MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Costa Rican president to lead mediation in Honduras political crisis

President Oscar Arias has the support from the Obama administration, ousted Zelaya and interim Micheletti

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is to lead mediation to resolve the political crisis in Honduras. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement in Washington after meeting ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

She said both Mr Zelaya and the interim Honduran leader, Roberto Micheletti, have agreed on the appointment. Mr Arias said talks would begin on Thursday.

Mr Arias won a Nobel Pize in 1987 for helping end the region's civil wars.

“He is the natural person to assume this role,” Mrs Clinton said.

Mr Zelaya was ousted on 28 June. An attempt to fly back to Honduras failed at the weekend when the authorities there blocked the runway at Tegucigalpa airport.

Washington has sharply criticised the use of violence by troops loyal to the interim authorities, which saw at least one Zelaya supporter killed on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Mrs Clinton said her meeting with Mr Zelaya had been productive.

“I reiterated to him that the United States supports the restoration of the democratic, constitutional order in Honduras,” she said. But she stopped short of explicitly calling for Mr Zelaya to return to power, saying he should try to settle issues in talks.

“I believe it is a better route for him to follow at this time than to attempt to return in the face of the implacable opposition of the de facto regime,” she said.

“So, instead of another confrontation that might result in a loss of life, let's try the dialogue process and see where that leads, and let the parties determine all the various issues as they should.”

Mr Zelaya told Honduran radio that his reinstatement as president was “non-negotiable”. However he said he was pleased with Arias' appointment. “I have accepted Dr. Arias' mediation” adding that the step showed “the international community is still supporting democracy in Honduras”

From Honduras Roberto Micheletti - the interim leader - said: “Arias is a man with a lot of credibility in the world. We are open to dialogue. We want to be heard.”

Mr Micheletti's interim government was named by the Honduran Congress to replace Mr Zelaya's administration.

It followed Mr Zelaya's attempts to hold a non-binding public consultation on June 28 to ask people whether they supported moves to change the constitution.

Opponents said that could have led to the removal of the current one-term limit on serving as president and so pave the way for his possible re-election.

The move was considered illegal by the Honduras Supreme Court, Congress and Zelaya’s own Liberal party.

Regional body the Organisation of American States (OAS) has already condemned the ousting of Mr Zelaya as a military coup, and suspended Honduras' membership.

Meanwhile Brazilian Foreign Affairs Secretary Celso Amorim forecasted that the “de facto” Honduran government “won’t last long” and called for an end to the repression spiral in the country.

“The regime lacks domestic and international legitimacy, so it won’t last long”, he said adding that Honduras is too dependent from the US market and loans from the World Bank and Inter American Development Bank.

“The responsibility for the suspension of foreign aid rests exclusively on the coup promoters”, warned the Brazilian official.