International

Former president Manuel Zelaya met for three hours yesterday with President Hugo Chávez at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. The meeting began at 10:00 on Friday evening and concluded at approximately 1:00 this morning. Mr. Zelaya arrived by surprise in Caracas on Thursday. Following the meeting, both President Chávez and Mr. Zelaya spoke briefly with members of the media. Mr. Zelaya credited Mr. Chávez for helping to initiate the process of change in Honduras. "You inspired us" said Mr. Zelaya emotionally. "You have resisted for 10 years and you keep growing stronger. Changes do not come easy, it is hard work, but you are an example that it can be done; you inspire the revolution that we have begun in Honduras. He emphasized that his cause "is not lost". Meanwhile, Mr. Zelaya's daughter Hortensia "La Pichu" Zelaya, who accompanied her father, noted that she believed the movement toward socialism in South America "will continue to grow". (3/6/10)

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President Porfirio Lobo is scheduled to meet in private today with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Guatemala City to discuss bilateral relations between the US and Honduras, the process of re-integrating Honduras into the international community, and the restart of US assistance programs to the country. Secretary Clinton will be in Guatemala to participate in a summit with the presidents of Central America. The main issues on the agenda include the strengthening of regional cooperation and combating illegal drug trafficking. According to President Lobo's private secretary, Reynaldo Sánchez, the Lobo-Clinton meeting will take place after the conclusion of the summit. Mrs. Clinton has been traveling in South America during the past week, visiting with leaders in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Costa Rica. Along the way, she has consistently advocated for normalization of diplomatic relations with Honduras, particularly in meetings with President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina and President Luiz Lula of Brazil. (3/5/10) (photo of Hillary Clinton and Cristina Kirchner courtesy Internet)

Deposed president Manuel Zelaya arrived in Caracas, Venezuela yesterday for a series of meetings with President Hugo Chávez. The trip had originally been scheduled for February 25, but Mr. Zelaya, who has been living in the Dominican Republic as a "Distinguished Guest" since January 27, had to revise his plans due to last minute scheduling changes by Venezuelan authorities. The original travel plans called a visit with President Chávez and then a tour of Central America for meetings with President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador, and President Álvaro Colom of Guatemala, and finally ending with visits to the United States and Spain. Mr. Zelaya has reportedly scheduled a press conference for 10:30 this morning Friday. (3/5/10) (photo of Hugo Chávez and Manuel Zelaya courtesy Internet)

The 36-nation Organization of American States (OAS) will vote March 24 to elect a Secretary General to head the organization. The only candidate in the running is the current Secretary General, Miguel Insulza, who has been in office since May 26, 2005. It is widely believed that Mr. Insulza has the votes he needs to be re-elected for a second five-year term. But Mr. Insulza may end up having some competition if an effort by several governments within the Venezuela-led ALBA alliance gains momentum. According to an article on Monday in the Nicaraguan magazine Nicaragua Hoy, the governments of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua are looking to collect the necessary votes to elect deposed president Manuel Zelaya as the new Secretary General of the OAS. A simple majority of 18 votes would be needed. Cuba and Honduras are ineligible to vote because they remain under suspension. Mr. Zelaya said yesterday that he was not interested in competing for Mr. Insulza's job. (3/4/10) (photo of Miguel Insulza and Manuel Zelaya courtesy Internet)

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina on Monday to meet with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to discuss a wide range of issues, including Argentina's longstanding dispute with Great Britain over ownership of the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Islas Malvinas. A British company, Desire Petroleum, is planning to conduct oil exploration off the Falklands, refueling the simmering conflict over which Argentina and Britain fought a war in 1982. Last week, President Kirchner stated on CNN that she believed the US "has not fulfilled the expectations" that Latin America had hoped for the US' new relationship with the region, specifically mentioning Washington's response to the ousting of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya last year. The manner in which the US handled the political crisis in Honduras "seriously hurt those expectations" said President Kirchner. In an interview published today in Argentine newspapers, Argentina's Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana criticized the US government for failing to take a firmer stand in defending Mr. Zelaya. (3/1/10) (photo of Cristina Kirchner courtesy Internet)

