Brazil is considering asking for a meeting of the United Nation's security council to discuss the safety of Brazil's diplomatic mission in Honduras.

 THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL WILL HAVE A REUNION IN THE NEXT HOURS, A REUNION CALLED BY PRESIDENTS OBAMA AND LULA DA SILVA

Brazil: actions against Honduras embassy not tolerable

Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:52pm EDT

NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Brazil will not tolerate any actions against its embassy in Tegucigalpa, where ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya sought refuge after slipping back into the country, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorin said on Tuesday.

Amorim told reporters in New York that Brazil is considering asking for a meeting of the United Nation's security council to discuss the safety of Brazil's diplomatic mission in Honduras.

Hondurans surround Brazil embassy

Advertisement Police took action after Mr Zelaya's supporters defied a curfew Honduran security forces are patrolling the area around Brazil's embassy in the capital after clashes with supporters of ousted president Manuel Zelaya. Mr Zelaya, who is inside after making a surprise return from exile, accuses interim authorities of "asphyxiating" the embassy by cutting off supplies. Brazil's president has warned against any action being taken on the embassy. Interim leader Roberto Micheletti has denied any action is planned, and has urged Mr Zelaya to turn himself in. Mr Zelaya's supporters defied a curfew imposed by interim authorities Mr Zelaya arrived in the Honduran capital, Tegulcigalpa, on Monday nearly three months after being forced out of the country at gunpoint, saying he wanted peaceful dialogue. The US, Brazil and other governments have joined Mr Zelaya in calling for a negotiated settlement to the crisis. A curfew has been imposed, airports shut and roadblocks set up on highways leading into Tegucigalpa. Brazilian warning Early on Tuesday soldiers used truncheons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of Mr Zelaya's supporters, and are now patrolling the area around the embassy. ANALYSIS Gary Duffy, BBC News, Sao Paulo The Brazilian authorities recognise that their staff in Honduras are caught up in a very delicate situation. The ambassador is back in Brazil, there is only a charge d'affaires and a very small team, with not much security. Brazil insists that Mr Zelaya's arrival at the embassy was unexpected and that by allowing him to stay they only did what any democratic government would have done. Nonetheless it is clear where the sympathies of the Brazilian authorities lie. They regard Mr Zelaya as the legitimate president of Honduras and say there is no question of either handing him over to the military forces outside or asking him to leave. One official told me "he is welcome to stay for as long as he wants". Mr Micheletti congratulated the armed forces on the operation, saying there had been "not one death". Hospital officials said up to 20 people had been treated for injuries. The demonstrators had defied a curfew imposed by authorities on Monday afternoon until Tuesday evening. Some 70 supporters of Mr Zelaya are reported to be inside the embassy. The lights, water and telephones were cut off on Monday and the only contact is by mobile phone, Brazilian media say. A generator is being used to provide electricity. Interim authorities were employing a strategy of "asphyxiating the embassy by surrounding it, cutting off the food supply, asphyxiating the people inside in order to demonstrate their force and power", Mr Zelaya told Venezuela's Telesur TV earlier on Tuesday. The US state department said the US embassy in Tegucigalpa had been in contact with the Brazilian mission to discuss "what kind of assistance that we can provide to help them during this crisis", spokesman Ian Kelly reportedly said. TIMELINE: ZELAYA OUSTED 28 June: Zelaya forced out of country at gunpoint 5 July: A dramatic bid by Zelaya to return home by plane fails after the runway at Tegucigalpa airport is blocked 25-26 July: Zelaya briefly crosses into the country at the land border with Nicaragua on two consecutive days, in a symbolic move to demand he be allowed to return 21 Sept: Zelaya appears in the Brazilian embassy in Tegulcigalpa In full: Zelaya speaks to BBC In pictures: Zelaya's return Readers' reaction from Honduras Speaking in New York, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva repeated his position that a "negotiated and democratic solution" must be found. He urged Mr Zelaya to "be very careful not to allow any pretext for the coup plotters to resort to violence" - and warned Honduran authorities against trying to enter the embassy. Interim leader Mr Micheletti said he had no intention of confronting Brazil or entering its embassy. He told Reuters news agency that Mr Zelaya could stay in the embassy for "five to 10 years" if he wanted to, but urged him to turn himself in to face charges of corruption and violating the constitution. The interim administration in Honduras says Brazil should either hand over Mr Zelaya to face trial or grant him political asylum. It insists no coup has taken place in Honduras - but rather a "constitutional succession" ordered by the courts and approved by Congress. US warning Brazil has been keen to demonstrate a clear leadership role over this issue and throughout the Honduran crisis has adopted a very firm line against the interim government, says the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo. The European Union has called for calm - adding its voice to that of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said Mr Zelaya's return must not lead to violence. In his comments on Tuesday, the US state department's Mr Kelly repeated the warning. "Respect and protection for the inviolability of diplomatic premises is a universally accepted principle of international relations," Mr Kelly said. OAS hopes to mediate settlement in