Mr. Zelaya
The de-facto president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, has asked Brazil that it hand over ousted president Manuel Zelaya, who has returned clandestinely to Tegucigalpa and found refuge inside the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital. Micheletti says that Zelaya should be put on trial before the country’s justice.
“I make an appeal to the government of Brazil so that it respect the judicial order against Mr. Zelaya and turn him over to Honduras’ competent authorities,” said Micheletti talking to the Honduran people via a national TV and radio linkup. And he added: “Honduras is committed to guarantee Mister Zelaya’s rights to a due process.”
Brazil together with many other nations don’t accept Micheletti as Honduras’ legitimate chief of state.
Zelaya insisted that no one will expel him from his own country again and added that from now on his motto will be: “homeland, restitution or death.”
Talking to Brazilian reporters, Zelaya, said that it’s still too early to know when he will leave the Brazilian embassy. He arrived at that diplomatic compound 86 days after having been thrown out of the government. “Now we are going to start the dialogue,” he stated.
Zelaya revealed that it took him 15 hours of travel by car and by foot to arrive to the Honduran capital. According to him, it was a trip filled with tension and he was forced to cross several military blockades.
“I used different transportation and passed through different towns,” he confided, “to get safe and sound to the capital. I found lots of repression on my way.”
The deposed president said that now is the time for the government to correct its mistakes and made an appeal for dialogue in order to avoid bloodshed.
“Honduras deserves a peaceful agreement, without violence, without bloodshed. People are defenseless, they have no weapons and it would be very unfortunate if, despite the international community vigilance, the government clamp down on the population. I believe that Mr. Micheletti should quickly correct the mistakes he made, avoiding bloodshed.”
Zelaya thanked the Lula administration for opening the Brazilian embassy for him, even risking protests: “I’d like to thank president Lula, chancellor Celso Amorim and the (presidency advisor] Marco Aurélio Garcia who opened the doors to start the dialog. May the struggle for democracy in Honduras be useful for Latin America and for the continent.”
The acting government in Honduras protested against Brazil for having sheltered Zelaya and said that it is holding the Brazilian government responsible for any violence that may occur around the embassy, which is surrounded by demonstrators favorable to the ousted president.
Written by José Wilson Miranda
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