Honduras edges toward talks
2009-09-25 09:34
Honduras - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the country's de facto government on Thursday edged toward possible talks to end a stand-off triggered after the toppled leftist took refuge in the Brazilian embassy.
Zelaya was overthrown and exiled by troops after a coup in June, but on Monday he sneaked back into the country, triggering a tense face-off with the de facto government that has promised to arrest him in Central America's worst crisis in years.
Hundreds of soldiers and riot police carrying automatic weapons have surrounded the Brazilian embassy, where Zelaya is taking shelter with his family and about 40 supporters despite food and water shortages in the building.
Zelaya, who upset conservative elites by allying himself with Socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said he had met with a representative from the de facto government though initial talks made little progress.
The meeting could signal fledging talks, but both sides have for weeks stuck by key demands: Zelaya says he must finish his time in office, while the de facto government insists on arresting Zelaya and holding elections in November.
"This is the first approach and we hope it advances. We are looking for a solution as soon as possible," Zelaya told reporters.
De facto President Roberto Micheletti on Thursday said he was open to talks, but his administration is resisting international pressure to reinstate Zelaya as a way to end the political turmoil.
"I am willing to establish dialogue wherever and whenever to try to find a solution," Micheletti said.
UN talks amid tensions
The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the political crisis in Honduras and Zelaya's future, a UN official said on Thursday.
Zelaya's return has stoked tensions in Honduras, a leading coffee producer. One man was shot and killed in a clash between police and Zelaya supporters this week as international pressure mounted to let the leftist return to power.
The United States, European Union and Organisation of American States have urged dialogue to bring Zelaya back to office.
This week at the UN General Assembly, Brazil asked the council to meet urgently about the crisis. A diplomat said the council was not expected to take any formal action to reinstate Zelaya, but would hold talks about the crisis.
Spain's prime minister said at the UN General Assembly on Thursday that democracy must be restored in Honduras.
"We won't accept the coup," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told world leaders.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who finds himself involved in a crisis outside Brazil's traditional sphere of influence in South America, said on Wednesday he requested a meeting with US President Barack Obama this week to discuss Honduras.
Soldiers toppled Zelaya at gunpoint and sent him into exile in his pajamas after the Supreme Court ordered his arrest, saying he broke the law by pushing for constitutional reforms that critics say were an attempt to change presidential term limits and extend his rule.