Honduras Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:57pm EDT By Manuela Badawy NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The head of the Organization of American States said on Tuesday the group will continue to seek to broker a settlement in Honduras after ousted President Manuel Zelaya snuck back into the country this week. "We are going to try and have a dialogue and mediate because those are the tools that we have. We don't have an army to get there and we would not use it for something like this," the Secretary General of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza, told reporters in New York. Zelaya took refuge at the Brazilian embassy this week after slipping back into the country in a bid to return to power, after Honduras's military expelled him in a June 28 coup. Earlier in the day troops and police clashed with hundreds of Zelaya supporters outside the embassy. [ID:nN22339371] Insulza said both sides -- the de facto administration and Zelaya's government -- should negotiate an agreement based on a proposal supported by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. Arias proposed that Zelaya return to office to serve out the remainder of his term, while coup participants would be given amnesty. "It's a proposal that would bring back democracy and for the legitimate president to take back his role, and at the same time to calm worries from those who disagree with him," Insulza said, adding that the proposal was "balanced and unifying." Honduras' Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas told reporters in New York earlier on Tuesday she had asked all ambassadors who were recalled from Tegucigalpa to return to their missions now that Zelaya was in the country. (Reporting by Manuela Badawy; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Honduran forces lay siege to embassy sheltering deposed President (Fernando Antonio) Honduras stood on the brink of widespread civil unrest last night as security forces laid siege to an embassy where the deposed President, Manuel Zelaya, had taken refuge, and clashed with protesters flooding the capital. Police and soldiers in riot gear surrounded the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, cutting off electricity and water, firing teargas and using water cannon on supporters who had defied a daytime curfew to rally in support of their President. Smoke could be seen billowing above the city as masked protesters fought running battles with police, throwing stones and wielding sticks. “The embassy is surrounded by police and the military . . . I foresee bigger acts of aggression and violence . . . they could be capable of invading the embassy,” Mr Zelaya said. He had returned to the capital a day earlier, having fled a military coup in June. A photographer reported that at least two gas canisters had been thrown into the embassy compound as the de facto regime headed by Roberto Micheletti said that his forces would stop short of storming the embassy. “We will do absolutely nothing to confront another brotherly nation,” Mr Micheletti said. “We want them to understand that they should give him political asylum or turn him over to Honduran authorities to be tried.” The United States and the European Union appealed for calm as the army blocked roads around the country to prevent Zelaya supporters from reaching the capital. Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, speaking after an emergency meeting in Washington, said that the two sides must seek a peaceful resolution. “It is imperative that dialogue begins, that there be a channel of communication between President Zelaya and the de facto regime in Honduras,” she said. The interim government showed no signs of rapprochement as it lashed out at the international community and insisted that a jail cell awaited Mr Zelaya.It says that it overthrew him because he was trying to extend presidential term limits in violation of the constitution, an accusation that Mr Zelaya denies. Leaders of the pro-Zelaya resistance said that they were concerned for the safety of the President and his supporters. Rafael Alegria, the head of the Via Campesina movement, told The Times that the situation at the embassy was very worrying. “They’ve cut the electricity, there is no water, there is no food, and the embassy is surrounded by the police and army. They have not yet entered but it is a very delicate situation. Whatever citizen is found in the street is considered suspicious, a member of the resistance. It is a very tense situation,” he said. Brazil said that it had played no part in Mr Zelaya’s return and had only granted him asylum on arrival at the embassy. President Lula da Silva said that he had spoken to Mr Zelaya “simply to ask him to take care to give no pretext to the coup leaders to engage in violence”, adding that, in giving him refuge, Brazil had only done what any democratic country would do. “We can’t accept that for political differences people think they have the right to depose a democratically elected president,” Mr Silva said. Mr Zelaya insisted that his intentions were peaceful, saying that he was only seeking dialogue with the Micheletti regime. But Allan Fajardo, a presidential adviser who has accompanied Mr Zelaya throughout his exile, told The Times that the “aggressive conduct” of the interim government demonstrated a preference for force rather than negotiation. “We are calling for the international community to accompany the people of Honduras in resisting the coup, because the presence of international observers might help to avoid a massacre,” he said. A government broadcast transmitted across all Honduran channels said that Mr Zelaya bore responsibility for any disturbances, as sympathetic television stations were shut down by the military in an attempt to prevent information from reaching his supporters. Mr Zelaya arrived in Tegucigalpa after a secret overland journey from Nicaragua. Two previous attempts to return in July provoked demonstrations in which at least three protesters were killed.