Talks on leading Honduras break off

July 20, 2009|Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Talks on ending the leadership crisis in Honduras broke off yesterday after the interim government declared “unacceptable’’ a proposed compromise that included the return of its ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, to serve out his term.

The two camps’ positions remained far apart after a fourth day of negotiations, but the mediator, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, promised renewed efforts to seek a solution and avoid bloodshed in the Central American country.

“It was not possible to reach a satisfactory agreement. The Zelaya delegation fully accepted my proposal, but not that of Don Roberto Micheletti,’’ Arias said, referring to the interim president sworn in by congress after the June 28 coup.

Arias said he will spend the next three days “working much harder to see if we can reach an agreement, because what is the alternative to dialogue?’’

On Saturday, Arias proposed a plan that would let Zelaya serve out the final months of his term, move up elections by one month to late October, grant a general amnesty, and include representatives of the main political parties in a reconciliation government.

Arias, the 1987 Nobel Peace laureate for brokering an end to Central America’s civil wars, had urged patience from Zelaya and flexibility from the interim government, which has ruled since the military whisked Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint.

The Micheletti government endorsed several of Arias’s proposals yesterday - but Foreign Relations Secretary Carlos Lopez rejected the overall plan, specifically citing its provision for Zelaya’s return.

At a news conference after the talks, Lopez said Arias’s compromise “interferes with Honduran internal affairs.’’

Minutes later, Lopez told CNN en Espanol that his delegation would return to the Costa Rican capital on Wednesday “to continue our conversations.’’

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