President of Costa Rica to mediate the political crisis. 17 US senators send letter to Sec. Clinton in support of the rule of law in Honduras.

The situation here where we are continues to be safe. We are well.

The president of Costa Rica has agreed to be the mediator between the deposed president of Honduras and the current government of Honduras. Both sides were to have begun meeting in Costa Rica starting today (8 July). If nothing else, this has allowed everyone in the country to take deep breath and step back a bit from the tension of the crisis. President Arias of Costa Rica has a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in mediating a civil war in El Salvador, so we hope and pray that his experience and credibility will help to bring about a peaceful resolution. Even more fervently, we hope and pray for a just resolution that recognizes the courageous way that the people of Honduras have stood up to Zelaya, and his biggest cheerleader Chavez, and have legally removed him from power for his abuses of the constitution.

Secondly, 17 Republican US Senators sent a letter to Sec. Clinton today asking her why she has refused to meet with a delegation from the government of Honduras thus far and has only seen fit to meet with the deposed president. The letter offers the documentation of removal of the president from the Honduran Supreme Court showing the legality of their actions. The letter goes on to encourage Sec. Clinton to meet with the Honduran delegation that she has so far refused to meet with. I certainly couldn't agree more with the senators and I thank them for investigating this matter independently and for holding the Secretary accountable for her actions in this matter. One of the few news articles reporting this letter is copied below.

The article can be found here.

The letter can be found here.

GOP senators press administration not to back Zelaya
By J. Taylor Rushing
Posted: 07/08/09 03:15 PM [ET]
Seventeen Senate Republicans on Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging the Obama administration to reverse its rhetoric and support the removal of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

The GOP senators disagree with the administration’s use of the term “coup” for the events in Honduras, saying that Zelaya was removed properly. The senators also urge Clinton to meet with a delegation of Honduran officials currently in Washington with whom they met earlier Wednesday.

Zelaya was removed from power last week after moving to hold a non-binding referendum to change the country’s constitution to allow him to remain in office. Obama and Clinton have reacted strongly, but the Republicans say Zelaya was corrupt and that the U.S. should not seek to return him to power.

“It appears that the Honduran government operated under constitutional authority and that the removal of Mr. Zelaya from power was legal and legitimate,” the senators wrote to Clinton.

Four of the letter’s signers held a press conference Wednesday to press their case, with Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.) leading the comments to charge that Zelaya was “moving in a direction that was contrary to the country’s own constitution and rules and laws.”

Martinez said the Honduran officials with whom he met Wednesday want the U.S. to “stand with the democratic institutions of Honduras.”

The letter to Clinton was signed by Republicans Jim DeMint (S.C.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Cornyn (Texas), David Vitter (La.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), John Ensign (Nev.), Jim Bunning (Ky.), Minority Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), James Inhofe (Okla.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Jim Risch (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kan.), Kit Bond (Mo.) and John Thune (S.D.).