President Zelaya is back in Honduras

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Zelaya back in Honduras! | Photo 09

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The deposed president is definitely back in Honduras. Originally, it was said that Zelaya was inside a UN building in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, but the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras rectified the information, stating the president is actually in their office. 

The Organization of American States (OAS) called for an emergency session to disscuss the new turn on the Honduran situation, and urged the de facto government to sign the San José Accords. The regime, instead, set a curfew starting at 22H0 GMT today, to prevent anyone from meeting the constitutional president. Immediately after the official announcement was made, Radio Globo encouraged the population to ignore the curfew and vehemently asked the military to allow people to go out to the streets to celebrate.

Vehicules were honking their horns and thousands of people waving flags cheerfully gathered in front of the Brazilian embassy, where the president is staying with his wife, Xiomara Castro, members of the Resistance Movement Against the Coup, and others. Castro hoped a peace dialogue could take place, and thanked Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, for fostering them in the embassy.

Apparently, Zelaya arrived by land at midnight, but it wasn't disclosed to the media until now. The Venezuelan president, on his part, said Mel began his journey back home two days ago, through mountains and rivers.

Zelaya gave further details on his journey, describing it as "too long", where he had to switch to various means of transportation in order to avoid the police and military. The ultra-secret operation was "carefully planned".

Earlier in the day, Roberto Micheletti, the de facto president, denied the news, calling it "mediatic terrorism", and said Zelaya was staying at a hotel in Nicaragua.

However, Mel has already shown up and given various interviews to teleSUR, AlJazeera, CNN and Radio Globo. In one of the interviews, the Honduran president called for his supporters to protect him from a possible murder.

In conversations with teleSUR, Manuel Zelaya said he is "fulfilling the people's will", after 86 days in exile. He also addressed the difficulties he had to go through in order to enter his country at night. "With a pacific strategy to avoid violence, we made it".

Patricia Rodas, Hondura's chancellor, also gave an interview to teleSUR, saying the president is "back to recover his dignity, to take back and protect the freedom of the Honduran people, to fulfill the people's mandate to guide them into greater transformations".

Rodas also confirmed Zelaya entered the country through the mountains, and called for the end of the de facto government.

Meanwhile, those who are already at the Brazilian embassy sang Happy Birthday to Mel, who turned 57 yesterday (he was born on September 20, 1952). He, after briefly greeting his followers, called for his cabinet to reunite with him and hold a meeting.

OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza will be arriving in Honduras on Tuesday to begin dialogues between Zelaya and Micheletti.

Timeline

Manuel Zelaya, Hondura's constitutional president since January 27, 2006, was bundled onto a plane and ousted on June 28, 2009 after he pushed for a non-binding public consultation about a new constitution.

He was deposed in a military-backed coup, and that same day Roberto Micheletti, president of the Congress, took his place, which has been widely condemned all over the world.

Micheletti then threatened to arrest Zelaya if he 'set foot' in Honduras. Even so, the president attempted to return to his country two times. On 5 July, his plane was blocked by soldiers as he tried to land in the Tegucigalpa airport.

Then on July 25, Manuel Zelaya arrived at the Nicaraguan border and briefly returned to his land, crossing back into Nicaragua shortly after.

Oscar Arias, Costa Rica's president, hosted talks to try and reach for an agreement, and offered the San José Accords, which were turned down by the de facto government.