BY TRENTON DANIEL
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com

Republican members of Congress are traveling to Honduras Monday to meet with a caretaker government that has been snubbed worldwide after the Central America nation's left wing-leaning leader was toppled in a coup earlier this year.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and brothers Rep. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, all R-Miami, left Monday morning for Honduras to speak with acting President Roberto Micheletti, Congress members and ``all'' political parties in what they called a ``fact-finding mission.'' They are scheduled to return Tuesday.

``Since the leaders of Honduras can't come here, we're going there,'' Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, said at Miami International Airport.

The Republican trio has backed the Micheletti administration and opposed the return of ousted Manuel Zelaya because of his populist stance and ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. At the news conference, they also condemned the Obama's administration's decision to revoke visas for members of the interim government.

Micheletti took power in June after Zelaya was spirited away from the country at gunpoint because he had insisted on a controversial referendum the courts had ruled illegal.

Zelaya later sneaked back into Honduras and holed himself up in the Brazilian Embassy in the capital. He said he won't leave until he is restored.

The government installed after his ouster says Zelaya must face treason charges and insists that regularly scheduled elections set for Nov. 29 are the only solution to the political crisis.

The United States responded by halting millions of dollars in economic aid to Honduras and withdrew visas for government officials.

Last month, the Micheletti administration shut down television and radio stations allied with Zelaya. It also prohibited public gatherings.

On Monday, Micheletti said the 45-day decree would be repealed on Tuesday.

Ros-Lehtinen and the Diaz-Balart brothers said they would speak to the Honduran government about its crackdown on media outlets as part of trip.

``Absolutely,'' Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said when asked if she and her Republican colleagues would discuss the decree. ``We will say, `That we're not for the crackdown on the media or the restrictions.' ''