Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya made a dramatic return to Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa on Sept. 21, taking shelter from arrest at the Brazilian Embassy and calling for negotiations with the leaders who forced him from the country at gunpoint.

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya waves to supporters from inside the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on Sept. 21. AP PHOTO

The government of interim President Roberto Micheletti initially ordered a 15-hour curfew but then extended it to a 26-hour shutdown of the capital, but thousands of Zelaya supporters ignored the decree and remained outside the embassy, dancing and cheering.

Others in the capital rushed home, lining up at bus stands and frantically looking for taxis. Electricity was cut off for hours at a time on the block housing the embassy and in areas of Tegucigalpa where news media offices are located — something that happened the day of the coup that ousted the leftist leader.

Security Vice Minister Mario Perdomo said checkpoints were being set up on highways leading to the capital to keep out Zelaya's supporters from other regions, to "stop those people coming to start trouble." Later, Defense Minister Lionel Sevilla said all flights to Tegucigalpa had been suspended indefinitely.

Without giving any specifics, Zelaya said he snuck into the country by traveling for 15 hours overland in a series of vehicles — pulling off a homecoming that created a challenge for the interim government, which had threatened repeatedly to throw him in jail if he returned.

Zelaya said he was trying to establish contact with the interim government to start negotiations on a solution to the standoff that started June 28.