TEGUCIGALPA -- Honduras' interim president told McClatchy on Monday that he won't agree to any proposal to resolve his country's political crisis that would allow ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to power.

Roberto Micheletti, who was named interim president after the military bundled Zelaya onto an airplane June 28 and sent him to Costa Rica, said Zelaya would be jailed and tried on 18 charges of violating the constitution if he returned.

``The only way President Zelaya can return is if he submits himself to the justice system,'' Micheletti said.

In an exclusive 40-minute interview, Micheletti also accused the U.S. ambassador here, Hugo Llorens, of tilting unfairly in favor of Zelaya during the crisis, rejected accusations that his government has abused human rights in putting down protests, and said he doesn't expect the Obama administration to slap tough economic sanctions on Honduras.

CALCULATED RISK

Micheletti's comments confirmed analysts' assertions that he plans to withstand international pressure to allow Zelaya's return under a plan being negotiated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. In doing so, his government and its supporters in the business community think they can ride out possible economic sanctions and a refusal by foreign governments to recognize the winners of the presidential and congressional elections Nov. 29.

Micheletti said Zelaya cannot be trusted because, Micheletti said, he violated the constitution by attempting to hold a referendum with the aim of rewriting the constitution so that he could run for reelection. Under Arias' proposal, Zelaya would agree not to push for a change in reelection law in return for Micheletti's allowing him to return to office.

``He'd never keep his word,'' Micheletti said. ``I know him. I helped him become president. He was a democrat. But he became a leftist with a plan to follow Ecuador and Venezuela. He wanted to become a dictator and emulate [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chávez.''

What Zelaya hoped to gain from the referendum is a point of contention in Honduras. The proposed referendum question didn't mention reelection and asked only whether voters should decide Nov. 29 whether to call for a constituent assembly. Zelaya and his supporters claim that the referendum was nonbinding and that any change would have taken place after Zelaya left office.

However, Micheletti said he believed that Zelaya intended to try to force a rewrite of the constitution before the election in an effort to remain in power. Chávez successfully pressed Venezuelan voters to allow him to run for reelection after they initially defeated such a measure.

AT HOME

Interviewed at his home on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Micheletti, a 66-year-old father of nine, was relaxed, a marked difference from when he met with foreign reporters shortly after the coup and refused to answer some questions and bristled at others.

Micheletti wore a guayabera and sat in his living room. His dog was given free rein to run about until the interview started.

As Micheletti spoke, pro-Zelaya protesters once again blocked key streets in Tegucigalpa, the capital, and teachers continued a strike that has kept the capital's public schools closed. There were no reports of violence.

One question Micheletti wouldn't answer: Was it illegal for the military to spirit Zelaya out of the country instead of simply arresting him, as the country's Supreme Court had ordered?

``I might have committed the same mistake to avoid a bigger confrontation, a lot of bloodshed,'' he said.

DEFENDED POLICE

He defended police from allegations that they have beaten pro-Zelaya demonstrators. One demonstrator on Sunday showed a McClatchy reporter a bruise on his leg, where he said police had struck him with clubs.

Micheletti said soldiers and police officers simply had been trying to defend themselves.

Micheletti also said he hoped that Llorens, who left for the United States for vacation on Friday, wouldn't return. ``He hasn't been fair,'' he said.

The State Department issued a statement of support for Llorens on Monday.

Micheletti said he doesn't expect the Obama administration to go beyond the light restrictions it has imposed on Honduras.

``Doing so would most hurt social programs for the poor,'' Micheletti said, adding that the United States has been ``a longtime ally.''

He said he would happily retire from politics when he turns over power to his elected successor Jan. 27. He said he would return to his hometown of El Progreso, where he owns a 185-acre cattle farm and is one of 60 partners in a bus company.

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