Brazil Asks Zelaya
To Reduce Number of
Followers At Embassy
Brasilia - Brazil's
Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Tuesday
that he had requested ousted Honduran
President Manuel Zelaya to reduce the number
of his followers at the Brazilian embassy in
Honduras.
According to Amorim, after returning to
Honduras on Sept. 21, Zelaya had been
staying in the Brazilian embassy in
Tegucigalpa with a retinue of some 60
people.
"We are going to continue urging Zelaya to
reduce the number ofhis followers," Amorim
said during a meeting with the Foreign
Affairs Commission of the Brazilian Senate.
Amorim said he had talked with Zelaya over
the phone upon his return to Tegucigalpa,
and that Zelaya had promised to return to
power by peaceful means and through
dialogue.
"I would say that despite the protests, we
succeeded, because there were not any
violent acts done by Zelaya's followers.The
incidents which cost one life were
repression acts carried out by the
coup-government," Amorim said.
All the countries represented by the
Organization of American States as well as
the entire international community had
refused to recognize the de facto
government, he added, noting that it wasa
situation without precedent.
On Sunday, the Honduran interim government
warned Brazil that it would lose its
diplomatic status if it did not hand him
over tothe authorities in 10 days.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva responded that his country would not
capitulate to the ultimatum and was not
going to "negotiate with those who have
usurped the power."
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