Brazil surprised at Honduras' refusal to allow Zelaya to travel to Mexico

www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-11 00:54:52

BRASILIA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Minister of Brazil Celso Amorim criticized on Thursday the government of Honduras for not allowing deposed President Manuel Zelaya to leave the country and travel to Mexico. Speaking in the radio program Bom dia, Ministro (Good Morning, Minister), Amorim said that if the Honduran government had granted Zelaya the travel permission, it could have contributed to dialogue and peace in the Central American country. "It's intransigence. It is not democracy and politics, but teaching diplomacy and politics to performers of a coup is very hard," he said. He said he had thought Zelaya would be allowed to travel, since the Mexican government has shown willingness to welcome him as a guest of honor. "I confess that I woke up thinking that Zelaya would already be in Mexico, but I was surprised with the information of this difficulty because of a preposterous demand," he said. The travel permission to Zelaya, who was ousted in a political-military coup on June 28 and has been taking refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa since Sept. 21, was denied by the de facto government in Honduras, citing the absence of clarity about what type of asylum Zelaya would receive in Mexico. Amorim said that although the Brazilian position is to keep on rejecting the Nov. 29 elections in Honduras, Brazil is willing to talk with the newly-elected president Porfirio Pepe Lobo to find a solution to the situation. "The main concern now is to maintain the security of Zelaya and allow him to leave the country. If there must be a dialogue between a party and the other, there will be. As time passes by, the Honduran people will find their solution," he said. The minister also noted that the United States must have felt frustrated with the evolving crisis in Honduras, because its diplomacy was actively involved in the conflict. "That frustration comes from having been too tolerant to a coup government," he said.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

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