Tegucigalpa, Honduras/Caracas - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya reportedly returned Monday to the Central American country, but the defacto government denied his presence amid conflicting reports as to his precise whereabouts. Enrique Flores Lanza, chief of staff in Zelaya's government, said the ousted president was in the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras, and Brazilian diplomats told Brazilian news agency Folha Online that he was there.
However, Roberto Micheletti, the former Congress speaker designated as president after Zelaya's ouster, denied that Zelaya was back in the country at all.
Past attempts by Zelaya to return to his country have ended in standoffs. Micheletti has long insisted that he would be arrested if he were to set foot in Honduras, and charges have been filed against him for treason and corruption.
Zelaya was removed from office by a military-backed coup on June 28, but he continues to be recognized by the international community as the country's legitimate leader. The government set up after the coup is headed by Micheletti, who was next in line under presidential succession rules.
UN spokeswomen in New York and Tegucigalpa denied earlier reports that Zelaya was in a UN building in the Honduran capital as initial reports had indicated.
A UN spokeswoman in Tegucigalpa told CNN en Espanol that she had spoken briefly to Zelaya, who told her he was in Honduras and was planning to speak to the media within a couple of hours.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - a close ally of Zelaya - said in Caracas that the ousted president returned to his country "over land, crossing rivers, risking his life with barely four companions."
"He managed to get to the Honduran capital and he is in Tegucigalpa," Chavez said, as he asked the Honduran authorities to respect the lives of Zelaya and his relatives.
"Congratulations, you have done something heroic that will go down in the history of Honduras and Latin America," Chavez said, addressing Zelaya.
Earlier, sources at the Honduran Embassy in Washington told the German Press Agency
