Honduras rivals renew bid for crisis solution

By Alejandra del Palacio, Luan Xiang

SAN JOSE, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A third round of mediation talks aimed at ending the political crisis in Honduras began in Costa Rica on Wednesday as the deposed leader of Honduras announced his plan to return home later Wednesday.

The chief mediator, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, presented a "Declaration of San Jose" to both camps as a final solution to the ongoing political crisis. The declaration is expected to be signed later on Wednesday by both sides.

ZELAYA'S RETURN

Ousted President Manuel Zelaya announced earlier on Wednesday from Nicaragua that he would return to Honduras with or without agreement between the parties once a 72-hour deadline for a solution, set by Arias, ends at midnight Wednesday.

Moreover, in an interview with the Spanish TV network Candena Ser, Zelaya urged his followers to accompany him on his return to Honduras, starting at 2100 GMT on Wednesday.

Arias set the deadline last Sunday for Honduras' interim government to accept a declaration proposed last week during the second round of talks.

Zelaya said that his life would be at risk because the armed forces under the de facto government had made it clear they would "shoot and kill" Zelaya if he tried to enter the country.

The post-coup government of Roberto Micheletti, on the other hand, has expressed several times their refusal to accept Zelaya's return to power.

According to the de facto government, the moment Zelaya enters Honduras, he will be detained and sent to court for violating the constitution.

Honduran interim foreign minister Carlos Lopez restated the position at a press conference before the delegation he led flew back to San Jose for the third round of talks.

"This hypothesis of a possible return of Mr. Zelaya to occupy the presidency" is totally rejected, Lopez said in a press conference after his meeting with post-coup leader Micheletti at the Presidential House.

RIVAL'S PROTESTS

As the talks resumed in Costa Rica, protests against and in support of Zelaya took place in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Clashes were reported between high school students and riot police in the Kennedy district, the most populous part of the capital city, in a pro-Zelaya march.

On the same day, other Zelaya's supporters gathered at different parts of Tegucigalpa for a massive march.

In front of the U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa, some 200 protestors demanded "less talking and more action on the international field against this coup."

Zelaya's sympathizers also held an artistic and cultural day at the Autonomous National University of Tegucigalpa to support the deposed leader.

Sources said the supporters of Zelaya also summoned a strike and road blocks for Thursday.

Meanwhile, an anti-Zelaya organization, the Democratic Civic Union (UCD), held a march to support post-coup interim president Micheletti.

The UCD said that the march intended to "support democracy" and to oppose Zelaya's return to the Central American country.

Ricardo Alvarez, the mayor of Tegucigalpa, said Zelaya "cannot come to this country to retake power, because he has violated the laws."

FIDEL CASTRO'S CRITICISM

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has dismissed the Costa Rican mediation effort, calling it a "sweetener" maneuver by the U.S. government.

Castro said in his column, "Commander's Reflections," published on Wednesday, that only the Honduran people would be able to create its own history after the June 28 coup, which dethroned Zelaya.

He said the U.S.-backed mediation effort in Costa Rica was merely Washington-designed maneuvers to win time as, inside Honduras, the pro-Zelaya movement grew stronger.

Castro said that Arias' mediation was "promoted by the extreme right-wing in the U.S. ... and supported by the Department of State, but (the mediation) evolved wrongly due to the firm resistance of the people."