About 75 percent of Honduras' commerce depends on the United States, Zelaya said. And because powerful economic forces were behind Zelaya's ouster, Obama should hit those forces where it hurts most, Zelaya said.

"I have told this to Obama, to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to the U.S. Embassy here and anyone else who will listen,'' Zelaya said. "They know how to act. Until now, they have been very prudent.''

With Micheletti showing a new willingness to talk with the OAS, and the U.N. Security Council set to meet to discuss the embassy situation soon, it isn't the moment for more penalties, the U.S. State Department said.

"Right now, when there are openings for dialogue, is not the time to announce new sanctions,'' a State Department official said.

Dates for the OAS visit, which could include emissaries from 10 countries, are being worked out, the official said.

Spokesman Ian Kelly said the U.N. Security Council meeting came at the request of the Brazilian government. No date has been set for the meeting.

"In general, we continue to work with our partners in the U.N. and the OAS to come up with means to promote a dialogue and defuse the tensions, of course with the ultimate goal of resolving the crisis,'' State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said at a media briefing in Washington. "And we're continuing our consultations with our partners in the region, and enlisting wherever we can their assistance in this process.''

The U.S. Embassy here spent the day denying rumors that Zelaya planned to move to American grounds. The rumor may have started because U.S. Embassy vehicles were used to evacuate Zelaya supporters who left the Brazilian Embassy willingly Tuesday.

"The embassy has been turned into a bunker for Zelaya,'' Assistant Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado de Casco told The Herald. "He's turned it into his headquarters, and he is using it to call for insurrection.''

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told CNN en Español that his government asked Zelaya to tone down his rhetoric while he remains an embassy guest.

"The word `death' should not even be mentioned,'' he said.

Rioting broke out in various parts of the capital Tuesday night, and lines hundreds deep formed at supermarkets when desperate shoppers scrambled to buy food after a round-the-clock curfew was briefly lifted.

"I have no food in my house,'' said Patti Vásquez, a housewife who, after two hours, still had not reached the front doors of a supermarket in an upscale shopping mall. "I need to get milk and juice and eggs.''

Zelaya says he has no plans to leave the embassy anytime soon.

. "I am the president the people of Honduras chose,'' Zelaya said. "A country can't have two presidents -- just one.''

Miami Herald staff writer Jim Wyss and special correspondent Stewart Stogel contributed to this report.