Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday called for the return of Honduras' deposed President Manuel Zelaya to his position.
In an applauded speech in the UN General Assembly, the Brazilian president said that the international community demands Zelaya's return to the Honduran Presidency. He also alerted that the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, where the deposed president is staying since Monday, is inviolable.
The Brazilian government alleged that its willingness to receive Zelaya was an attitude that any democratic government would take.
Brazil stressed that it did not take part in any efforts to get Zelaya back to Honduras, and that the deposed President arrived in Tegucigalpa through his own means.
In an act of retaliation, the current Honduran government, presided by Roberto Micheletti, cut the electricity and water supply in the Brazilian embassy, as well as the phone lines. On Tuesday, there was a confrontation between the police and a pro- Zelaya group in front of the building.
Brazil's Foreign Relations Minister Celso Amorim said on Monday that Zelaya's return to Honduras, almost three months after the military coup which took him from the presidency, represented a new step on the political negotiations between him and the current administration.
However, both parts seem unwilling to compromise. It is not known how the conflict will affect the upcoming presidential elections, which are to take place in November; if Zelaya does not return to the Honduran Presidency until the, the election may not be recognized by other countries, including Brazil.