After describing last June 28 military coup against Zelaya as a challenge to the US president, the Venezuelan head of State wondered why the White House has not imposed economic and political sanctions against the de facto regime in Tegucigalpa, instead of proposing dialogue.

“We are even giving them the benefit of good faith” in the face of this “serious mistake” that “became a trap for democracy and a very dangerous and serious precedent” which is that of speaking with “an usurper” (Micheletti) who should have been apprehended yesterday in Costa Rica, he stressed.

Chavez said that the Honduran coup perpetrators are trying to wash their hands, and added that thankfully Zelaya rapidily escaped “the quicksand.”

President Oscar Arias, from Costa Rica, expected to sit Zelaya and Micheletti at the same table, said Chavez, and later he pointed out that even Honduran Foreign Affairs Minister Patricia Rodas left Costa Rica.

Chavez urged Washington to, along with a correction of its position, do something else like a freezing of visas, properties and bank accounts belonging to the coup perpetrators. The Venezuelan president also denounced plans to carry out coups in Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador.