the OAS delegation will consist participants from Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic, and be headed by José Miguel Insulza.