Latin American diplomats tell interim government to reverse ousting of President Manuel Zelaya or face international isolation

Latin American diplomats will today deliver an ultimatum to Honduras to reverse a coup within 24 hours or face becoming an international pariah.

Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organisation of American States (OAS), is due to lead a delegation which will warn coup leaders of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

However, the interim Honduran government in the capital, Tegucigalpa, showed little sign of buckling.

It ruled out reinstating the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, whom soldiers bundled into exile last Sunday, and said the country could survive isolation.

The crisis could enter a new, explosive phase at the weekend if Zelaya keeps his promise to return to Honduras to try to regain power. The interim government said it would arrest him.

Rival crowds have demonstrated for and against the exile in recent days, underlining deep polarisation.

Earlier this week, violent clashes left dozens injured. A semblance of normality has returned to Tegucigalpa, but the authorities have restricted civil liberties, muzzled the media and imposed a nightly curfew.

Insulza, the region’s top diplomat, said he would not negotiate with the new government in order to avoid legitimising it but would instead warn of the consequences missing a deadline – which expires tomorrow – to reverse course.

“We hope the coup leaders recognise the damage they are doing to the country and the world and allow the return of President Zelaya,” he told reporters in Guayana on Thursday.

He played down hopes of breakthrough, saying: “I will do everything I can. But I think it will be very hard to turn things around in a couple of days.”

Honduras faces expulsion from the 34-member OAS, which groups most countries in the Americas. Cuba was the last to be so punished, in 1962.

It would be a symbolic step, putting pressure on donors and creditors to squeeze Honduras, an impoverished coffee exporter with a population of seven million, which relies on loans to stay afloat.

The World Bank has “paused” lending, but has not cut ties with Tegucigalpa.

The US has severed diplomatic and military contacts, but not aid, while EU ambassadors left the country earlier this week. Latin American countries briefly suspended trade.

The interim government has rebuffed the threats and said it will launch a campaign to persuade the world that Zelaya’s ousting – he was woken in his pyjamas at gunpoint and put on a plane – was a legal defence of the constitution.

Congress, the supreme court, the army and the president’s own party approved the overthrow in response to the leftist leader’s attempt to change the constitution to extend term limits, a strategy pioneered by his ally and mentor, the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez.

The interim government said Zelaya would be charged with treason and corruption if he stepped on to Honduran soil. It has also accused him of cocaine trafficking.

There are glimmers of compromise. Zelaya said this week he would not seek another term when his presidency expires in January 2010, but would instead retire to his ranch.

The interim president, Roberto Micheletti, last night softened his position , saying a referendum on allowing Zelaya to finish his term was possible.

He also suggested moving November’s presidential election forward to August to pick a new leader.

Zelaya, a cattle and timber tycoon, was elected in 2006 on a conservative ticket but then moved to the left.

He was popular with many poor Hondurans for social programmes, but his approval ratings had fallen to 30% just before the coup.

• Manuel Zelaya will ‘return only with a foreign invasion’
• Arrest warrants issued accusing exiled leader of treason

Coup leaders in Honduras today defied an international deadline for President Manuel Zelaya to return to power within 72 hours and said only a foreign invasion could reinstate him.

Roberto Micheletti, the interim leader of a government that forced Zelaya into exile on Sunday, said his predecessor would be arrested if he returned to the central American country.

Arrest warrants have been issued accusing the ousted leader of 18 crimes, including treason and abuse of authority, and Interpol will be asked to detain him. Zelaya said he planned to return to Honduras, accompanied by Latin American leaders, this weekend.

The new foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, accused Zelaya of turning Honduras into a hub for cocaine en route to the US. Three or four Venezuelan-registered planes with money and drugs landed every night, he told CNN. “We have proof of all of this. Neighbouring governments have it. The DEA [US Drug Enforcement Administration] has it.” The DEA refused to comment.

The defiant comments came amid hardening international resolve to reverse a coup that is seen as an unwelcome throwback to central America’s cold war era of military overthrows.

An emergency session of the pan-regional Organisation of American States (OAS) yesterday gave Honduras 72 hours to end the crisis and ensure the “immediate, safe and unconditional return of the president to his constitutional functions”. No other president would be recognised.

Zelaya said he would return to the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, tomorrow with the head of the OAS, the president of the UN general assembly, and the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador. The trip was pushed back to the weekend to give the interim government time to respond.

It rebuffed the ultimatum and repeated that Zelaya would be arrested on arrival. Only representatives of “friendly countries” would be allowed to enter.

Micheletti said diplomatic pressure would not reinstate his predecessor. “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,” he said.

That appeared to be a reference to threats by Zelaya’s leftwing ally, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, to topple the interim government. “No one can make me resign,” Micheletti said.

His government’s isolation appeared complete. The US, which has had cool relations with Zelaya, joined denunciations of the coup and suspended contacts with Honduras’s armed forces. The Obama adminstration said it would shun a delegation from the interim government.

