Students from the Student Revolutionary Front (FER-29) and the University Popular Bloc closed off one of Panama City's main arteries for more than an hour on Nov. 11 to protest what they said were plans to open US military bases in Panama. Police agents dispersed the demonstrators with water cannons and tear gas and arrested 16 students, most of them from the Arts and Trades College. On Nov. 12 Governance and Justice Minister José Raúl Mulino told reporters that the four bases the students were protesting would be "100% Panamanian." They are to be under the control of the Air-Navy Service (SENAN) and the National Border Service (Senafront) as part of the agencies' effort to control the transport of narcotics through Panama, he said. "They are not military bases."

The State Department sent Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Craig Kelly to Honduras Nov. 10 in a bid to relaunch the moribund dialogue. Kelly held separate talks with ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya and de facto president Roberto Micheletti, but left the Central American country the following day with no deal. Kelly insisted the US is "advancing the dialogue," adding, "We think it's important to continue the conversations." (AlJazeera, Nov. 12)

The United Nations has sent a disaster assessment team to El Salvador and released a $50,000 cash grant to help the Central American country recover from torrential rains that have caused massive flooding and triggered landslides, killing at least 140 people and displacing nearly 14,000 others.

Talks in Tegucigalpa between representatives of ousted Honduran president José Manuel Zelaya Rosales and de facto president Roberto Micheletti Bain have failed to revive the Tegucigalpa/San José Accord, an agreement the two sides signed on Oct. 30. Members of a Verification Commission established by the agreement had tried to salvage the accord by having the two sides meet again on Nov. 7.

The rapid failure of an Oct. 30 accord between Honduran president Manuel Zelaya and the country's de facto government "leaves egg on the faces of US and regional diplomats who had engineered the deal," according to an analysis piece by the Reuters news service. (Reuters, Nov. 6)

The US and OAS appear divided on whether to recognize the upcoming Honduran elections after the collapse of the Washington-brokered deal to solve the political crisis in the Central American country. Ousted President Manuel Zelaya told Radio Globo Nov. 6 that the deal is "dead," adding: "It makes no sense to continue duping the Honduran people with this type of agreement which only shows a lack of political will to resolve the problem."

In a letter sent to the US State Department Nov. 4, ousted President Manuel Zelaya asked the Obama administration why, after pressing for his reinstatement, it now says it will recognize upcoming Honduran elections even if he isn't returned to power first. The letter calls upon Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "to clarify to the Honduran people if the position condemning the coup d'etat has been changed or modified." The request came after Washington's top envoy to Latin America, Thomas Shannon, told CNN en Espanol that Washington will recognize the Nov. 29 elections even if the Honduran Congress votes against returning Zelaya to power.

On Nov. 1 Honduran president José Manuel Zelaya Rosales expressed optimism about an agreement his representatives signed with the country's de facto government on Oct. 30 to end a political crisis that began with a military coup on June 28. At the same time, he warned against possible "manipulation" by de facto president Roberto Micheletti. "[W]e need to stay alert until compliance [with the accord] is accomplished," he told the Venezuela-based TeleSUR television network.