Exiled Zelaya At Honduran Border, Ready to Regain Power

Manuel Zelaya, the expelled president of Honduras, is at the border in an attempt to return to his position. The situation is tense as the military refuses to allow Zelaya back into the country.

Zelaya has arrived at the Nicaragua-Honduras border in yet another attempt to cross back into the nation that put him into exile last month after a military coup. A curfew had been passed for noon in anticipation of Zelaya's attempt to cross the border. AP reports:

The Defense Ministry suggested Zelaya might stage an assassination attempt on himself to blame Vasquez.

"We cannot be responsible for the security of people who, to foment general violence in the country, are capable of having their own sympathizers attack them," the ministry said in a statement late Thursday.

He was met at the border by thousands of Hondurans offering support. The police and soldiers were also on hand at the border. They fired tear gas into the crowd that had gathered at the El Paraiso crossing. CNN reports:

"Allow me to return to my country," Zelaya said, directly addressing his nation's police and army. "To embrace my fellow countrymen, my children, my wife, my mother."

Zelaya arrived at the border with a 20-vehicle caravan. There is little hope for Zelaya to be able to return to his homeland at this time. An attempt for a peace accord failed earlier in the week. The San Jose Accord called for Zelaya's return to power, the creation of a unity government and early elections. Zelaya was exiled on June 28 after he ignored orders from the court to reinstate the head of the military.