Zelaya: Brazilian Embassy in Honduras attacked with gas
Soldiers stand guard Friday at the perimeter around the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Journalists, including CNN Correspondent John Zarrella, were kept several blocks away from the embassy in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, and could not confirm whether a gas attack had taken place.
Zelaya and his aides said at a news conference that a local public health specialist they identified as Dr. Mauricio Castellano took air samples near the embassy after the attack and determined that the gas contained HCN, an abbreviation for hydrogen cyanide. HCN can cause dryness and burning of the throat, shortness of breath, convulsion, coma and cardiovascular collapse.
Zelaya said he felt irritation in his throat and eyes Friday morning and went outside to get fresh air. When he did so, he said, he noticed that many people were sick.
"Practically all of us have felt the effects of these gases," he said.
"This is a terrorist act," Tamayo said.
Zelaya, who was deposed in a military-led coup June 28, has been staying at the Brazilian Embassy since secretly returning to Honduras on Monday.
He showed photographs at the briefing that he said were of soldiers setting up gas-delivery systems and noise machines in neighboring yards.
About 3,000 Zelaya supporters marched peacefully down a major boulevard Friday in the capital. Police and soldiers in riot gear lined the street but there were no reports of violence or arrests, CNN Correspondent Zarrella said from the scene..http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/25/honduras.president.deposed/
Honduran Coup Regime Mocks UN Security Council with Embassy Attacks
Posted by Al Giordano - September 25, 2009 at 3:23 pm By Al Giordano
After today’s emergency session of the United Nations Security Council in New York, US Ambassador Susan Rice emerged to read a warning to the Honduras coup regime:
"We condemn acts of intimidation against the Brazilian embassy and call upon the de facto government of Honduras to cease harassing the Brazilian embassy.”
The wording is unequivocal. After investigating the claims (and the de facto regime’s denials) of constant technological and chemical attacks on the diplomatic seat in Tegucigalpa, and illegal impediment of ingress and egress to and from the embassy, where legitimate President Manuel Zelaya and at least 85 aides, supporters and some members of the news media are sheltered, the UN Security Council has concluded that said harassment i s real and it is ongoing.
If the coup regime believed that its use of chemical and sonic devices would render its attacks less visible, it has already lost that gamble.
Article 31 of The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 is titled “Inviolability of the consular premises,” and states:
“Consular premises shall be inviolable to the extent provided in this article… The authorities of the receiving State shall not enter that part of the consular premises which is used exclusively for the purpose of the work of the consular post except with the consent of the head of the consular post or of his designee or of the head of the diplomatic mission of the sending State… the receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the consular premises against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the consular post or impairment of its dignity… The consular premises, their furnishings, the property of the consular post and its means of transport shall be immune from any form of requisition for purposes of national defence or public utility.”
Article 33 states: “The consular archives and documents shall be inviolable at all times and wherever they may be.”
Article 34, titled “Freedom of movement,” states: “the receiving State shall ensure freedom of movement and travel in its territory to all members of the consular post."
Article 35, titled “Freedom of communication,” states:
“The receiving State shall permit and protect freedom of communication on the part of the consular post for all official purposes. In communicating with the Government, the diplomatic missions and other consular posts, wherever situated, of the sending State, the consular post may employ all appropriate means, including diplomatic or consular couriers, diplomatic or consular bags and messages in code or cipher… The official correspondence of the consular post shall be inviolable. Official correspondence means all correspondence relating to the consular post and its functions… The consular bag shall be neither opened nor detained.”
In light of those international laws, the device you see in the photograph up top, deployed by Honduran coup regime security forces at the gates of the Brazilian Embassy, offers a smoking gun of proof that the regime is violating the Vienna Convention.
Narco News and its team of technical engineers and counter-surveillance consultants has identified the apparatus as the LRAD-X Remote Long Range Acoustic Device, manufactured by the American Technologies Corporation.
The instrument is an offensive weapon, used on US Navy warships and by other nations, which can emit sounds that, “Through the use of powerful voice commands and deterrent tones, large safety zones can be created while determining the intent and influencing the behavior of an intruder.”
The LRAD-X machine can shoot sounds of up to 151 decibels. According to the US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders sounds less loud than those it produces can cause Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL): “Sources of noise that can cause NIHL include motorcycles, firecrackers, and small firearms, all emitting sounds from 120 to 150 decibels. Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss. The louder the sound, the shorter the time period before NIHL can occur.”
The front of the device looks like this:
And this is the back of the device:
In other words, the LRAD-X is the source of the high-pitched and pain-inducing sounds that have been fired both at those inside the Brazilian Embassy and turned around when anti-coup demonstrators have tried to come close to it. As such, it interferes with the Vienna protected inviolability of the Embassy and its free communications.
