CARACAS -- In a dramatic move that seemed like something out of a Hollywood movie, ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya sneaked back into his country and turned up Monday at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital.

"I'm here unarmed and ready to engage in dialogue," Zelaya said in a phone call with Venezuela's Telesur television network. "I'm the president legitimately elected by the Honduran people."

Zelaya's surprise move, nearly three months after the military whisked him out of the country, threw Honduras into confusion and seemed certain to escalate an already tense standoff.

The de facto government of President Roberto Micheletti had promised to jail Zelaya if he returned and try him on 18 charges of corruption and violating the constitution.

Micheletti, who imposed a curfew aimed at getting Zelaya's supporters off the streets, said Zelaya's return doesn't change the situation in Honduras and added that Zelaya ought to turn himself in to authorities to face charges.

"I can't help but think that he's here to try to put up obstacles to our presidential election," Micheletti said from the President's House as several dozen political and business leaders looked on approvingly.

Zelaya supporters, who had been demonstrating daily for his return, rushed to the gates outside the embassy as word spread. They treated Zelaya as a conquering hero -- "Yes we can!'' they shouted repeatedly -- and created a human shield to keep away police and armed forces.

José Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organization of American States in Washington, called on Micheletti's government to ensure Zelaya's security within the Brazilian Embassy.

That shouldn't be necessary. International law prevents Honduran forces from trying to arrest Zelaya at a foreign embassy. The grounds are considered Brazilian territory.

Juan Barahona, who has led the groups in Honduras that are demanding Zelaya's return, told Telesur from inside the embassy that any attempt by Micheletti's government to storm the embassy "would result in a bloodbath. There are thousands and thousands of our supporters outside."

Still, photos of Zelaya on Monday showed him smiling, greeting supporters within the embassy grounds and wearing his trademark white cowboy hat.

Zelaya's wife, Xiomara, joined her husband at the embassy and thanked Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Monday that Brazil got word of Zelaya's request to enter its embassy in Honduras only 40 to 60 minutes before he arrived. "They told us that President Zelaya was in the immediate area, they asked us if he could come to the embassy and we gave the authorization," Celso said in New York.

Among those who celebrated Zelaya's return was Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, his closest ally. Chávez had lent the exiled Zelaya a government airplane while he traveled throughout Latin America to rally foreign leaders.

"President Manuel Zelaya, along with four companions, traveled for two days overland, crossing mountains and rivers, risking their lives," Chávez announced. "They have made it to Tegucigalpa."

"The coup mongers should surrender power peacefully!'' Chávez told Zelaya by telephone as he spoke live in Venezuela. "I congratulate you for your heroic act . . . and the Latin American people admire you!''

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