Word: zelaya
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...this much for Roberto Micheletti: The Honduran coup leader, who refuses to let deposed President Manuel Zelaya back into the country, has at least turned Washington and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez into diplomatic bedfellows. But can the Honduran crisis, as many are beginning to suggest, make acrimonious relations between the U.S. and Venezuela chummy again...
...Honduras Contested Coup After being spirited from the country in a June 28 coup that sparked protests both for and against his rule in Tegucigalpa, the capital, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya addressed the U.N. General Assembly to argue for his reinstatement. While coup leaders say Zelaya's removal was lawful, the U.N., the Organization of American States and the White House are lobbying for his return and for a peaceful resolution to the crisis...
...possible way out, diplomats close to the Honduran talks tell TIME, is to move up the nation's November presidential election and January inauguration. Zelaya could return to power, but only on the condition that he not try to alter the constitution, especially its ban on presidential re-election. The Honduran crisis was sparked when Zelaya made noises about giving presidents a second term - a sign to many Hondurans that he wanted to take them down the path of his left-wing allies, like Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who recently won a referendum that allows indefinite re-election...
...Under this scenario, say the diplomats, Zelaya would be immune from prosecution when he's back in Honduras. Likewise Micheletti, who last week had insisted he that he would never negotiate Zelaya's return, and other Zelaya foes, including the military leaders who ousted the President, would not face trial for the coup. "It's designed to keep the potential for violence at a minimum when Zelaya is reinstated," says one diplomat in Washington, who asked not to be identified...
...Still, during his visit to Moscow Obama reiterated that "America supports now the restoration of the democratically elected President of Honduras." He added, "We do so not because we agree with" Zelaya's often anti-U.S. stances, but "because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not." Micheletti's Foreign Minister, Enrique Ortez, shot back, saying "I respect that little black guy, but he doesn't know where Tegucigalpa is." It appears, however, that Obama may well know enough to get Zelaya back to that capital...