Marchetti stands firm again--for a moment..

After earlier suggesting that the Arias proposals were a good basis for negotiation now Marchetti the interim president of Honduras has said that there will be no return of Zelaya to power. However according to the Arias negotiations this is not even negotiable! If Zelaya's return is rejected there can be no negotiations.
The U.S. has exerted some pressure on the coup leaders to agree to the Arias San Jose Accords. The agreements do re-instate Zelaya but as a lame duck president with limited powers who will be replaced when new elections are held in November or earlier. It is somewhat surprising that the Honduran elite are digging in their heels and making it difficult for the U.S. and OAS to save face. I would not be surprised if eventually they give in since they will lose almost nothing and gain a great deal.


Interim Honduran leader says Zelaya will not return to power
By Francisco Jara (AFP) – 1 day ago

TEGUCIGALPA — Honduran interim leader Roberto Micheletti insisted Friday there would be no return to power of ousted President Manuel Zelaya -- a key plank of proposals to end the crisis.

Micheletti said that "under no circumstances" would Zelaya return to office, scuppering what little hopes remained that a Costa Rican-brokered peace plan can end the deadlock prompted by Zelaya's ouster five weeks ago.

Zelaya, who was elected as a moderate conservative and took a sharp turn to the left while in office, was overthrown in a military-backed coup on June 28 and bundled out of the country.

Under the plan Zelaya would complete his term as president in a national unity government, but would be forced to leave power within months, as scheduled.

Micheletti's opposition to the plan has deepened the country's international isolation since the coup, which was widely condemned by members of the Organization of American States.

In Washington, the OAS delayed two meetings on the Honduran crisis scheduled to take place on Friday.

But as diplomatic efforts to end the standoff have run into the sand, tensions in the region have continued to escalate.

Zelaya and a group of supporters are camped on Nicaragua's border with Honduras, threatening to return home despite warnings the elected president would be arrested.

On Friday, another band of Zelaya supporters took to the streets of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, in what have become daily protests punctuated by clashes with the security forces.

The conflict has increasingly become a pitched ideological battle between the mountainous Central American country's small conservative business-oriented community and the more numerous poor, were Zelaya draws much of his support.