Under international law, this violation already serves as sufficient justification for intervention by UN Peacekeeping Forces of the multinational kind that the country of Brazil has led in Haiti.
But that’s not all: Narco News has received the following photos of a C-guard LP Cellular telephone jamming device designed for low power indoor use. The black out range can be set to cover an area of 5 to 80 meters. The device was found inside the premises of the Brazilian embassy yesterday. Here it is, front:
And back:
(On Monday a large multitude of people, including journalists, including some from pro-coup news agencies, were able to enter the Brazilian Embassy to welcome or interview President Zelaya. It is possible that the cell phone jamming device was placed inside the premises then.)
Sold by Netline under the product category of "Counter Terror Electronic Warfare," the device, the company boasts, "C-Guard LP cellphone jammers block all required cellular network standards simultaneously: GSM, CDMA, TDMA, UMTS (3G), Nextel, 2.4 GHz and more."
The deployment of a cell phone jamming device is in direct violation of the Vienna Convention articles above protecting the inviolability of embassy and consular communications. What’s more, sources inside the embassy that are in constant direct contact with Narco News testify that prior to locating and removing the device, cell phones of the President, his aides and others in the building were impeded by much interference.
Additionally, around noon today, President Zelaya called a press conference inside the embassy, during which a medical doctor testified that two of the people staying inside the embassy displayed symptoms of bleeding from the nose or the stomach, and that a larger number of them displayed symptoms of nausea, throat and sinus irritation and related problems that can be caused by neuro-toxic gases used in chemical warfare that are also prohibited by international treaties.
Zelaya said, calmly and deliberatively, that upon awaking at 7:30 a.m., he had felt an unfamiliar irritation, “first in the mouth, next in the throat, and later a small pain in the stomach. I drank water and milk. And I came out to find others feeling sick. Since then we’ve been trying to figure out where it is coming from.”
Understanding the dramatic nature of this kind of warfare and its capacity to generate panic, fear and anger, Zelaya urged members of the anti-coup civil resistance, “Please, do not attack the police. Maintain yourselves at a respectable distance. Don’t come near enough to be beaten. Protest your grievances peacefully.”
Displaying the cell phone jamming device, President Zelaya said, “This apparatus is installed to interfere and practically act against all telephones inside the Embassy. We practically have a sonic intervention that could also be affecting the health and nerves of people inside."
“They have also aimed frequencies of high intensity against the Embassy. This is also to affect our psychological state. Other machines are installed in the neighboring houses, where the owners have been kicked out and the military has occupied them.”
Hortensia “Pichu” Zelaya, also inside the embassy, sent out this photograph, below, taken earlier today of a device, partly covered by a green plastic bag, that security forces erected from one of the neighboring properties in clear view and air stream of the Brazilian embassy. “As soon as we discovered it,” she wrote, “they immediately took it down.”
Father Andrés Tamayo, also inside the embassy, told reporters at the press conference that he witnessed that device first hand. It is not yet known what exactly it is, or why it was accompanied by a plastic bag, or whether some kind of substance or chemical agent or gas was inside the bag and aimed at the Brazilian embassy.
These evidences and the eye-witness testimonies, including that of the doctor and the priest, demonstrate convincingly that while the Honduran coup regime issues emphatic denials of such attacks on the sovereign embassy of Brazil, it is clearly engaging in them nonetheless. The UN Security Council should not need any high tech apparatus of its own to be able to see and hear what is really going on at ground level, and respond accordingly to the coup regime's mockery of it.
Update 5:08 p.m. Tegucigalpa (7:08 p.m. ET): The coup regime held a "cadena nacional" (mandatory broadcast on all radio, TV and cable channels) this afternoon to deny having engaged in any chemical warfare and to say it would allow the international Red Cross and Dr. Andres Pavon, a human rights leader, into the embassy to check the health of those inside. A group of doctors, including Pavon, just emerged from the examinations and reported the following:
That the symptoms were definitely caused by some kind of "contaminant." Upon review of the photos of the unidentified device in the final photograph above, Pavon concludes that it is a humidifier and that the plastic bag contained some kind of liquid to put where water usually goes, and that it was the likely cause of the contamination of the embassy. It was not concluded whether the contaminant weapon was chemical or biological.
The doctors also confirmed, for Radio Globo, that UN officials had entered the Embassy with them to participate in the investigation.
The coup regime has just called a military curfew for most of the country's population from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. tonight.
