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Ousted Honduran president: 1st talks a failure
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-25 14:53
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said late Thursday that his first talks with the interim government that kicked him out of the country in June were a failure. An official with the administration of interim President Roberto Micheletti took "an extremely hard" stand when the two met Wednesday night, Zelaya told TV Channel 36. The comment was a direct reversal of Zelaya's remarks earlier Thursday, when he told Radio Globo that the talks were "the beginning to find peaceful solutions."
Zelaya also again insisted that any agreement with the interim government must include his reinstatement as president. Zelaya also met Thursday with the four leading candidates competing in the presidential election this fall and said that he plans to meet with business and social leaders this week. No details of the encounter with the candidates were available late Thursday. Zelaya has said in the past that the November 29 election won't be legitimate unless he is restored to office. Zelaya had been demanding to talk with interim President Roberto Micheletti since Monday when he sneaked back into the country and took shelter at the Brazilian Embassy. Micheletti's government did not immediately comment Thursday. Troops still surrounded the Embassy, where an increasingly exhausted Zelaya, his family and about 70 supporters remained sheltered. But life outside the gates of the two-story compound was almost back to normal Thursday: After days of paralyzing curfews, most children returned to school, airplanes began landing at the airport, borders were open and downtown streets were again crammed with taxis, buses and vendors hawking newspapers, snacks and bubble gum. "It feels excellent," said Dagoberto Castillo, 27, a mechanic who opened his body-repair shop for the first time this week. The government, however, declared a partial curfew for border areas and the northern industrial city of San Pedro Sula, the country's second-largest city, from late Thursday until Friday morning. Zelaya was kicked out of Honduras after the Supreme Court endorsed charges of treason and abuse of authority against the leader for repeatedly ignoring court orders to drop plans for a referendum on whether the constitution should be rewritten. About 3,000 Micheletti supporters marched toward the Brazilian Embassy and stopped in front of soldiers guarding the compound Thursday. The group of smartly dressed lawyers, wealthy homemakers and others held signs saying "Get out, Brazil!" as they chanted "We want elections not intervention!" Pro-Zelaya protesters held marches in working-class neighborhoods. Micheletti has said the conflict will be resolved when Hondurans elect their next leader November 29, although the US and other countries have said they may not recognize the vote if Zelaya is not reinstated. Former US President Jimmy Carter, whose nonprofit center in Atlanta is dedicated to resolving conflicts, has been in touch with the Honduran government to express concern about the current situation, Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileo told The Associated Press in an e-mail. Micheletti invited the Nobel Peace laureate to mediate new talks but Congileo said Carter is simply supporting efforts made by the Organization of American States and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, another Nobel Peace laureate who moderated previous US-backed talks. Those negotiations broke down after Micheletti's government refused to accept a plan that would allow Zelaya to return to the presidency with limited powers and prohibit him from attempting to revise the constitution. Zelaya's term ends in January. Micheletti announced in a statement Thursday that he told Carter he hopes Arias visits Honduras to hold talks with him and Zelaya. |
