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WHARTON -- An undocumented Honduran immigrant, whose bail became the subject of a New Jersey Supreme Court case earlier this year, pleaded guilty today to sexually-assaulting a 8-year-old girl.   Manuel Fajardo-Santos, 31, admitted today to sexually assaulting his girlfriend's younger sister in Wharton on Aug. 24, 2008 after returning home from a party. Superior Court Judge John Dangler set sentencing for Jan. 29.Under a plea arrangement, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office will seek a sentence of seven years in state prison, with a minimum 85-percent parole ineligible, while public defender Michael Fletcher will argue for a five-year sentence.   A detainer...

For months Honduras has faced a political crisis. In June, its president, Manuel Zelaya, attempted to subvert the country's constitution and was removed from office. He has since pushed to return to power...On Oct. 30, it appeared the crisis might come to a close when representatives of Zelaya signed an agreement with representatives of Micheletti to create a reconciliation government to oversee the country until the next president is seated (among other provisions). But in recent days, that agreement...fell apart. It's more accurate to say Zelaya moved to destroy the accord. It called for him to propose members of the...

With nearly a year in office, we now know without doubt exactly where our own president stands on vital national security matters. He has a track record and has shown his true colors over and over again. In Honduras, he picked the side of the dictator-wannabe without hesitation. He has used every diplomatic weapon at his disposal to destroy the constitutional democracy in Honduras, even cutting off financial aid and blocking diplomatic visas. He went the full gamut of meddling there and made no bones about it. He moved to cancel long-planned missile defense shields for Poland and the Czech...

The Obama administration has worked hard, if somewhat episodically, to try to resolve the political crisis in Honduras. Last week, it looked as if the administration had pulled it off. The deal is now unraveling because of the obstinacy of Honduras's ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, and the man who ousted him, Roberto Micheletti. But we fear Washington also miscalculated that obstinacy. The agreement was brokered by Costa Rica's president, Óscar Arias, with some strong last-minute arm-twisting from Washington. It was a good one. Mr. Zelaya would be allowed to finish out his term, which ends in January. But he would...

Gunmen ambushed a convoy carrying Honduras' top prosecutor, but neither he nor his bodyguards were harmed, police said Sunday. Police spokesman Orlin Cerrato said Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi was riding on a northern highway when assailants opened fire Saturday night. Cerrato said no one was hurt. One car was damaged. He did not give a motive for the attack or say whether it was related to Honduras' four-month political crisis. But he speculated the attack could be an attempt to "provoke unease in the country." After the June coup, it was Rubi who filed criminal charges against ousted President...

Just barely meeting the November 5 deadline, Honduran President Roberto Micheletti reported to the country in a national broadcast that the cabinet of unity and reconciliation had been formed, despite the fact that Manuel Zelaya refused to provide any nominations for the new cabinet. Surrounded by dozens of smiling members of political parties and civic groups, Micheletti appeared pleased and concluded his speech with 'Viva Honduras!' three minutes before midnight. During his speech, Micheletti explained that at the beginning of the week, nominations were requested from the principal political parties, the presidential candidates, sectors of the civil society, and Manuel...

Honduras’ deposed would-be “strongman,” Manuel Zelaya called on US President Obama to send troops to help him regain control of the Honduran government. Zelaya was president of Honduras until he was removed from office earlier this year by joint action of the country’s supreme court and legislature. “Micheletti has pissed on the agreement we made to restore my power,” Zelaya angrily alleged. “He is going ahead with the scheduled elections without my approval. He has refused to include my proposed constitutional amendment to extend my term of office. A new government will be formed without my consent.” Acting President Roberto...

Honduras, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says he has pulled out of a deal struck to end the country's political crisis. Speaking to local radio Friday, Zelaya said the deal with the interim government led by President Roberto Micheletti was off as far as he was concerned, The Wall Street Journal reported. "This deal is dead. The other side has failed to uphold their end," Zelaya reportedly said. Under the terms of the deal, a government of national unity would be created and the Honduran Congress would be allowed to determine if Zelaya could return to...

