( CNN ) -- A Mexican petition that would have granted deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya safe conduct out of the country was rejected by Honduran authorities because it did not meet legal standards , Honduran Government Minister Oscar Raul Matute told CNN en Español . Zelaya has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa since September 21 . In the letter , obtained by CNN , Mexico asks the de facto Honduran government to guarantee Zelaya 's safety from the embassy to the airport , where a Mexican Gulfstream III jet would fly his family to Mexico . The Mexican embassy in Honduras `` has the honor of informing that the government of the United Mexican States has decided to receive on its territory '' Zelaya , his wife , two children and one of his advisers , the letter states . `` The embassy petitions the ministry ( of foreign relations ) to provide safe conduct so that the above Honduran nationals may leave Honduran territory safely , with respect of their persons and without being detained or otherwise harassed , '' the letter states . Matute said the letter did not meet the necessary standards because it made no mention of under what legal status Mexico would accept Zelaya and his family . The Honduran foreign ministry said it would consider future petitions from Mexico or any other countries , as long as they met the accepted legal standards for a request of political asylum . The letter submitted by Mexico makes no mention of granting Zelaya political asylum or any other legal status . The omission may not be accidental . In an interview with CNN en Español , Zelaya said he is still the legitimate president of Honduras , and as such , would not ask for , or accept political asylum . If he leaves Honduras for another country , it would have to be as a `` guest , '' Zelaya said . Zelaya did not say whether he was negotiating to leave . Rasel Tome , the Zelaya adviser who was named in the letter , said negotiators for Zelaya had spoken with presidents in several Latin American and Caribbean countries Wednesday , including Mexico . The goal of the conversations was to `` find a way out of the crisis , '' Tome said . In a statement , Mexico 's foreign ministry said its request was made with the support of allies and political actors in Honduras . `` Our country seeks to contribute to rapprochement in Honduras , taking a positive step towards resolving the crisis in that country through dialogue and negotiation , '' the statement said . Zelaya was ousted in a June 28 coup . After spending months in exile , Zelaya snuck back into Honduras in September , and has not left the Brazilian embassy . His return was an effort to restart talks to negotiate his return as president . That never happened . An agreement was eventually signed , but its implementation has been half-hearted , and Zelaya later called the deal dead . The latest setback for the ousted president was a congressional vote , mandated by the agreement , on whether to reinstate Zelaya . Congress voted overwhelmingly against reinstatement . The same body had voted to install congressional leader Roberto Micheletti as interim president . Zelaya 's supporters argued that the coup was an illegal act that only restitution could heal . Congress sought opinions from the nation 's Supreme Court and other bodies before holding the vote . The court ruled that Zelaya can not return to office without facing trial on charges that he acted unconstitutionally when he tried to hold a vote that could have led to the removal of presidential term limits . The Supreme Court ruled before the coup that the vote was illegal and Congress had forbidden it . The coup came on the day the term-limits vote was to have been held . Micheletti and his supporters have insisted that Zelaya 's removal was a constitutional transfer of power , not a coup . But the United Nations , the Organization of American States , the European Union and most nations -- including the United States -- condemned the coup and demanded that Zelaya be reinstated immediately .
Honduran authorities : Request does not meet legal standards . Comment: Zelaya has been at embassy since September 21 .