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P 020155Z JUL 09
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INFO WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 068619 
 
SIPDIS 
 
THE FOLLOWING USUN NEW YORK 000645 DTG O 020002Z JUL 09 
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AND USMISSION GENEVA IS BEING REPEATED FOR YOUR INFO: 
 
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UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000645 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS WHADP (WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS) 
 
C O R R E C T E D   C O P Y   (WHADP PASS INSTR ADDED) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV MOPS XK XM HO
SUBJECT: UNGA ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON HONDURAS; PRESIDENT 
ZELAYA SPEAKS 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  On June 29, President of the General 
Assembly (PGA) D'Escoto convened a meeting on the situation 
in Honduras, calling on the UNGA to join many countries in 
issuing a universal condemnation of the June 28 coup. 
Honduran PermRep Reina called the situation a tragic but 
transitional moment in Honduras and pressed the UNGA to 
condemn the coup and call for President Zelaya's return to 
office.  He also pressed Member States to refuse to accept 
any other government other than President Zelaya's.  Regional 
groups and Member States unanimously criticized the coup and 
most demanded Zelaya's return.  Many States called on all 
actors to avoid violence, pressed for a restoration the rule 
of law, and joined in solidarity with the Hondurans in 
refusing to recognize any other government. 
 
¶2. (U) (SUMMARY CONT.) The following day, June 30, the 
General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the coup and 
demanding Zelaya's return.  As the PGA announced U.S. 
co-sponsorship of the resolution, Member States erupted into 
thunderous applause.  After its adoption, Honduran President 
Zelaya addressed the UNGA.  He thanked those who were 
supportive of his government during the coup and the GA for 
its adoption by consensus of the resolution.  He spoke 
broadly about democracy and the common good and listed his 
efforts to alleviate poverty and ensure rights for the people 
of Honduras.  He detailed his expulsion from Honduras and 
commented that he plans to return to finish his term as a 
"humble servant."  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (U) In a June 29 General Assembly meeting following the 
June 28 coup in Honduras, President of the General Assembly 
D'Escoto condemned the attack on Honduran democracy, which he 
described as a "throwback to another era."   He added that 
Latin America and the Caribbean have the "ignominious" record 
for the most military coups in the world.  In a gratuitous 
swipe at the U.S., D'Escoto referenced the 1970s and 1980s, 
claiming that nearly every country on the continent "was 
humiliated, subjugated, violated and brutalized by military 
regimes that usurped power for the sake of promoting the 
interests of the U.S. and its local caretakers who always 
claimed to be motivated by the need to defend their own 
peculiar understanding of democracy and freedom."  D'Escoto 
said that the region and regional groups, such as the 
Organization of American States (OAS), the Rio Group, the 
Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) and the Central American 
Integration System (SICA), have demanded the immediate 
resolution of the situation, and he called on the General 
Assembly to add its voice to the universal condemnation. 
 
¶4. (U) Honduran PermRep Reina said this was a tragic but 
transitional moment in Honduras.  Honduras had lost its 
democratic system and that "grave consequences" follow the 
absence of democracy.  Reina remarked that President Zelaya 
sought only to strengthen the democracy in Honduras by 
seeking the people's opinion of extending the term limits for 
the President in a non-binding referendum.  He thanked PGA 
D'Escoto and Secretary-General Ban for clearly calling for 
the safety of President Zelaya and his family, calling for 
Zelaya's return to office, and refusing to accept any other 
government.  He said that he hoped the General Assembly would 
echo their call. 
 
REGIONAL GROUPS 
 
¶5. (U) Venezuela, speaking for ALBA, and Cuba, speaking for 
the Non-aligned Movement, condemned the coup in the strongest 
terms.  They demanded Zelaya's return and refused to 
recognize any other government, calling on the international 
community to do the same.  Mexico, on behalf of the Rio 
Group, and Chile, representing UNASUR, also condemned the 
coup.  They rejected the unconstitutional use of armed forces 
and arbitrary detention, called on all political actors to 
avoid violence and pressed for the restoration of Zelaya to 
his functions as President.  The Czech Republic on behalf of 
 
STATE 00068619  002 OF 003 
 
 
the EU stressed the importance of restoring the constitution 
and underlined the need for fair and transparent elections in 
¶2009.  CARICOM and the Arab Group echoed similar messages. 
 
MEMBER STATES 
 
¶6. (U) All Member States unanimously condemned the coup and 
most called for a restoration of Zelaya to his functions as 
President.  Many states also called for a return to the rule 
of law and resolution of the conflict within the framework of 
the constitution.  Ambassador DiCarlo reiterated the OAS 
condemnation of the coup, calling for a restoration of 
constitutional order.  She urged all actors to resolve 
disputes peacefully through dialogue and pressed the 
international community to join with the people of Honduras 
in demanding a peaceful restoration of democracy.  Venezuelan 
 
 
PermRep Valero called the situation in Honduras a "repressive 
attempt to stop the progress of democracy," adding that a 
"new world" was emerging and Latin America is breaking the 
mold of old, neo-liberal democracy.  Cuban PermRep Moreno 
said that "truth and justice will return to the land of 
Morazan," commenting that "the time of military dictatorships 
and forcibly imposed governments is gone, never to return." 
Nicaraguan PermRep Rubiales stated that there was no part of 
the world that would "recognize putschists" and there could 
be "no more banana republics." 
 
¶7. (U) All remaining speakers echoed similar messages, 
including Jamaica, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, 
Ecuador, Algeria, Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia, Saint Vincent 
and the Grenadines, El Salvador, Spain, Costa Rica, Panama, 
Belize, Peru, and Uruguay. 
 
UNGA ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON HONDURAS 
 
¶8. (U) Another GA meeting was called on the morning of June 
30, in order to hear from Honduran President Zelaya, who had 
just landed in the U.S.  While awaiting his arrival, 
delegations met informally to negotiate the text of the 
Honduran Mission-drafted resolution.  After intense 
negotiations, the Hondurans accepted several critical edits, 
including U.S.-proposed edits, which allowed both the U.S. 
and Canada to co-sponsor the draft thus consolidating the 
Western Hemisphere's unanimous condemnation of the coup, and 
allowing the EU to join consensus.  As the PGA announced U.S. 
co-sponsorship, the General Assembly erupted into thunderous 
applause.  The resolution was adopted by consensus (see full 
text para 13). 
 
PRESIDENT ZELAYA ADDRESSES THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
¶9. (U) President Zelaya then told the GA that all countries 
from the United States to all dignitaries and ministers of 
Latin America "spoke to their humble servant" (i.e. himself), 
expressing outrage at the perpetrators of the coup in 
Honduras.  He praised the statements by the leaders of the 
United Nations, OAS, CARICOM, UNASUR and ALBA as well as the 
resolution just adopted by the General Assembly.  He spoke 
for over an hour without prepared remarks, going into great 
detail about his efforts as President to improve the lot of 
the people of Honduras, including improving the gaps in trade 
imbalances, adjusting the minimum wage, and putting food into 
the mouth of workers.  He claimed that in his first two years 
he had significantly reduced the poverty level, thereby 
"launching the stream of social progress," which he "never 
thought would be viewed as a crime." 
 
¶10. (U) Regarding the charges levied against him in Honduras, 
Zelaya said that people have the right to participate in a 
democracy, which is why he chose to launch a non-biding 
public opinion poll, "like the Gallup poll," to gauge the 
will of the people on extending the term limits of the 
President.  Honduran citizens have the right to be consulted 
on matters that affect them, he commented.  Although a judge 
declared this illegal, Zelaya said he felt that he was 
abiding by Honduran law.  Since the coup, Honduras has been 
"in paralysis," Zelaya remarked.  He claimed that passenger 
buses had been fired upon, 160 people had been injured, 
ministers had been arrested, 140 people had been beaten and 
citizens were taking to the streets.  Military officials in 
green uniforms were playing music loudly to avoid answering 
any questions, he claimed. 
 
¶11. (U) In detailing the events that lead to his exile, the 
President said that he was awakened by shouts and screams 
early on the morning he was taken.  He said armed officials 
broke into his house, pointing rifles at him and shots were 
fired.  Zelaya said he ran downstairs to hide from the 
bullets and tried to call for help on his mobile phone. 
Zelaya raised his voice and described how armed men in full 
combat gear "lifted the hinges off the door," charging the 
room, aiming at him with eight rifle and commanding that he 
drop the phone.  Prepared to die for his cause, Zelaya said 
 
STATE 00068619  003 OF 003 
 
 
that he told the men to shoot him, "if those were their 
orders," and end his suffering.   Instead, he was told that 
they were "taking him away."  Several hours later, Zelaya 
said that he was pushed out of a plane at the airport in 
Costa Rica, still in his night clothes.  He was met by the 
President of Costa Rica, he commented, and shortly thereafter 
received calls from "all presidents." 
 
¶12. (U) Zelaya opined that being the President is simply 
serving as an instrument for the people of Honduras, the 
office has "no significance beyond that."  Zelaya said he 
plans to return to Honduras to finish his term as a "humble 
servant."  He commented that while he always forgives and 
 
 
pardons, "the dignity of nations will not forgive this act of 
barbarity." 
 
¶13. (U)  Begin text of an informal translation of the 
resolution: 
 
The General Assembly, 
 
Deeply concerned by the coup d'etat that took place in the 
Republic of Honduras on 28 June 2009, 
 
Deeply concerned also by the acts of violence against 
diplomatic personnel and accredited officials in the Republic 
of Honduras in violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on 
Diplomatic Relations, 
 
Recalling the principles and purposes of the Charter of the 
United Nations, international law, and conventions on 
international peace and security, 
 
Gravely concerned by the breakdown in the constitutional and 
democratic order that has led to the endangerment of 
security, democracy and the rule of law, and that has 
jeopardized the security of Honduran and foreign citizens, 
 
¶1. Condemns the coup d'etat in the Republic of Honduras that 
has interrupted the democratic and constitutional order and 
the legitimate exercise of power in Honduras, and resulted in 
the removal of the democratically elected President of that 
country, Mr. Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales; 
 
¶2. Demands the immediate and unconditional restoration of the 
legitimate and Constitutional Government of the President of 
the Republic, Mr. Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, and of the 
legally established authority in Honduras so that he fulfills 
the mandate for which he was democratically elected by the 
Honduran people; 
 
¶3. Decides to firmly and categorically call upon all states 
not to recognize any other government than that of the 
Constitutional President, Mr. Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales; 
 
¶4. Expresses its firm support for the regional efforts 
undertaken in conformity with Chapter VIII of the United 
Nations Charter with a view to the resolution of the 
political crisis in Honduras; 
 
¶5. Requests the Secretary-General to inform the General 
Assembly in a timely manner with regard to the evolving 
situation in that country. 
 
End Text. 
RICE UNQUOTE CLINTON