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Did Brazil broke any International Law by the 1961 Vienna Convention?

If Brazil says that they did not give Political Asylum to Manuel Zelaya; that they only gave human help to him...and they let him play politics and call to civil insurgency

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  • Rita
    Lv 5
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    This is a very tricky thing.

    I could see how allowing Zelaya in the embassy could break article 41 of the 1961 Vienna Convention because it states that the mission (embassy) can't be used for other purposes.

    "The premises of the mission must not be used in any manner incompatible with the functions of the mission as laid down in the present Convention or by other rules of general international law or by any special agreements in force between the sending and the receiving State."

    Brazilian government states that it had no idea that Zelaya was going to seek refuge in the Brazilian embassy. If Brazil gave asylum, that would be legal, because it's in the Brazilian constitution and nothing in the 1961 Vienna Convention impedes Brazil of giving asylum to those who are persecuted politically by their government.

    What happens is that in order for it to be an asylum, Zelaya would have to keep his big mouth shut and behave like an asylum seeker (there are rules to asylum seekers and givers). Not the case. Who's gonna tell him to behave in his own county? How can a couple of Brazilians at the embassy control 300 angry invading Hondurans? How to stop a crazy president from giving a speach with 300 people there backing him up? Asylum seekers can't give speaches! If Brazil accepts this as an asylum, THEN it will be going against the legislation that guides asylum giving. Zelaya is putting the Brazilian government in a tight spot. It is not Brazil's intention and it will never be to break any International Convention. I have a feeling Brazilian government has no idea how to deal with this hot potatoe.

  • Jock
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    I don't know if they did or not. How many times has the USA broken this rule, or flouted human rights?

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