TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Honduran troops and police detained dozens of supporters of ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya in a raid on a farmers' organization building in the capital as Zelaya remained holed up in the Brazilian Embassy.
The raid on the National Agrarian Institute building dashed hopes that the de facto government of President Roberto Micheletti was softening its position toward Zelaya and opening to new mediation by the Organization of American States.
Micheletti ousted Zelaya on June 28 and forced him to exile. Last week Zelaya re-entered Honduras and took up residence in the Brazilian Embassy, demanding removal of Micheletti and his own reinstatement as president. He was backed by several hundred supporters who gathered outside the embassy area to demand Zelaya's return to presidential power.
Micheletti has served notice on Brazil he will strip the embassy of its diplomatic privileges unless Zelaya surrenders to Honduran security forces or is given asylum by Brazil.
The standoff has already resulted in a tightening of curfews in the capital, street riots and frequent arrests. The raid on the farmers' building was followed by 54 arrests, CBC Canada reported.
Hours before the raid, officials were indicating that Micheletti would consider receiving a new OAS mediation team even though the last delegation was ordered out of Honduras.
Micheletti has said he will defy international pressure and go ahead with a Nov. 29 presidential election. The move will seal the ouster of Zelaya, whose term expires in January 2010.
Analysts said the stalemate over Zelaya's fate now threatens to explode into an international crisis amid Micheletti's warnings to Brazil. U.N. Security Council delegates held urgent consultations in New York after Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim raised concerns Honduran forces may try to force their way into the embassy compound, where Zelaya is staying with more than 60 family members and supporters.
Earlier in the week Honduran authorities tightened their control on the media and shut down the offices of Radio Globo and Channel 36 television. Both media organizations face charges of instigating unrest under the current state of emergency.
Employees of media organizations have also faced detention and further charges of spreading dissent.
Zelaya's actions have drawn criticism from the United States, where one official called the Honduran's decision to sneak back into the country and then take shelter in the Brazilian Embassy as "irresponsible."
Lewis Amselem, U.S. ambassador to the OAS, said, "The return of Zelaya (without) an agreement is irresponsible and foolish. He should cease and desist from making wild allegations and from acting as though he were starring in an old movie.
"Having chosen, with outside help, to return on his own terms, President Zelaya and those who have facilitated his return, bear particular responsibility for the actions of his supporters," Amselem said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley told reporters in Washington the Obama administration regarded Amselem's comments as "fully consistent with our concern that both sides need to take constructive action, affirmative action."
"It is time for the de facto regime to have a dialogue with President Zelaya and come to some resolution of this current situation," Crowley said. A new OAS mission is scheduled to visit Honduras on Oct. 7.
