Zelaya delays plan to return

Source: Agencies  |   2009-7-2  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

HONDURAS' interim leader warned that the only way his predecessor will return to office is through a foreign invasion - although a potential showdown was postponed yesterday when the ousted president delayed plans to return.

A defiant Roberto Micheletti said on Tuesday that "no one can make me resign," defying the United Nations, the OAS, the Obama administration and other leaders that have condemned the military coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya.

The UN General Assembly voted on Tuesday to demand Zelaya's immediate restoration, and the Organization of American States said yesterday that coup leaders have three days to restore Zelaya to power before Honduras risks being suspended from the group. That period for negotiation prompted Zelaya to announce he was putting off his plans to return home today until the weekend.

Micheletti vowed Zelaya would be arrested if he returns, even though the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador have signed on to accompany him along with the heads of the OAS and the UN General Assembly.

Zelaya "has already committed crimes against the constitution and the law," said Micheletti, a member of Zelaya's Liberal Party who was named interim leader by Congress following the coup.

"He can no longer return to the presidency of the republic unless a president from another Latin American country comes and imposes him using guns."