UNASUR, the Union of South American Nations, in which Brazil is the leading member, will not recognize Sunday's presidential election in Honduras organized by the de-facto regime, announced in Brussels Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa who called on the European Union to adopt a similar attitude.
"The UNASUR decision has already been taken: we are not going to recognize elections held under the de facto regime of Roberto Micheletti," which nevertheless will be accepted by the administration of President Barack Obama, Panama, Costa Rica and allegedly Peru if they are held with all basic democratic guarantees.
"I hope the European Union" adopts a similar attitude to UNASUR said the Ecuadorian leader who is also the pro-tempore president of the twelve South American nations alliance. President Correa is on an official visit to Belgium.
"Now we will be able to see who is who, who supports democracy and who doesn't."
The European Union has yet to decide about Sunday's elections in spite of having no contacts with the de-facto regime headed by Micheletti.
"How are we going to talk about something that has still to happen? I can't speculate about the EU reaction to the ballot," said Christine Hohmann spokesperson for the EU Foreign Affairs commissar Benito Ferrero Waldner.
Correa criticized the US passivity towards the coup that ousted elected president Manuel Zelaya at the end of June and insisted that "if Washington is truly committed, it can easily solve the crisis tomorrow, in 24 hours," by simply withdrawing its support to Honduras Armed Forces.
The Ecuadorian president said that certain sectors from Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela "if given the chance they would emulate the Honduras coup but thank goodness these governments have an overwhelming support from their peoples."
For a little over two months now, ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has been a guest at the Tegucigalpa's Brazilian embassy. Nobody knows what will happen to the deposed leader if as expected Porfirio Pepe Lobo, from the Partido Nacional – the same of de-facto president Micheletti – wins the Sunday election.
Last Sunday American president Barack Obama sent a letter to Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, talking about Iran but also about the US position on the Honduras vote. The US leader through his aides let it be known that the United States will accept whoever emerges as winner from the Sunday ballot boxes.
Brazil has adopted the contrarian position – by the way, the same in which the US was until recently – vowing to not recognize whoever wins the election arguing that the whole process is a farce set up by an illegitimate government, which took power in an illegal coup d'état.
Ruy Casaes, the representative of Brazil in the OAS (Organization of American States) was a little more forceful calling acting president Micheletti a clown and expressing his disgust over Obama's decision to back the new president elect.
Even in Brazil many analysts are condemning the Brazilian action seeing it as intervention in domestic affairs of another country, out-of-line with the Brazilian diplomatic tradition.
MP/Bzz
