HONDURAS: Zelaya Returns, Calls for Dialogue
By Juan Ramón Durán
TEGUCIGALPA (IPS) - Ousted President
Manuel Zelaya snuck back into Honduras and
took refuge Monday in the Brazilian embassy
in the capital with the aim of returning to
power by means of mass demonstrations and a
general strike led by the National
Resistance Front Against the Coup d'Etat.
But he said there would be no violence, and
called for all sectors of society to engage
in dialogue.
"I'm in Tegucigalpa again, determined to
rebuild democracy through dialogue," Zelaya
told Canal 36, a TV station that has given
favourable coverage to the 86 days of
protests against the Jun. 28 coup - the
longest protest movement in the country's
history.
The news of Zelaya's return spread like
wildfire around the country, and the members
of the Front who had begun to gather at the
"Vicente Cáceres" Central Institute, the
largest high school in the capital,
immediately headed to the United Nations
building in downtown Tegucigalpa.
However, it transpired shortly afterwards
that rumours that Zelaya was in the United
Nations offices were false.
Then at noon local time, they headed to the
Brazilian embassy, where they saw the
deposed president, wearing his trademark
white sombrero, brown leather jacket and
black pants. The leader was reunited with
his wife, Xiomara Castro, who arrived at the
embassy at the head of thousands of
supporters.
In his first statements to the press, Zelaya
confirmed that it took him two days to
travel from Nicaragua to the mountains of
Honduras. "I cannot give details, because I
don't want those who helped me to be
bothered," he added.
Before talking to the press, Zelaya spoke on
the telephone with Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez, asking him to talk to other Latin
American presidents to continue building
diplomatic support for a peaceful solution
to the crisis in Honduras, which began when
Zelaya was forced out of his home by the
military at gunpoint and put on a plane to
Costa Rica, still in his pyjamas.
Zelaya also called Brazilian Foreign
Minister Celso Amorim, who authorised him to
enter the Brazilian embassy and promised him
a conversation with President Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva in the next few hours.
To shouts of "Yes, we did it!" members of
the Front met with Zelaya, who came out on
to a balcony at the embassy to greet the
demonstrators, mainly members of the
governing Liberal Party and the left-wing
Democratic Unification Party (UD), as well
as trade unionists, small farmers, teachers,
and members of community organisations from
poor areas of Tegucigalpa.
After 86 days in exile, Zelaya called for a
broad social dialogue to put an end to the
crisis. "We don't want violence; I am a man
of peace and of God," he said, addressing a
large number of local and foreign
journalists in the embassy.
"The officers and soldiers of the armed
forces should not attack the people. We are
unarmed people. I call on all Honduran
people, my friends and supporters, to come
to Tegucigalpa and gather outside the
Brazilian embassy, to rebuild the power of
the people."
He said reconciliation must be based on
dialogue and prejudices of all kinds must be
left aside, while calling for diplomatic
support from the international community. "I
have an open heart, and may it be God who
rewards those who deserve to be rewarded and
punishes those who should be punished," he
said.
De facto president Roberto Micheletti
initially denied reports that Zelaya was in
Honduras, saying they were part of "the
media war waged by a TV and radio station
that put out false information every day to
intimidate and confuse the population."
The de facto government's defence minister,
Leonel Sevilla, and the director of the
migration office, Nelson Mejía, denied that
Zelaya was in Honduras and confirmed that
the police would enforce the arrest warrant
issued by the Supreme Court on Jun. 28.
After the coup, during which the door to
Zelaya's home was shot open by the military
in the middle of the night, the Organisation
of American States (OAS), the United
Nations, and a large number of governments
and organisations condemned the coup, and
not a single country has recognised the de
facto government.
Micheletti and his supporters, meanwhile,
argue that there was no coup, but merely a
"presidential succession in line with the
Honduran constitution."
The U.S. government cancelled the visas of
Micheletti, the president of the
legislature, Alfredo Saavedra, and 14 of the
15 Supreme Court magistrates, as well as key
officials of the de facto regime.
The United States also cancelled millions of
dollars in military aid and development aid.
Only Japan, Israel and Taiwan have
maintained full diplomatic ties with
Honduras, while most other countries have
recalled their ambassadors in Tegucigalpa.
The de facto government has insisted on
going ahead with the Nov. 29 elections as
scheduled, despite the fact that the
international community - including the
governments of Latin American countries, the
United States, the European Union, and OAS
Secretary General José Miguel Insulza - has
vowed to refuse to recognise the results of
the elections.
Zelaya's plan is for a huge influx of people
from all around the country to surround the
Brazilian embassy, and for public employees
to go on strike. Many people in government
jobs belong to the three main trade unions,
that are part of the National Resistance
Front Against the Coup d'Etat.
The teachers' unions have called on their
members to join the strike and travel to the
capital to support the president.
Meanwhile, the armed forces commanders and
police chiefs called emergency meetings to
decide what to do.
Zelaya expects OAS Secretary General Insulza
to arrive on Tuesday, in order to engage in
talks to restore the country's institutional
order.
Zelaya's term is scheduled to end in
January. |
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