Fri, July 10, 2009
Honduras's interim leader Roberto Micheletti left Costa Rica without meeting his ousted rival President Manuel Zelaya after mediated talks aimed at resolving the crisis gripping their country.
First Zelaya, then Micheletti spoke separately to Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, at his home in the capital San Jose. However the pair did not talk face-to-face as expected.
Micheletti said he would return home "totally satisfied" after earlier insisting that he remained the "constitutional president" of Honduras.
"We have started talks and our working team will stay," said Micheletti, who agreed to the Costa Rica trip under international pressure, expressing confidence after the talks that a deal could be struck.
The impoverished Central American country of seven million inhabitants has been roiled by protests since June 28, when Zelaya was abducted by the army and forcibly deported.
"We have made the first step," Zelaya said after his meeting. "President Arias heard my position and that of the union and political representatives with me, which is the immediate restoration of the elected president."
The United States has suspended military ties with Tegucigalpa and is warning it could sever 200 million dollars in aid. The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have frozen credit lines.
Zelaya's left-wing allies have also made life uncomfortable for Micheletti. Venezuela has suspended its oil deliveries to Honduras, while Nicaragua denied Micheletti permission to fly through its airspace for the Costa Rica meeting.
Amid the tension, there was speculation that a door was open to a possible solution.
The Honduran Supreme Court said ahead of the talks that if the congress granted Zelaya amnesty, he could re-enter the Central American country without fearing an arrest warrant for treason issued against him.
Latin American nations and US President Barack Obama have backed dialogue to restore democracy in Honduras.
Zelaya notably also has the support of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a regional powerbroker who provided him with a plane to attempt a return on Sunday.
Honduran soldiers and military vehicles blocked the airport runway, foiling the bid. Two Zelaya supporters protesting at the airport were killed.
A wealthy rancher who hewed strongly left since becoming president in January 2006, Zelaya raised the ire of lawmakers, judges and his country's military by seeking to rewrite the constitution for a referendum without required congressional approval.
Despite his recent denials, it was suspected Zelaya was trying to lift the one-term presidential term limit to seek re-election when his current four-year mandate ends in January next year.
Any deal seeing Zelaya restored as president in Honduras would likely require him to drop those plans.
Some Honduran lawmakers said they were open to an amnesty.
"It would be an acceptable formula to bring peace to the country," said Christian Democrat lawmaker Anibal Solis.
But most Honduran business leaders opposed any return of the beleaguered leader.
"There has been an irreversible democratic transition in Honduras, and we're going to have to stick together to create jobs in the teeth of the global crisis and if there is international isolation," Adolfo Facusse, an employers' federation chief, told AFP.
In Washington, the head of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, said he believed there was "ample margin" for a compromise to be reached.
He stressed that the cornerstone of any agreement should be Honduras's de facto government allowing Zelaya to return.
(Agencies)
