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Costa Rica's Foreign Minister Bruno
Stagno (R) reads a statement next to OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel
Insulza during a news conference in Tegucigalpa August 25,
2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>> |
TEGUCIGALPA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- A mission of the
Organization of American States (OAS) in Honduras seeking a solution to the
country's political deadlock ended Tuesday without breakthrough.
The mission, led by OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, hoped to persuade the interim government into accepting a deal and having the ousted President Manuel Zelaya back to power until a national election is held in November.
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Jose Miguel Insulza (C), secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Panama's First Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Juan Carlos Varela (L), and Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno attend a meeting in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Aug. 25, 2009. A mission of the OAS in Honduras seeking a solution to the country's political deadlock ended Tuesday without breakthrough. (Xinhua/Rafael Ochoa) Photo Gallery>>> |
The San Jose Accord, brokered last month by Costa
Rican President Oscar Arias, also called for the establishment of a national
reconciliation government formed by the interim regime and the ousted president.
"Still, Mr. (Roberto) Micheletti and his supporters
do not have the disposition to fully accept" the deal, said Costa Rican Foreign
Minister Bruno Stagno.
Nevertheless, the mission, which included foreign
ministers from Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Jamaica and Dominican
Republic, insisted that San Jose Accord should provide an "immediate, balanced
and viable path to restore the democratic order in Honduras."
The mission arrived in Honduras on Monday amid a taxi
drivers' protest demanding the payment of a bonus by the Honduran interim
government. Supporters of the ousted President Manuel Zelaya also announced
protests.
It had met with officials of the interim government,
members of Zelaya's government and the deposed president's wife, Xiomara Castro.
Micheletti, who took over as interim president hours
after the June 28 coup, said his government would stick to the plan to hold a
presidential election in November.
"There will be elections whether they are recognized
or not," Micheletti said, adding that his country could survive any economic
sanctions imposed over the refusal to reinstate Zelaya.
"We are not afraid of anyone's embargo," Micheletti
told the ministers. "This country can get by without your support."
The United States said on Tuesday that it would cut
its visa services in Honduras in a move that increased pressure on the de facto
government.
"We are suspending non-emergency, non-immigrant visa
services in the consular section of our embassy in Honduras, effective Aug.26,"
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement.
Kelly said that the U.S. move to limit visa services
in Honduras was intended to reinforce the ongoing OAS efforts to persuade the de
facto government to accept the San Jose deal.
"We firmly believe a negotiated solution is the
appropriate way forward and the San Jose Accord is the best solution," the
spokesman said.