TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Ousted President Manuel Zelaya's closest collaborators here are advising him to return to Honduras even if that means that the de facto government now in power will arrest him immediately.

They say that Zelaya's return would dramatically scramble the political landscape in this small Central American country, where Zelaya's replacement, President Roberto Micheletti, seems intent on withstanding widespread international pressure to step aside.

Driving the thinking of the Zelaya advisors is the Micheletti government's refusal to sign an agreement crafted by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias that would restore Zelaya to power for the remaining five months of his term with limited powers.

``I think Zelaya ought to go to San Jose [Costa Rica], sign the agreement and come to Honduras,'' Victor Meza, the senior official in Zelaya's cabinet as minister of internal security, said in an interview. ``A majority of his ministers here have come to the same conclusion, that he needs to come here. He'd be taken out of prison on the shoulders of the people to the Casa Presidencial.''

What's happening in Honduras has become a major international story because of the way that Zelaya was removed from office on June 28 - by gun-wielding soldiers at dawn - and because as president he veered left and embraced Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce foe of the United States who wants his close ally to return to power.

Over Republicans' objections, the Obama administration has joined Venezuela and the rest of Latin America and Europe in calling for Micheletti to step aside in favor of Zelaya.

Following his collaborators' advice to return unilaterally would be a highly risky move for Zelaya but one that they say he would like to take.

``Zelaya is not built to live in exile,'' said Meza, who is in close phone contact with the deposed president. ``He's like a fish out of water. He's convinced that he needs to return.''

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