The Careful U.S. Diplomacy on Honduras

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted by the army in late June 2009 after a months-long power struggle over his plans to seek a referendum to lift presidential term limits. Brookings Fellow Kevin Casas-Zamora, former vice president under Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, says that by putting its diplomatic weight behind a mediation effort by Arias to settle the Honduran crisis, the Obama administration has demonstrated sensitivity to Latin sensibilities. "They're trying to give the message that the inclusion of regional actors is very important and the United States won't go back to the days when it single-handedly intervened with a heavy hand," he says. The willingness of Zelaya to go along with the mediation effort shows that "he's trying to put some distance" between himself and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

After Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Honduras' ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, on Tuesday, they announced that President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica will act as a mediator to settle this latest Latin American crisis. Roberto Micheletti, who was appointed president by Honduran lawmakers after Zelaya was forced out of the country ten days ago, will also participate in the mediation talks in Costa Rica. Does this mean that we're on a road to settling this problem?

I certainly hope so. At the very least, the fact that the mediator has been named means there's recognition by all the parties involved that the only way out of this mess is by setting in motion some kind of political dialogue. That in itself is very significant. But it's not just any kind of political dialogue. It's also a dialogue that Secretary Clinton and the U.S. administration have put their weight behind. The fact that they chose President Arias to be the mediator is certainly good news. He's a man that's very well respected across the region. By pure luck and coincidence, he happens to be holding the rotating presidency of the Central American Integration System, which is an integration arrangement between a set of institutions that exist to bind Central American countries. Since he holds the presidency of that, it's only appropriate that he steps into this mediating role. There's really no better person for the task at hand.

(Lea la entrevista completa en el sitio del Councel of Foreign Relations, crf.org)