US joins UN rights council as member for 1st time
GENEVA — The U.S. attended its first formal meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council as a member Monday, saying it will try to promote dialogue at a body it once avoided and heavily criticized.Honduras tries to vote itself out of a coup
Global outrage, cuts in aid and diplomatic isolation have hit the leaders who pushed leftist President Manuel Zelaya from power in June. They argue that a fair presidential vote on Nov. 29 will force the world to accept that Honduras remains a democracy.
"If the process is transparent and people turn out to the polls in large numbers, I guarantee that will make (whoever is elected) the legitimate leader — without a doubt," said Porfirio Lobo, the conservative National Party's candidate, after meeting Zelaya late Thursday. "Some of our international friends will recognize it right away, and others will do so with the passage of time."
Zelaya — and many foreign governments, including the United States — say the election will not be legitimate unless he is first restored to power.
But he has stopped short of calling for a boycott and has even been meeting with candidates at the Brazilian Embassy, where he has been taken shelter against arrest since sneaking back into the country on Monday.
Lobo, who has a slight lead in recent polls, joined three other major party contenders to meet Zelaya on Thursday night to urge him to support the elections.
Zelaya was expected to meet with two minor party candidates who back his resistance movement and say they will protest the elections as long as the ousted leader remains out of office.
All six candidates are still trudging ahead with their campaigns — at least as far as they can. It's not easy campaigning in the aftermath of a coup.
Unlike in past election seasons, there are no rallies before crowds of supporters waving party flags and blowing noisemakers. Campaign posters are quickly ripped down by one side or the other.
The leading nominees have limited their appearances to TV spots, press conferences and indoor events surrounded by security to avoid violence and work around the curfews that are imposed each time tensions spike.
And none of the major candidates talks about the biggest issue dividing Honduras: Whether or not the coup was wrong and Zelaya should be reinstated.
Instead their speeches focus on unity and reviving an economy, which has been bleeding millions of dollars a day due to foreign sanctions and domestic disruption.
Candidates seems to meticulously contemplate every word and action to ensure they are not ensnared in the dispute.
That's especially true for Elvin Santos, who is running for the Liberal Party to which both Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti belong.
Santos served as vice president under Zelaya and is also a friend of Micheletti. While he has tried to stay out of the dispute, Zelaya backers have tossed water and eggs at him because he refused to support the leader's call for a constitutional referendum, which led to his ouster.
News photographers caught Santos shaking hands with Micheletti on Thursday, and then hugging Zelaya at a meeting soon afterward.
"We may have profound political differences," he told the news media. "But that doesn't mean I can't hug any Honduran I want, as I did when I greeted President Micheletti, when I greeted President Zelaya."
After meeting with both presidents, Santos expressed hope they may be edging toward restarting talks.
But signals were mixed at best. Zelaya sounded optimistic after talks with a Micheletti envoy, saying Thursday it was "the beginning" to finding "peaceful solutions." Yet Zelaya later said the Micheletti administration took "an extremely hard" stand.
In a further setback Friday, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said the coup-installed government told the Organization of American States that it would not welcome a commission of foreign ministers meant to help break the stalemate — at least not until next week.
Micheletti's aides had earlier proposed such a meeting.
So far, Micheletti's government bluntly refused the key demand of Zelaya and most foreign governments: letting the ousted president return to serve out the rest of his term, which ends in January.
Micheletti, Congress and the Supreme Court say Zelaya was legally removed from the presidency and restoring him would violate the country's basic laws. The Supreme Court in June asked the army to arrest Zelaya on charges of treason and abuse of authority for repeatedly ignoring court orders to drop plans for a referendum on whether the constitution should be rewritten.
Micheletti has pledged to arrest Zelaya if he leaves the embassy but his government has vowed not to enter the compound to go after him.
The U.N. Security Council on Friday condemned Micheletti's administration for placing loudspeakers outside the embassy and briefly cutting water and power to the diplomatic mission to harass Zelaya and his supporters.
Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters the council is demanding the government offer food and other needs to the occupants.
The compound is heavily guarded by soldiers and police who keep away demonstrators, but the interim government has allowed a few people to slip through for visits, including a Roman Catholic bishop and the political candidates.
Human rights workers also enter daily to deliver food, water and medicine to Zelaya, his supporters and the journalists who have been sleeping there since Monday.
While the candidates run their muted campaigns, backers of Zelaya and Micheletti have taken to the streets with noisy demonstrations.
Thousands of coup-backers marched this week, chanting "We want elections, not intervention," rebuking the U.S. and other countries that say they may not recognize the vote if Zelaya is not reinstated.
This week, the United Nations suspended $1.3 million in aid for the electoral process, saying the turmoil will invalidate the election.
But if there is no recognized vote by the time Zelaya's term ends on Jan. 27, the world community would be faced with the difficult position of backing a leader whose term has expired.
