 Day 13
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Honduran Rivals Pass Ball To Councilors,
Face-To-Face Meeting Fail
Ousted
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and
post-coup leader Roberto Micheletti met
Thursday with Costa Rican President Oscar
Arias respectively in San Jose, but
Micheletti swiftly left the country,
squashing all hopes of a face-to-face
meeting.
Arias, a 1987 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was
accepted by both parties to serve as a
mediator in the talks.
The gathering was scheduled for two days.
But it ended with the naming of four
commissioners on each side to continue the
talks shortly after Micheletti left Arias'
home. Noticeably, Zelaya and Micheletti were
not able to bring themselves to speak to one
another.
Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya
thanked on Thursday Costa Rican President
Oscar Arias for his mediation efforts aimed
at finding a solution to the political
crisis in the post-coup country.
Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya (L)
talks with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias
in front of Oscar Arias's residence in San
Jose, capital of Costa Rica, July 9, 2009.
Manuel Zelaya and Honduran post-coup leader
Roberto Micheletti are due to make mediation
dialogue hosted by Oscar Arias here on
Thursday to try to thrash out a solution to
the political crisis triggered by last
month's coup in the Central American state.
(Xinhua/Esteban Datos)
Photo Gallery>>>
Speaking to the press when ending his
meeting with Arias, Zelaya demanded "the
reestablishment of law, democracy and the
return of Honduras' elected president."
Micheletti told reporters, as he left Arias'
home, that he was "satisfied" with the
talks, but did not go into details. He left
directly for the airport.
Zelaya, who was seized in his bed by heavily
armed troops and forced to leave the country
by plane, has received the backing of the
United Nations, the Central American
Integration System and a host of
international bodies.
Micheletti, who took power after claiming to
the Honduran legislature that Zelaya had
resigned due to poor health, has failed to
receive any international recognition from
other countries or multilateral
organizations.
Micheletti's presence in Costa Rica sparked
protests from students there, who went to
the streets close to Arias' home, a
one-story suburban dwelling with few
security guards.
Honduras' post-coup leader Roberto
Micheletti was afraid of being arrested or
getting killed in Costa Rica, and refused to
leave the airport before getting security
guarantees when he arrived here on Thursday
for mediation talks hosted by President
Oscar Arias, Costa Rican government sources
said.
Honduran post-coup leader Roberto Micheletti
(L front) waves to journalists as Costa
Rican President Oscar Arias (1st R) stands
by in front of the latter's residence in San
Jose, capital of Costa Rica, July 9, 2009.
(Xinhua/Esteban Datos)
Photo Gallery>>>
"There is nothing to negotiate," said the
University of Costa Rica's student union
head. "The only appropriate thing is to
restore Zelaya."
In Honduras, Zelaya's wife, Xiomara Castro,
led a series of rallies, which have
attracted thousands of people and blocked
streets and highways.
Castro, who had fled to the U.S. embassy
when soldiers kidnapped her husband and has
been hiding from one place to another since
then, told media:
"Our presence is like having the president
here, like he is standing firm."
There have been reports of four deaths as
police broke up separate protests against
the change of leadership. Micheletti's
supporters have also protested, but without
any official intervention.
One external player -- the United States --
looms large at the talks. U.S. Secretary of
State Hilary Clinton warned Zelaya not to
try to return home without an agreement.
The United States has a long history of
friendship and support with Honduras'
military, but it too has condemned the coup
and cut off a military aid of 16.5 million
U.S. dollars this week.
A planned non-binding referendum, opposed by
Honduras' army and courts, was the apple of
discord that caused the military
intervention. Zelaya had wanted to ask
citizens if they would like to vote for a
constitutional assembly in November
alongside presidential elections. In doing
so, he had publicly defied the Supreme
Court, who argued that the constitution had
some clauses that could not be rewritten.
Micheletti has shown no interest in that
idea, describing himself as the nation's
constitutional president on multiple
occasions, even as the Central American
Integration System, of which Arias holds the
rotating presidency, has cut off access to
disbursements or new loans from its Central
American Bank for Economic Integration.
Arias, a regional icon after helping bring
several wars to an end in the 1980s,
remained positive.
"It seems to me that there is willingness on
both sides to seek a negotiated settlement
through diplomacy, through dialogue," Arias
told media early on Thursday.
However, Jose Miguel Insulza, the Chilean
secretary general of the Organization of
American States, raised the specter of worse
consequences if the talks founder.
"If the Honduran crisis is not resolved, it
could leave the door open for other coups in
Latin America," said Insulza in Washington.
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