In a unusual statement reported by the Washington Post, Manuel Zelaya said he won’t return to power as a part of any agreement that legitimizes the June 28 “coup”. Apparently this is from a letter Zelaya wrote to Obama, which he read on Radio Globo by telephone.

Could this be his surrender? I hesitate to believe so. There have been terrorist attacks on media and shopping malls lately. A rocket propelled grenade was launched, intending to hit a building where election materials are housed, but missed. A strange explosion, which might have been the grenade, late at night was heard after an airplane flew uncharacteristically low over the southern side of Tegucigalpa a few days ago.

Is this is a missile thrown directly at the election, which Zelaya never wanted? Even if it is I doubt it would work, it is counterproductive to his cause. I am confused as to why he thinks this is a good strategy. Perhaps this is his way of ignoring the provision in the both the San José, and the Tegucigalpa/San José accords that he must drop any pretension to reform the constitution.

There are many reports about what Zelaya said in the international news, but little substance. Beside the Washington post, Telesur, El Heraldo, the Associated Press have issued very similar reports. The El Proceso Digital article is the only one to report in detail. His words:

“En mi condición de Presidente electo por el pueblo Hondureño, reafirmo mi decisión que a partir de esta fecha cualquiera que fuera el caso, yo no acepto, ningún acuerdo de retorno a la presidencia, para encubrir el golpe de Estado”

“In my condition as President elected by the Honduran people, I reaffirm my decision, that from this day forward, whatever the case, I do not accept any agreement to return the presidency to cover up the coup.”

I know Zelaya a little too well to celebrate yet. Let’s see what he has prepared for the next few weeks. I assure you, he won’t go peacefully. The Brazilian embassy needs to expel him immediately, or be responsible for the damages, and possible deaths of voluble Hondurans, willing to sacrifice their lives for a very unworthy leader.

Should he call on his followers to surrender their fight and support the election, THAT would be victory.

UPDATE: 11:09 pm

El Proceso Digital has posted the entire contents of the letter as read by Zelaya, you may read the Google translation of it here. From reading it, I gather that yes, his intention is to attack the election to create a constitutional crisis. In his letter he casts the election in the most unfavorable light possible. A failed election, in his eyes, could lead to his restitution, not as part of a negotiated accord which severely limits his power, but as the head of a victorious resistance, and backed by his friends, the ALBA nations.