SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, (Reuters) – Honduras’ deposed President Manuel Zelaya and the de facto government that ousted him in a coup failed yesterday to end the country’s political crisis as two days of talks collapsed.
Minutes after the negotiations in Costa Rica fell apart, Zelaya told Reuters that “no one can stop me” from returning to Honduras, a move that the U.S. government has tried to dissuade him from taking due to fears it would trigger violence.
Roberto Micheletti, the interim leader installed by Congress following the June 28 military coup, has threatened to arrest Zelaya if he sets foot in the country and has put the army on high alert.
A previous attempt by Zelaya to fly home on July 5 was thwarted by Honduran troops who prevented the plane from landing in Tegucigalpa. At least one person was killed in clashes between troops and Zelaya’s supporters at the airport.
The two sides were unable on Sunday to overcome the major stumbling block in negotiations — Zelaya’s return to power.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, the mediator in the talks, had proposed that Zelaya be allowed back to Honduras in the coming days to set up a coalition government including rival parties. But Micheletti refused to back down.
“I’m very sorry, but the proposals that you have presented are unacceptable to the constitutional government of Honduras, Micheletti’s envoy Carlos Lopez told Arias in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose.
Zelaya’s team said it would not continue talks with representatives of Micheletti, whose presidency has not been recognized by any foreign government.
“This dialogue with this commission of the de facto, military coup government is finished,” said Rixi Moncada, a Zelaya representative at the talks.
Zelaya left the door open to further talks in the future, but said he thought a negotiated settlement was unlikely.
“You must never close the door on actions of good faith,” Zelaya told Reuters in a telephone interview from exile in Nicaragua. “The mediator can continue to make efforts. I do not think that efforts with coup-mongers, just as with terrorists and kidnappers, will work.”
Arias held out hope for renewing the dialogue but set himself a three-day deadline. “My conscience tells me that I cannot give up and must continue working for at least three more days and that is what I propose to do,” he said.
Arias plans to talk separately with Zelaya, Micheletti, and the Organization of American States in coming days. It was not clear whether he would call another round of negotiations between the rival sides, possibly for Wednesday.
He warned of political violence in Honduras if diplomacy is abandoned. “What happens if someone shoots at a soldier and a soldier shoots his gun at an armed citizen? … Bloodshed that the Honduran people don’t deserve,” he said.
