Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. won’t recognize a scheduled November election in Honduras without a resolution to the political crisis that began with a coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya in June, a State Department aide said.

The U.S. has told the “de facto regime that because of the environment on the ground, we will not recognize the election,” Philip J. Crowley, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said in Washington yesterday.

On Sept. 27, the de facto government led by interim President Roberto Micheletti banned protests and suspended other civil rights for 45 days and denied entry to an Organization of American States delegation seeking to negotiate an end to the three-month standoff in the Central American nation.

At an emergency meeting of the 35-member body of the OAS in Washington yesterday, both sides were criticized for their actions.

“We are very concerned by the de facto regime’s suspension of fundamental civil liberties,” Charles Luoma- Overstreet, spokesman for the State Department’s bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, said in a telephone interview.

“We call on the de facto regime to lift the decree and take the necessary steps to initiate a meaningful negotiation with President Zelaya. At the same time, we strongly urge President Zelaya and his supporters to direct their statements in a constructive and positive manner,” he said.

Luoma-Overstreet added that “both sides need to refrain from actions that incite division.”

Support for Settlement

The U.S. has supported a negotiated settlement proposed by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner. His plan would restore Zelaya to power, create a unity government and schedule early elections.

The de facto government has rejected the proposal, alleging that Zelaya violated the constitution by seeking to amend it to extend his term in office.

Zelaya said he wants to hold talks with Micheletti at the Brazilian Embassy in the Honduras capital of Tegucigalpa, where he has holed up since last week, and will recognize Nov. 29 elections, a precondition set by Micheletti.

Micheletti and Zelaya met separately with the nation’s four leading presidential candidates last week, meetings that were seen as a step toward direct talks.

The acting government has given Brazil a 10-day deadline to declare whether Zelaya has been granted asylum, Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez Contreras said Sept. 27. Honduras will act to remove the embassy’s diplomatic status and protections after 10 days, Lopez Contreras added, though he said the government will refrain from attacking the embassy to remove Zelaya by force.

Brazil doesn’t recognize the ultimatum, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in Venezuela Sept. 27.

To contact the reporter on this story: Indira Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 29, 2009 00:01 EDT