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Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya talks to US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon - Source: Reuters -
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Honduras' post-coup rulers invited ousted President Manuel
Zelaya to fresh talks after a high-level US delegation pressured
both sides to resume negotiations to resolve the crisis.
The US team, led by Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon and
Dan Restrepo, the White House's special assistant for Western
Hemisphere affairs, arrived on Wednesday for a last-ditch effort to
broker a resolution to the impasse that has left the Central
American country diplomatically isolated since Zelaya's army-backed
overthrow.
They met Zelaya at the heavily guarded Brazilian Embassy where he
has been holed up since he snuck back into the country last month
and later sat down with de facto leader Roberto Micheletti, who was
installed by Congress after the June 28 military coup.
"They're urging both sides to show flexibility and redouble their
efforts to bring this crisis to an end," State Department spokesman
Ian Kelly said in Washington.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants Zelaya and Micheletti
to return to the negotiating table before a November 29
presidential election. Washington has threatened not to recognize
the vote unless a deal is reached, and Zelaya says the vote will be
invalid if he is not returned to office first.
A Micheletti representative described the meeting between the de
facto leader and the US diplomats as fruitful and invited Zelaya to
return to the negotiating table on Thursday morning.
Repeated efforts to reach an agreement have stalled over the issue
of whether Zelaya can be reinstated to complete his term, which is
due to end in January.
The latest round of talks collapsed on Friday and there was no
indication there was any progress in resolving the issue on
Wednesday.
"If the proposal is to reinstate me after the elections, I cannot
endorse the elections," Zelaya said after his meeting with the US
officials.
The leftist leader was toppled after he angered business leaders,
the military and political rivals by moving Honduras closer to
Venezuela's Socialist president, Hugo Chavez.
The coup in the impoverished coffee-producing country has sparked
the most serious political crisis in Central America in years, and
posed a challenge to US President Barack Obama after he vowed to
improve relations with Latin America.
Demand against Brazil
Irked by Zelaya's stay in the Brazilian Embassy, the de facto
government presented a formal complaint against Brazil with the
International Court of Justice in The Hague for intervening in
Honduras' internal affairs, Carlos Lopez, who acts as Micheletti's
foreign minister, said on Wednesday.
"A diplomatic mission should not be used as a trampoline, a
platform ... for national politics," Lopez told reporters.
It was not clear if the court would consider the demand since the
de facto leaders are not recognized internationally.
Brazil, trying for a more muscular foreign policy in the region,
stepped up its role in the crisis when it gave Zelaya, his family,
and a group of supporters, refuge in the embassy.
Critics say the United States is not doing enough to pressure
Micheletti and is standing on the sidelines by letting Latin
American governments and the Organization of American States take
the lead on Honduras policy.
Human rights groups have documented major abuses by the de facto
government and say free and fair elections will be impossible after
Micheletti curbed civil liberties and temporarily shut opposition
news outlets last month.
More than a dozen members of the US Congress wrote to Obama this
week, urging he refuse to recognize elections organized by
Micheletti's government.
