US welcomes Micheletti's temporary step-down in Honduras (Roundup)

Nov 20, 2009, 23:16 GMT

Washington/Tegucigalpa - The United States Friday welcomed the intention by disputed Honduran leader Roberto Micheletti to temporarily step aside during elections, saying it created some 'breathing space' for resolution of the five-month-old crisis.

'We expect its prompt implementation. This will ... allow some breathing space for the process in Honduras to go forward,' said Robert Wood, a US State Department spokesman in Washington.

Micheletti said Thursday that he would relinquish power for a week - from Wednesday to December 2 - around the November 29 Honduran elections for president and congress.

The Organization of American States (OAS), including the US, has refused to recognize Micheletti's government, installed after the ouster of elected President Manuel Zelaya in a military coup on June 28.

Until several weeks ago, OAS members had unanimously demanded Zelaya's return to power as a condition for recognition of the November 29 elections conditional.

With the date drawing nearer, Washington declared that it wanted the new elections to go forward even without Zelaya's restoration, and a senior US State Department official on Friday reaffirmed US support for the vote.

'We think the Honduran people have the right to hold elections,' said the US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 'In Honduras, you get the sense that people want to vote and move forward.'

The official said that this did not necessarily mean the US would accept the results. 'We'll make that judgement later,' he told reporters.

Brazil and other countries have outright rejected the election results unless Zelaya leads the country in the electoral process.

'Recognizing the election would be tantamount to giving a clean- record certificate to a government issued from a coup. We do not accept that,' said Marco Aurelio Garcia, top foreign policy advisor to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

He vowed that Brazil would not compromise on that principle.

The US official noted that Micheletti's possible return date, December 2, coincides with plans by the Honduran National Congress to start discussions about restoring Zelaya to the presidency.

He said that Micheletti's absence from power during the elections 'could change the dynamics' of the situation and represented a 'positive step that needs to be implemented.'

It had the 'potential to open up political space,' the official said.

It was unclear who would lead the country while Micheletti steps aside. In Tegucigalpa, Micheletti said he would return immediately to office in case of unrest that 'threatens the peace of the nation.'

Zelaya, who was ousted and exiled in June, has snuck back into the country and is holed up in the Brazilian embassy. He has withdrawn from the most recent Tegucigalpa-San Jose accord of October 30, insisting that elections be called off 'without a political deal.'

The November 5 deadline for formation of a national unity government, which was called for in the accord, passed unfulfilled.

The US official insisted that the October 30 accord has not collapsed, citing the National Congress' planned December 2 debate on Zelaya's possible restoration to power, and the commitment to form a truth commission.

'This accord is worth fighting for. It's very popular among the Honduran people, who see this as a sign that the outside world (cares),' the US official said.

The US believes that the elections are 'necessary but not sufficient' to arrive at overall reconciliation of the crisis, the official told reporters.