Hundreds of orteguistas—followers of President Daniel Ortega—armed with rocks, sticks and metal barricades blocked roads around the northern Nicaraguan town of Ocotal to bar the advance of a congressional delegation from the Nicaraguan Democratic Bloque (Bancada Democrática Nicaragüense—BDN), which was seeking to deliver a letter to ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, protesting his use of the country's territory as a staging ground for his bid to return to power. Among those turned back when the orteguistas seized the bridge over the Rio Coco leading to Ocotal was opposition leader Eduardo Montealegre. Three legislators were forcibly held while their vehicles were set upon with clubs. (Nuevo Diario, Managua, July 28)

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, hosting the 11th regional Tuxtla Group Summit in the Pacific coast resort of Tamarindo, called for "absolute ostracism" of the de facto government in Honduras until it accepts his proposed "San José Accord"—a compromise plan that entails returning the ousted president to power. Arias said the de facto regime "isn't convinced" and "hasn't yet recognized that President Zelaya should be reinstated." He said that "sanctions should continue to be applied."

Hundreds of people attended the burial of murdered Honduran bricklayer Pedro Magdiel Muñoz Salvador on July 26 in the El Durazno cemetery, about 5 kilometers north of Tegucigalpa. "Blood of martyrs, seed of freedom," chanted the mourners, who said the police had killed Muñoz for his role in a July 24 demonstration near the border with Nicaragua, where protesters had been trying to join up with deposed Honduran president José Manuel Zelaya Rosales.

A mission of delegates from international human rights organizations released a preliminary report on July 23 in Tegucigalpa charging "serious and systematic violations" of rights in Honduras following the June 28 military coup. The mission's 15 members included representatives from the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and the Peace and Justice Service (SERPAJ).

Thousands of indigenous and campesino Guatemalans marched the 35 kilometers from the town of San Juan Sacatepéquez to Guatemala City on July 13-14 as part of a continuing struggle against the construction of the Cementos Progreso cement plant about 15 kilometers from the town. Organizers said more than 10,000 residents marched in the protest, which also demanded the release of imprisoned campesino leaders and was supported by a number of social organizations, including Vía Campesina and the National Coordinating Committee of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA).

A prominent presence at the protests demanding the return of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya are Garifuna drummers, singing and chanting in their traditional language. The Miami Herald reports they are especially motivated by Zelaya's plan to revise the constitution. "We have been in a continuous struggle for decades to have a voice, to be visible, to have representation," said Celeo Alvarez Casildo, president of the Organization for the Development of Ethnic Communities (ODECO), told the Miami Herald. "It's not that we supported Zelaya—and much less the events that led to his ouster—but we have our own very good reasons for wanting a constitutional assembly."

A day after his symbolic 30-minute return to Honduras, ousted President Manuel Zelaya has established a camp near the border in Nicaraguan territory. In a speech inaugurating the camp July 25, Zelaya invoked Central American liberation icons Francisco Morazán and César Sandino, pledging to return and reclaim the Honduran presidency. De facto President Roberto Micheletti dismissed the affair as a "silly" "publicity stunt," and the army released a statement saying Zelaya would have been arrested if he had proceeded into Honduran territory. The daytime curfew in the border zone has been extended. (BBC News & World Service, July 26)

Fears that the de facto regime in Honduras is availing itself of expertise in repression from the bloody years of the 1980s were vindicated by reports that coup-installed President Roberto Micheletti has appointed as special advisor one Billy Joya Améndola—named as one of the principal leaders of the 316 Battalion death squad.