[HNA] Some progress in negotiations, can the dictatorship be trusted

[Sergio Reyes]

Honduran factions agree on key point in talks
By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press Writer Juan Carlos Llorca, Associated Press Writer 
8pm - 10/14/09
 
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Representatives of opposing factions in the Honduran political crisis reached a tentative agreement Wednesday on whether ousted President Manuel Zelaya should return to power, a negotiator said, in what would be the most significant breakthrough since a June coup.

It was unclear exactly what the two sides had decided and interim President Roberto Micheletti's office released a statement saying only that no definitive agreement had yet been reached and that talks would continue Thursday.

Victor Meza, a negotiator for Zelaya, said representatives had agreed on "point six" of a proposed agreement, which deals with the ousted president's return to office. Meza said he could not give details until both Zelaya and Micheletti's government had approved the plan.

Zelaya, who had been holed up at the Brazilian Embassy since sneaking back into the country from his forced exile last month, told reporters that the final text is still being worked out and he declined to give more details.

Jose Miguel Insulza , the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, expressed optimism that that impasse would be resolved. He told the OAS general assembly that he understands a couple of portions of the accord "still need work."

Zelaya's representatives have repeatedly made clear they will not accept any agreement that does not include his return to serve out his presidential term, which ends in January. Zelaya has warned that if he is not returned to office by Oct. 15, he would seek to postpone Nov. 29 presidential elections, which were scheduled before his ouster.

Micheletti has been under intense international pressure to restore Zelaya, who was toppled in a dispute over his efforts to change the Honduran constitution. For weeks, the interim government shrugged off the suspension of U.S. aid and other sanctions, but the pressure intensified with Zelaya's surprise return to the country last month.

Top level diplomats from the U.S. and other countries flew to Honduras last week and pushed the two sides to the negotiating table — making clear that Zelaya's reinstatement was the only way to end the Central American country's diplomatic isolation.

Negotiators have said they have agreed on all other points in the pact, first proposed by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

The deal would include a truth commission to investigate the events leading up to the coup and a committee to ensure that both sides live up to the agreement. It also requires Zelaya to give up his efforts to change the Honduran constitution, an initiative critics said he intended to use to extend his term in office by abolishing a ban on presidential re-election. Zelaya denies that was his plan. Soldiers flew him into exile after he ignored a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum to ask Hondurans if they wanted an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

The Honduran Congress then voted to install Micheletti as president.

Mayra Mejia, another Zelaya representative, said both sides had decided to renounce amnesty from prosecution. The Arias plan had included amnesty for both the coup perpetrators and Zelaya, who face abuses of power charges.

"Amnesty was never requested. Neither President Zelaya or the other side considers it necessary," Mejia said.