US to halt visas to pressure coup-hit Honduras

[arcos]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON — The United States said Tuesday it was suspending most visa service in Honduras in a bid to put pressure on the nation's coup leaders to accept a plan to restore democracy.

The State Department said it would stop granting visas Wednesday at its embassy in Honduras except to applicants seeking to immigrate to the United States or who have a personal emergency.

The move came as a seven-nation mission visits Tegucigalpa to press the interim government to accept the so-called San Jose Accord that would reinstall deposed President Manuel Zelaya.

"In support of this mission and as a consequence of the de facto regime?s reluctance to sign the San Jose Accord, the US Department of State is conducting a full review of our visa policy in Honduras," department spokesman Ian Kelly said.

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[MasonJar]

1. Finally someone in the US government is standing up for the legitimate

Hondurian government. It was embarrassing to be a citizen of a country which did not side with what was right.

[L. Coyote]

2. Token gesture. Review training their military, review aid and obey laws requiring a halt.

This is a hilarious and almost meaningless gesture, and comes so late it is laughable to think it expresses opposition to the coup.