The de facto Honduran government relaxed curbs on protests and media last night but toughened criticism of ousted President Manuel Zelaya as talks to end a three-month political crisis stalled.
Talks to resolve the crisis sparked by Central America's first coup in more than a decade sputtered with both sides stuck on the question of whether Mr Zelaya can return to the presidency ahead of a November election.
Mr Zelaya's camp said it would not return to the debating table until the de facto leadership produces a more serious proposal for a solution.
"The dialogue has been obstructed," Mr Zelaya said in a phone interview from his base in the Brazilian embassy.
Tensions have run high in Honduras since Mr Zelaya, forced into exile by a June 28th army coup, slipped back into the country last month and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy.
The de facto government of Roberto Micheletti, installed by Congress after the coup, sent troops to surround the building, imposed curbs on press freedoms and banned large marches.
Mr Micheletti finally carried out a promise to lift the emergency restrictions on freedoms but Mr Zelaya's negotiating team accused him of playing for time so he can stay in power until the presidential election scheduled for November 29th.
"Micheletti has not shown any political will," said Mr Zelaya envoy Victor Meza.
"He is using the talks as a distraction tool to win time. He is trying to drag out the process with inadmissible and insulting proposals."
The United States and Latin American nations have insisted Mr Zelaya be reinstated but the coup backers say he has legally been stripped of his powers and cannot come back.
Mr Micheletti's lead negotiator Armando Aguilar said his team presented a proposal asking the Supreme Court and Congress to submit official opinions on Mr Zelaya's reinstatement.
The Supreme Court, together with a near unanimous vote in Congress, was the body that ordered Mr Zelaya's June ouster, however.
The court argued he violated the constitution by seeking to allow presidential re-election and the two institutions are seen as unlikely to side with him now.
Reuters