OAS chief begins talks in Honduras

Tegucigalpa, Jul 3 (EFE).- The head of the Organization of American States arrived here Friday amid large street demonstrations by supporters and opponents of ousted Honduran President Mel Zelaya, whose reinstatement is being demanded by the OAS and much of the international community.

OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza landed around midday at Toncontin International Airport aboard a Brazilian air force jet.

Declining to speak to reporters, he headed straight for the Supreme Court, where he met for more than a hour with Chief Justice Jorge Rivera, who - a judicial source later told Efe - advised Insulza that Zelaya's removal was "irreversible."

Insulza will also talk to lawmakers, union leaders and representatives of civil society, diplomats said, but does not plan to see Roberto Micheletti, the erstwhile congressional speaker who was named president after Zelaya's ouster last Sunday.

This week has seen significant demonstrations for and against the deposed head of state, but Friday brought the biggest rallies so far by the respective partisans of Zelaya and Micheletti.

Both sides managed to muster between 10,000 and 15,000 people for peaceful events in the heart of the capital.

Junta supporters congregated in front of the presidential palace to hear Micheletti proclaim: "This is no coup, this is no coup."

The erstwhile congressional speaker thanked the crowd for backing what he called the "constitutional succession" that led to his designation as president hours after the military removed Zelaya from office and sent him into exile.

Zelaya loyalists stayed well clear of the rival rally and headed for the OAS mission in Tegucigalpa to encourage the union officials and activists planning to meet there with Insulza.

Prior to Insulza's arrival, Micheletti's foreign minister told Efe that if the OAS chief was coming here "to demand the reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya, better that he doesn't come."

At an emergency meeting Wednesday in Washington, representatives of OAS member-states gave authorities in Tegucigalpa 72 hours to restore the deposed leader to office and dispatched Insulza to Honduras to deliver the ultimatum in person.

But Enrique Ortez said Friday that he planned to tell Insulza "the return of Manuel Zelaya as president of Honduras is not negotiable."

Zelaya, who had planned to go home on Thursday to reclaim his office, put off the trip in view of the OAS ultimatum.

Should the OAS decide to suspend Honduras for refusing to reinstate the elected president, "nothing will happen," Ortez said. "They already did that with Cuba (in 1962) and nothing happened."

Every government in the Americas has condemned the coup in Honduras. The World Bank is withholding $270 million in loans to the poor Central American nation and the Pentagon announced Wednesday a suspension of joint activities with the Honduran military.

Thursday night, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he had ordered the suspension of oil deliveries to Honduras under the Petrocaribe program, which provides crude on favorable terms to poor nations in the Caribbean and Central America.

Honduras is eligible to receive up to 20,000 barrels per day under Petrocaribe.

Ortez, however, dismissed Chavez's announcement, saying that the interim government has "taken steps and we have someone to supply us with fuel."

The foreign minister's defiant tone contrasted with remarks made Thursday by Micheletti, who said he and his colleagues were ready "to listen" to Insulza.

Micheletti also said the junta had "no objection" to advancing the general elections set for November as a way of resolving the crisis.

Hondurans are scheduled to go to the polls Nov. 29 to choose a successor to Zelaya - whose term ends next January - as well as legislators and mayors.

Human rights activists told Efe they have received scores of reports about arbitrary arrests and violence directed at supporters of the deposed president, while leftist lawmaker Silvia Ayala spoke of a videotape showing a pro-Zelaya protester being shot with an M-16 assault rifle during a march Thursday in the northern city of San Pedro Sula.

The national ombudswoman, Sandra Ponce, said her office has received dozens of complaints since Monday about injuries inflicted by police and soldiers.

She said her office has likewise learned of police and army activities against media outlets sympathetic to Zelaya, including Radio Progreso, Radio America and Channel 36 television.

Honduran soldiers stormed into the presidential palace before dawn last Sunday, dragging Zelaya out in his pajamas and putting him on a plane to Costa Rica.

Lawmakers have justified Zelaya's removal on the grounds that he threatened the constitutional order by trying to hold a non-binding referendum on his call for an assembly to overhaul a constitution that, among other things, allows the military to name its own commanders with only nominal input from elected officials.

Zelaya's foes say he wants to change the charter so he can run for re-election, a charge he flatly denied Tuesday during a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Noting that the current Honduran constitution limits the president to a single four-year term, he said that a revised charter would apply only to his successors. EFE