TEGUCIGALPA, (Reuters) – Honduras’ de facto leader Roberto Micheletti appeared to back away yesterday from a proposed deal to resolve a political crisis sparked when the army ousted President Manuel Zelaya in a coup.
Zelaya’s lead negotiator Victor Meza had earlier said the two sides agreed on the wording of an agreement, and the army chief said a resolution was near.
But negotiators who met later with Micheletti in the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa said no final deal had been reached on the central issue of reinstating the leftist Zelaya, who was toppled in a June 28 coup.
“The dialogue on this point has been cordial and both sides have made important advances. However, at this moment, there is no final agreement on this point,” they said in a statement.
The coup triggered Central America’s worst crisis in years. It has become U.S. President Barack Obama’s first major test in Latin America after promising better relations with the region.
The central issue in negotiations this week is the return of Zelaya to power, but Micheletti, a veteran politician who took office after the putsch, said yesterday that the Supreme Court would have to decide the future of his rival.
“As I understand it, Zelaya is asking that Congress determine if he can return or not,” Micheletti said. “But it is the Supreme Court that has to decide.”
The proposal put together by negotiators is also believed to contain plans for a interim government with representatives from both camps.
Army chief Romeo Vasquez, a key figure in the coup, said a deal appeared close. “I know that we have advanced significantly, we are almost at the end of this crisis,” he told local radio HRN.
Zelaya was toppled and forced into exile by soldiers but slipped back into Honduras last month and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in the capital to avoid arrest.