The candidates argue the elections offer the only peaceful way out of the mess.
But Loliveth Andino, a shopkeeper who supports Zelaya, said elections without the deposed president will make a mockery of Hondurans.
"How can we have elections under these conditions?" she asked. "That would be treating the people like idiots."
Associated Press writer Freddy Cuevas in Tegucigalpa contributed to this report.
"There is no will in the de facto government for dialogue"
Arias wants the interim government to comply with the agreements.
Despite everything that has happened in Honduras since the return on Monday of Manuel Zelaya in Tegucigalpa, the San Jose Agreement remains valid.
So from New York stated the president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, in an interview with BBC World. Arias blamed the government of Roberto Micheletti of unwillingness to comply with the principles of his proposal and said it remains on the table only to find a solution to the crisis.
You have insisted that the solution to the crisis in Honduras through the San Jose Agreement, but since it was introduced, Manuel Zelaya has returned to his country and the parties appear to have initiated contact "this agreement remains valid even if circumstances have changed ?
Yes The essence of this agreement is the return of President José Manuel Zelaya as constitutional (...) and even today the de facto government has denied that possibility. . Some countries have talked about the unconditional return of President Zelaya, and this is far from that it can happen.
Some countries have talked about the unconditional return of President Zelaya, and this is far from that it can happen
It has been discussed if it is feasible that a number of foreign ministers, together with Secretary General of the OAS, to visit Honduras as soon as possible. There has been talks that they can fly on Sunday and sit on the parties once again to talk.
But most important is to have the will of both parties to sign or to sign the agreement, but especially to comply with the letter, which until today has not been given.
You appreciate more willingness to dialogue by the government of Micheletti since Zelaya returned to Honduras or do you think on the contrary he has been locked in position?
"Sanctions (to the interim government) have not yielded any result and we are stuck"
But see do you see the future and will in those conversations?
One can sit around a table to talk, but do not want to talk feel eternally.We also want to reach agreements, but if they are to be fulfill.
Even today, despite sanctions, despite the government (defacto) Honduras has lost most beneficial resources for the United States and the European Union, all sanctions, including the elimination of visas, have yielded no fruit and we are really stuck.
It was not possible to see there is any will in the de facto government for dialogue and comply with agreements already achieved in San Jose.
In words everyone has said they agree with it, but repeatedly Roberto Micheletti said he did not accept the return of Manuel Zelaya.
How long will you be willing to support this proposed agreement if the interim government will not accept it ?
If you do not want to comply with the San Jose Accord, there is nothing on the table.
Ousted Honduran president: 1st talks a failure
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' coup-installed government plans to block the arrival of a commission of foreign ministers heading to the country this weekend to help resolve the country's political standoff, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Friday.The Nobel Peace Prize laureate who moderated previous talks between Honduras' opposing factions said the government of interim President Roberto Micheletti has told the Organization of American States not to send the ministers because they will not be allowed into the country.
Arias made the announcement on the Costa Rican radio program Nuestra Voz.
His announcement signaled a setback just as the two sides appeared to be edging toward possibly restarting talks to end the turmoil sparked by the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28.
Micheletti's government spokesman Rene Zepeda said interim leaders want Arias to visit Honduras first so they can explain the situation to him, and that the ministers would be welcome next week.
Arias said he has no immediate plans to visit Honduras.
Zelaya has been holed up at the Brazilian Embassy since Monday after sneaking back into the country. He said he will remain at the army-surrounded compound, accompanied by his family and about 70 supporters.
He conversed late Wednesday with an unnamed Micheletti official and said Thursday that it was "the beginning" to finding "peaceful solutions."
But later, Zelaya said the Micheletti administration took "an extremely hard" stand when the two met.
The ousted leftist leader is demanding he be restored to power after soldiers marched him out of the country at gunpoint. So far, Micheletti's government has said that is not negotiable.
The standoff virtually shut down the country for three days after Zelaya's surprise return. Airports, schools and border crossing reopened Thursday and by Friday morning the curfews were lifted nationwide.
Zelaya was kicked out of Honduras after the Supreme Court endorsed charges of treason and abuse of authority against the leader for repeatedly ignoring court orders to drop plans for a referendum on whether the constitution should be rewritten.
Micheletti has pledged to arrest Zelaya if he leaves the embassy.
International leaders, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Barack Obama, have called for Zelaya's reinstatement ever since he was ousted, and his surprise arrival in Honduras has prompted new calls for Micheletti to step down.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled consultations on a letter from Brazil seeking an emergency meeting on Honduras.
