Honduras: Talks Instead Of Further Confrontations

Mediation between the golpistas and Manual Zelaya will take place in Costa Rica. The mediator will be Oscar Arias. Zelaya will not attempt to return to Honduras and will participate in talks.

The political standoff in Honduras between deposed President Manuel Zelaya and the regime that ousted him will be mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias in an arrangement the U.S. helped to broker.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the mediator’s role for Arias today after meeting with Zelaya in Washington, where the exiled leader came to rally support for his return to office. Zelaya agreed to join the talks, to be held in Costa Rica, rather than try to go back to Honduras. The de facto government also agreed, she said.

“It is a better route for him to follow at this time than to attempt to return in the face of the implacable opposition of the de facto regime,” Clinton said. “Instead of another confrontation that might result in loss of life, let’s try the dialogue process and see where that leads.”

The negotiations may provide an avenue for both sides to back away from a confrontation that has triggered fatal clashes between Zelaya’s supporters and the military. As tensions mounted following the military’s overthrow of Zelaya on June 28, de facto President Roberto Micheletti pledged to arrest him if he returns. Meanwhile, Zelaya has won backing from the U.S., Europe and every nation in Latin America.

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Will this work to bring democracy to Honduras? Will this restore Zelaya to the presidency?

Many questions. Few answers.