Failure on the part of the OAS to reach an agreement for the return of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya yesterday signals the beginning of a new stage, says Radio Progreso correspondent Félix Molina. As the diplomatic mission left Tegucigalpa on Tuesday without approval for the San José Accord from de facto leader Roberto Micheletti Bain, the Honduran journalist says new sanctions are needed “that should include trade, economic, financing, and migratory elements.”

The seven-member mission accompanied by OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza presented a declaration to the press at the conclusion of their two-day visit to the Honduran capital. It indicated that the de facto leader and his supporters are alone in withholding support. Micheletti expressed discord with the restitution of President Manuel Zelaya and the provision of a political amnesty, key aspects of the proposal made by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. Speaking defiantly to the foreign delegation, he told OAS representatives that his regime is not afraid of sanctions.

For his part, President Zelaya reiterated, in particular through declarations by First Lady Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, his decision to accept each of the twelve points in the accord even though it will truncate the process he initiated to consult Hondurans on whether or not they would like to pursue constitutional reforms.

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