Representatives of ousted President Manuel Zelaya finally reached an agreement with the interim government that could help end the monthslong dispute over Honduras’ June 28 coup, and possibly pave the way for Zelaya’s reinstatement.
The Organization of American States announced the deal late Thursday but did not release a text of the accord, in which Zelaya appears to have agreed to throw his fate into the hands of a congress that has largely supported interim President Roberto Micheletti.
“We are optimistic because Hondurans can reach agreements that are fulfilled,” Zelaya told Radio Globo, an opposition station. “This signifies my return to power in the coming days, and peace for Honduras.”
The agreement, if it holds, could represent a much-needed foreign policy victory for the United States, which dispatched a senior team of diplomats to coax both sides back to the table.
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called it “an historic agreement,” noting “this is a big step forward for the inter-American system.”
Brazil’s president said Tuesday he has asked deposed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya not to provide a pretext for coup leaders to invade the Brazilian embassy.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he spoke with Zelaya by phone on Tuesday morning, and that Zelaya has passed the night as peacefully as could be expected. Zelaya has been holed up at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since Monday, when he slipped back into the country.
“This morning I spoke to president Zelaya simply to ask him to take care to give no pretext to the coup leaders to engage in violence,” Silva said. He added that the only thing Zelaya asked was that demonstrators outside the embassy keep the peace.
Later Tuesday, police fired tear gas at thousands of demonstrators, chasing them away from the embassy.
Silva said that by allowing Zelaya into its embassy, Brazil only did what any democratic country would do.
“We can’t accept that for political differences people think they have the right to depose a democratically-elected president,” Silva said.
Ousted President Manuel Zelaya says he can’t land at the main Honduras airport because soldiers are blocking the runway with several military vehicles.
The pilot of his Venezuelan plane circled around the airport and decided that landing is “totally impossible” because of the trucks in the way.
Groups of police and soldiers also are stationed around the runway and the perimeter of the airfield, facing off against thousands of Zelaya supporters outside.
Zelaya says he’ll announce later where they’ll land. A crew of the Venezuelan network Telesur is on the plane. He told them Sunday that the pilots won’t risk a crash, and vowed to try again on Monday or Tuesday.
Soldiers stormed the house of leftist President Manuel Zelaya in a predawn raid Sunday, arresting him and removing him from power amid a growing crisis over Mr. Zelaya’s plans to try to get re-elected.
Honduran soldiers blocked a street near the residence of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in Tegucigalpa on Sunday.
“I was awakened by shots, and the yells of my guards, who resisted for about 20 minutes,” Mr. Zelaya told a news conference at the San Jose airport in Costa Rica. “I came out in my pajamas, I’m still in my pajamas….when they came in, they pointed their guns at me and told me they would shoot if I didn’t put down my cell phone.”
Mr. Zelaya called the action a kidnapping, and said he was still president of Honduras.
The Honduran Congress named its leader, Roberto Micheletti, to replace President Manuel Zelaya following his military ouster and forced exile in Costa Rica. A resolution read on the floor of Congress accuses Mr. Zelaya of “manifest irregular conduct” and “putting in present danger the state of law,” a reference to his refusal to obey a Supreme Court ruling against holding a constitutional referendum.
