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Orrick's Lanny Davis Lobbying Against Deposed Honduran Leader
The American Lawyer
July 14, 2009
TheHill.com reports that Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe's Lanny Davis is leading a lobbying effort against deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
According to The Hill, Honduran business leaders are hiring Washington lobbyists to convince members of Congress that they should support the removal of Zelaya, who was ousted in a military coup two weeks ago.
The Honduran branch of the Business Council of Latin America (CEAL) has hired Davis, a former White House special counsel and well-known supporter of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The organization is a network of Latin American business leaders that is akin to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Davis, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, told The Hill that he had not called Clinton to set up a meeting between Honduran government officials and had no plans to do so. Davis said the business group he represents wants to restore order to the Central American country, which was thrown into crisis when Zelaya tried to alter the constitution against the wishes of the military and other branches of the Honduran government.
Since then, The Hill reports that Davis has been busy orchestrating a "lobbying blitz" by buying ads in D.C.-area papers and setting up meetings between former high-level Honduran officials and congressional aides. Davis and other Orrick lawyers are also reportedly working with Guillermo Pérez-Cadalso, a former Honduran foreign minister and supreme court justice, on testimony he intends to give before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that the power struggle in Honduras was splitting Democrats and Republicans, with Zelaya being lauded for his social reform programs by some, but criticized for his anti-business initiatives by others. The Obama administration, perhaps mindful of past U.S. policies that didn't engender goodwill in the region, has come out in support of Zelaya.
Davis told The Hill that his clients are completely behind Secretary Clinton's efforts to broker an end to the crisis through talks between Zelaya and coup backers. Costa Rican president Oscar Arias is mediating the negotiations.
The Honduran army foiled Zelaya's attempts to return to the country last week when it blocked his plane from landing in the capital of Tegucigalpa.
This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on AmericanLawyer.com.
