Stakes rose in Honduras Sunday after ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, holed up at Brazil's embassy, called on his supporters for a final offensive and coup leaders responded with a harsh warning to Brazil.
Zelaya, who has been in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since he made a surprise return almost one week ago, called on his supporters to converge on the capital on Monday, exactly three months after the coup.
"We're making a patriotic... call to resistance across all national territory," Zelaya said late Saturday in a statement handed to an AFP photographer inside the embassy.
He called on his supporters to peacefully march to the capital for a "final offensive against the de facto government."
Shortly afterwards, the regime gave Brazil up to 10 days to define Zelaya's status in a statement read on national television.
It urged "that Mr Zelaya immediately stop using the protection that Brazil's diplomatic mission gives him to instigate violence in Honduras."
The statement warned that "if that's not done, we'll be forced to take supplementary measures under international law," without elaborating.
Leaders of the resistance movement against the coup were meeting Sunday to work on a new strategy, in an atmosphere of high tension.
The interim government -- which took over after Zelaya was ousted in late June at the height of a dispute over his plans to change the constitution -- promised not to attack the "integrity" of the embassy.
They are seeking to arrest Zelaya for violating the constitution.
The UN Security Council on Friday warned the regime headed by Roberto Micheletti not to harass the embassy, as Brazilian officials complained it was "under siege."
Several thousand Zelaya supporters took to the streets again Saturday, in a march on foot and in scores of cars, waving red flags, honking horns and calling for him to return to office.
Zelaya said Saturday that the regime had not responded to a call for dialogue which he made after returning to the country, but had replied "with more repression against the people."
Two people have been killed in pro-Zelaya protests since the start of the week according to police, and rights groups have voiced concern about clampdowns on demonstrators and local media.
Demonstrators have come daily to the embassy compound, which is surrounded by anti-riot police and soldiers, to show their support for the embattled head of state.
"Thanks, Brazil, for protecting Mel from this vile regime," one banner read, using Zelaya's popular nickname.
Most people inside the embassy were in good health, the Francisco Catunda, the charge d'affaires, said Saturday, adding that one diplomat told him he smelled gas the previous day, after Zelaya accused the army of trying to poison some 60 people still in the compound by pumping noxious gases inside -- a charge denied by Honduran officials.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, thrown into the heart of the crisis, on Saturday cautioned against "backsliding" on democracy in Honduras and throughout Latin America.
"We fought hard to sweep military dictatorships into the trash can of history, we can not allow these kind of setbacks in our continent," Lula said.
As hopes for dialogue dimmed, European Union countries decided they would send back their envoys who were withdrawn after the coup, but said that did not mean they recognized the interim regime.
A daytime curfew was lifted Thursday and airports reopened, while a nighttime curfew remained in place.
With options for a rapid solution fading away, the United Nations on Wednesday also froze its technical support for a presidential vote scheduled for November.
De facto authorities still wish to carry out the poll, which they say is the best exit to the crisis.
Source: AFP Global Edition
