COUP LEADERS in Honduras have accepted a US-brokered deal allowing the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, to return to power and resolving Central America’s gravest political crisis since the cold war.
The de facto government led by Roberto Micheletti said it would sign an accord reinstating the leftist leader in a national unity government, raising hopes that a stand-off which has increased tension across the region will end without further bloodshed.
“It is a triumph for Honduran democracy,” said Mr Zelaya, who was toppled in a military coup four months ago. “This signifies my return to power in the coming days, and peace for Honduras.” If the deal holds – and analysts have warned things could still go wrong – it will be a significant foreign policy success for the US.
Speaking from Pakistan, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton called it a “historic agreement”.
Under the deal, Mr Zelaya will return to office and share power with his adversaries; both sides will recognise the result of a presidential election due on November 29th. If not re-elected, Mr Zelaya is to step down in January when his successor is sworn in.
The de facto government was expected to sign the accord yesterday. “I have authorised my negotiating team to sign a deal that marks the beginning of the end of the country’s political situation,” Mr Micheletti told reporters after the breakthrough on Thursday night. He said Mr Zelaya would return to office after a vote in congress which would be authorised by the supreme court.
“This is encouraging, but caution is in order,” said Michael Shifter, of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank. “This episode has had more than its share of bizarre twists and turns. The mistrust and bitterness between both sides should not be underestimated, and could still complicate [the deal’s] implementation.”
The crisis began in June when, in a dawn raid, soldiers arrested Mr Zelaya and bundled him into exile. The logger-turned-president had angered conservative foes, including congress, the supreme court and his own party by allying with Venezuela’s Socialist president, Hugo Chavez.
Many middle-class Hondurans cheered the coup, but the poor protested, prompting curfews, media curbs and security force crackdowns that left several people dead and dozens wounded. Other Latin American governments called it a dark and anachronistic return to an era of authoritarian repression.
On September 21st Mr Zelaya slipped back into Honduras – reportedly in the boot of a car – and found refuge at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. For the past 40 days troops surrounding the compound have tried to wear down Mr Zelaya and several dozen supporters also camped inside by limiting food supplies and blasting them with rock music and recorded pig grunts.
International condemnation of the coup was near-universal, turning the de facto regime into a pariah, but it dragged out talks with Zelaya envoys in an apparent effort to run down the clock to November’s election, hoping it would wipe the slate clean.
US, EU and Latin American leaders threatened not to recognise the election unless Mr Zelaya was first restored. The threat of continued isolation appears to have convinced the regime to compromise, Mr Shifter said.
Mr Zelaya’s supporters at the embassy have celebrated the deal. It could signal an imminent end to a siege which has left them defiant but weary, not least because of overcrowding and lack of beds. Mr Zelaya’s aide Carlos Reina said it might be another week before the siege ends and the former president is returned to power.