"If offered the possibility to remain in
power (for a second term), I would not do it," Zelaya said in New York,
where he received full support from the UN General Assembly.
"I am going to fulfil my term up until January 27," if allowed to return, Zelaya said.
Zelaya said he might go back as early as Thursday and several
Latinamerican leaders, including Argentine President Cristina Fernandez
de Kirchner and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa have offered to go with him to
guarantee his safety.
"I think that the Armed Forces in Honduras will back down and say
'At your command, Mr. Constitutional President,'" Zelaya said. "I'm
going to return as president."
But Honduras' interim Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez warned Zelaya would be arrested if he returns.
Zelaya is scheduled to address the Organization of American States
on Wednesday in Washington where he will receive full support as the
constitutional president of Honduras, as happened during his address to
the United Nations General Assembly, which voted by acclamation to
demand Zelaya's immediate restoration.
However US President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
will not follow the example of several Central and South American
leaders and meet with Zelaya to pledge their personal support. Instead,
Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon will confer with Zelaya at
the OAS session.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Washington sees no
acceptable solution other than Zelaya’s return to power. He added that
a cut-off of 68 million US dollars in promised aid to Honduras was
being considered. Another 215 million in US aid was contingent on
Honduras remaining a democracy.
Zelaya, who was limited to a single four-year term when elected in
2005, triggered the crisis by trying to hold a national referendum on
getting rid of term limits. The Army rousted him from bed early Sunday
in what is being called the "pyjama coup" and put him on a plane to
Costa Rica.
Meantime in Tegucigalpa and with no international support but a
significant following at home, the new Honduran leadership called
thousands of flag-waving people into a downtown plaza. Soldiers fenced
off the area around the presidential palace, where security forces used
tear gas and water cannons Monday against Zelaya supporters, injuring
and arresting dozens.
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