DEPOSED PRESIDENT BEGINS MOVING TOWARDS HONDURAS

On 23 July 2009 deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya departed from Managua, Nicaragua's capital, and began moving toward Honduras in an attempt to surreptitiously re-enter the country. He is accompanied by his wife, two sons and various political allies and has stated that he hopes to be greeted and accompanied by thousands of his supporters once he crosses the border. Zelaya further stated that he does not plan to immediately enter Honduras, but may stay over the weekend of 25-26 July in the town of Esteli, a Nicaraguan town near the Honduran border, where he has established a command post. Zelaya has not indicated how exactly he intends to cross into Honduran territory. There are several border points the ousted leader may use to access Honduras: one at Guasaule, located in the Chinandega province of Nicaragua, another at El Espino or Las Manos, both in the Madriz province of Nicaragua. However, one of Zelaya's allies indicated that he has not ruled out another aerial attempt to enter Honduras, by flying either to El Salvador or Guatemala and crossing the border from one of these locations. Zelaya attempted a similar feat on 5 July, flying into Tegucigalpa's international airport before being forced to reroute by military forces blocking the runway. Though Zelaya has promised that his entry will be peaceful, his Honduran supporters have organized a national strike and planned road blockades to support the president's return. Passions for both Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti run extremely high in Honduras, and any confrontation between the two sides may result in violence. Reports indicate that security forces have not been deployed in any noticeable quantity to the mentioned border crossings, and Micheletti has not responded to Zelaya's claims of an imminent return.