| | |  Americas & Beyond | October 2009 
US Urges Flexibility in Efforts for Honduras Deal
 Juan Zamorano - Associated Press
October 29, 2009
| | Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya, right, displays his hat to Thomas Shannon, center, U.S Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and Hugo Llorens, left, U.S ambassador to Honduras, before a meeting at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. (AP/Esteban Felix) | |
Tegucigalpa, Honduras — A senior U.S. delegation asked Honduras' rival factions Wednesday to be more flexible about ways to resolve the coup-torn country's 4-month-old crisis and urged them to return to the negotiating table.
Talks between representatives of the interim government and of ousted President Manuel Zelaya have broken over a key point – whether Zelaya will be reinstated – with a previously scheduled election looming in November.
Tom Shannon, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, led the U.S. delegation, which includes his department's No. 2, Craig Kelly, and Dan Restrepo, President Barack Obama's point man on Latin America to the National Security Council.
The delegation arrived in Honduras on Wednesday and met with Zelaya at the Brazilian Embassy, where he has been holed up since sneaking back into the country on Sept. 21. It met later with interim President Roberto Micheletti, as well as with negotiators for both sides.
After the meeting, Zelaya said the U.S. officials "have not changed their position" in opposing his ouster. "Shannon expressed his desire for an agreement as soon as possible ... on my reinstatement."
The U.S. officials did not speak to the news media either before or after the meetings.
But U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington that the diplomats' mission was to urge "both sides to show flexibility and redouble their efforts to bring this crisis to an end."
Kelly said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who called both leaders last weekend, "believes that the United States could play a constructive role now to encourage all sides to return to the negotiating table."
The international community, including the United States, wants Zelaya returned to office.
But the government of Micheletti, who was sworn in as interim president after the June 28 coup, says Zelaya was legally removed from office after he defied a court order to cancel a referendum on whether to rewrite the constitution. The interim government accuses the leftist leader of attempting to lift a ban on presidential term limits, something Zelaya denies.
Micheletti said Tuesday that talks should resume after the Nov. 29 elections and that the balloting will resolve the crisis – despite warnings from Zelaya and a number of countries that they will not recognize the election if Zelaya is not back in office by then.
Micheletti negotiator Vilma Morales said the Americans had urged a return to dialogue but had not pressured her to reinstate Zelaya.
Morales invited Zelaya's representatives to resume the stalled talks on Thursday, saying "we are ready to sign an agreement and conclude everything." But she reiterated the interim-government position that has become a stumbling block to the talks – that "other branches of government," such as Congress or the courts, would have to decide on Zelaya's return.
The prospect of further talks seemed remote.
"I have no confidence in Micheletti," Zelaya said after meeting with the U.S. officials. "He changes his attitude from one minute to the next."
Zelaya representative Racel Dome said his side wouldn't return to talks until the government agrees "to the reinstatement of our leader."
"We are not going to fall into the (trap of) strategies that delay a dignified solution."
Also Wednesday, the Micheletti government said it is filing a complaint with the International Court of Justice in the Hague to demand Brazil stop sheltering Zelaya at its embassy in Tegucigalpa. It accuses Brazil of violating its diplomatic status and could seek unspecified compensation for alleged damages to the Honduran state, according to a statement from Carlos Lopez, the interim foreign minister.
Brazil supports Zelaya's demand to be reinstated and has not pressured him or his supporters to leave.
Micheletti's government pledges not to storm the diplomatic mission but says Zelaya faces arrest if he leaves.
Associated Press Writer Matt Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
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