Arriving in Costa Rica for talks on Thursday with his rivals, under the mediation of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, Zelaya repeated his position that he would only discuss his return to office in the poor Central American country.
"My presence here is not a negotiation," Zelaya, wearing his trademark white cowboy hat, told reporters. He noted that the world had widely condemned his June 28 ouster, which installed Roberto Micheletti as a caretaker president.
Zelaya, who insists only his immediate return to office can restore order in his coffee and textile exporting nation, called Micheletti a "coup-mongerer and said he expected his rivals to announce they were surrendering power within a day.
He said doing so would be "the most honorable thing for democracy in Latin America."
Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and an experienced regional mediator, will host the talks on Thursday aimed at finding a solution to the crisis triggered by the Honduran coup, which has stoked tensions in Central America.
Both the United States, facing a major test of President Barack Obama's promise to improve U.S. ties with Latin America, and the Organization of American States are backing the mediation.
Venezuela, whose firebrand leftist President Hugo Chavez is an ally of Zelaya, said it was halting oil supplies to Honduras until the toppled president was reinstated.
Micheletti, who was installed by the nation's Congress, agreed to the talks in San Jose but was coy about whether he would attend in person or send envoys. He said he was consulting aides about security.
Giving Dialogue a Chance
The interim Honduran leader, a former Zelaya ally who opposed his shift to the left, said on Wednesday he sought dialogue and a solution that would bring peace to his country and "sustain democracy".
Micheletti has said he will not negotiate the ousted president's return to power, insisting his removal was a defense of the constitution and that Zelaya was acting illegally by trying to remove presidential term limits.
"This isn't a situation that can be resolved in a blink of an eye," Carlos Lopez, designated by Micheletti as envoy to the United Nations, said in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa. He repeated the coup leaders' assertion that Zelaya would face charges if he returned.
Obama's administration has condemned the coup and supported Zelaya despite expressing misgivings about his policies and political allegiances. But it faced criticism at home from some Republican senators who questioned what they called "one-sided support" for Zelaya.
The United States appears to have persuaded Zelaya to give the talks a chance and refrain from trying to return to power by force. He tried to fly home on Sunday, but authorities in Honduras stopped his plane from landing while his supporters clashed with troops.
At least one person was killed on Sunday in the unrest, and U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said it had evidence suggesting the soldiers may have opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. It called for an independent investigation.
The OAS on Saturday suspended Honduras after the caretaker government refused to reinstate Zelaya.
The Honduran coup has stoked tensions in Central America, where Arias won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for helping to end a series of civil wars and insurgencies tied to the Cold War.
Lopez gave an apparent warning to Zelaya's leftist allies, which include Venezuela and Cuba, against trying to restore him to office by force. "We hope there's not going to be interference by outside countries," he said.
Zelaya's opponents say the logging magnate, who took office in 2006 and was due to leave power in 2010, had increasingly allied himself with Chavez and that his presidential term limit effort was influenced by the Venezuelan, a fierce U.S. critic.
Zelaya told Chilean television he had never proposed his own re-election, adding that he could be push forward the next elections, which are scheduled for November.
Some analysts expressed skepticism about the talks. "It is difficult to see how this mediation will succeed so long as the coup government knows that they can stall out the rest of Zelaya's term," said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the U.S.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research think tank.
Seventeen Republicans in the U.S. Senate, which is controlled by Obama's Democratic Party, sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking the administration to reassess its position on the coup and urging it not to cut assistance to Honduras.
U.S. officials say the aid is under review.
