Former Honduran president makes brief return

Ousted president Manuel Zelaya has taken a few steps – briefly - back into his homeland Honduras in defiance of the military. Accompanied by a crowd of journalists, the former leader crossed the border from Nicaragua — but quickly returned to the Nicaraguan side of the frontier before confronting Honduran troops waiting to arrest him.
 
The former president has been sheltering  in neighbouring Nicaragua since being toppled and flown into exile a month ago. He has vowed to return but Washington has warned against it without a negotiated political settlement.
 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US supported a negotiated, peaceful solution to the crisis and that President Zelaya’s border visit was “reckless.”
 
The president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias has proposed the reinstatement of the former president, a move likely to be rejected when the Honduran congress debates the issue on Monday. 
He said Mr Zelaya’s action was not the best way of reaching a reconciliation.
 
In Honduras the political turmoil has split the country with growing tension between rival groups. Supporters of the new government took to the streets of the capital on Friday to show their contempt for the ousted President’s attempts to return to his homeland.
 

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tags: Honduras, Politics, USA