(Dis)Unity Government

Roberto Micheletti Bain has unilaterally formed a "National Unity Government" whose conformation he announced at 11:45 PM Tegucigalpa time.

"I am proud tonight to announce that we have finalized the formation of the Government of Unity and Reconciliation within the limit established by the calendar of the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Accord. This formation is representative of the broad ideological and political spectrum of our country complying strictly with the letter of the accord."

“Me enorgullece esta noche anunciar que hemos finalizado la conformación del Gobierno de Unidad y Reconciliación dentro del límite establecido dentro del cronograma del Acuerdo Tegucigalpa/San José. Dicha conformación es representativa del amplio espectro ideológico y político de nuestro país cumpliendo estrictamente con la letra del acuerdo”.

"I repeat my profound thankfulness to the government of the United States, and the members of the OAS for the support they are giving to the objectives of the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Accord with which we give important steps in the strengthening of our democracy."

Rafael Pineda Ponce said that Micheletti will preside over the new government. Micheletti will present the new government in a national broadcast this morning.

Spain's Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, Juan Pablo de Laiglesia has called this a flagrant noncompliance with the accord. In their editorial this morning, El Tiempo, called the Accord, "aborted" because it had not passed its first test of installing a government of Unity and Reconciliation.

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."

Rumors

Its a strange day in Honduras. The headline in one paper screams "Michelette denies that the US wants to overthow him" while another titles the article "Micheletti denies US invasion".

Today Roberto Micheletti Bain felt he had to issue a statement that denied that the US was trying to overthrow him. He says that certain media in Honduras are spreading rumors that there is unusual airplane activity at the US part of the Palmerola airbase in Comayagua and that there are "thousands of dead" and "rivers of blood". This listener, who regularly listens to Radio Globo, Cholusat Sur (TV 36 in Tegucigalpa) and Radio Progresso, the main opposition media, has heard no such stories. Apparently these rumors come from pro-coup media.

Micheletti said to assembled reporters, "We have no official information from the air force that airplanes have arrived from the US; the ones that are there are the ones that they use to do their normal things. There is no invasion". "If a country decided to invade us, I'd be the first to know, and I'd tell you", he told reporters He went on to add that the US was a country that respected the law, and even though they've taken economic measures against Honduras, they wouldn't be capable of going to that extreme.

If this was a whisper campaign from the resistance, it seems to have been effective.