Honduras's rival governments opened new talks to solve a crisis set off by a coup last month, but its de facto rulers sent mixed signals over allowing toppled President Manuel Zelaya's return to power.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the government that seized power in the June 28th coup to reach a deal that includes the reinstatement of Mr Zelaya, a leftist who upset the Central American country's ruling elite.
But as negotiations re-opened in Costa Rica it was not clear whether there was any chance of a breakthrough.
In a sign of flexibility, the pro-coup delegation said it would let the Honduran Congress and judiciary consider a proposal to let Zelaya return.
"We will transmit this draft agreement to our authorities so that dialogue can continue," said Mauricio Villeda, the interim government's delegate at the negotiations.
Yet the government's foreign minister, Carlos Lopez, again swore the ousted leader, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, would not be allowed to return.
Mr Zelaya was seized by the military and whisked out of Honduras after he was accused of violating the constitution by trying to extend presidential term limits.
The United States and Latin American countries support Mr Zelaya's return and Clinton told the coup leaders to back down.
"The secretary made very clear . . . that it's important for the de facto regime to take a serious look at the mediation effort by President Arias," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said in Washington.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, mediating the talks, proposed sending Mr Zelaya back in a matter of days under a plan that would also bring presidential elections forward a month to October.
Mr Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating Central American conflicts in the 1980s, said both sides in Honduras had to give something in the latest round of talks.
Mr Zelaya, whose presidential term runs out in January, said from exile in Nicaragua that no matter what happened at the talks he would head to the border and try to enter Honduras.