Couping The Coup

Congress committed another unconstitutional act when it voted this evening on a motion to again ratify its Decreto 141-2009, which removed Zelaya from office (not a power granted them by the constitution) and installed Mr. Micheletti as de facto president. The motion was introduced by the Nationalist party, which held a meeting this morning and agreed to vote as a block of 55 votes in favor of this motion. They only needed 9 Congressmen from another party to join them to block the restitution of Zelaya, but in fact the measure had substantial support from members of the Liberal Party as well. At 7:11 pm Tegucigalpa time, a simple majority of the Congressmen had voted for the motion, with the vote continuing.

The Honduran Congress today thumbed its nose at the rule of law, at the US State Department, and the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord.

Update: 8:48 PM Tegucigalpa time: 92 votes for the motion, 11 against so far.

Update 9:30 PM Tegucigalpa time: 110 votes for the motion, 14 against.

Final vote: 111 votes for the motion, 14 against, with 3 Congressmen absent.

Accord on Zelaya Resitution

El Tiempo and Radio Globo are reporting that there is an accord over the restitution of President Manuel Zelaya, but as of yet, there are no details as to what has been agreed to. Victor Meza, negotiator for Zelaya said "We've readed an agreement on a text for point 6 (which implies the return of Zelaya to power)...I cannot speak about the content because a leak might compromise other parts."

The next step is for Zelaya and Micheletti to review the agreed upon text.