Agent Provocateur, Robert Carmona-Borjas, Resurfaces on Honduras Issue

In the early days after the coup, Venezuela provocateur and Arcadia Foundation foundation official, Robert Carmona-Borjas, was seen at a Tegucigalpa hotel and numerous times at the Honduran Presidential Palace and the Congress.  Carmona-Borjas is a protege of Cuban-American Otto Reich who should never have made it to a position at the US State Department.  Cuban-American and terrorist, Armando Valladares, another person who should never have found his way to the halls of the US government as ambassador to Geneva, served (until just recently) as a board member of Arcadia.  But Carmona-Borjas is best known for his shenanigans in his own country:

“Carmona-Borjas is a Venezuelan attorney who drafted the Carmona decree, named not for himself but for Pedro Carmona, to whom he bears no evident relation.  Pedro Carmona seized power in Venezuela during the two days of the unsuccessful 2002 coup d’etat against Hugo Chávez. The Carmona decree was the document that dissolved the Constitution, the Congress and all other democratic institutions in Venezuela during those two days.  Following his involvement in the failed coup, Carmona-Borjas sought and easily received political asylum in the United States.”
(MACHETERA BLOG: Otto Reich and the Honduran coup d’etat: the provocateur, his protege and the toppling of a president – part-one)

Contempt for Sovereignty and Self-Determination
Robert Carmona-Borjas and the Arcadia Foundation believe that democracy is critical for the effective exercise of fundamental freedoms, rule of law and human rights in their universality. President Micheletti’s government should ultimately seek a negotiated solution with Mr. Zelaya, though this must equate to the deposed former leader never returning to the presidency of Honduras, indeed for breaching the very constitution he once vowed to dutifully follow.

(Media-Newswire.com) – The Arcadia Foundation has long been a champion of democracy and an advocate for rule of law. When the President of any nation illegally attempts to prolong his or her executive position, it is a clear indicator of a disregard of constitutional law and in this case indicates corruption at the highest branch of government. Robert Carmona-Borjas and the Arcadia Foundation believe that democracy is crucial for the effective exercise of fundamental freedoms and human rights in their universality. The OAS charter further states that ‘ representative democracy is an indispensable condition for stability, peace and development ‘ within the regions of the Americas.

On Sunday, June 28th, the world learned that Manuel Zelaya was no longer the President of Honduras. Prestigious courts and tribunals alike had declared his intended referendum illegal and by decree, deposed him from office. Article 239 of the Honduran constitution states that “…the citizen who has served as head of the Executive Branch shall not again serve as President or Vice President of the Republic. He who violates this disposition or proposes its reform…shall be immediately separated from his post.”

The regional communities have since decided to utterly disregard the principles, values and norms of international law relating to self-determination, and ultimately besmirch the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Honduras, by promoting and supporting the return of Mr. Zelaya in the country last Monday, September 21.

Those in power in the region neglect to prioritize international standards for democracy, unequivocally neglecting and not protecting them. Participatory democracy, on which the OAS adopted some years ago through the Democratic charter, is inefficient and apparently foreign to those who claim to defend it today.

Honduras’ economy has come to a standstill since Mr. Zelaya snuck back into the country, costing the nation’s economy as much as $50 million a day. Citizens of Honduras have indeed been suffering since his return. President Micheletti himself has indicated that he would be willing to negotiate. The current prolonged state of civil unrest and economic paralysis is due to and will maintain because of the actions of one man.

It is the Arcadia Foundation’s belief that if the Insulza had acted preventively when Mr. Zelaya broke the constitutional order ( several times ) in Honduras, ignoring the decisions of other branches of government, and imposed the constitutional order conceived in Caracas and La Havana, we would see a much different picture than the one that appears today.

The internal organs of Honduras, such as its domestic institutions, have taken legitimate decisions in accordance to the law, which regional leaders continue to openly neglect. This sets a very serious precedent.

The positions of countries, such as Venezuela, that encouraged and orchestrated the return of Mr. Zelaya go against many of the principles and values accepted in peaceful international relations. This includes Nicaragua, who has offered its territory to external aggression. This even includes Brazil, who surprisingly provided their diplomatic facilities to protect the disorder and violence and as such, assume serious political and legal responsibilities.

Even after the illegal return of Mr. Zelaya, who has no majority in popular support, and is sheltered in the embassy of a country which broke relations with the current government, the Arcadia Foundation believes negotiation is still available.

President Micheletti’s government should seek a negotiated solution, though this must mean Mr. Zelaya never returns to the presidency of Honduras. A third person, perhaps other than the biased President Oscar Arias and the implementation of free and fair elections in November, should they not be suspended by the actions of the United Nations, would bring about change.

Please contact Robert Carmona-Borjas at rcb@arcadiafoundation.org or Sam Amsterdam at sam@arcadiafoundation.org regarding questions or comments for the Arcadia Foundation.  We look forward to engaging with you. It is in our hands to create change.

Arcadia Foundation – http://ArcadiaFoundation.org