Ousted president's supporters accuse government
Supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya charged that the interim government delayed the arrival of a mission from the Organisation of American States to keep diplomats from seeing protests supporting the exiled leader.
The envoys had scheduled their arrival for today, the day about 1,500 opponents of the June 28 coup that ousted Mr Zelaya planned to enter the capital after walking for days from outlying towns.
They hoped other Zelaya supporters would join them in a demonstration.
However, the government led by interim President Roberto Micheletti postponed the diplomatic mission over the weekend, objecting to the inclusion of OAS head Jose Miguel Insulza.
The administration said Mr Insulza lacked impartiality and could only come as an observer. It said the visit, meant to restart stalled talks on resolving the dispute, would be rescheduled.
The move angered the tired protesters arriving on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, the capital.
"The walking has been hard," said Virginio Lopez, who had been on the road for three days. "What keeps us going is the feeling that the country's fate is at stake."
Protest leader Juan Barahona accused the interim government of delaying the diplomatic mission "to avoid the protest marches from coinciding (with the OAS visit), so that the OAS won't see the resistance in the streets".
"We demand the OAS come to Honduras, to Tegucigalpa, with the coup government's permission or without it," Mr Barahona said.
Talks to resolve the dispute have stalled over the interim government's refusal to bend to international pressure to reinstate Mr Zelaya.
Yesterday, South American presidents meeting in Ecuador repeated a call for Mr Zelaya's immediate restoration to the presidency and said they would not recognise any leader elected while Honduras' coup-installed regime is in power.
Despite the suspension of millions of dollars of US aid and the threat of more sanctions, interim leaders have made clear they expect to hold out until the November 29 elections that were scheduled before Mr Zelaya was ousted. Coup backers hope the election will calm international demands to restore Mr Zelaya, whose term ends on January 27.
Soldiers arrested Mr Zelaya and flew him into exile in Costa Rica after he ignored a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum asking Hondurans if they wanted a special assembly to rewrite the constitution.
Mr Zelaya is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election. Opponents say his real motive for the referendum was to abolish term limits so he could run again. Mr Zelaya denies that was his intention.
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