TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Deposed President Manuel Zelaya made a dramatic return to Honduras’ capital on Monday, taking shelter from arrest at Brazil’s embassy and calling for negotiations with the leaders who forced him from the country at gunpoint.
The interim government ordered a 15-hour curfew, but thousands of Zelaya supporters ignored the decreed 4 p.m. shutdown and remained outside the embassy, dancing and cheering. Others in the capital started rushing home, lining up at bus stands and frantically looking for taxis.
The leftist leader’s homecoming creates a sharp new challenge for the interim government that has threatened repeatedly to throw him in jail if he returns.
Chants of “Yes, we could! Yes, we could!” bellowed from the crowd.
Zelaya told The Associated Press that he was trying to establish contact with the interim government to start negotiations on a solution to the standoff that started when soldiers flew him out of the country June 28.
“As of now, we are beginning to seek dialogue,” he said by telephone, although he gave few details. Talks moderated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias have been stalled for weeks over the interim government’s refusal to accept Zelaya’s reinstatement.
He also summoned his countrymen to come to the capital for peaceful protests and urged the army to avoid attacking his supporters. “It is the moment of reconciliation,” he said.
The government of interim President Roberto Micheletti, who took power after Zelaya’s ouster, said the curfew would continue to 7 a.m. Wednesday due to “the events of the last few hours.”
Micheletti, who has promised to step aside after scheduled presidential elections in November, made no other comment on Zelaya’s return.
The interim government was caught off guard by Zelaya’s appearance. Only minutes before he appeared publicly at the embassy, officials said reports of his return were a lie.
