国际英语新闻：News Analysis: No prompt solution to Honduras coup crisis

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- A second round of talks between representatives of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti ended Friday without any breakthroughs.

    Both parties promise more meetings in the near future but an expert on Honduras thinks it will be a while before there is a resolution to the political drama.

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya speaks to the media upon his arrival at the international airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, July 8, 2009.

"There will not be a prompt solution to the Honduras coup crisis," Jiang Xueshi, deputy director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told Xinhua.

    Jiang attributes the coup to infighting amongst different political forces.

    Some policies that Zelaya adopted after taking office, he said, irritated other political factions in Honduras.

Honduras' interim President Roberto Micheletti speaks during a news conference after an oath-taking ceremony for members of his government at the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa July 10, 2009.

It didn't help, either, that Zelaya had planned to seek a second term as president, which is not permitted under the constitution, Jiang said.

    Zelaya was removed from office and forced to board a plane to Costa Rica late last month after a planned referendum on changing the country's constitution put Zelaya at odds with the military, the courts and the legislature.

    Micheletti and Zelaya on Thursday were supposed to hold a two-day meeting mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias in San Jose. But the two rivals didn't even see each other. Instead, they met separately with Arias, and left Costa Rica after naming delegates to continue the talks in their place.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias speaks to the media after negotiations in San Jose July 10, 2009.

Though the meeting bore no fruit, Arias, a 1987 Nobel Peace Prize winner, pointed out that both sides had a "frank and direct dialogue."

    Carlos Lopez, the former Honduran foreign minister who is representing Micheletti, said the interim government is ready to negotiate and expects to resolve the conflict within the Honduran Constitution.

    Milton Jimenez, Zelaya's representative and also a former foreign minister, said the ousted president's delegates will attend the meetings but will accept nothing but his reinstatement.

    Jiang said both parties seemed to be stubborn in the beginning but could soften their attitudes as the crisis continues and international pressure to end the impasse mounts.

    The global community, including the United States, may intensify pressure on the interim government, which has failed to receive any international recognition since the coup. The Organization of American States even excluded Honduras on July 5.

    The United States, which has a long history of friendship and support with Honduras' military, has condemned the coup and cut off a military aid of 16.5 million U.S. dollars this week.

    The Central American Integration System stopped the country's access to new loans.

    "A small and poor country like Honduras will not resist long if it is completely isolated from the international community," Jiang said.

    Jiang said Zelaya, whose term was due to expire in January, may abandon his re-election plans in exchange for reinstatement.

    The political crisis can only be resolved by negotiations, but the interim government could drag on the talks until the presidential elections in November, he said.