Ecuadoran president ready to accompany Zelaya back to Honduras

QUITO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said Friday that he is ready to accompany Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to Tegucigalpa this weekend.

"It was an invitation from Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya," Correa said in a radio interview, adding that "the Honduras dictatorship has its hours numbered."

Honduran soldiers stormed the presidential palace and flew President Manuel Zelaya into exile in Costa Rica early Sunday. Later on Sunday, the Honduran legislature voted to appoint Roberto Micheletti, head of the legislature, as acting president to serve out Zelaya's term.

The coup leaders were under massive international pressure. The Organization of American States(OAS) Wednesday gave them 72 hours to reinstate Zelaya, or the country will face expulsion from the organization.

Earlier reports said Zelaya on Tuesday announced plans to return to Honduras on Thursday.

After the OAS's announcement of the 72-hour ultimatum, he said he will postpone his return to the weekend to let in more room for the negotiation by the deadline.

However, Micheletti said Tuesday that Zelaya should not return to the country, saying that "There is nothing to negotiate, there is a new government in power and he should respect."

The United Nations, EU, OAS and many foreign government leaders have condemned the military uprising and refused to recognize Micheletti's government.

In addition, Honduras' neighbors halted cross-border trade for several days and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration stopped disbursements of any new loans to the Micheletti government.

"The attack on democracy in Honduras is an attack on all of Latin America's democracy," Correa added. "If we want to live in a democracy, we have to unfaltering in demanding Zelaya's return to power," he said.

He added that if the military coup were allowed to stand it would be a bad precedent for the region. He also said that Ecuador is not likely to suffer a similar coup because the government enjoys a great deal of credibility and popular support.

Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner has already accepted a similar invitation from Zelaya.