Costa Rica is set to host a dialogue between ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and acting President Roberto Micheletti, who assumed the office late last month after the military removed Zelaya from office. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias will mediate.
Zelaya was forced from the country and into exile in Costa Rica by military personnel acting on orders they claim came from the nation’s supreme court, and appear to have stemmed at least in part from the leftist’s attempt to revise the Constitution to allow him to remain in power beyond the existing term limits.
The ouster has sparked protests from Zelaya’s supporters domestically, including violence over the weekend when he attempted unsuccessfully to land in the airport in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. The current government has threatened him with arrest if he returns.
The Organization of American States (OAS) has expelled Honduras over the situation, and has demanded the ‘unconditional’ return of Zelaya to power. The US has also criticized Zelaya’s ouster, though they have declined to label it a coup.