It is not often that decency and perseverance overcome the ministrations of unctuous leftist frauds and their masters at the UN,OAS and US State Department. All the world was allied against those in Honduras attempting to maintain a fragile republic and adhere to its Constitution. (Americans would do well to take note as we may soon have to defend our own Constitution from the same bunch.) Nevertheless, the news from Honduras is good. Briefly, on June 28th of this year Manuel Zelaya was deposed by the order of the Supreme Court of Honduras. Among other things, he specifically violated the...

When the U.S. last week finally brokered a deal between ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the man who replaced him following the June 28 coup, de facto President Roberto Micheletti, observers wondered how the Obama Administration had won Micheletti's agreement. That's because the pact allowed for Zelaya to be restored to office before Honduras' Nov. 29 presidential election - a prospect Micheletti had fiercely opposed. But as the dust settles, the more common question this week is, What was Zelaya thinking when he signed this accord? The Oct. 30 agreement, in fact, leaves it to the Honduran congress to...

WASHINGTON - An outspoken critic of the Obama administration's handling of the crisis in Honduras dropped his opposition to two State Department nominees late Thursday, saying the administration has reversed course. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said on the Senate floor that he'd spoken with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told him that the administration would recognize the election Nov. 29 in Honduras "regardless of whether former President Manuel Zelaya is returned to office." "I am happy to report the Obama administration has finally reversed its misguided Honduran policy and will fully recognize the Nov. 29 elections," DeMint said, noting...

And then I'd like to read a statement on Honduras. Last week, Honduran negotiators came to an accord that spells out a step-by-step process for Honduras to reestablish democratic and constitutional order and move toward national elections with the support of the international community. In the wake of the Verification Commission visit November 3 and 4, the two sides made significant progress toward the formation of a unity government. For that reason, we were particularly disappointed by the unilateral statements made last night, which do not serve the spirit of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord. We urge both sides to act...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said Friday that a U.S.-brokered pact failed to end a four-month political crisis after a deadline for forming a unity government passed. "The accord is dead," Zelaya told Radio Globo from from the Brazilian Embassy where he has been hold up under threat of arrest. "There is no sense in deceiving Hondurans." Forged last week with the help of U.S. diplomats, the pact gave the two sides until midnight Thursday to install a government with supporters of Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti, who was named interim president by Congress after Zelaya was ousted...

Bomb explodes in downtown Tegucigalpa Municipal police arrived on the scene to investigate what happened 05.11.09 - Updated: 05.11.09 01:42 pm - Agustin Lagos: agustin.lagos @ elheraldo.hn Current Rating: Votes: 0 1 comments Print Send Tegucigalpa, Honduras . A homemade bomb exploded this morning in public restrooms in Central Park in the Honduran capital. The blast was felt several feet around, but no injuries were reported. "He was just explosive, was more than anything to affect people psychologically," said an unidentified official on Radio America. "If I had more explosives and had been people inside (the bathrooms), the consequences would...

Local radio station Radio America and Channel 10 of Honduras report a terrorist attack onto radio station HRN. The attack was perpetrated by several men using fragmentation granades, but one granade bounced back to the attacker and exploded on his body, said moments ago a correspondent of the same radio.

TEGUCIGALPA — Ousted President Manuel Zelaya is asking the Obama Administration to explain why, after pressing for his reinstatement, U.S. officials say they will recognize upcoming Honduran elections even if he isn't returned to power first. In a letter sent to the U.S. State Department on Wednesday, Zelaya asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "to clarify to the Honduran people if the position condemning the coup d'etat has been changed or modified." His request came after Washington's top envoy to Latin America, Thomas Shannon, told CNN en Espanol that the U.S. will recognize the Nov. 29 elections even if the...

