Hondurans ignore curfew to celebrate return of deposed President
(AFP/Orlando Sierra)
President Zelaya with his daughter Zoe after his dramatic return
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Thousands of supporters of Manuel Zelaya, the deposed President of Honduras, surrounded the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, last night, dancing and cheering the President, who was sheltering inside.
Chanting "Yes we could, yes we could", Mr Zelaya's supporters ignored a 26-hour curfew imposed by the interim government to remain outside the embassy, where Mr Zelaya took refuge after making a dramatic return to the capital on Monday
The government was taken by surprise Mr Zelaya's sudden return, and immediately suspended all flights to Tegucigalpa and ordered checkpoints to be set up on roads leading to the capital to keep his supporters from other regions.
Electricity was cut off for hours at a time on the block where the embassy is housed and in areas of Tegucigalpa where news media offices are located.
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“I am here in Tegucigalpa. I am here for the restoration of democracy, to call for dialogue,” Mr Zelaya told Honduran television.
Mr Zelaya told the Associated Press that he had "evaded a thousand obstacles" to return, travelling for 15 hours overland in a series of vehicles. He refused to say who had helped him to cross the border, saying that he did not want to jeopardise their safety after they helped him pull off a homecoming that the interim government had worked hard to prevent. Only minutes before he appeared publicly at the embassy, officials had said that reports of his return were a lie.
The President, who has been threatened with jail by Roberto Micheletti, the interim President, said that he was trying to establish contact with the interim government to start negotations on a solution to the stand-off that started when soldiers flew him out of the country at gunpoint on June 28.
"As of now, we are beginning to seek dialogue," Mr Zelaya said. He also asked his countrymen to come to the capital for peaceful protests and urged the Army not to attack his supporters.
"It is the moment of reconciliation," he said.
The interim government said in a statement that the army and police were ready to "guarantee the safety of people".
Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President, said that President Zelaya, along with four companions, had travelled for two days overland, crossing mountains and rivers, and risking their lives.
Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary-general of the Organisation of American States (OAS), called for calm and warned Honduran officials to avoid any violation of the Brazilian diplomatic mission.
"They should be responsible for the safety of President Zelaya and the embassy of Brazil," he said.
Celso Amorin, the Brazilian Foreign Minister, said that neither his country nor the OAS had played any role in Mr Zelaya's journey before taking him in, but reminded the interim government that any attempt to remove Mr Zelaya from the embassy would be a violation of international law.
"We hope this opens a new stage in negotiations," Mr Amorin said.
Talks moderated by Oscar Arias, the Costa Rican President, have been stalled for weeks over the interim government's refusal to accept Mr Zelaya's reinstatement.
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Late on Monday, Mr Micheletti rejected further Costa Rican mediation, declaring that Mr Arias's role as a mediator in the crisis was over.
Honduras' Foreign Relations Department criticised Brazil, saying that it was violating international law by "allowing Zelaya, a fugitive of Honduran justice, to make public calls to insurrection and political mobilisation from its headquarters".
Mr Micheletti urged Brazil in a nationwide radio address to turn Mr Zelaya over to Honduran authorities.
Mr Zelaya's presence could revive the large demonstrations that disrupted the capital following the coup and threatens to overshadow the presidential election campaign.
Eulogio Chavez, the leader of the national teachers' union, announced that the country's 60,000 teachers would go on strike indefinitely to back Mr Zelaya's reinstatement.
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, urged both sides to look for a peaceful solution to the crisis.
"It is imperative that dialogue begin, that there be a channel of communication between President Zelaya and the de facto regime in Honduras," Mrs Clinton told reporters in New York
In the days following the coup, two people were killed in clashes with security forces as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets. Thousands more Hondurans demonstrated in favour of the coup.
If the interim administration attempts to imprison Mr Zelaya, protesters who have demonstrated against Mr Micheletti could turn violent, said Vicki Gass at the Washington Office on Latin America.
"There's a saying about Honduras that people can argue in the morning and have dinner in the evening, but I'm not sure this will happen in this case," said Ms Gass. "It's been 86 days since the coup. Something had to break and this might be it."