Brazil Applauds Zelaya-Micheletti Accord and Urges Prompt Action from Honduras

In a note issued this Friday, October 30, by the Itamaraty, Brazil's Foreign Relations Ministry, the Brazilian government expressed its belief that the agreement worked out in Honduras by deposed president Manuel Zelaya and the man who took over in his place, Roberto Micheletti, will put an end to a crisis that's been dragging for four months. 

Zelaya has been the host of the Brazilian embassy in capital Tegucigalpa since his surprising and clandestine return to the country after having been expelled from it. Since September 21st, Zelaya and a group of  followers took shelter in the Brazilian diplomatic representation. The deposed leader was ousted on June 28 by a coup d'état led by Micheletti.

The communiqué says that the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration received the news of the agreement with satisfaction and hope for a "peaceful outcome."

"Brazil trusts that the agreement reached yesterday will allow the full reintegration of Honduras into the inter American and international systems and the prompt normalization of the situation of its Embassy in Tegucigalpa," says the note.

José Miguel Insulza, the OAS (Organization of American States) secretary-general, announced that he is creating a specific mission to guarantee compliance of the accord signed between the representatives of Micheletti and Zelaya. The OAS will also be sending observers to keep an eye on the November 28 presidential elections.

The negotiation committees determined that the Honduras parliament need to approve the restitution of power to Zelaya. The group also recommended that the ousted president be given back his post as soon as congress approves it and the Supreme Court validates it.

Zelaya is supposed to reassume the presidency and rule till the end of January 2010. There are no deadlines, however, either for the legislative or judiciary decisions or for the whole process itself.

Below, the Itamaraty note in its entirety:

The Brazilian government received with satisfaction the news on the agreement reached yesterday, October 29, in Tegucigalpa, which creates the conditions for the re-establishment of the democratic order in Honduras.

Brazil expresses the hope that the institutional normality will be reestablished as soon as possible in Honduras, with the return of the Executive Power to the status prior to the coup d'état of June 28.

In congratulating the Honduran people for the peaceful outcome of the crisis, Brazil trusts that the agreement reached yesterday will allow the full reintegration of Honduras into the inter American and international systems and the prompt normalization of  the situation of its Embassy in Tegucigalpa