Ex-president Zelaya stumbles in bid for return

TEGUCIGALPA, Thursday

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya may have jeopardised his bid to return to power by agreeing to a US-brokered pact to end a four-month political crisis because the pact contains no guarantees for him.

Days after he applauded an agreement between his camp and that of a de facto government as a “triumph” for democracy, Mr Zelaya is looking increasingly unlikely to be let back to office to serve the last few months of his term.

Washington also feted the deal between Mr Zelaya and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti as a way to end the tense deadlock since a June 28 coup, but the deal puts Mr Zelaya’s return in the hands of Congress, which is stalling on the issue.

The United States, Honduras’s top trading partner, has stopped pushing for Mr Zelaya to be reinstated as part of ending Central America’s worst political crisis in two decades.

“The accord favours the de facto government,” said political consultant Thelma Mejia. “It’s a straitjacket for Zelaya.”

Mr Zelaya, a forestry magnate who spooked conservative opponents when he grew close to socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, claims last week’s pact paved the way for him to return and serve until the end of his term in January.

A special session

But the language of the accord leaves it to Congress to decide, and leaders of the 128-seat unicameral Congress declined on Tuesday to call a special session to debate the matter, showing they are in no hurry to bring Mr Zelaya back.

US Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon, who was in Tegucigalpa to push the two sides to sign a deal, told CNN on Tuesday that international recognition of Honduras’ November 29 presidential vote was not contingent on a Zelaya restitution. He said the issue was up to Congress.

Mr Zelaya promptly demanded the United States clarify its position, saying it was failing to respect the accords if it “recognises the elections without reversing the coup.”

Political analysts say most lawmakers oppose a Zelaya return and are convinced that if they stall until the November election, the world will recognize a new Honduran leader and lift measures imposed to punish the country over the coup.

“Zelaya committed many errors in this negotiation.

‘‘It’s against all his interests,” said analyst Juan Ramon Martinez.

The United States, Europe and multilateral groups cut aid that is key to Honduras, a poor country that produces and exports coffee and textiles. (Reuters)