Micheletti has said the conflict will be resolved when Hondurans elect their next leader Nov. 29, although the U.S. and other countries have said they may not recognize the vote if Zelaya is not reinstated.
Negotiations moderated by Arias broke down after Micheletti's government refused to accept a plan that would allow Zelaya to return to the presidency with limited powers and prohibit him from attempting to revise the constitution. Zelaya's term ends in January.
Associated Press Writers Freddy Cuevas in Tegucigalpa and Marianela Jimenez in San Jose, Costa Rica, contributed to this report.
Zelaya Demands Presidency as U.N. Condemns Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya warned on Friday that negotiations to end a three-month political crisis will collapse unless the coup leaders who toppled him agree to give up power.As the United Nations condemned the de facto government in Honduras for "acts of intimidation" at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa where Zelaya has taken refuge, the leftist leader overthrown in a June 28 coup said he met with a government representative for talks but little progress was made.
He also called on his supporters to descend on the capital to pressure the government of de facto leader Roberto Micheletti, who has so far resisted all international demands that he allow Zelaya to return to office.
"We urge the resistance to keep fighting until together the people and president achieve... the fall of the usurpers," Zelaya said. "We see no willingness on the part of the de facto government to reinstate the president."
After being forced into exile by the coup, Zelaya sneaked back home on Monday and sought refuge in the Brazilian embassy to avoid arrest as he campaigns for his return to power.
The United States, the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS) all have condemned Zelaya's ouster.
The U.N. Security Council called on the de facto government on Friday to "cease harassing" the Brazilian embassy but did not debate Zelaya's future.
Hundreds of soldiers and riot police have surrounded the Brazilian compound, where Zelaya is holed up with his family and about 40 supporters despite food and water shortages.
Brazil's foreign minister, Celso Amorim, said at the U.N. session that the standoff "poses a threat to the peace and security of our region" and demanded that Micheletti's government respect the sovereignty of the embassy.
He also complained that the coup leaders were only sporadically allowing food and supplies into the embassy, where Zelaya spends his much of his time speaking to the media while his entourage take turns sleeping on the floor and two sofas.
TEST FOR OBAMA
The crisis in Honduras is President Barack Obama's first diplomatic test in Latin America, a region where Washington's influence has waned in recent years.
Obama has cut U.S. aid to Honduras since the coup and pushed for Zelaya's return, but several Latin American leaders say he has not done enough to broker a solution.
The U.S. government has left the crisis in the hands of the OAS, and Friday's debate at the United Nations did not address the broader issue of settling the Honduras crisis.
"The council looks to the regional mediation (of the OAS) to continue its work on the larger political question of Honduras," said U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, currently president of the Security Council.
Micheletti, who was head of Congress before the coup, insists Zelaya must faces charges for violating the constitution and hopes to cling to power until a new president is elected in November and takes office in January.
Zelaya, a rancher and timber magnate who took office in 2006, angered opposition leaders in Congress and conservative business groups in this coffee-producing country by allying himself with Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez.
They moved against him when he tried to push through constitutional reforms, including changes to presidential term limits. The Supreme Court ordered his arrest and the army swiftly sent him into exile in his pajamas.
Micheletti's government had appeared to outlast the initial wave of pressure to resign, but Zelaya's surprise return this week has renewed diplomatic efforts to find a solution and allow him to finish his term.
It has also stoked tensions in Honduras, where state television runs anti-Zelaya spots around the clock, accusing him of everything from stealing public money to treason. One man was shot and killed in a clash between police and Zelaya supporters this week.
(Additional reporting by Terry Wade in New York; Editing by Todd Benson and Kieran Murray)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Talks Hit A Speedbump
Oscar Arias announced today that he had no intention of going to Honduras to negotiate a solution to the political crisis any time soon. He said he spoke with President Jimmy Carter, and he wasn't inclined to go either. Arias said that the OAS ministers needed to do the preparatory work before it would be worthwhile for him to come to Honduras. Roberto Micheletti had announced last evening that Oscar Arias and Juan Carlos Varela, Panamanian Vice President, would come to negotiate, and that he preferred to negotiate with them before the arrival of the OAS delegation.In other news, the OAS announced that there was no date yet for their group of Ministers to visit Honduras. Oscar Arias told the Associated Press that the de facto government told the OAS that they would not be welcome any time before next week. José Miguel Insulza said "We'll come in the next few days," but he indicated there were difficulties. "The communications are terrible, there are no flights, and the roads closed," Insulza indicated. He also noted that he hoped that the preperatory group could arrive either today or tomorrow to prepare for the mission.
Arias admits 'things are going badly' in Honduras | ||
UN condemns harassment Brazilian Embassy
The Security Council of United Nations held a special meeting on Honduras.