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran lawmakers on Tuesday put off a vote on whether to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya and asked the Supreme Court for its view, bucking outside pressure to quickly end a four-month political crisis. Their inaction leaves the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti in place and risks losing international support for a Nov. 29 presidential election, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to the poor coffee- and textile-producing nation. A board of 13 top lawmakers met and decided not to call a special session of Congress, currently in recess, until they receive...

Tegucigalpa, Nov 3, 2009 / 07:26 pm (CNA).- A new law has taken effect in Honduras prohibiting the consumption and marketing of the morning-after pill in the Central American country. The law was passed by the Honduran Congress at the beginning of the year with backing from the Medical College of Honduras, which pointed out that the pill has an abortifacient effect making it unconstitutional. The Honduran Congress argued that the drug would “gravely endanger the health of the Honduran population, especially women who are able to get pregnant.” Lawmakers pointed to a 2008 report by the Medical College of...

Undermine our allies. Embolden our enemies. Diminish our country. If anyone doubted those nine words summed up the Obama Doctrine, look at what the president's team perpetrated last week in Honduras. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon and Dan Restrepo, the National Security Council's senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs, visited the Honduran capital in Tegucigalpa on Wednesday to compel the country's recalcitrant democrats to make a deal with the man the latter had lawfully removed from the presidency on June 28. It remains to be seen whether, pursuant to this deal, former President Manuel Zelaya will be restored to...

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) labeled General Stanley McChrystal’s proposal to send 40,000 additional U.S. combat troops to Afghanistan “ill-considered.” “This kind of blind blustering and saber-rattling might have sold in the Bush era, but it’s a new day under Democratic leadership,” Kerry boasted. “A more cautious and deliberate approach must guide us.” In support of his position, the Senator cited a resolution passed unanimously by the Berkeley City Council calling for “an end to the United States’ barbarous ravaging of Afghanistan with cowardly remote attacks.” “At least the so-called jihadis have the...

Zelaya threatened to kick the board if not immediately restored Micheletti's supporters are in no hurry to convene Congress to rule on the restitution of the deposed president 9 votes 147 reviews Decrease font fuenteAumentar Will print email JOAQUIM IBARZ | MEXICO (CORRESPONDENT) | 01/11/2009 | Updated at 19:15 pm | International We are where we were. As feared the most skeptical, the agreement just last Friday, is far from solving the crisis in Honduras. Whatever their commitments, each of the parties interpreted the agreement at its convenience. The de facto government supporters are in no hurry to convene Congress...

Honduras signs a deal that means international recognition of the November 29 elections. If there is one person in Honduras who is more despised these days than deposed president Manuel Zelaya it is a foreigner who goes by the name of Hugo. We refer here not to the Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez but to U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens.

The chairmen of the House and Senate foreign relations committees—Representative Howard Berman (D-Calif) and Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), respectively—are demanding the librarians at the Law Library of Congress to suppress a report on the Honduran crisis. The problem with the report is that it concludes that the removal of former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was carried out in accordance with that country’s constitution. “This report directly contradicts the President’s position on this crisis,” Berman pointed out. “It creates an air of confusion regarding US policy on this matter. On matters of foreign policy, this nation must speak with one voice...

Lawmakers will wait until Tuesday to consider a U.S.-brokered agreement that could return deposed President Manuel Zelaya to power, despite diplomats' pleas to not delay an end to the country's 4-month-old political crisis. Monday is a holiday in Honduras, and many legislators are busy campaigning for Nov. 29 elections that will also elect a successor to Zelaya. Nonetheless, Zelaya said Saturday that he hopes he will be back in office by Thursday, the deadline for the two sides to establish a power-sharing government. "By Thursday, the government of national unity should be installed," he said in a meeting broadcast by...

The big news in Honduras is that the good guys seem to have won a four-month political standoff over the exile of former President Manuel Zelaya. Current President Roberto Micheletti agreed yesterday to submit Mr. Zelaya's request for reinstatement as president to the Supreme Court and Congress, and in return the U.S. will withdraw its sanctions and recognize next month's presidential elections. Mr. Zelaya, whose term would have expired in January, isn't likely to be reinstated, given that the court has twice ruled against his right to remain in office. The Honduran Congress, which voted in June to remove Mr....

