Disagreement over who should represent Honduras at the United Nations marred the opening session of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, which will tackle the heated question alongside Gaza and other issues. Latin American delegations led by Argentina and Brazil protested the presence of Honduras, which does not have a voting seat on the 47-member Geneva body but sought to take part as an observer, as dozens of other countries typically do.
Closed-door negotiations about whether the Central American country, whose president Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a June military coup, was properly represented there delayed the start of the Human Rights Council session by about three hours. Jose Delmer Urbizo, Honduras' ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, denounced the calls for him to be barred from the UN hall and insisted that he would stay on.
"This is a totally illegal action inspired by the (President Hugo) Chavez regime in Venezuela," he told reporters. "I will not abandon my post." The Honduran coup has stoked political tensions in Latin America and de facto ruler Roberto Micheletti is under pressure from Washington and other capitals to step down. New elections are scheduled for November.
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