FROM GUATEMALA, ZELAYA CALLS FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

UNCLAS GUATEMLA 000692 C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED SENSITIVE CAPTION MARKING TO PARAGRAHS) SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM ASEC GT SUBJECT: FROM GUATEMALA, ZELAYA CALLS FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE REF: GUATEMALA 620 1.(SBU) Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya arrived in Guatemala midday July 14 and departed, reportedly for Nicaragua, just before midnight. Presidents Colom and Zelaya held a joint press conference following their meeting. Zelaya called on Hondurans to make use of their "constitutional right" to peaceful protest, and said he would soon return to Honduras. He said he continued to support Costa Rican President Arias' mediation effort, but only insofar as its ultimate aim remained his restoration to power, as called for by the OAS and UN. 2.(SBU) In his public remarks, Zelaya asserted that "strikes, protests, civil disobedience are necessary when a country's democratic order is violated," and that "insurrection is a right of the people contemplated in Article 3 of the Honduran Constitution. "Don't abandon the streets, they are the only space they (political opponents) have left us," Zelaya said, asserting that "peaceful protest is not a crime." "I am going to return to Honduras as soon as possible, but I will not announce the day or time so as to not alert opposition forces." Colom expressed support for Zelaya, saying that the position of Guatemala and of all Central America is that he should be returned to power. 3.(SBU) In a symbolic gesture, Vice President Rafael Espada and a military honor guard received Zelaya upon arrival at La Aurora Airport. Large protests served as a backdrop to Zelaya's visit, though only a minority of the thousands of protesters who converged on Guatemala City's central plaza adjacent to the National Palace were Zelaya supporters. (Most were demonstrating against a cement plant and environmental harm caused by the mining industry, while members of the judicial workers' union protested for better working conditions.) McFarland