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Exiled Honduran President Vows Return on Sunday

Exiled Honduran president vows to return Sunday; calls on followers to meet him at airport

Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General the Organization of American States, OAS, right, meets with... Expand
(AP)

Tegucigalpa Archbishop Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez urged Zelaya to stay away, saying Saturday in a statement read on radio and television that "your return to the country could unleash a bloodbath."

The new government has imposed a nightly curfew and limited Hondurans' constitutional rights during it, but grenades have exploded almost daily outside government buildings and businesses nonetheless.

The Micheletti government has charged Zelaya with 18 criminal acts including treason and failing to implement more than 80 laws approved by Congress since taking office in 2006, and vows to arrest him if he returns.

The OAS had given the Honduran government until Saturday to reinstate Zelaya or face suspension, but in a letter read on state television Friday night, Micheletti said that "the OAS is a political organization, not a court, and it can't judge us."

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"The government rejects the attempts of the OAS to impose unilateral resolutions," the letter said.

Zelaya was expected to address a special meeting of OAS foreign ministers in Washington later Saturday, and the group's assistant secretary-general, Albert Ramdin, said the OAS did not recognize the current Honduran government — making its withdrawal from the group illegitimate.

The body's secretary-general told the gathering that his efforts to return Zelaya to the presidency had failed, and asked the group to suspend Honduras.

"It is very clear that in the de facto government, there exists no willingness to change its conduct," Jose Miguel Insulza said.

Arriving in Washington, Zelaya told reporters he was optimistic about returning to office and still planned to travel to Honduras Sunday.

Zelaya was taken from his home at gunpoint by soldiers and flown into exile June 25, after months of pushing for a constitutional referendum that Honduras' courts and Congress had called illegal. Many suspected the referendum was an attempt by Zelaya to remain in power after his term ends in January, though he denied that.

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