The Security Council of the United Nations Organization (UNO) "condemned" the harassment on the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa and asked the interim government of Honduras "to stop the harassment."
The top UN body issued the sentence after meeting at the request of Brazil and the delicate situation of the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital as the main agenda. "The Brazilian government is seriously concerned about the possibility that the perpetrators of the coup in Honduras does not take into account the inviolability of the embassy with the intention of stopping by force President Zelaya," said Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, before the Council.
The warning from the UN body's interim government met the aspirations of Brazil, but did not address the merits of the return of Zelaya in Tegucigalpa and possible negotiated solution to the crisis in Honduras.
"The Council hopes that regional mediation to continue its work on political issues in Honduras," said Susan Rice, the current Security Council president.
Visit of the OAS
Arias confirmed the trip to Honduras by a delegation from the OAS.
"There has been talk that they can fly on Sunday and sit on the parties to talk again," said Arias.
clic Lea la entrevista con Oscar Arias Click Read the interview with Oscar Arias
Costa Rican President said that now "the most important thing is to have the intention of both parties to sign or enter into an agreement (Acuerdo de San José), but on odo to comply with the letter, which until today has not been given. "
"It was not possible that there is will in the de facto government for dialogue and comply with agreements already achieved in San Jose, Arias said.
Insulza ready
One group of Honduran soldiers at the gates of the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
"We will probably go in the upcoming days," said the Chilean diplomat who was quoted by news agency AFP.
Insulza announced midweek the movement of an OAS negotiating mission, led by himself, and consists of several Latin American foreign ministers.
Although the initial idea was to fly on Friday or Saturday, those plans had to be postponed.
"I hope (the mission trip) to arrive between today and tomorrow (...). We will solve the problem, I am optimistic, I think it will take a while, it will be difficult, but if there is good willingness of both parties we can solve this problem, "said Insulza.
Zelaya requests support
The damage is being done to the country is grave and can pay even greater consequences if it is to go to an election under fire and sword
Manuel Zelaya Manuel Zelaya
clic Lea la crónica de nuestro enviado especial: "Estamos siendo atacados" Click Read the chronicle of our special correspondent: "We are under attack"
After four days "locked" in the Brazilian embassy, Zelaya, who requested the urgent intervention of the International Red Cross, called the "resistance" of the people and demanded their return to power as a necessary precondition for the start of a dialogue with the insurgents.
"We have not found any willingness by the de facto government to restore the presidency to President elected by the people," the President said, in comments reported by AFP news agency.
. "For this reason, we call the resistance and request the support of the international community to end the coup and restore democracy," said Zelaya.
Regarding his meetings with some of the presidential candidates in the November elections, convened by the interim government, but not recognized by Zelaya and the international community, the deposed President said they are "not convinced" of the gravity of the situation in which the country finds itself.
"The damage being done to the country is grave and can pay even greater consequences if it is to go to an election under fire and blood," said Zelaya.
"The president came out of such elections would be quite weak, challenged by the world," he added.
As reported by the BBC World special envoy to Tegucigalpa, Arthur Wallace, Friday Manuel Zelaya is expected to meet with the candidates who condemned the coup.
UN condemns Honduras 'harassment'
 The Brazilian embassy has been surrounded by troops and police |
The UN Security Council has called on the interim government of Honduras to "cease harassing" the Brazilian embassy housing deposed leader Manuel Zelaya.
The council also condemned "acts of intimidation" against the embassy and appealed for services including water and electricity to be restored. The call came after Brazil's foreign minister said he was worried that Mr Zelaya might be "forcefully arrested".
Mr Zelaya took refuge in the embassy after returning to Honduras on Monday.
He slipped back into the country almost three months after being driven out at gunpoint in his pyjamas.
The Brazilian embassy building in the capital, Tegucigalpa, has been surrounded by police and troops since Mr Zelaya appeared there.
Interim Honduran leader Roberto Micheletti has said he would arrest Mr Zelaya if he left the embassy but has pledged not to enter the compound to arrest him, the Associated Press news agency reported.
The crisis in Honduras flared when Mr Zelaya tried to hold a non-binding public consultation in July, asking people whether they supported moves to change the constitution.
His opponents said the move was unconstitutional and was aimed at removing the current one-term limit on serving as president, so paving the way for Mr Zelaya's possible re-election. He has denied this.
'Gravely concerned'
The Security Council issued its statement after a closed-door meeting on Friday.
The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said the embassy - not the political crisis itself - was the focus of the meeting.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told the meeting that the Brazilian embassy had been "virtually under siege", and that services had been cut and food supplies disrupted.
