The exiled president of Honduras risks being arrested today if he returns to his homeland in defiance of a new government that seized power in a military coup and has threatened to put him on trial for treason.

To the joy of his supporters, who have staged protests against the coup leaders, Manuel Zelaya, who was expelled last Sunday, is expected to return with the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador as witnesses.

Roberto Micheletti, an “interim president” who was put into power by the generals, has refused to back down. He accuses Zelaya of having plotted to bring the Central American country into the fold of the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez, on a march to “21st century socialism”.

Micheletti, son of Italian immigrants, appears to be warming to his role. “I am the president of all Hondurans,” he proclaimed to fans waving blue and white flags in front of the palace in which he has installed himself since Zelaya was arrested in his pyjamas by soldiers and flown into exile.

Supporters of “Mel”, as they call Zelaya, staged their own rally outside the offices of the Organisation of American States (OAS), carrying a banner that read: “Mel, our friend, the people are with you!”

In spite of his characteristic peasant’s straw hat, Zelaya is from a wealthy land-owning family and has been accused by the conservative elite of betraying them with his leftward shift towards Chavez, a maverick figure intent on the redistribution of wealth, including his own country’s impressive oil riches.

The coup is an expensive solution for banana-exporting Honduras, traditionally one of America’s closest regional allies and one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Neighbours have imposed trade embargoes. The World Bank has suspended a $200m loan, the Inter-American Development Bank has put $450m on hold and Washington has suspended joint military operations.

After a visit to Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary-general of the OAS, said it was clear the coup leaders “have no intention of putting the situation back to normal”. But he ruled out military force.

The new government says Zelaya’s ejection was justified because he had called a referendum on extending his rule beyond his four-year term which ends in November. “Little by little we will regain the confidence of other nations, because we are a valiant people who have said ‘enough’ to Chavez,” said Micheletti’s assistant foreign minister, Martha Lorena Alvarado.

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