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Honduras forgets Argentina and Brazil; will open trade offices in India and China

Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 04:19 UTC
Full article 4 comments
Elected President Porfirio Lobo carries the stigma of the ousting of Zelaya  Elected President Porfirio Lobo carries the stigma of the ousting of Zelaya

Honduras is planning to close embassies in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela countries which do not recognize the government of President Porfirio Lobo.

Resources invested in these embassies will be used to open trade offices in India, Singapore, China and Canada said on Tuesday Foreign Affairs minister Mario Canahuati speaking with the press in Tegucigalpa.

“Embassies which will remain open in the region are Colombia, Peru and Chile, three countries which effectively recognize the government of President Lobo” added Canahuati who anticipated that relations with the other South American countries will have to be done through these legations.

“We can’t stop having relations with Latin America, but it’s better to have friends than enemies”.

The opening of trade offices in India, Singapore, China and Canada will help Honduras “establish relations that can open the way for strategic alliances which we need to boost our development and open new markets for our exports”, said the top Honduran official.

Canahuati made the statements before travelling to neighbouring Guatemala where he will be holding discussions working up for the meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the leaders of the Central America Integration System, SICA.

Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela do not recognize the government of President Lobo since they consider it a continuation of the 28 June 2009 coup that ousted ex-president Manuel Zelaya, and whose unconditional return to Honduras these countries demand.

President Zelaya was flown out of the country in pyjamas by the military following on instructions from the Honduran Congress and Judiciary branch, since he was accused of allegedly organizing a constitutional referendum that would open the way for his re-election, strictly banned under the Honduran constitution.
 

Categories: Politics, Latin America.

Top Comments

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  • GeoffWard

    Zelaya was best got rid of ;
    he wasn't tortured, killed, disappeared - he was escorted off the premises when he attempted to circumvent the Constitution.

    Honduras is right to move on.
    With Free Trade Area status and a trade conduit to India, Singapore, China and Canada, with the right sort of leadership Honduras could, as an aspiration, seek to become the Singapore of South America.

    In time Mercosur/Unasur will seek to rationalise matters and, hopefully, Honduras will, through these new trading links, bring a lot to the table.

    In the mean time, the important thing is for the nation to keep the predator, Zelaya, out of harms way.

    Mar 16th, 2011 - 02:30 pm 0
  • aedi

    For this commentator, there are “good” and “bad” dictators, presidents, countries, terrorists, etc. IT ONLY DEPENDS WHERE THEY ARE WITH OR AGAINST US (US-UK-EU-Israel), so.....what's the use of challenging so much rubbish. The tide will eventually reach commentators like him and the evil axis that he so vehemently supports. Good luck!

    Mar 16th, 2011 - 11:28 pm 0
  • Forgetit87

    How predictable: GeoffWard defends a coup d'état against a leftist Latin American president.

    No, Zelaya didn't circumvent anything. If his ouster was legal, why did military and the judiciary conspire to forge a resignation letter? And why did the US diplomat in Honduras write to the US Foreign Ministry that Zelaya's deposition was clearly a coup, even though his country adopted a very ambiguous stance on the matter?

    ”(...) [Zelaya] proposed to hold an advisory referendum as to whether the population thought it a good idea to convene a body to revise the constitution. The oligarchy shouted that this was an attempt by Zelaya to change the constitution to make it possible for him to have a second term. But since the referendum was to occur on the day his successor would have been elected, this was clearly a phony reason.”

    http://www.iwallerstein.com/the-right-strikes-back/

    Mar 17th, 2011 - 02:25 am 0
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