Soccer game unites a split Honduras

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras -- The game was eight hours away, and already the magnitude of Saturday night's politically charged World Cup qualifier between Honduras and the United States was palpable on the congested streets of this industrial city of one million in the Sula Valley.

Street vendors weaved through traffic, hawking blue and white horns, Honduran flags, and banners celebrating La H , the nickname for the Honduran national team. Honduran flags waved from cars, buses and even horse-drawn buggies. Car horns honked in unison. Newspaper vendors sold 32-page special sections previewing the match. And there was heavy police presence on almost every corner.

A military escort, machine guns cocked, led the U.S. media van to Estadio Olímpico at noon for the 8 p.m. match, and fans were already gathered and celebrating. By 3 p.m., the 40,000-seat stadium was filling up, the deafening sound of horns mixed with loud Latin music, the smell of chorizo sausage wafting in the air and Honduran fans danced

South Florida's exile activists set sights on Honduras

Eleno Oviedo, imprisoned in Cuba for 26 years, stood outside a Sedano's in Hialeah on a recent Saturday, eager to collect donations for a fresh cause: Honduras.

``We set up a table and had some signs and asked people to give what they could,'' said Oviedo, 73, co-director of Plantados, a group of one-time political prisoners from Cuba.

Oviedo is among groups of local Cubans seeking to help Honduras as the country tries to recover from political upheaval following the ouster of President Manuel ``Mel'' Zelaya and the global shunning of the government.

U.S. cools its support for reinstating Honduras' Manuel Zelaya

The Obama administration has backed away from its call to restore ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to power and instead put the onus on him for taking ``provocative actions'' that polarized his country and led to his overthrow on June 28.

The new position was contained in a letter this week to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., that also rejected calls by some of Zelaya's backers to impose harsh economic sanctions against Honduras.

While condemning the coup, the letter pointedly fails to call for Zelaya's return. ``Our policy and strategy for engagement is not based on supporting any particular politician or individual,'' said the letter to the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

U.S. cuts aid to Honduras

The Obama administration cut all nonhumanitarian aid to Honduras on Thursday over the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya, making permanent a temporary suspension of U.S. aid imposed after he was overthrown in June.

The U.S. State Department made the announcement as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Zelaya. Spokesman Ian Kelly did not say how much assistance would be cut, but officials have said previously that more than $200 million is at stake. Kelly said it affected ``a broad range of assistance to the government of Honduras.''

``The secretary of state has made the decision, consistent with U.S. legislation, recognizing the need for strong measures in light of the continued resistance to the adoption of the San Jose Accord by the de facto regime and continuing failure to restore democratic, constitutional rule to Honduras,'' Kelly said in a statement.

Nica business leaders urge caution amid U.S. calls to cut aid

César Zamora, president of the Nicaraguan-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), says that calls in Washington to suspend millions of dollars in U.S. aid to Nicaragua is a “nuclear bomb” that would hurt the common people and “radicalize the government” of President Daniel Ortega. Click here for full story