Honduras' Zelaya
Says He Returns For Peace,
Dialogue
Tegucigalpa - Honduras'
deposed President Manuel Zelaya confirmed on
Monday that he was in the Brazilian embassy
in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa. He said
he had returned to negotiate a peaceful
return to democracy.
"Thanks to Brazil's President Luis Inacio da
Silva and its Foreign Minister Celso Amorim,
we have protection and a home in the
Brazilian embassy ... that is where we are
going to be for the moment," Zelaya told the
Cable News Network (CNN).
Zelaya said he had arrived in the capital
after a 15-hour trip through the mountains,
constantly changing his mode of transport in
order to evade the checkpoints set up by the
post-coup regime under former legislative
speaker Roberto Micheletti.
Zelaya's return drew an angry reaction from
the de facto government, which accused
Brazil of "interfering with Hondurans'
internal affairs" and "a flagrant violation
of international law."
In a statement, the de facto Foreign
Ministry called Zelaya a fugitive trying to
foment "insurrection." It warned the
Brazilian government would be held directly
responsible for any violence that could take
place outside its embassy.
On Monday, the post-coup government had
declared a curfew from 4 p.m. (2200 GMT) to
7 a.m. (1300 GMT). It had declared a curfew
on June 28, which was later reduced and
removed altogether in mid-July.
During a CNN interview, Zelaya declared he
was willing to negotiate with the post-coup
government. "I am seeking a peaceful
conclusion to Honduras' crisis," he
announced.
According to Zelaya, Secretary General of
the Organization of American States (OAS)
Jose Miguel Insulza had already telephoned
him to express support and would be willing
to visit Honduras to help with negotiations.
"I have support domestically and
internationally. That is going to allow us
to create a peace mechanism for the nation,"
he said.
The OAS held an emergency session on Monday
after Zelaya's return, and decided to send a
mission to Honduras on Tuesday.
"We believe that this increases the pressure
to reach agreement through dialogue,"
Insulza told the session. "We all want a
peaceful solution to this matter, and we all
want to make a contribution."
In a statement published by the U.S. Embassy
in Tegucigalpa, the U.S. government called
for both sides to refrain from what it
called "any provocative action."
The statement added that the United States
continued to advocate the San Jose Accord, a
peace plan brokered by Costa Rica's
President Oscar Arias.
The San Jose Agreement stipulates Zelaya's
restoration to power, political amnesty, and
to advance the general elections from
November to October.
Zelaya had expressed support for the
agreement drawn up by Arias, but the de
facto government would not accept Zelaya's
return to Honduras' presidency.
Shortly after his CNN interview, Zelaya
called for his rivals to remain calm and
make efforts for peace.
"It is time to meet us again, to design the
path to recover calm in Honduras. I hope the
armed forces do not use weapons and come
here to interrupt the dialogue that seeks
unity in Honduras," Zelaya told a press
conference at the Brazilian embassy.
The deposed president had told a local
broadcaster that he would announce a place
for holding the dialogue within a couple of
hours and that his ultimate goal was to
return sovereignty to the Honduran people.
Zelaya was ousted on June 28 and taken by
force to Costa Rica. A few hours later the
nation's unicameral legislature, the
Congress, appointed its leader Micheletti as
the new president.
Earlier, media reports had quoted
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and other
sources as saying that Zelaya was being
hosted at the United Nations building in the
Honduran capital Tegucigalpa. Thousands of
Zelaya supporters had gathered at the local
UN headquarters in Honduras, rallying under
the banner of the National Coup Resistance
Organization.
However, the UN coordinator in Honduras,
Rebeca Arias, said Zelaya had not been
sighted at the UN headquarters in Honduras.
"I have not seen him in the building," Arias
told CNN.
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