TEGUCIGALPA, July 13, 2009 (AFP) - Ousted Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya on Monday threatened the interim government that deposed him in a coup, saying it must relinquish power within the week or face unspecified repercussions.
     
"We are giving an ultimatum to the coup regime that by our next meeting at the latest, to be held this week in San Jose, Costa Rica, they comply with the mandates expressed by international organizations and the constitution of Honduras" demanding his immediate restitution, said Zelaya, reading from a statement at a press conference at the Honduran embassy in Nicaragua.
      
The warning to interim leader Roberto Micheletti and his two-week old administration added that if they continued to delay Zelaya's return to the presidency, then mediation efforts initiated last week in San Jose "will be considered a failure" and "we will proceed with other measures."
      
Zelaya was in Nicaragua on his most recent stop as he travels throughout the region to drum up support for his presidency, after being sent into exile in a June 28 coup.
      
The ousted Honduran president held weekend talks in Washington with State Department officials and the head of the Organization of the American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza.
      
Washington reiterated its support for Zelaya, called for a return to democratic order in his country and backed the dialogue process between representatives dispatched by Zelaya and Micheletti.
      
The deposed Honduran leader's tough words came after an announcment earlier Monday from Micheletti, setting Saturday as a possible date for a resumption of talks in Costa Rica
      
"We have been officially informed that we will possibly meet in Costa Rica again on Saturday," said Micheletti at the swearing-in ceremony for his de facto government's new foreign minister.
      
Negotiations between the leaders' representatives began last week over two days in San Jose, brokered by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for helping resolve civil wars in Central America.
      
Zelaya has proposed that the next negotiations be held in Honduras, even though the interim government has refused to allow him to return and did not let his airplane land in Tegucigalpa last week.
      
The ousted leader's supporters have vowed to continue protest marches and road blockades demanding that their leader be reinstated.
      
"We are going to continue the protests," said Luis Sosa, a leader of the anti-government Popular Bloc. "Our commitment is to maintain them permanently until the democratic process is restored," Sosa told AFP.
      
The foreign minister of Zelaya's deposed administration suggested that the ousted government was interested in continuing discussions with Micheletti
      
"It's a chance for each side to see what the other side is thinking," said Patricia Rodas at the weekend, speaking to the Caracas-based Telesur regional news channel from Washington, where she was accompanying Zelaya.
      
However she added: "It's not a dialogue between two equal parties, but an exchange of information between a criminal on the one hand, and a totally legitimate government on the other hand."
      
Zelaya, a wealthy rancher who moved sharply left after taking office in January 2006, rattled his country's ruling elite by trying to bypass Congress to hold a referendum on rewriting the constitution.
      
He has denied charges that the move was a bid to lift the one-term presidential limit so he could seek re-election this year.