TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras’ coup-installed president told a U.S. congressional delegation Friday that full civil liberties would be restored within days, a spokesman for one of the lawmakers said after a meeting that challenged Washington’s attempts to isolate the interim government.
Interim President Roberto Micheletti said an emergency decree limiting civil liberties, including freedom of the press and assembly, would be lifted no later than Monday, said Wesley Denton, a spokesman for South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.
The other lawmakers on the trip were Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado, and Reps. Aaron Schock and Peter Roskam of Illinois.
The Republican lawmakers received the assurances in a private meeting with Micheletti at the presidential palace, said Denton, who spoke to the senator as he was changing planes in Miami.
The controversial decree shuttered two broadcast outlets that had criticized the June 28 coup that toppled President Manuel Zelaya — although one, Radio Globo, was transmitting over the Internet after police raided its offices.
The brief, amicable visit with the leaders of the coup highlighted a divide in Washington. The Obama administration considers the interim government illegitimate and is working to reinstate Zelaya.
Many conservatives, however, side with the government installed after soldiers arrested the president and flew him into exile.
Lamborn, whose district includes Colorado Springs, insisted that Zelaya was legally removed from the presidency because he broke the law by seeking a second term in office.