The UN general assembly condemned it by acclamation. The World Bank froze lending to Honduras, several Latin American countries suspended trade and Spain became the first European power to recall its ambassador.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made a strongly worded statement during a trip to Libya. “We do not accept the return of coups in Latin America,” he said. “We had the experience during the 60s of the last century of facing military coups. We have stopped accepting all forms of co-operation with Honduras, because they have to respect the democratic process.”

In Tegucigalpa, businesses reopened and much of the city appeared to be running as normal, but the situation remained volatile. Dozens of pro-Zelaya protesters have been injured and detained in clashes with security forces. Thousands of anti-Zelaya demonstrators gathered yesterday to support the interim government.

The authorities have shut down several TV and radio stations and those that remain on air have ignored the crisis.

The new government said a coup had not taken place because Zelaya was constitutionally removed by the army with congressional and supreme court support. The flamboyant landowner was elected in 2006 as a conservative but tacked to the left and became a Chávez ally. He was popular among many of Honduras’s poor but concern over crime, corruption and his governing style lowered his approval rating to about 30%.

In addition to the army and congress, Zelaya had lost support of his own Liberal party. Critics accused him of sabotaging the constitution and plotting to perpetuate himself in power beyond January 2010, when his term expires.

He said yesterday he had no plans to rule beyond that date and wanted only to serve out the remainder of his term before retiring to his ranch.

Toppled president hopes tide of international support will help him to face down rivals who forced him into exile

Latin American dignitaries, possibly including Argentina’s president Cristina Kirchner, are due to accompany Manuel Zelaya in a dramatic return to Honduras on Thursday to try to reverse a military coup which ousted him from power.

The toppled president hopes a tide of international support will help him to face down the army generals, supreme court judges and political rivals who bundled him into exile last Sunday.

An uncertain greeting awaits. Clashes between security forces and pro-Zelaya protesters in the capital Tegucigalpa have left dozens injured and the new government has threatened to arrest Zelaya on sight.

“I am going to Tegucigalpa on Thursday. The president elected by the people is coming,” the leftist leader said at an emergency summit of regional allies in Nicaragua. “If they send troops to repress demonstrations or to kill me, then let them try before the eyes of the world.”

Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the pan-regional Organisation of American States (OAS), agreed to accompany Zelaya. News agency reports from Buenos Aires said Kirchner, one of South America’s highest profile presidents, would also join.

Her office did not immediately reply to requests seeking confirmation.

Before the coup Zelaya, 57, an ally of Venezuela’s socialist president Hugo Chávez, had cool relations with Washington and a low international profile. Honduras, an impoverished nation of 7 million, exports coffee and bananas but has little economic clout.

The international community – including the US – swiftly rallied to Zelaya as the victim of an illegal overthrow which evoked grim memories of central America’s cold war-era upheavals. The UN general assembly today condemned the coup and demanded Zelaya’s immediate return to power. He was due to address the assembly today before attending an OAS meeting in Washington.

Several Latin American countries have suspended trade with Honduras and the World Bank has “paused” lending, piling further pressure on the isolated government in Tegucigalpa to back down.

The strongest language during the crisis has come from Chávez who urged Hondurans to rebel and reinstate his ally. “I’ll do everything possible to overthrow this gorilla government of Honduras.”

The capital remained tense today after three days of clashes between security forces and protesters which left dozens needing medical treatment. At least two dozen people were reported arrested.

The authorities have shut down several TV and radio stations and those that remain on air have ignored the crisis and broadcast soap operas and cooking programmes. The new government said no coup had taken place and that Zelaya was constitutionally removed by the army with congressional and supreme court support.

Congress swore in its speaker, Roberto Micheletti, as the new interim president. He urged the international community to respect Honduran sovereignty and said he would step down after presidential elections in November.

The newly appointed foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, suggested Zelaya may not be arrested if he makes no attempt to regain power. “He can come in, but only if he leaves his presidency behind him,” Ortez told local media. “We are not going to allow him to come here to create unnecessary problems.”

Analysts said both sides would have to negotiate a compromise, possibly one which allowed Zelaya to complete the final months of his term which ends in January 2010.

The flamboyant landowner was elected in 2006 as a conservative but tacked to the left and became a Chávez ally. He was popular among many of Honduras’s poor but concern over crime, corruption and his governing style lowered his approval rating to around 30%.

He angered the courts, army, congress and his own party by trying to hold a non-binding referendum which may have paved the way for him to change the constitution to run again when his term expired.

Days before the coup Zelaya fired the armed forces chief, who refused to cooperate in the referendum, and defied a supreme court ruling to abandon the vote.

Profile: Manuel Zelaya

Manuel Zelaya is a wealthy cattle baron from the Honduran elite but soon after being elected president in 2006 he embraced Hugo Chávez’s brand of Venezuelan socialism.

He doubled the minimum wage (though few employers paid it), started social programmes and blamed oligarchs for poverty, earning support from the underclass. His cowboy hat, bushy moustache and recent ideological conversion made him stand out from other Latin American leftists.

As his ratings fell Zelaya clashed with the media over stories about crime and government corruption and became isolated in congress, with his own party turning against him.

Accusations that he violated the constitution came to a climax over his push for a referendum which might have abolished presidential term limits. The courts, army and congress joined forces to oust him.