A deal to end the political standoff in Honduras has been thrown into doubt after a negotiator for the de facto government suggested that Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president, will not be returned to power. The comments by Arturo Corrales prompted confusion on Saturday as it had been thought Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti, Honduras's de facto leader, had reached a deal. The two sides have been at odds for four months over whether Zelaya should be reinstated before presidential elections due to be held in November. It was thought that, through the deal, Zelaya could be returned to power before...

Diplomacy: The restoration of a president with dictatorial dreams in Honduras is being touted by the administration as a triumph of "dialogue." In truth, it's just old-fashioned yanqui interventionism. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed Thursday night's agreement in Tegucigalpa as "a restoration of the constitutional order," and praised it highly. "I cannot think of another example of a country in Latin America that, having suffered a rupture of its democratic and constitutional order, overcame such a crisis through negotiation and dialogue." What worked here, though, wasn't dialogue, but U.S. diplomatic muscle. A last-minute mission from Assistant Secretary of State...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Deposed President Manuel Zelaya and his opponents have agreed to a U.S.-brokered deal that he said will return him to power four months after a coup shook faith in Latin America's young democracies. The power-sharing agreement reached late Thursday calls for Congress to decide whether to reinstate the leftist Zelaya. While the legislature backed his June 28 ouster, congressional leaders have since said they won't stand in the way of an agreement that ends Honduras' diplomatic isolation and legitimizes presidential elections planned for Nov. 29. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Thomas Shannon said Friday that the two...

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras' de facto government has accepted a U.S.-driven deal that opens the door for the return to power of President Manuel Zelaya, toppled in a military coup four months ago. The breakthrough late on Thursday followed renewed pressure from senior U.S. officials who traveled to Honduras this week for a last-ditch effort to end a crisis that has given U.S. President Barack Obama a foreign policy headache. "It is a triumph for Honduran democracy," the leftist Zelaya said after the rival sides agreed to a deal that he said should see him restored to office in the...

MEXICO CITY — A lingering political crisis in Honduras seemed to be nearing an end on Friday after the de facto government agreed to a deal that would allow Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president, to return to office. The government of Roberto Micheletti, which had refused to let Mr. Zelaya return, signed an agreement with Mr. Zelaya’s negotiators late Thursday that would pave the way for the Honduran Congress to restore the ousted president and allow him to serve out the remaining three months of his term. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton confirmed on Friday that Mr. Zelaya...

Honduras' interim government has buckled under international pressure and agreed to allow the return to power of Manuel Zelaya, the ousted President who was toppled in a military coup four months ago. The breakthrough followed renewed pressure from senior US. officials who traveled to Honduras this week for a last-ditch effort to end the crisis. "It is a triumph for Honduran democracy," said Mr Zelaya after the rival sides agreed to a deal that could see him reinstated as President in the coming days. Earlier, Roberto Micheletti, the president of the interim government that took power after the coup on...

Concludes political crisis in Honduras The signing was delayed for several hours after the delegation of the deposed Manuel Zelaya gave its approval long - Updated: 30.10.09 12:50 am - Writing: Current Rating: 4 votes: 3 3 Comments Print Send Tegucigalpa, Honduras . Representatives of the government of deposed Roberto Micheletti Manuel Zelaya signed late Thursday in this capital an agreement to end the political crisis that took to Honduras in the air for 124 days. The agreement was signed under heavy pressure from the U.S. government decided to send his top heavy artillery led by the undersecretary of state...

