Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez and Mauricio Funes, President of El Salvador, used their addresses to the General Assembly’s annual debate to express their concern about the ongoing political situation in Honduras.
Since Monday, Zelaya, who was overthrown and forced out of the country on June 28th, has been provided refuge in the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. Lula da Silva said: “The international community demands that Mr. Zelaya immediately return to the presidency of his country and must be alert to ensure the inviolability of Brazil’s diplomatic mission in the capital of Honduras."
In his address, Salvadorean President Mauricio Funes said the “de facto government [in Tegucigalpa] has not heeded the clamour of the international community that Honduras return in the shortest time possible to constitutional order.”
Meanwhile, Funes said, any elections organized by the de facto authorities will lack the necessary legitimacy and transparency to ensure credible results that can contribute to resolving the crisis.
“We must close all possibility of returning to the era of authoritarianism or military or civil-military dictatorships. We must not let the coup in Honduras become a precedent that would endanger the gains made with regard to stability and regional institutional democracy.”
Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez said Uruguay rejects “the breakdown of institutions in the Republic of Honduras and we demand the immediate restoration of constitutional order, restoring to their posts the authorities, democratically elected by the Honduran people.”
He also called for perseverance in efforts to integrate the Americas “without exclusions or exceptions, or blockades -- such as the one imposed on Cuba."