Honduras AG threatens to arrest deposed president as Zelaya plans to return home

A showdown is building in Honduras between the authorities who deposed President Manuel Zelaya and the president who is planning to return home and serve the remaining five months of his presidency.

The army moved against Zelaya Sunday as Hondurans prepared to vote in a referendum that would have removed presidential term limits and allowed Zelaya to run for office indefinitely.

It's the kind of change that his close ally, President Hugo Chavez, has made in Venezuela. The referendum was unpopular and Zelaya had little support among members of Congress.

The country's Supreme Court and the attorney general had declared the vote illegal, but Zelaya ignored them and proceeded with the referendum. On Sunday, troops arrested him and sent him in exile in Costa Rica.

The regional and international reaction was swift. Chavez put Venezuelan troops on alert and other regional leaders condemned the coup as illegal, demanding Zelaya's reinstatement.

In Trinidad, Prime Minister Patrick Manning in his capacity as Chairman of the Fifth Summit of the Americas called for the "immediate restitution of the constitutionally-elected Government of President Zelaya."

Manning said "in keeping with the Inter American Democratic Charter, the situation in Honduras today clearly affects the development of that country's democratic political institutional process and the legitimate exercise of power."

Read the story: T&T condemns Honduran coup

But the strongest voice in support of the Honduran leftist leader came from Washington. The United States emphatically stated that Zelaya is the only person it recognizes as the constitutional head of the Honduran government.

The U.S. restated that position Tuesday as Zelaya spoke at the United Nations, telling the General Assembly that he plans to return as president as early as Thursday to serve the remainder of his term. He also pledged not to run for office ever again.

The U.S. State Department made it clear that Washington sees no acceptable solution other than Zelaya's return to power. And a spokesman threatened to cut off aid to Honduras.

The General Assembly also passed a resolution by consensus recognizing Zelaya as the only constitutional head of Honduras.

The deposed leader plans to return to Honduras, escorted by the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and the UN General Assembly, as well as the head of the OAS.

But in Honduras Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi said Zelaya would be arrested "as soon as he sets foot on Honduran soil", adding that he faces at least 20 years in prison for treason, abuse of authority and other charges.

"We have already issued an international arrest warrant to capture the former president anywhere in the world," he said.

And foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, threw a wild card onto the table, telling CNN's Spanish service that Zelaya had been letting drug traffickers ship U.S.-bound cocaine from Venezuela through Honduras.

Ortez said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was aware of Zelaya's ties to organized crime.