The accord signed on October 30 to resolve the crisis that has brought Honduras to a standstill since the June 28 military coup has collapsed. The coup leader Roberto Micheletti has continued to refuse to accept the accord's insistence that elected President Manuel Zelaya be reinstated.The accord signed on October 30 to resolve the crisis that has brought Honduras to a standstill since the June 28 military coup has collapsed. The coup leader Roberto Micheletti has continued to refuse to accept the accord's insistence that elected President Manuel Zelaya be reinstated.
On November 6, AFP reported Zelaya said the deal had collapsed because the regime had violated it by forming a "national unity" government without his participation.
"The accord now has no value", Zelaya said. He urged his supporters to continue protesting in the streets.
As a result of the accord's collapse, Zelaya and the mass-based National Resistance Front against the Coup (FNRG) have both said they will not participate in, nor recognise the results of, the November 29 elections being organised by the coup regime.
AFP reported Zelaya said: "I'm not ready to legitimise a fraud ... nor to whitewash this coup."
The mass movement of the poor majority against the elite-organised coup has now exceeded 130 days of ongoing street protests, strikes, road blockades and occupations. It continues to face brutal repression from the police and military, with thousands detained and dozens killed or disappeared.
With the economy losing millions of dollars every day and the regime nearly totally isolated internationally, the coup leaders finally signed an accord after weeks of negotiations on October 30 that included agreeing to Zelaya's reinstatement as president.
The regime was also under pressure because no government or international institution had said it would accept the outcome of the November 29 polls unless the legitimate president was restored.
The accord committed Zelaya and the coup regime to forming a government of "national unity" with Zelaya as its head.
It also excluded any moves to call a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution, the issue that sparked the coup and that the mass resistance strongly supports.
The accord had still needed to be approved by Congress.
The United States, which refused to cut off all aid or military ties to the coup regime, did not even wait for Congress to vote or for the accord to be implemented before it announced an agreement was struck for it to recognise the November 29 polls.
US-Venezuelan lawyer and author Eva Golinger said in a November 2 article at Chavezcode.com that, as soon as the accord was signed, the US "lifted the few restrictions it had imposed on the coup regime".
For its part, the FNRG, while welcoming the agreement for Zelaya to be returned, insisted it would still push for a constituent assembly and for an end to the repression.
The FNRG issued a statement on November 5 saying that it would continue with its planned boycott of the November 29 polls unless Congress agreed to Zelaya's reinstatement by midnight.
In a November 4 statement, Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (COPINH.), which is part of the FNRG, described the accord as "a trap". It said it had "no faith in the negotiation commission of the coup regime" and denounced "the malicious and intentional attitude of the government of the United States of America".
It said the US took "ambiguous positions but behind the scenes have supported the coup-makers and if not how can they explain that in the kidnapping of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales they used the [US-run] Palmerola base?"
The FNRG statement is published below.
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The FNRG wishes to inform the Honduran people and the international community of the following:
Whereas,
1. During the 131 days of continuous struggle, we have pushed for a peaceful solution to the political crisis in our country as a result of the coup d'éetat carried out by the Honduran oligarchy. In this period we have supported the efforts promoted by various national and international sectors, putting forward three key demands: (a) the return to constitutional order with the reinstatement of the legitimate president, Manuel Zelaya Rosales; (b) respect for the sovereign right to establish a National Constituent Assembly for the purpose of refounding our nation; and (c) punishment for those who have violated human rights.
2. The Tegucigalpa-San Jose agreement [signed on October 30] underscores the priority of returning to constitutional order and affirms, literally, the need to "return the holder of executive power to its pre-June 28 state through to January 27, 2010, which marks the end of the term of the current government".
3. The National Congress, co-author of the break with the constitutional order on June 28, is using delaying tactics by refusing to convene the full assembly of the Congress to revoke the decree that set up the de-facto regime.
4. The Organisation of American States and the US government, which we consider to be an accomplice in the military coup, do not show an interest in the definitive departure of the coup perpetrators from political power.
Therefore, we resolve that:
1. If by midnight November 5 — at the latest — President Manuel Zelaya is not reinstated, the FNRG will refuse to recognise the electoral process and its results.
2. We warn all organisations of the national resistance that if President Zelaya were not to be reinstated within this time frame, they should be ready to carry out the actions necessary to deny any legitimacy to the electoral farce.
3. We call upon the international community to maintain its position of refusing to legitimise the de-facto regime and the elections of November 29.
"We Are Resisting and We Shall Win!"
Real News report on Honduras: Nothing is resolved