TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The factions fighting for control of Honduras have begun talking days before a meeting that many hope will end a political crisis sparked by Central America’s first coup in more than a decade.
Interim President Roberto Micheletti told reporters that a dialogue is “beginning” between his supporters and those of President Manuel Zelaya, who was forced from office June 28 by a military-backed coup and is holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
Zelaya supporters expressed skepticism about Micheletti’s willingness to compromise.
“We do not believe in this coup government because they say one thing and do another,” said Juan Barahona, who led a protest of about 200 people Saturday at a small, unpaved square in Pedegral, a working-class neighborhood of Tegucigalpa. “The resistance is going to be in the streets fighting permanently against this coup regime. It’s our right.”
No security forces were present at the protest, despite an emergency decree banning gatherings of more than 20 people.
A delegation from the Organization of American States, which has taken the lead in pushing for a negotiated resolution that restores Zelaya to power, was in the country ahead of a visit by OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
