President Micheletti: "there is no way to stop the elections"

Today President Roberto Micheletti told the foreign ministers of the OAS that "there is no way to stop the elections" of next November 29 in Honduras.

The November presidential election and will be held unless "we're invaded" Micheletti ratified to representatives of the OAS at a meeting held in Casa Presidencial.

Some OAS countries have said they will not recognize the winner of the elections if Manuel Zelaya is not previously restored to the presidency.

Micheletti reaffirmed his position not to leave office unless Zelaya also desists from his demand to be restored to power.

"If I'm an obstacle to the return of peace to the country I will step aside, but I demand that this man that has caused the biggest disaster to the economy and the country's morale also step aside," he said. 

Micheletti reiterated that he will only leave the presidency if there is another constitutional succession, passing the presidency to the current president of Congress, Jose Alfredo Saavedra.

Translated from El Heraldo.

First of all, it REALLY pisses me off when clueless, foolish, and/or ideologically-compromised foreigners who don't know sh_t about the Honduran situation refer to Roberto Micheletti as a "dictator." It's the exact opposite, asshats. President Micheletti is a stalwart and heroic advocate of Honduran democracy.  His refusal to let Zelaya and Chavez interrupt the November elections is but a small portion of the evidence that exists of this.

Here we have President Micheletti suggesting a viable solution to the crisis: he (Micheletti) steps aside, Zelaya desists on his claim to the presidency, and a third person takes over the presidency until January 27, 2010 when the winner of the November elections will take power. This is a selfless "country first" solution that saves face and works within the framework of the Honduran Constitution. It's also a solution that Zelaya, pressured as he is by Hugo Chavez to deliver Honduras, has so far rejected. Maybe "Mel" will change his mind after a few more weeks holed up in that cramped Brazilian Embassy.

Zelaya's attitude clearly shows either (a) how little he cares for the Honduran people and the suffering this crisis is causing them or (b) how indebted (and therefore irremediably compromised) he is to Hugo Chavez that he is forced to press on with this absurd reinstatement spectacle despite the hardships it is causing his people. If I were a betting man, I would bet it's (b).