U.S. House leader tempers Zelaya support

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- A key member of the U.S. Congress has tempered his support for ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, analysts say.

After first calling for Zelaya's immediate reinstatement following his removal in what appeared to be a June 28 military coup, U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs' subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, has stopped short of again making the demand, the Washington publication The Hill reported Sunday.

At a subcommittee hearing Friday, Engel voiced more support for the Honduran government, noting that before his removal, Zelaya had chosen to ignore his country's own Supreme Court and legislature and sought to change its Constitution by seeking a second term as president, The Hill reported.

"When the entire political establishment speaks and expresses dire concerns, the president needed to listen," Engel said. "From everything I can see, he did not."

U.S. President Barack Obama has called for the reinstatement of Zelaya, a leftist with ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but is seeking a negotiated resolution, the publication said.