Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Traveling to Honduras
Congresswoman's Trip Flouts the Obama Administration's Stance Toward the Nation
By VIVIANA HURTADO
Sept. 30, 2009—
GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will fly to Honduras Monday to meet with leaders of the country.
Since the crisis began, Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., has bucked the Obama administration's position supporting Manuel Zelaya, the Honduran president ousted in a coup June 28.
Ros-Lehtinen plans to meet with Roberto Micheletti, the de facto Honduras regime's president, members of his government, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez, representative of Honduran community groups and American business leaders living in the Central American country.
Zelaya -- holed up in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, after sneaking into the country earlier this month despite a threat he'd be arrested -- is not on the list of leaders Ros-Lehtinen will visit.
"I am traveling to Honduras to conduct my own assessment of the situation on the ground and the state of U.S. interests in light of the U.S.'s misguided Zelaya-focused approach," said Ros-Lehtinen.
She also will receive a classified briefing on U.S. security interests related to Honduras and the region from U.S. embassy officials.
In a July letter hand delivered to President Obama, Ros-Lehtinen criticized the administration for failing to rein in Zelaya.
"This marked a serious failure in U.S. diplomacy and democracy advocacy," she wrote. "As such, many would argue that the U.S. is complicit in the escalation of the constitutional crisis in Honduras."
Since Zelaya's return, the de facto government has severely cracked down on dissent.
Honduras Regime's Crackdown
Since the weekend, the de facto government issued a decree banning unauthorized public gatherings and shutting down media outlets, which drew the fire of one of the regime's key allies -- the Honduran congress.
Additionally, security forces are accused of beating Zelaya supporters, imposing a severe curfew, cutting off electricity and water to the Brazilian embassy and parts of the city, and closing the airport and borders, according to El Heraldo, Honduras' leading newspaper, and eyewitness accounts in e-mails to ABC News.