News stories by Thelma Mejía, page 5

'Mr. Zelaya is history,' said Honduras' de facto President Roberto Micheletti after Congress voted not to allow the president ousted in the Jun. 28 coup to serve out the last few weeks of his term.

Porfirio Lobo, the presidential candidate of the right-wing National Party, won the elections Sunday in Honduras that were backed by the de facto government in power since the Jun. 28 coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya.

At the urging of a high-level U.S. government mission, the negotiating teams of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti restarted talks Thursday to find a solution to the four-month political crisis.

The negotiators for ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti announced that talks to solve the political crisis triggered by the Jun. 28 coup had broken down.

The talks in Honduras have stalled over the question of reinstating ousted President Manuel Zelaya, whose delegates have called on the Organisation of American States (OAS) to take steps to keep the negotiations from failing.

An Organisation of American States (OAS) mission of foreign ministers to Honduras failed to persuade the de facto regime to consider Manuel Zelaya's reinstatement as president.

A delegation of representatives of the de facto government headed by Roberto Micheletti in Honduras began to meet Thursday with State Department officials in Washington, while demonstrators demanding the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya have been beaten and arrested here.

The demilitarisation process that got underway in Honduras 15 years ago was buried on Jun. 28 when more than 100 soldiers surrounded President Manuel Zelaya's home, pulled him out of bed at gunpoint and sent him into exile. Now the armed forces are making no effort to conceal their interest in political protagonism.

While it publicly declares its willingness to continue to engage in dialogue, the de facto regime led by Roberto Micheletti in Honduras is taking a hard-line approach to protests demanding the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. So far three people have been killed, around 100 have been injured, and 150 have been arrested and held for several hours or days.

Opponents of the de facto regime that took power in Honduras nearly a month ago began a two-day general strike Thursday, while the talks mediated by Costa Rican President Óscar Arias teetered on the verge of collapse.