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will donate 20,000 metric tons of wheat to FINCA International of Honduras under USDA's Food for Progress program. The donation, valued at US$7.1 million, was confirmed by US Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens on Friday. It is another sign that the US government is moving to restart its assistance programs with Honduras. The wheat will be sold in commercial markets by FINCA and the proceeds will be used to fund micro-credit lending and technical assistance to Honduran farmers to help improve food security in the country. (3/1/10) (photo courtesy Internet)

The 8.8-magnitude, 22-mile deep earthquake that hit Chile early Saturday morning (3:30 am local time) is the fifth strongest quake ever recorded. It is tied for fifth place with the earthquake that hit Bolivia and Ecuador in 1906. The strongest earthquake occurred in Chile in 1900. It measured 9.5 on the Richter scale. Today's event occurred in Chile's Bío Bío region at the boundary between the Nazca and South America tectonic plates. Honduras lies between two different plates called the Cocos and the Caribbean. The southern boundary of the Cocos borders the Nazca, while the southern boundary of the Caribbean borders the South America and an edge of the Nazca. The last earthquakes in Honduras were recorded on February 11. They measured 4.9 and 5.1 on the Richter scale and caused relatively little damage. A magnitude-7.3 earthquake hit 80 miles off Honduras' Caribbean coast on May 28, 2009. That quake caused seven deaths and US$100 million in damages. (2/27/10) (graphic courtesy WorldAtlas.com)

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Guatemala City on Friday for a planned summit with the presidents of Central America. President Porfirio Lobo was invited by Secretary Clinton to attend the meeting, and he has accepted. The summit will be hosted by Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom. The only president yet to confirm his attendance Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, which does not recognize the Lobo government. US Assistance Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela said yesterday that one of the topics to be discussed will be Honduras and its re-integration into the world community. The US has officially recognized the Lobo administration and restarted foreign assistance programs. Mr. Valenzuela also noted that President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic may also attend the summit. Former president Manuel Zelaya is currently living in the Dominican Republic as a special guest of the Fernández government. (2/27/10) (photo of Hillary Clinton courtesy Internet)

Mrs. Rodas' low profile is notable because it is uncharacteristic of someone who has been Mr. Zelaya's most outspoken, even militant, ideological and political activist.

Fformer president Manuel Zelaya has consistently remained in the public eye since his ousting on June 28, 2009. For most of the eleven weeks that followed, he traveled up and down the Western Hemisphere seeking support for his reinstatement. On September 21, Mr. Zelaya secretly re-entered Honduras by land and sought refuge at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, where he remained with his family and some of his supporters until January 27, 2010, when he voluntarily left for the Dominican Republic where he was received as a "Distinguished Guest" by the government of President Leonel Fernández. Mr. Zelaya has been living in the capital city of Santo Domingo in the upscale neighborhood known as "Las Sierritas". (2/26/10)

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In response to formal charges leveled against him on Tuesday by the Public Ministry (MP) and calls for his arrest for fraud, falsification of documents, and abuse of authority related to the mismanagement of some Lps 30 million in public funds designated for the Honduran Fund for Social Investment (FHIS), former president Manuel Zelaya said that he saw the moves as part of a "personal vendetta" by President Porfirio Lobo designed to "intensify political persecution" against him. He characterized the charges as "erroneous reprisals" by the Lobo government for not being invited to attend the Group of Rio Summit in Mexico earlier this week. The remarks by Mr. Zelaya were made in the Dominican Republic, where he is living under the status of "Distinguished Guest", a day before a planned tour of Latin America, starting on Thursday with a visit with President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. Mr. Zelaya was forced to cancel his trip due to last minute scheduling changes by Venezuelan authorities. (photo of Manuel Zelaya courtesy Internet) (2/25/10)