Zelaya says he will return to Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 18 (UPI) -- Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya can be back in his country in a few hours, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, his major ally, said Friday.

The provisional government that has governed Honduras since a military coup forced Zelaya out of the country increased security Friday at possible points of entry, The Wall Street Journal reported. Honduran officials said soldiers were being sent to the border of Nicaragua, whose President Daniel Ortega also supports Zelaya.

Zelaya, in a telephone interview broadcast Thursday on Venezuelan television, said he had set a 24-hour deadline for the government to restore him to office.

"I am preparing different alternatives," he said in the interview. "By air, land, and other ways to make those soldiers ashamed for what they have done against the people."

Chavez said Friday Zelaya would defy threats by the government.

The United States supports mediation talks led by President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica but those talks appear likely to do little to bring the two sides together, the Journal said.