Three months of intense dialogue between the feuding parties in Honduras finds the chief mediator in the crisis watching from the sidelines.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a longtime champion of peace in the Central American region, has chosen to remain in his home country as the conflict becomes more torrid in Honduras.

“I want to be available … if I am needed,” he said at a news conference from his home on Monday, “but I won't go unless my presence is necessary.” Despite rumors that he will travel to Honduras in the company of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, he said, “I was not thinking about going.”

Instead, he is hoping his Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno will travel to Honduras in the company of a delegation of nine other foreign ministers on Thursday. He told a bevy of press gathered in his living room that the Organization of American States (OAS) was dialoguing Monday about sending an envoy.

Meanwhile, the crisis continues to crescendo in Honduras with the suspension of constitutional rights to protest, the closure of at least two radio stations and the expulsion of a handful of OAS delegates.

Though Arias said he continues to hold out hope, he also said he is being a realist.

He acknowledged that when the San José Agreement first landed on the table as a possible solution to the crises, he thought it would be signed within days. Yet, with each passing week, he is losing optimism.

He also said the situation likely will not be solved in time for Honduras' presidential election in November. “It's difficult to imagine an electoral campaign under normal conditions,” he said.