"The Brazilian government is gravely concerned that the same people who perpetrated the coup d'etat in Honduras might threaten the inviolability of the embassy in order to forcefully arrest President Zelaya," he said.
Ms Rice said members of the council had "called upon the de facto government of Honduras to cease harassing the Brazilian embassy and to provide all necessary utilities and services, including water, electricity, food and continuity of communications".
Earlier, Mr Zelaya told the BBC's Brazilian service that he and his supporters had been surviving on a diet of biscuits until eating their first proper meal on Thursday.
The Associated Press reported that among those allowed into the embassy were human rights workers were entering daily to deliver food, water and medicine to Mr Zelaya, his supporters and journalists.
Meanwhile, the British Foreign Office updated its travel advice for Honduras, warning against "all but essential travel" to the country for as long as the crisis continues.
We support Mr Zelaya, but we are unable to accommodate so many people 
Honduras holds 'informal' talks
 Days of curfews that paralysed the country have been lifted |
The interim government of Honduras and ousted President Manuel Zelaya have held informal talks in a bid to end the current political crisis.
Mr Zelaya said his meeting with an unnamed official was a positive first step, but little progress was made. Interim Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado said the talks were not aimed at restoring Mr Zelaya to power.
Mr Zelaya remains holed up at the Brazilian embassy, which is surrounded by police and troops.
He has been sheltering there since making a surprise return to Honduras on Monday, after three months in exile.
A Brazilian diplomat told the BBC that those inside the embassy were being forced to survive on a diet of biscuits.
"I'm not saying that we are going to starve, but the situation is very precarious. We have no clothes, soap or towels," he said, adding that embassy staff were finding it very difficult to leave the building.
The United Nations Security Council is due to discuss the situation in Honduras on Friday, following a request from the Brazilian government.
'Intimidate us'
Mr Zelaya told TV Channel 36 that the official from the interim government took an "extremely hard" stand during their meeting, the AP reports.
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Interim leader Roberto Micheletti is reported to have said he is open to talks with Mr Zelaya.
But the interim deputy foreign minister told the BBC the talks were not aimed at restoring Mr Zelaya to power.
Ms Alvarado accused the international community of misunderstanding the fact that the interim authorities acted within the country's constitution in removing him from power.
"They have not had the time to study the situation before the transition, or the succession if I may say, and to this point we are like a small country in the hands of big donors of the world trying to intimidate us," she said.
Curfew lifted
The US, the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS) have all urged dialogue to end the crisis.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva used his address at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday to call for Mr Zelaya to be reinstated.
 Manuel Zelaya (left) remains at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa |
The UN has suspended any assistance for elections scheduled for 29 November.
A statement said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon did not not believe conditions were right for "credible elections".
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Micheletti lifted a curfew the government imposed following Mr Zelaya's return.
The three-day curfew is estimated to have cost Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the region, $50m (£30m) a day in lost trade and business.
Many ordinary people are growing tired of the seemingly endless stalemate and want to see some kind of settlement soon, the BBC's Andy Gallagher in Tegucigalpa says.
The political crisis erupted after Mr Zelaya tried to hold a non-binding public consultation in July, asking people whether they supported moves to change the constitution.
His opponents said the move was unconstitutional and was aimed at removing the current one-term limit on serving as president, so paving the way for Mr Zelaya's possible re-election. He has denied this.
Zelaya: "We are under attack"
El ataque denunciado habría incluido el uso de bombas lacrimógenas y gases tóxicos. The alleged attack would have included the use of tear gas and toxic gases.
El depuesto presidente de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, denunció ataques en contra de la embajada de Brasil, donde permanece refugiado desde que regresó al país el pasado lunes 21 de septiembre. The deposed President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya denounced attacks against the Brazilian embassy, where he is a refugee since returning to the country on Monday 21 September.
Según explicó, esta ofensiva habría incluido el uso de bombas lacrimógenas, gases tóxicos y sofisticado equipo eléctrico, que estarían provocando sangrado, vómitos y dolores de cabeza entre las personas que se encuentran en el lugar. He explained that this offensive would have included the use of tear gas, toxic gases and sophisticated electrical equipment that would be causing bleeding, vomiting and headaches among people that are in place. "Estamos siendo atacados de diferentes formas y de forma injusta y grosera", dijo Zelaya en una entrevista con la estación Telesur. "We are being attacked in different ways and unfairly and rude," Zelaya said in an interview with the station Telesur. Asimismo, solicitó que se permitiera el ingreso de una misión de la Cruz Roja Internacional para verificar las acusaciones. Also asked to be allowed the entry of a mission from the International Red Cross to verify the allegations.
