Central America

31 August 2009. The Trial Court of Chimaltenango ordered the immediate arrest of Felipe Cusanero Coj, the ex military commissioner responsible for the disappearance of six people from the village of Choatalum during the “internal armed conflict”, and sentenced him to 25 years in prison for each person disappeared. This legal ruling is a landmark in the history of Guatemala.

US State Department advisers have recommended the removal of former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya to be considered a coup. If the Secretary of State follows the advice, the step could cut off tens of millions of dollars. Foreign ministers agreed not to recognize the result of a presidential election set for November unless Mr Zelaya is first restored to power.

Minister of Education, Dr. Leonardo Garnier Rímolo, demonstrates his support endorsing and organizing activities in the file of education for the World March. Dr. Rímolo considers the the March to be of great interest to the country, “Education for Nonviolence”, especially the elements that can be incorporated in the Costa Rican curriculum, is very useful in this moment.

An attempt to mediate in Honduras by the Organization of American States (OAS) is being resisted by the interim government of Honduras. The OAS sent a delegation of top officials to negotiate the return of the ousted president Manuel Zelaya. The OAS proposed Tegucigalpa to install a government of national unity with Manuel Zelaya at its head until the November elections.

A delegation of foreign ministers from the Organization of American States is in Honduras this week to seek the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. The delegation is hoping to revive a Costa Rica-brokered proposal that would restore Zelaya to office but limit his authority. On Monday, the head of the coup government, Micheletti, reiterated his opposition to the plan.

Honduran civil society organizations have called for a World day of protest on 28 August against the coup d’ètat and the complicity of US intelligence corps with the de facto regime. “We exhort all people committed to democracy and solidarity to join the protest against the dictatorship set up by the Honduran oligarchy”, the organizing body said.

The popular Chilean actor Benjamín Vicuña, one of the Latin American Ambassadors of UNICEF, will create a documentary about Haiti and, before it comes out, he said he looks “to achieve a more solidarious America.” The actor has been invited by the UN with the proposal of filming a documentary that will be exhibited throughout Latin America in September.

A legislative amendment already passed into Law by Congress would permit the Justice ministry to be renamed the Ministry of Justice and Peace, instead of Justice and Grace, its current denomination. In addition, the legislative amendment will create the National System for Promotion of Peace and Citizen Coexistence, an essential point of this model initiative for Latin America.

The new Honduran regime has severed diplomatic ties with Argentina in response to the expulsion last week of Honduran ambassador to Buenos Aires, Carmen Eleonora Ortez Williams, because of her support for the military coup. A delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is currently in Honduras to investigate mistreatment of Zelaya’s supporters.

A delegation from the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights has arrived in Honduras to monitor the situation more than a month after the democratically elected Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a coup. The commission met with local Honduran human rights groups but refused to meet with the government. Luz Patricia Mejia is the head of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.