State Department Daily Press Briefing

MR. KELLY: Okay. I have nothing for you at the top, so I’ll take your questions. (Laughter.) My top has already been done, I think.

QUESTION: Is there any time limit for the mediation effort? And can you just clarify us where the reinstatement of President Zelaya fits into U.S. policy today? Yesterday, it seemed to be an integral part --

MR. KELLY: Well, no, I don’t think so. I don’t think I agree with that characterization.

MR. KELLY: I mean, our – obviously, this is a very fast moving – these developments are very fast moving. The Secretary just spoke this morning with President Arias, and then, of course, just a few minutes ago with President Zelaya.

I think our goal has been consistent throughout; that we saw the democratic order being overthrown and we seek the restoration of that order. And I think that we now have a process in place, which is very encouraging. We’ve said all along that we wanted these conflicts to be worked out through dialogue, and that’s what we have now once we get this process in place.

In terms of a time limit – well, it’s – clearly, we’d like it to – we’d like the restoration to take place as soon as possible. But we’re very encouraged that we now have a process in place.

QUESTION: If it’s not true, why you don’t say the U.S. Government wants the return or restoration of President Zelaya in Honduras?

MR. KELLY: Yeah. Well, I think – if you look at President Obama’s speech in Moscow today, what he said was that we saw a situation where a democratically elected president was overthrown and exiled out of the country. And we want this principle that you can’t deal with these kinds of conflicts extra-constitutionally, and that’s the principle that we want to see upheld. We want to see the – this democratic and constitutional order restored.

QUESTION: It seems that you opened the window for a different solution in probably early elections or --

MR. KELLY: Now, we’ll see. I mean, now – I mean, we’ve said all along that (a) we want these conflicts to be resolved through dialogue and (b) we saw this as a problem for the Organization of American States and for the – for this forum of this Inter-American Forum. We now have a very good process where you have the president of Costa Rica who’s agreed to be a mediator. Of course, this is the beginning of a process. And as the Secretary said, we don’t want to prejudge how the process will play out, but we now have a dialogue in place.

QUESTION: You said yesterday that you will not recognize any commission who came from the de facto regime. Also you said that you will not go to any meeting with them. But then there is reports that Shannon was in a meeting with them. What this means?

MR. KELLY: Well, first of all, you heard the Secretary answer that question. Our focus is on getting a process in place where we can restore the constitutional order. I’m not going to – as she didn’t, I am certainly not going to comment on these reports.

QUESTION: Are we recognizing that that commission as official commission that came here?

MR. KELLY: Well, as she just said, we now have a process in place. Let’s let that process play out, this process that will be headed by President Arias.

QUESTION: A quick follow-up. You think everybody at the OAS is supporting the president --

MR. KELLY: Well, I mean, you saw the resolution of the General Assembly on July 4th calling this a coup, an illegal overthrow. And so – but in terms of – I’m not going to characterize how every other country in the OAS feels towards the --

QUESTION: And it seems to me that, of course, you support democracy in Honduras, and his return also indirectly. But also at the same time, what kind of message are you getting from whoever is in power in Honduras as far as his return is concerned?

MR. KELLY: Again, let’s let this process begin and play out. I’m not going to characterize a reaction in Tegucigalpa.

QUESTION: I may have missed this at the outset, but whose idea was Arias as a mediator? It’s a natural choice, obviously. Was it the U.S. initiative, was it his own initiative, was it the OAS’s initiative?

MR. KELLY: I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. But I do know that, as the Secretary announced, President Arias has agreed to be the mediator. She called him this morning. I think throughout this has been kind of a collective process anyway, given we’ve been working very closely with our partners in the OAS. So I’m sure this was – and I’m searching for the right word, and I can’t find it. I keep going back to my days at the Russia desk needing a word.

MR. KELLY: Different – well, whatever. But I just don’t know the exact answer to that. I’ll stop digging the hole now.

QUESTION: The Secretary said that humanitarian aid would continue, but what, in fact, is the – what aid, bilateral aid, has been suspended? And is there a time limit on this or what’s the trigger to get it back – to get it restored?