El gobierno interino de Roberto Micheletti negó estas acusaciones a través de un comunicado de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, en el que sostiene que "esos hechos tendenciosos, producto de la desesperación, son totalmente falsos y pueden ser corroborados por la prensa nacional e internacional". The interim government of Roberto Micheletti denied these allegations through a statement from the Foreign Ministry, which maintains that "these facts biased, of desperation, are completely false and can be supported by national and international press" .
Las autoridades policiales, sin embargo, aún no permiten el ingreso de reporteros a la sede diplomática. The police, however, does not allow the admission of reporters to the embassy.
Pero sí autorizaron la visita de una delegación de la Cruz Roja, del médico de cabecera de Zelaya, Marco Antonio Rodas, y del presidente de la Comité para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos de Honduras, Andrés Pavón. But it authorized the visit by a Red Cross delegation, the physician of Zelaya, Marco Antonio Rodas, and the chairman of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras, Andres Pavon.
Marcha de la "Resistencia" March of the "Resistance"
Esos hechos (...) son totalmente falsos y pueden ser corroborados por la prensa nacional e internacional (...) These facts are totally false and can be supported by national and international press
Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores del gobierno interino de Honduras Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the interim government of Honduras
Estos marcharon hoy por la calles de Tegucigalpa, y en un principio se pensó que podrían intentar romper el cerco que rodea el edificio, por lo que se temía el choque con los efectivos de la policía y del ejército que resguardan el lugar. They marched through the streets of Tegucigalpa, and at first thought they might try to break the fence surrounding the building, so it was feared a clash with troops and military police guarding the place.
Al final, sin embargo, la manifestación transcurrió de forma pacifica y los que protestaban se contentaron con gritar sus consignas en las cercanías de la embajada, antes de continuar en dirección al Parque Central, ubicado a escasas cuadras. In the end, however, the demonstration passed peacefully and the protesters were content to shout slogans near the embassy, before continuing in the direction of Central Park a few blocks away.
"Gracias Brasil" y "Mel, aguanta, que el pueblo se levanta", fueron algunos de los mensajes mas repetidos por los manifestantes, que poco después se dispersaron por su cuenta, no sin antes darse cita para mañana. "Thank you Brazil" and "Mel, hold on, that the people rise up," were some of the most repeated messages by the demonstrators, who dispersed soon after his own, but first make a date for tomorrow.
"Esto se va organizando día a día. Pero estos días de resistencia no terminan hasta no ver al presidente Zelaya de regreso", le dijo a BBC Mundo Luis Díaz, quien se identificó como pintor y dibujante. "This is going to organize the day. But these days of resistance do not end up seeing President Zelaya not back," he told BBC News Luis Diaz, who identified himself as a painter and draftsman.
Sin progreso en el diálogo Without progress in the dialogue
Díaz no se mostró optimista con relación al diálogo que desde ayer esta siendo promovido por los cuatro candidatos presidenciales, que insisten en que la solución a la crisis institucional de Honduras pasa principalmente por la realización de las elecciones previstas para el 29 de noviembre. Diaz was not optimistic about the dialogue that is being promoted yesterday by the four presidential candidates, who insist that the solution to the institutional crisis in Honduras mainly goes through the conduct of the elections scheduled for 29 November."Eso es puro circo. Ellos obedecen ordenes de Micheletti, el presidente usurpador", afirmo. "That is pure circus. They obey orders Micheletti, the president usurping" he said.
Mientras, la reunión entre el presidente Zelaya y los dos candidatos a la presidencia que apuestan por su restitución que estaba prevista para este viernes, tampoco pudo llevarse a cabo. Meanwhile, the meeting between President Zelaya and the two presidential candidates who bet on its return that was scheduled for Friday, could not be done.
"Él (Zelaya) dice que no dieron el salvoconducto (para poder ingresar a la embajada de Brasil)", le explico a la BBC Carlos H. "He (Zelaya) was not given the pass (to enter the embassy of Brazil)," he told BBC News Charles H. Reyes, el candidato independiente que también es parte de la coordinación del Frente de Resistencia Popular. Reyes, the independent candidate who is also part of the coordination of the Popular Resistance Front.
"Habrá que ver que se puede hacer mañana", afirmó. "We have to see what can be done tomorrow," he said.
Por lo pronto, Tegucigalpa y buena parte del territorio hondureño se apresta a pasar su quinta noche consecutiva bajo toque de queda. For now, Tegucigalpa and a good part of Honduran territory is preparing to spend its fifth straight night under curfew. En esta ocasión, este estará en vigencia desde las 08:00 de la noche del viernes hasta las 05:00 de la mañana del sábado. On this occasion, this will be in effect from 08:00 pm on Friday until 05:00 on Saturday morning.
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