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OAS Secretary General: “Honduras will be strengthened by this process”

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today attended the ceremony to set up the Truth Commission in Tegucigalpa, where he expressed his full support for the Commission, whose efforts will serve to bring new strength to the Honduran democracy.

“I think this will go very well, and I hope it will not only help overcome existing difficulties, but will also result in a stronger Honduras,” the Secretary General said after a ceremony he described as “very significant, because of its solemnity and its atmosphere of reconciliation and unity.”

The head of the OAS rejected doubts expressed by certain stakeholders about the Commission’s outcome. “These processes always start off with a certain degree of skepticism, and though not everything is achieved they always conclude with a high degree of acceptance and reconciliation. I don’t think in Honduras it will be any different than in Chile, South Africa or other countries.”

Secretary General Insulza highlighted the fact that the Commission is the result of “a decision made by Hondurans,” and stressed that the OAS will provide “strictly logistical and administrative support,” while being ready to attend to any other request.

Regarding the eventual return of Honduras to the hemispheric institution, Secretary General Insulza recalled his goal of “achieving this before the OAS General Assembly (June 6-8 in Lima).” “Everyone inside the Organization knows my proposal to get this done as quickly as possible, but it is up to the Member States to decide,” he added.

In this regard, Secretary General Insulza rejected the idea that some countries in the Americas “will not acknowledge the legitimacy of the Government of Honduras.” However, “some governments, given the seriousness of what happened, have expressed the need to be more careful in making a decision, to spend more time on it. But I don’t believe this will be prolonged for much longer.”

Speaking more generally, Secretary General Insulza mentioned the need for the OAS and its Member States to continue working to strengthen democracy in the Hemisphere, in order to avoid similar situations in the future. “From the point of view of how democratic governments behave, we still have a lot to do. Most democracies in the Americas are recent. They lack fundaments in their instititutionality, the Rule of Law, respect to their rules and in extending to their citizens the benefits of democracy. We have much work to do in this regard, and we hope we can get it done together."

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-152/10