A month ago, the Law Library of Congress reviewed the removal of Manuel Zelaya from his post as President of Honduras, an act that the Obama administration called a “coup” and demanded reversed for its illegality. To the embarrassment of the White House and State Department, the Congressional body determined that Honduras acted lawfully in removing Zelaya for his crimes against their constitution, although they determined that his exile broke Honduran law. Now John Kerry wants the Law Library to retract its findings, apparently trying to rewrite history to hide the facts of the case:

The interim leader of Honduras says he is ready to sign a deal to resolve its crisis which could include the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Roberto Micheletti said the agreement would create a power-sharing government and require both sides to recognise the result of November's presidential poll. Mr Zelaya has not yet commented on the deal, which would require the approval of Congress and the Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON -- The chairmen of the House and Senate foreign relations committees are asking the Law Library of Congress to retract a report on the military-backed coup in Honduras that they charge is flawed and “has contributed to the political crisis that still wracks” the country. The request, by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., has sparked cries of censorship from Republicans who say the Democrats don't like what the August report said: that the government of Honduras had the authority to remove President Manuel Zelaya from office. Zelaya has been holed up at the Brazilian embassy...

The big guns US State Department representative Thomas Shannon and his team met with US Ambassador Hugo Llorens, Zelaya, Micheletti, and others yesterday. The State Department representatives gave no statements to the media yesterday. Right now I'm seeing the video of Llorens, Shannon, Rico, both Guaymuras teams sitting around the dialogue table. Two Zelaya representatives indicated in harsh statements yesterday that they would not meet to "dialogue" again unless Zelaya's reinstatement was previously agreed to. Why, oh, why does the State Department keep saying that Micheletti is the stubborn one? Micheletti's team has offered ten proposals. Zelaya has only demanded...

The Obama Administration has made serious mistakes in its handling of the crisis in Honduras where it supports the return of the deposed president, Mel Zelaya. The Administration categorized the removal of Zelaya as a coup when, in fact, the Honduran military has had no role in governing the country.  The Honduran Congress and Supreme Court abided by their Constitution and rule of law and ousted Zelaya because he had violated the law. As a result, the crisis in Honduras today is almost unmanageable. So what does this behavior reveal about Mr. Obama's respect for the separation of powers, as...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Honduras' opposing political factions resumed talks Thursday and expressed hope that a deal could be reached soon to end the power crisis that has paralyzed the country since a coup four months ago. The two sides returned to the negotiating table a day after visiting U.S. diplomats urged both factions to be more flexible and find a solution before previously scheduled presidential elections looming in November. The international community has threatened to not recognize the vote if deposed President Manuel Zelaya is not reinstated. Rodil Rivera, a Zelaya representative, said Thursday an agreement could be signed calling...

Soon after Former President Zelaya was deposed for trying to go around his country's constitution, Our Potus "Nobel Peace Prize winner" took a position against democracy, contra to the Honduras Constitution and on the wrong side of history. “America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies,” the president told graduate students at the commencement ceremony of Moscow’s New Economic School. “We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders...

When it came to divulging basic information, it was Richard Nixon's administration that became infamous for the phrase, and practice, of "modified, limited hangout." Now the Obama administration has abandoned all but the "limited" part. The candidate whose most identifiable promise was to provide open and transparent government instead is leading an administration rife with secrecy, stonewalling and prevarication.

Plan from the radical left wing is foiled in Honduras The plan was not linked with the death of a colonel of the Armed Forces and the nephew of President Micheletti and the kidnapping of the Minister of Defense, but not rule out that these have to do with the political crisis Tegucigalpa, Honduras . The National Police reported an alleged plan from "radical" left to kill and kidnap businessmen, policemen and armed forces members. This was announced by the National Police Commissioner, Danilo Orellana, who told HRN radio that seized and are holding a plan "that they had and...

According to a Gallup poll released yesterday, a large majority of Hondurans see the presidential elections scheduled for November 29th as the way to resolve the impasse over the restitution of Manuel Zelaya to the post. According to an Associated Press report, the poll found that 72% of Hondurans see the upcoming elections as the way out of the crisis, prompted when the country’s Supreme Court and National Congress removed Zelaya from the presidency over his violations of the nation’s constitution. According to Gallup, neither Zelaya, nor his congressionally appointed interim successor Roberto Micheletti are seen by a majority of...

