The United States government has said it will recognise the November 29 elections organised by the dictatorship of Roberto Micheletti, who came to power in a June 28 military coup, as legitimate, the Latin American Herald said on November 23.
This is despite calls from legitimate President Manuel Zelaya for other governments and international institutions not to recognise the vote, carried out by an illegitimate regime in conditions of brutal repression. The Organisation of American States has stood by its position of refusing to send observers, the Herald said.
US deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs Craig Kelly said: "Nobody has the right to take from the Honduran people the right to vote, to elect their leaders."
So far, the US and Panama are the only two governments in the world that have indicated they will recognise the November 29 vote, the Herald said.
Zelaya upset corporate interests when he raised the minimum wage by 60% and joined the anti-imperialist political and trading bloc initiated by Venezuela and Cuba, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA).
The US government denied involvement in the coup that overthrew Zelaya, but US-Venezuelan lawyer Eva Golinger has produced evidence that US-government funded organisations were involved.
Golinger has previously exposed the involvement of the US in the failed military coup that briefly overthrew Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2002.
In a July 6 post at Chavezcode.com, Golinger pointed out that the US Congress-funded US Agency for International Development (USAID) provides US$49 million annually to Honduras, mainly to fund "democracy development programs".
Golinger said: "The majority of the recipients of this aid in Honduras … are organizations directly linked to the recent coup d'etat."
The International Republican Institute received $700,000 of US taxpayers money, Golinger said, for a Latin American Regional Grant in 2008-2009 to promote "good governance" programs in countries including Honduras.
An additional grant of $550,000 was given to work with "think tanks" and "pressure groups" in Honduras to influence political parties.