Tegucigalpa: Pressure mounted on leaders of the coup-backed regime in Honduras to revoke a decree curbing civil rights, as ousted President Manuel Zelaya called for protests against the clampdown.
Brazil defended its hosting of the ousted leader in its embassy in Honduras and insisted it had not helped him to return home secretly last week.
A Honduran army chief suggested that efforts to resolve the deep crisis sparked by the June 28 coup were advancing despite the apparent tough positions being taken by both sides.
"I see that we're quickly approaching a solution, which is what we're all waiting for," General Romeo Vasquez said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday that the new clampdown had heightened tensions and said that threats on the Brazilian embassy were "unacceptable," after the regime headed by de facto leader Roberto Micheletti threatened to close it.
A cordon of anti-riot police for a second day blocked hundreds of Zelaya supporters in a university in the capital from marching to the Brazilian embassy.
"I call the resistance on the streets to demand that the closed media outlets go back on air," Zelaya told a news conference, after security forces stormed the two main opposition media outlets Monday.
Union leaders said they would protest outside a closed radio station Wednesday, as Zelaya once again called them to demonstrate.
Aside from international criticism, the country's Congress, which supported the coup against Zelaya, also rejected the new curbs on civil liberties, including free speech and rights to assembly.
De facto leader Micheletti said late Monday he was prepared to rescind the decree so that November presidential polls could still go ahead.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias appealed to the international community to help the elections take place, to avoid isolating Honduras.
Arias brokered a first, failed round of talks and put the San Jose accord -- which includes Zelaya's return ahead of the elections -- on the negotiation table.
The US ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, said Tuesday the Arias plan, based on consultations with the Honduran people, was the "key" to overcoming the crisis. Related article: US denies policy shift
Some of the regime's backers began to talk of possible compromise, based on the plan.
Several business leaders said for the first time that they would accept Zelaya's return to the presidency, but only if his powers were restricted, he responded to the charges against him, and a multinational force oversaw a handover from Micheletti.
The US ambassador to Honduras meanwhile underlined that top US officials had condemned the June 28 coup, after a senior US representative to the Organization of American States criticized Zelaya's return to the country last week as "irresponsible."
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim defended Zelaya's presence in his country's embassy as a positive move to help resolve the crisis, in comments to Brazil's Senate.
Amorim also said that Brazil had refused to supply an airplane to Zelaya, as he had requested, for his surprise return.
The Brazilian senators approved a document rejecting the heavy presence of security forces around their embassy but questioning Zelaya's political actions from the building.
The OAS -- which suspended Honduras after the coup -- failed Monday to reach consensus on the crisis after more than 10 hours of debate.
The wavering de facto regime invited back the members of an OAS mission it had expelled on Sunday, ahead of a mission of top officials and regional foreign ministers next week.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 14:15