Honduras update: Zelaya turned away from country, Costa Rican president mediates dispute

Government forces blockaded the runways of Tegucigalpa's airport on July 5, foiling ousted President Manuel Zelaya's bold attempt to return to Honduras and reclaim the presidency.  Zelaya's plane made repeated passes over the airport as police and pro-Zelaya protestors clashed below, resulting in the deaths of two people and dozens more wounded. Thousands of Zelaya supporters stormed the police cordon as the plane neared the capital, initally breaking through before being driven back by a second deployment of police arrayed around the airport.

International outcry over the since the June 28 coup, led by the military and spearheaded by interim President Roberto Micheletti, has not diminished.  The Organization of American States voted unanimously on July 4 to suspend Honduras's membership until Zelaya is reinstated as president.  The OAS suspension resulted in a "pause" of nearly $200 million in loans from the Inter-American Development Bank, which said last week that it would, "decide its future course of action depending on actions taken by the OAS," and the U.S. has suspended more than $20 million of primarily military aid.

President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica -- the 1987 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize -- has agreed to mediate sit-down meetings between Zelaya and Micheletti that began July 9 in San Jose. Hopes of a quick resolution have been dashed, however, as both parties refused to meet face-to-face and left negotiations just hours after they had begun.