Diplomats Deliver Ultimatum on Honduras Coup

Latin American diplomats will today deliver a blunt ultimatum to Honduras to reverse a coup within 24 hours or face becoming an international pariah.

Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organisation of American States (OAS), is due to lead a delegation which will warn coup leaders of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

The interim government in Tegucigalpa showed little sign of buckling. It ruled out reinstating President Manuel Zelaya, whom soldiers bundled into exile last Sunday, and said the central America country could survive the isolation.

The crisis could enter a new, explosive phase this weekend if Zelaya keeps his promise to return to Honduras to try to regain power. The interim government said it would arrest him. Rival crowds have demonstrated for and against the exile in recent days, underlining deep polarization.

Violent clashes earlier this week left dozens injured. A semblance of normality has returned to Tegucigalpa but authorities have restricted civil liberties, muzzled the media and imposed a nightly curfew.

Insulza, the region's top diplomat, said he would not negotiate with the new government to avoid legitimizing it but would instead warn of the consequences missing a deadline - which expires tomorrow - to reverse course.

"We hope the coup leaders recognise the damage they are doing to the country and the world and allow the return of President Zelaya," he told reporters in Guayana on Thursday night. He played down hopes of breakthrough. "I will do everything I can. But I think it will be very hard to turn things around in a couple of days."

Honduras faces expulsion from the 34-member OAS, which groups most countries in the Americas. Cuba was the last to be so punished, in 1962. It would be a symbolic step which would put pressure on donors and creditors to squeeze Honduras, an impoverished coffee exporter of 7m which relies on loans to stay afloat.

The World Bank has "paused" lending but not cut ties with Tegucigalpa. The US has severed diplomatic and military contacts but not aid. European Union ambassadors left the country earlier this week. Latin American countries briefly suspended trade.

The interim government has rebuffed the threats and said it will launch a campaign to persuade the world that Zelaya's ouster - he was woken in his pyjamas at gunpoint and put on a plane - was a legal defence of the constitution.

Congress, the supreme court, the army and the president's own party approved the overthrow in response to the leftist leader's attempt to change the constitution to extend term limits, a strategy pioneered by his ally and mentor, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

The interim government said Zelaya will be charged with treason and corruption if he steps on Honduran soil. It has also accused him of cocaine trafficking.

There are glimmers of compromise. Zelaya said this week he will not seek another term when his presidency expires in January 2010 but instead retire to his ranch.

The interim president, Roberto Micheletti, last night softened his position and said a referendum on allowing Zelaya to finish his term was possible. He also suggested moving forward November's presidential election to August to pick a new leader.

Zelaya, a cattle and timber tycoon, was elected in 2006 on a conservative ticket but then tacked to the left. He was popular with many poor Hondurans for social programs but just before the coup his approval ratings had fallen to 30%.