Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya arrives to attend a news conference in Managua, Friday,... 
(AP)
The talks in Costa Rica's capital were taking place under extreme pressure after Zelaya issued an ultimatum late Friday that if he was not returned to the presidency by midnight Saturday he would declare the talks a failure and return to Honduras anyway.
"I am going back to Honduras, but I am not going to give you the date, hour or place, or say if I'm going to enter through land, air or sea," Zelaya said at a news conference Friday night at the Honduran embassy in Nicaragua.
Zelaya's wife, Xiomara Castro, implied the return was imminent, telling demonstrators in the Honduran capital Saturday that "President Zelaya will be here in a few hours despite the bayonets."
Zelaya did not say what steps he would take once on Honduran soil. But earlier in the week, he said Hondurans had a constitutional right to rebel against an illegitimate government.
The Honduran military thwarted his attempt to fly home July 5 by using vehicles to block the runway at the capital's airport, preventing his plane from landing in Tegucigalpa.
Zelaya's supporters have staged near daily protests demanding his return, and about 3,000 blocked traffic on one of the main boulevards in the capital Saturday chanting slogans in favor of the ousted leader.
"Nothing will come out of the negotiations and people know that," said Cesar Silva, who helped organize the protest. He said he expected Zelaya to return to Honduras after midnight Saturday.
About 300 Zelaya supporters chanted slogans outside Arias' house as the meeting started.
"These negotiations have been put together to legitimize the coup government and all they are looking for is an exit that doesn't include their punishment or reinstating Zelaya," said John Vega, a Costa Rican student.
Honduras' Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Zelaya before the coup, ruling his effort to hold a referendum on whether to form a constitutional assembly was illegal. The military decided to send Zelaya into exile instead — a move that military lawyers themselves have called illegal but necessary.
