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Brazil hopes for negotiations in Honduras
2009-09-23
NEW YORK - Brazil's president said Wednesday he hoped deposed President Manuel Zelaya's surprise return to Honduras would deter coup plotters and force an eventual restoration of democracy in the Central American nation. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for patience with regard to the stand off that has Zelaya holed up inside the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras, and disputed the notion the Honduran had been asked by Brazil to refrain from politics. "Obviously he's not there hiding under the bed, he wants to be there for people to know he returned to his country. I think it's important that this ... brings coup leaders to the table to talk," Silva said at press conference at a New York hotel. Troops and police have ringed the Brazilian Embassy where Zelaya took shelter Monday after returning home in a daring challenge to the interim government that threw him out of the country at gunpoint in June. The interim government vows to arrest him if he leaves the shelter of the diplomatic mission. Silva said he spoke briefly to President Barack Obama before his address to the United Nations Wednesday and the two leaders agreed to meet later to discuss the situation in the Central American nation. Silva said the U.S. position on the Honduras was "correct" and that the coup d'etat could send a dangerous signal to other countries in the Central America if allowed to stand. "We already had the experience with military coups in brazil in the 1970s, in Argentina, in Uruguay, in many other countries and we don't want this to repeat," Silva said. "What happened in Honduras can be a very bad sign of what can happen in other countries." He said that was why the Brazilian government asked the U.N. Security Council Tuesday to discuss Zelaya's security and protect its embassy in Honduras.
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