Democracy: Daniel Ortega muscled Nicaragua's courts to permit his permanent re-election, effectively making him dictator. He's not alone. After the U.S.' shabby treatment of tiny Honduras, a new wave of tyrants is rising. 'Nothing can stop me from re-election," crowed Ortega, a man Ronald Reagan once called "the little dictator." Last Monday Nicaragua's Supreme Court issued a ruling permitting the Marxist Ortega to run for a second term after he and a group of allied mayors petitioned them, overruling a one-term limit in the constitution. Same old Ortega: His dictatorial hunger hasn't changed. But one thing is different: U.S. actions...

TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) — Assailants kidnapped the father of Honduras' acting defense minister Tuesday in a case that immediately took on political overtones amid a bitter, unresolved political crisis. The kidnapping of Alfredo Jalil, a wealthy businessman and father of acting deputy defense minister Gabo Jalil, followed by just days the murder of a nephew of the country's de facto leader, Roberto Micheletti. No evidence has been presented linking either case to the rising political tensions over deadlocked diplomatic efforts to end the crisis set off by the June 28 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya. But Jalil's wife, who witnessed her...

Senior congressional Democrats want a report on the ouster of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya to be retracted. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) made the demand in a letter dated Tuesday to James Billington, the Librarian of Congress. They asked the Law Library of Congress to withdraw and correct the August 2009 report titled “Honduras: Constitutional Issues.” “The report, which has contributed to the political crisis that still wracks Honduras, contains factual errors and is based on a flawed legal analysis that has been refuted by experts from the United States, the Organization of American States, and...

President 'de facto' of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, said that there will be no settlement to the political crisis in the country before the elections on 29 November this year, and reiterated that it refunded to the deposed president, Manuel Zelaya. "We will not fix anything, no dialogue or anything, if not after the election," Micheletti said in a press conference at the presidential palace. -- Note- Article is in Spanish and the machine translation leave a little to be desired.

If Honduras manages to preserve its democracy despite U.S. pressure to abandon it, the tiny Central American country may wind up thanking Nicaragua's Danny Ortega, of all people. Last week, President Ortega inadvertently provided the best defense yet of the Honduran decision this summer to remove Manuel Zelaya from the presidency. Nicaragua has a one-term limit for presidents, and Mr. Ortega's term expires in 2011. However, the Nicaraguan doesn't want to leave, and so he asked the Sandinista-controlled Supreme Court to overturn the constitutional ban on his re-election. Last week the court's constitutional panel obliged him. The Nicaraguan press reported...

Note: The following text is a quote: Three Convicted in International Truck Theft Conspiracy Sentenced to Prison HOUSTON—Three men who conspired to steal and transport millions of dollars of truck tractors, trailers and other heavy equipment to Central America have been sentenced to prison, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. Rito Jasso-Zorilla, 32, Victor Antonio Garcia, 27, and Orlando Gonzalez Huerta, 29, all citizens of Mexico, were sentenced by United States District Judge David Hittner this morning for their respective roles in assisting Yuri David Melendez, 42, of Houston, with the far-reaching scheme. Beginning in 2001, Melendez received requests...

The nephew of the interim President of Honduras Roberto Micheletti has been found dead in what the police are calling an execution style killing. Enzo Micheletti's body was discovered on Sunday in woodland near Choloma, 250 km north of the capital, Tegucigalpa. Police say his hands were tied behind his back and his body was riddled with bullets There is no indication that his death is connected to the coup that brought his uncle to power at the end of June.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Two opposition stations are back on the air after the de facto government pulled the plug on their operations. But their return has not ended a high-profile feud between station bosses and President Roberto Micheletti that has drawn international attention, condemnation and charges of censorship. There have even been accusations of anti-Semitism lobbed at one of the broadcasters. The controversy comes as the region's largest press-freedom group, the Inter American Press Association, prepares to hold its annual assembly early next month in Argentina. The stations, Radio Globo and Cholusat Sur (Channel 36), returned to the airwaves on...