Ousted Zelaya to visit Washington
AFP
WASHINGTON - Honduran President Manuel Zelaya plans to travel to Washington on Tuesday, the State Department said, downplaying the ousted leader's attempts to return to power from neighboring Nicaragua.
"We obviously would not support any action that would precipitate violence," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
Zelaya Friday briefly stepped into Honduras from the Nicaraguan border town of Las Manos in his second attempt to return home since the military arrested him on June 28 and whisked him out of the country on an airplane. He then turned and went back to Nicaragua.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday: "President Zelaya's effort to reach the border is reckless. It does not contribute to the broader effort to restore democracy and constitutional order in the Honduras crisis."
Crowley also stressed that "any return to Honduras would be premature." Rather, he said, "the focus should remain on the current negotiating and mediation effort of President Arias."
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias brokered talks between Zelaya and the interim government that collapsed this week.
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