Powerful lawmaker urges U.S. aid cutoff for Honduras [View All]

Source: Reuters

Powerful lawmaker urges U.S. aid cutoff for Honduras
By Arshad Mohammed Arshad Mohammed – Thu Sep 3, 3:23 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States should formally declare a military coup took place in Honduras and cut off most aid to the government that replaced ousted President Manuel Zelaya, an influential U.S. lawmaker said on Thursday.

Howard Berman, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, made the case in an opinion piece published before a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Zelaya at 12:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) on Thursday.

Zelaya, forced into exile on June 28 aboard a military plane while still in his pajamas, was accused by opponents of trying to change the constitution to extend presidential mandates beyond a single four-year term.

The State Department has dragged its feet on making the formal determination of whether a military coup took place in the hopes that a diplomatic solution could be found to restore Zelaya to power in the impoverished Central American coffee and textile exporter.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Berman argued that "our patience is not without end" and called on Clinton to formally determine that Zelaya was removed in a military coup.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090903/pl_nm/us_honduras_usa