The deal called for Congress to vote on whether to reinstate Mr. Zelaya, as well as the formation of a national unity government and a truth commission to investigate the events that led up to the coup and its aftermath.

But none of the accord’s elements has yet been achieved. Congress delayed its vote, and then Mr. Zelaya renounced the agreement and remains a virtual prisoner in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital.

On Monday, he said in a telephone interview that he would not return to office if Congress voted to restore him merely to serve as a figurehead. “The elections only changed the president, but it did not change any of the structure that carried out the coup,” he said.

Mr. Lobo has said that because he did not sign the accord, it is not up to him to fulfill it. But if he is to win recognition from other countries  and bring back the aid money that has been suspended  then he will probably have no choice but to go along with some version of the agreement.

Even before the political crisis halted investment and paralyzed an economy that was already buffeted by the global economic crisis, Honduras faced a dire situation.

Remittances from Hondurans working in the United States account for almost a quarter of gross domestic product, and they have dropped 12 percent this year. The Honduran economy could shrink as much as 4.5 percent this year, said Mauricio Díaz Burdett, an economist at the Fosdeh research institution here.