TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS — One day after the Honduran military prevented him from landing at his capital's airport, ousted President Manuel Zelaya said he would meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington -- then take another run at going home.
The session with Clinton, scheduled for today, would be the highest-level contact by the Obama administration with the leftist leader, who was deposed in a coup just over a week ago.
American officials have said they hope Zelaya's U.S. visit, along with that of a group of representatives of the de facto Honduran government that replaced him, signals a willingness to start negotiations to end the standoff.
But a close associate indicated that Zelaya would say in Washington that he would try to return to Honduras again as early as Wednesday, this time entering overland through a border crossing.
"This time he won't fly into the lion's mouth," said Luis Roland Valenzuela, a congressman and member of Zelaya's Cabinet, most of which is in hiding or outside the country. Valenzuela accused the de facto government of blocking Zelaya's plane from landing on Sunday after having originally given the OK to land. The government says Zelaya never asked for permission.
Speaking Monday in Managua, the Nicaraguan capital, Zelaya confirmed that he planned to take another stab at returning to Honduras, though he was mum on the details. His mistake Sunday, he said, was telling the government ahead of time.
"Have no doubt, I will return to Honduras," he told reporters. "But I won't say how, because otherwise they will wait for me in any town or state."
In a dramatic midair showdown, the Venezuelan-registered and -piloted aircraft, with Zelaya sitting alongside the pilots in the cockpit, circled Tegucigalpa's Toncontin airport as thousands of the deposed president's supporters on the ground cheered his return. When they realized he couldn't land because government troops had blocked the runaway, some tried to breach airport fencing and clashed with security forces.
Witnesses said soldiers or police opened fire on the crowd. At least one person, the 19-year-old son of a farmer, was killed.
"It was a monstrosity for the armed forces to shoot at their own people," said Alejandra Zelaya (no relation to the president), 28, one of the demonstrators. "But we are going to keep at it until the president returns."
