Honduran rivals signal new bid to solve crisis

President Manuel Zelaya, a refugee in his own country in  the Brazilian Embassy, early on Friday declared dead a pact to  end the crisis, while de facto leader Roberto Micheletti said  he would form a new government without Zelaya’s participation.

The United States and the Organization of American States  on Friday pushed the two sides to try again, while Latin American  presidents urged Zelaya’s re-instatement, which has been the  sticking point of the accord.

In the latest twist in the long saga, Micheletti’s government  said it would suspend installing a new cabinet to give Zelaya the  weekend to name members to it.

On the other side, a negotiator for Zelaya said  representatives from the two sides would meet on Saturday to  continue the negotiating process.

The poor Central American country, which exports bananas,  coffee and clothes, holds presidential elections on Nov. 29.

But if Zelaya and Micheletti cannot resolve their standoff, a  newly elected president might not be able to win back diplomatic  recognition and vital financial aid that were cut off to punish  the country over the coup.

“We’ve possibly found a road. There’s a pre-agreement, but  I don’t want to give more details,” Jorge Reina, a negotiator  for Zelaya, told a local radio station. “There’s a new path.”

“Micheletti ratified he recognized the importance of a  waiting period during the weekend to form the unity and  reconciliation government,” his office said in a statement.

Zelaya was forced into exile by the army on June 28 after  the Supreme Court issued an arrest order saying he violated the  constitution by planning a referendum on possibly changing it.

Congress placed Micheletti in the presidency but his  government has not been recognized by other countries in what has  become Central America’s worst political crisis in 20 years.