SAN JOSE – The “first phase” of a dialogue aimed at resolving the political crisis in Honduras concluded on Friday with little more to show than an agreement to continue talking at a still-to-be-determined date.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who is mediating the discussions, said in a press conference that he was “satisfied” by the “frank and respectful conversation among Honduran brothers.”

The Nobel Peace laureate also vowed to continue promoting efforts to resolve the conflict sparked by the June 28 coup against Honduran President Mel Zelaya.

Earlier Friday, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, a strong Zelaya ally, declared the talks in San Jose “stillborn,” predicting that the de facto regime in Tegucigalpa would seek to drag out the process until the ousted president’s term expires next January.

But Arias reiterated his confidence that the crisis can be ended through dialogue and said the two sides did reach agreement on an agenda for future sessions, though he declined to provide any details.

Both Zelaya and “interim” Honduran President Roberto Micheletti were in Costa Rica for the start of the talks on Thursday.

Each met separately with Arias – neither was willing to sit down at the same table with the other – before leaving the discussions in the hands of their respective representatives.

Zelaya insists on his reinstatement and says he won’t make any prior concessions, while Micheletti vows that the deposed leader will be arrested if he returns to Honduras.

The elected head of state has already tried to return home since his ouster, but was prevented from landing at Toncontin International Airport on Sunday, a day in which two people were killed and several others wounded when troops opened fire on Zelaya supporters.

Arias said no one should expect a quick agreement and that the talks could go on “longer than anyone might imagine.”

“Time will allow the distances to shorten so we can focus more on where there’s agreement instead of disagreement,” said the man who received the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to negotiate an end to civil wars in Central America.

Zelaya said Friday in Santo Domingo that Dominican President Leonel Fernandez will speak at the July 15-17 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Cairo on behalf of the Latin American governments demanding his reinstatement.

He made the statement during a joint press conference with Fernandez at the Dominican presidential palace.

The two men spoke to reporters after hour-long talks that Zelaya said focused on how to turn diplomatic resolutions condemning the June 28 coup into “concrete actions.”

He described the conduct of the Micheletti regime as a “total abuse of power” reminiscent of the region’s harshest dictatorships, while categorically rejecting the notion that the United States – long a key source of funding and training for the Honduran military – had any involvement in the putsch.

Fernandez, who introduced Zelaya as the “legitimate constitutional president” of Honduras, stressed the international community’s strong support for the ousted head of state.

“To permit the coup d’etat in Honduras to to permit the return of ungovernability to the hemisphere,” the Dominican leader said.

The United States government has frozen aid to Honduras, the third-poorest nation in the hemisphere, while the Organization of American States suspended Honduras in response to the events of June 28.

The member nations of the European Union, meanwhile, agreed Friday to wait and see how the talks between representatives of Zelaya and Micheletti unfold before deciding whether or not to suspend aid to the impoverished country.

Honduran lawmakers justify Zelaya’s removal by claiming that he threatened the constitutional order by trying to hold a non-binding referendum on his call for an assembly to overhaul a constitution that, among other things, allows the military to name its own commanders with only nominal input from elected officials.

Zelaya’s foes say he wants to change the charter so he can run for re-election, a charge he has flatly denied.

Noting that the current Honduran constitution limits the president to a single four-year term, Zelaya said a revised charter would apply only to his successors. EFE