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TEGUCIGALPA - Honduras prepared to start campaigning Saturday for November elections that the international community has said it will not recognize following the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.
Thousands of Zelaya supporters took to the streets of the Honduran capital on Friday as US pressure intensified on the defiant interim leaders behind the coup exactly two months ago.
The Organization of American States (OAS), which suspended Honduras in July, has said it will not recognize the result of the November 29 elections for a new president, lawmakers and almost 300 mayors.
The international community does not recognize the interim government of Roberto Micheletti, the former head of parliament.
Foreign ministers from seven nations and the head of the OAS last week returned empty-handed from Honduras after failing to persuade Micheletti to step aside.
The US State Department now says it is ready to take more measures after halting most visa services in Honduras, revoking visas for the interim regime and suspending 35 million dollars in military aid.
International pressure and increasing frustration in the polarized nation provided a backdrop to the electoral campaign.
Zelaya supporters have called for a boycott of the vote, and one of the four presidential candidates, independent Carlos Reyes, has said he will withdraw if constitutional order is not restored.
The leftist candidate, Cesar Ham, may also withdraw.
The other candidates are Porfirio Lobo, from the National Party, and Elvin Santos from the center-right Liberal Party, the same party as Zelaya, who made a sharp turn to the left after taking power.
Micheletti's supporters claim the vote is legitimate because it was called by the country's electoral body on May 29, one month before the coup.
The United States piled pressure Thursday on the coup leaders after they rejected a settlement -- including the return of Zelaya and early elections -- with plans in the works to cut off nearly 150 million dollars in US assistance.
- AFP /ls
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