Deadlocked Honduras crisis talks resumed yesterday

SAN JOSE – Talks to resolve Honduras’ political crisis deadlocked over a proposal to reinstate the ousted president and form a national unity government, leading the mediator to appeal for more flexibility when negotiations resumed yesterday.

Exiled President Manuel Zelaya had threatened to declare the negotiations in Costa Rica a failure if a deal was not reached to return him to the presidency by midnight on Saturday. But his representatives said they will give the talks at least one more day, even though they say the Zelaya still plans to return to Honduras with or without an agreement.Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who is mediating the US-backed talks, said both sides agreed to attend yesterday’s talks, but remained far apart.’There are certainly many differences. We have to make an effort to be more flexible,’ Arias said after the end of Saturday’s round of talks. The Costa Rican president won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for helping end Central America’s civil wars.Zelaya negotiator Rixi Moncada said her side would extend the talks after the government of interim president Roberto Micheletti asked for more time to study Arias’ proposal, which included a national unity government headed by Zelaya, a general amnesty and early elections, among other things.Zelaya was hustled out of Honduras by soldiers in a June 28 coup, launching a major test of Latin American democracy and of the Obama administration’s policy toward the region. – Nampa-AP