MR. KELLY: Well, I know I owe you guys an answer on what exactly we have decided to pause, what aid we’re not pushing through. So we’re still working on this. Basically, what we’re looking at is aid that would directly benefit the de facto regime down there, so obviously, that means military assistance programs. But we’re still – I mean, we’ve taken a policy decision to stop aid that might be subject to this – the statute. And so I think that’s kind of a broad definition. I mean, it’s still a fairly small percentage of our overall aid because most of our aid would not come under this statute. And this would be humanitarian aid, which goes directly to the people – it doesn’t go to the government – and any aid that would be construed as democracy promotion.

So we’re still working on what exactly we have to, as the Secretary said, put a pause on.

QUESTION: Under CAFTA-DR, the free trade agreement, is there anything that would be suspended or restricted as a result --

MR. KELLY: Yeah. I think we have to consult with the U.S. Trade Representative on that kind of assistance. But I’m sorry, I don’t have all the details and we’re still working on that.

QUESTION: There is reports in Honduras that the money who is coming in from democracy and – you know, it’s getting in hands of the opposition guys who now are celebrating that Zelaya is out of power or out of government. Are you --

MR. KELLY: I’m not aware of those reports. But as I say, we’re conducting a very thorough review of all our assistance right now.

Remarks at the Top of the Daily Press Briefing

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
July 7, 2009

QUESTION: That’s a very stylish sling.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you for noticing, Matt. That’s right. See, I’ve got my Secretary of State – (laughter). Oh, goodness.

Well, hello, everyone. I just finished a productive meeting with President Zelaya. We discussed the events of the past nine days and the road ahead. I reiterated to him that the United States supports the restoration of the democratic constitutional order in Honduras. We continue to support regional efforts through the OAS to bring about a peaceful resolution that is consistent with the terms of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

As President Obama said today, we have taken this position because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not. And I told President Zelaya that we will do everything we can to avoid any further bloodshed, and I conveyed our deep regret over the tragic events that unfolded in the last days.

We call upon all parties to refrain from acts of violence and to seek a peaceful, constitutional, and lasting solution to the serious divisions in Honduras through dialogue. To that end, we have been working with a number of our partners in the hemisphere to create a negotiation, a dialogue that could lead to a peaceful resolution of this situation.

We are supporting the efforts that the OAS has made, but we think there needs to be a specific mediator, and to that end we are supporting President Arias of Costa Rica to serve in this important role. I raised this with President Zelaya, discussed it with him at length. He agreed that President Arias, who not only has a lot of experience going back many years as a mediator – in fact, won the Nobel Peace Prize for the work he did to resolve the conflict in El Salvador – but is the current president of the Central American Association. So he is the natural person to assume this role.

I spoke with President Arias earlier today, discussed it with him. He is willing to serve as a mediator. And we have received word that the de facto caretaker president, Micheletti, will also agree to President Arias serving in this role.

We hope that this process can begin as soon as possible. It was one of the questions that President Zelaya raised with me, what the timing would be. Based on my conversation with President Arias, I think he is willing to begin immediately.

And it is our hope that through this dialogue mechanism, overseen by President Arias, that there can be a restoration of democratic constitutional order, a peaceful resolution of this matter that will enable the Honduran people to see the restoration of democracy and a more peaceful future going forward.

So I’d be happy to take your questions.

QUESTION: Do you believe that – you use this phrase that is so often used here, “the restoration of the constitutional and democratic order.” One, does that mean that President Zelaya should be restored to his position?

Secondly, do you think it makes any sense for him to try to force his way back into the country, as he did over the weekend when the violence occurred?

And then lastly, does he need to compromise a little on this? Does he need to perhaps give up his plans for a referendum on extending the presidential terms?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Now that we have a mediation process that we hope can begin shortly, I don’t want to prejudge what the parties themselves will agree to. There are many different issues that will have to be discussed and resolved. But I think it’s fair to let the parties themselves, with President Arias’ assistance, sort out all of these issues.

We hope at the end of this mediation there will be a return of democratic constitutional order that is agreed to by all concerned. The exact nature of that, the specifics of it, we will leave to the parties themselves, as I think now is appropriate.

I was heartened that President Zelaya agreed with this. I believe it is a better route for him to follow at this time than to attempt to return in the face of the implacable opposition of the de facto regime. And so instead of another confrontation that might result in the loss of life, let’s try the dialogue process and see where that leads, and let’s let the parties determine all the various issues as they should. It’s their responsibility to do that.

