What’s Mel Zelaya’s next move?

With the results of Honduras’ national elections in the books, it remains to be seen what ousted president Manuel Zelaya will do next.

Earlier this week, Zelaya sought to leave the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa where he has been for over two months. The de facto government reportedly accepted Zelaya’s request to go to Mexico only under the condition that he resigned from the presidency. Zelaya subsequently refused and claimed that he would stay in the presidency until his term ends on January 27.

In the latest action, Zelaya admitted earlier today that he would leave the embassy by the end of next month:

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says he will leave the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras by Jan. 27, when his presidential term ends, according to an interview broadcast Friday.

Zelaya said in the telephone interview with Globo TV that he wants to leave soon but did not say where he will go. He has been holed up in the embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa for three months under threat of arrest if he sets foot outside the building…

The top-ranking Brazilian official at the embassy also told Globo TV that Zelaya must leave by Jan. 27. Francisco Catunda did not say where Zelaya might go, saying only that it would be "another destination."

In the meantime, President-elect Porfirio Lobo has been attempting to gain global recognition for the elections that have been largely repudiated. Only five countries in the Americas have publicly backed the elections yet one of them is the U.S. "We salute the Honduran people for this achievement and we congratulate President-elect Lobo for his victory. These November 29 elections marked an important milestone in the process moving forward, but not its end," asserted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday.

Image- AFP (“Honduran soldiers and policemen stand guard behind a fence outside the Brazilian Embassy.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Xinhua, New York Times, AP