US mission pries open dialogue in Honduras

Oct 29, 2009, 19:20 GMT

   Tegucigalpa - Representatives of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and of the country's de facto leader Roberto Micheletti re-opened talks Thursday, sponsored by a delegation from the United States.

Three delegates designated by Zelaya and three representing Micheletti stayed seated at the negotiating table while the delegation led by Tom Shannon, the US State Department's assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, launched talks and then left.

Zelaya was initially reluctant to re-open talks, and his advisor Carlos Eduardo Reina had told reporters that he was boycotting the new round of negotiations. However, he eventually backtracked and sent his envoys.

   Talks aimed at resolving the country's political standoff had broken down in the capital Tegucigalpa on Friday.

Zelaya himself had met with Shannon and the rest of the US delegation late Wednesday.

The high-profile US mission marked the first time since Zelaya was ousted on June 28 that Washington has taken a leading role in pressuring the leaders of the de facto government to restore democratic order.

The US has been involved in talks in the past, but only as part of a joint negotiating team led by the Organization of American States.

   The US decision to send a mission to Honduras came after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke by telephone late last week with both Zelaya and Micheletti.

   Honduras is nearing a presidential election on November 29, which had already been on the calendar before Zelaya's ouster. However, Zelaya and the international community, which does not recognize Micheletti's government, have rejected the election since it is being carried under what they see as illegitimate conditions.

The international community demands Zelaya's reinstatement, while Micheletti insists that neither of the two men should hold power and that someone else should be designated to head the country until the new president's scheduled inauguration on January 27.