TEGUCIGALPA – Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, holed up in an embassy three months after being toppled in a coup, was sceptical yesterday about the chances of holding talks with the divided country’s de facto leader.
Foreign ministers and diplomats from the Organisation of American States will visit Honduras today to broker talks between Mr Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti, who took power after the June 28th putsch in the coffee-growing country.
Diplomats are optimistic progress will be made and Mr Micheletti is expected to call officially for dialogue. But Mr Zelaya told Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio he would not meet his opponent unless he agrees to restore him to power as a basis for solving the crisis.
Mr Zelaya said on Monday he believed Mr Micheletti was playing for time and was not serious about ending Central America’s biggest political crisis in years. “To me, the dialogue they have called for has no credibility, it seems to be another game they are playing,” he said by telephone from his base in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.
It was not clear if Mr Zelaya’s representative will meet the diplomats from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico and Central America.
Tensions flared when Mr Zelaya slipped back into Honduras two weeks ago.
He has been trapped in the Brazilian embassy since then by troops surrounding the building as Mr Micheletti slapped emergency curbs on pro-Zelaya media and street protests.
Talks this week will likely centre on the San Jose agreement, drafted by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias when he mediated earlier in the crisis.
The document calls for Mr Zelaya’s reinstatement, a form of political amnesty and a unity government until scheduled elections on November 29th.
Mr Zelaya wants the agreement to form a basis for a solution.
But Mr Micheletti is resisting pressure to restore the leftist, toppled after he riled powerful conservatives by allying himself with socialist Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and fuelling fears he wanted to amend the constitution to extend his hold on power. Mr Micheletti wants Mr Zelaya to face trial.
Diplomats have praised a change in attitude from Mr Micheletti, who has welcomed back OAS officials he expelled last month and bowed to international pressure by agreeing to lift the curbs on media and social freedoms. – (Reuters)