Congress of the United States

An Open Letter to the Congress of Honduras
October 2, 2009

His Excellency José Ángel Saavedra
President of the Congress of Honduras

Your Excellency:

It is with profound respect that the undersigned members of the U.S. Congress write to you and the members of the Honduran Congress to share our views on the difficult events currently underway in your country.  We understand that you have received visitors from our Congress who represent the minority party, the Republican Party, who have expressed views that differ markedly from those of President Obama's administration and the Democratic majoritly party in the U.S. Congress.  What unites the persons signing this letter is that we are all members of the majority Democratic Party, we support the Obama Administration's efforts in Honduras, and that we each have a deep and longstanding interest and admiration for Latin America and for Honduras.

We believe that the coup against President Zelaya was unconstitutional; the absence of a legitimate president, the violation of human rights and the curtailment of civil liberties are unacceptable; and these conditions make the holding of free and fair elections next November in Honduras impossible.

We call upon the de facto government of Honduras to restore constitutional order and respect freedom of expression and internationally-recognized human rights.  We urge the Michelleti de facto government to permit the restoration of Manuel Zelaya to the presidency as outlined in the San José Accords.  We call upon all parties to resolve this conflict peacefully.

The United States government has one position, which has been a repeated call for dialogue between both sides, and support for the San José Accords, as proposed by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.  We will continue to encourage the U.S. administration to work multilaterally with our allies in the region.  Should the de facto government continue to stall, we will encourage our government to not recognize your upcoming elections.

We know full well the weight of your task in this fast-moving scenario,, as your Constitutional responsibilities are very similar to ours.  We thought it important that you be aware of our views on these critical issues since you are the authors of the laws that govern your country and guardians of the rule of law in Honduras.  Count on us to assist in any way we can.

Sincerely,
James P. McGovern, Bill Delahunt, Janice D. Schakowsky, Sam Farr,  Gregory W. Meeks, Xavier Becerra