QUESTION: Does the mediation effort now mean that you’re going to hold off on making a determination about whether this was, in fact, a coup that statutorily requires you to suspend non-humanitarian aid?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Matt, we have paused in the aid that we think would be affected by the letter of the statute. There is humanitarian aid, and that is a concern for us – the well-being of the people of Honduras. But we’ve made the decision to basically pause on any further aid. We hope that this mediation process will lead to a rapid resolution, and that would be our preference.

QUESTION: And do you expect President Arias to actually go to Honduras?

SECRETARY CLINTON: No, he’s going to conduct it in Costa Rica, and the parties from Honduras, including President Zelaya, will be in Costa Rica for the mediation.

MR. KELLY: Okay, Nick Kralev, Washington Times.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, what status – what official status does President Zelaya currently have in the United States? What has he been afforded? And what is the status of the ambassador of Honduras to the – to Washington? Does he represent the de facto government or President Zelaya?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Those are some of the specific questions that President Zelaya is discussing as we speak with Assistant Secretary Tom Shannon, with Dan Restrepo from the National Security Council, and others, because we do want to work this out in the most appropriate manner. The question of their ambassador to us and our ambassador to them is one we need to resolve. I was very pleased that President Zelaya and the foreign minister who was with him both commended us for the role that our ambassador is playing in Honduras, not only in providing security for members of President Zelaya’s family, but in being one of the few people who can talk to all sides at this time.

We are obviously going to be guided by the appropriateness of whether to leave our ambassador there going forward. If – President Zelaya believes that he’s playing a useful role, so we do not want to abridge that if it could be value-added to this mediation process.

MR. KELLY: Last question to Ginger Thompson, New York Times.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, thank you for taking questions. Can you confirm reports that Assistant Secretary Shannon met yesterday, I believe, with Ricardo Maduro, who is representing the delegation that’s backing the de facto government, and can you tell us about the nature of those conversations and whether you all continue to have meetings with that delegation?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I’m not going to comment on that because our goal has been to reach the point where I believe we are now, which is to get the parties talking to each other and not through us or through other third parties. There’s been, as you know, an enormous amount of contact going on across the hemisphere and, literally, around the world. But it has been my view for several days that the most useful role we could play is to convince all that are directly concerned, not only President Zelaya, but also the de facto regime, the OAS, the UN, everyone, that we needed to have a process where the Hondurans themselves sat down and talked to each other. And that is – that’s been my goal, and I believe that we are on the brink of that happening. I’m hoping that it actually occurs soon.

So we have tried through our good offices to get people to this point. And we’re very grateful for the willingness of President Arias to serve in this position, and we’re also appreciative of the efforts of the OAS as well.

QUESTION: Thank you.

Here is a little indication of how ordinary Hondurans feel about it.

Pro-Honduran government supporters in the small town of Choluteca, Honduras Today, July 1, 2009,

This is a picture from a demonstration in support of Honduran democracy and the government of President Michelleti who has defied the OAS and has said there is no chance that the Chavez stooge, former President Zelaya will return. (Picture courtesy of Gateway Pundit )

Demonstrators opposed to Honduras President Manuel Zelaya, protest in Tegucigalpa, Friday, June 26, 2009. President Manuel Zelaya is promoting a Sunday referendum on constitutional changes that has plunged the country into crisis by setting the president at odds with the military, the courts and the legislature that have branded the vote illegal.

A man holds a constitution of Honduras as demonstrators opposed to Honduras President Manuel Zelaya, protest in Tegucigalpa, Friday, June 26, 2009. President Manuel Zelaya is promoting a Sunday referendum on constitutional changes that has plunged the country into crisis by setting the president at odds with the military, the courts and the legislature that have branded the vote illegal. (Photo/Esteban Felix)

Students wearing gags on their mouths protest against Honduras President Manuel Zelaya outside the Venezuelan embassy in Tegucigalpa, Thursday, June 25, 2009. President Zelaya's attempt to hold a referendum on reforming the constitution has pitted him against the country's top courts, the attorney general, military leaders and even his own party, all of whom argue the vote is illegal. (Photo/Fernando Antonio)

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