Honduras talks hit stalemate

Rivals for presidency remain at odds over lasting solution to power struggle.

zelaya arias
Zelaya, left, met Arias in San Jose and reiterated his demand to be reinstated immediately [AFP]

Solution ‘imminent’

In Video

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undefined Pressure on Honduras
to reinstate Zelaya

undefined UN General Assembly condemns Honduras coup
undefined Allies fret over coup
undefined Turmoil in Honduras

undefined Pictures: Honduras crisis

The president of the United Nations General Assembly said a solution to the crisis was close despite the apparent failure of the Arias-brokered talks.

“I hear we may be very close to a solution for the restitution of President Zelaya,” Miguel d’Escoto said on Friday.

“I feel confident that a solution will be arrived at very soon. By soon I mean very few days. A week is soon, but I believe sooner.”

The UN General Assembly last week issued a resolution calling for Zelaya to be reinstated to the presidency in the wake of the coup in Honduras.

Separate talks

Micheletti and Arias held separate meetings with Arias on Thursday after they refused to see each other face-to-face.

But the interim leader flew back to Honduras late on Thursday, while Zelaya headed to the Dominican Republic on Friday in an attempt to win regional support for his reinstatement as president.

“We have made the first step,” Zelaya said on Friday after a final meeting with Arias.

“President Arias heard my position and that of the union and political representatives with me, which is the immediate restoration of the elected president.”

However, Arias said that the talks have failed to produce a clear negotiated settlement.

“I feel satisfied because a sincere, clear dialogue has been initiated, but still, the positions are very different and certainly these things … take time, they require patience,” he said.

“This could possibly take more time than imagined.”

Talks to continue

Micheletti, following his return to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, said he was ready to return to talks “if necessary”.

Country facts

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undefined Second largest country in Central America
undefined Population of 7.2 million
undefined Second poorest country in the region
undefined Economy forecast to grow less than two per cent this year
undefined Relies on money from Hondurans in the US for more than 25 per cent of its gross domestic product
undefined Former Spanish colony gained independence in 1821

“If I am invited by President Arias, I will return with great pleasure,” he said.

The US has suspended military ties with Tegucigalpa in the wake of the crisis and has said that it could cut off about $200m in aid.

The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have also suspended credit to the country.

Gabriela Nunez, the finance minister in the interim government in Honduras, said on Friday that the suspension of Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank loans would cost the country $200m in 2009.

Zelaya’s leftist allies in South America have also made life uncomfortable for Micheletti since the coup.

Venezuela has suspended its oil deliveries to Honduras, while Nicaragua denied Micheletti permission to fly through its airspace for the Costa Rica meeting.

Zelaya was removed from power as he was about to press ahead with a non-binding referendum on constitution change.

Congress and the courts had declared the move to hold the public vote illegal, accusing Zelaya of trying to change the charter to enable him to run for a second term in office.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies