Washington - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya asked the de facto government in Honduras to end repression and restore "unrestricted" freedom of expression as signs it is serious about dialogue to end the country's political stalemate. In a statement that was made public Monday in Washington by the Honduran mission before the Organization of American States (OAS), Zelaya said dialogue to solve the Honduran conflict "is only possible and will only be fruitful if it is carried out in an atmosphere of transparency, frankness, tolerance and freedom."
Zelaya, who was ousted and sent into exile on June 28, secretly returned to Honduras on September 21 and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. The international community has refused to recognize the de facto government headed by former Congress speaker Roberto Micheletti and has demanded Zelaya's reinstatement.
In the statement, Zelaya established four "imperatives" for dialogue: the end of repression, the restoration of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, "the end of harassment" of the Brazilian embassy, and permission for Zelaya himself to host Honduran personalities for talks at the embassy compound.
The OAS is to send to Tegucigalpa Wednesday a foreign ministers mission headed by OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza that will seek to bring the parties in conflict closer to each other. The delegation was to feature the foreign ministers of Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico and Panama.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim will not be travelling to Tegucigalpa and the South American giant will instead be represented in the mission by its ambassador to the OAS, Ruy Casaes.
The OAS said Saturday that Insulza already travelled to Honduras in secret last week to meet with Micheletti, with a view to "promoting dialogue" with Zelaya.
Micheletti on Friday said that the two sides had begun a dialogue. However, Zelaya told the German Press Agency
