Honduran military ousts President Zelaya (a Hugo Chavez ally), seizes palace

[CougarKing]

Unrest in Honduras.

Soldiers arrest Honduran president, seize palace
By Will Weissert And Freddy Cuevas, Associated Press Writers
Yahoo! News
37 mins ago


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said he was the victim of "a coup" and a "brutal kidnapping" by soldiers, and President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by the Sunday morning detention of the Central American president.

Speaking from Costa Rica, Zelaya said he would not recognize any de facto government and pledged to serve out his term, which ends in January.

"A usurper government cannot be recognized, by absolutely anybody," Zelaya told a local television station at the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica shortly after arriving to potentially seek political asylum. Zelaya said he was taken away from the presidential residence early Sunday while he was still in his pajamas.

"I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya," Obama said in a statement.

"As the Organization of American States did on Friday, I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter."

The statement said that "any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference."

Zelaya was detained shortly before voting was to begin on a constitutional referendum the president had insisted on holding even though the Supreme Court ruled it illegal and everyone from the military to Congress and members of his own party opposed it.

Zelaya was taken into military custody at his house outside the capital, Tegucigalpa, and whisked away to an air force base on the outskirts of the city, his private secretary, Carlos Enrique Reina told The Associated Press.

Tanks and armored personnel carriers rolled through the streets and Army trucks carrying hundreds of soldiers equipped with metal riot shields surrounded the presidential palace in the capital's center. About 100 Zelaya supporters, many wearing "Yes," T-shirts for the referendum, blocked the main street outside the gates to the palace, throwing rocks and insults at soldiers and shouting "Traitors! Traitors!"

It was not immediately clear who was running the government. Soldiers appeared to be in control, but the constitution mandates that the head of Congress is next in line to the presidency, followed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090628/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_referendum

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Soldiers seized the national palace and flew President Manuel Zelaya into exile Sunday, hours before a disputed constitutional referendum. Zelaya, a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said he was victim of a coup.

Hours later, Congress voted to accept what it said was Zelaya's letter of resignation, but Zelaya said the letter wasn't his and vowed to remain in power.

The Supreme Court said it was supporting the military in what it called a defense of democracy, and the Honduran ambassador to the Organization of American States said the military was planning to swear in Congressional President Roberto Micheletti — who is next in line to the presidency — to replace Zelaya.

Zelaya was arrested shortly before polls were to open in a referendum on whether to change the constitution. The Supreme Court ruled the referendum illegal and everyone from Congress to members of his own party opposed it. Critics said Zelaya wanted to remove limits to his re-election.

Tanks rolled through the streets and hundreds of soldiers with riot shields surrounded the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Zelaya, at the airport in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose, called the military action illegal.
"There is no way to justify an interruption of democracy, a coup d'etat," he said in a telephone call to the Venezuela-based Telesur television network. "This kidnapping is an extortion of the Honduran democratic system."

A majority of members of Congress voted with a show of hands to accept a letter of resignation that Congressional Secretary Jose Alfredo Saavedra said was signed by Zelaya and dated Thursday. The letter said Zelaya was resigning because of "the polarized political situation" and "insuperable health problems."

But Zelaya told CNN the letter was "totally false." He told Telesur he would not recognize any de facto government and pledged to serve out his term, which ends in January. He said he would attend a scheduled meeting of Central American presidents in Nicaragua on Monday. He siad Chavez, which is also going, would provide transportation.

Chavez, who along with the Castros in Cuba is Zelaya's top ally, said Venezuela "is at battle" and put his military on alert.

President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by Zelaya's expulsion and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the arrest should be condemned.

"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read.

Zelaya told Telesur that he was awoken by gunshots and the shouts of his security guards, whom he said resisted troops for at least 20 minutes. Still in his pajamas, he jumped out of bed and ducked behind an air conditioner to avoid flying bullets, he said.

He said eight or nine soldiers in masks escorted him onto an air force plane that took him to Costa Rica.

Chavez said troops in Honduras also temporarily detained the Venezuelan and Cuban ambassadors, beating them.
Zelaya called on Honduran soldiers to desist, urged citizens to take to the streets in peaceful protests, and asked Honduran police to protect demonstrators.

Zelaya ally Rafael Alegria, a labor leader, called for protests.

"We demand respect for the president's life," he told Honduran radio Cadena de Noticias. "And we will go out into the streets to defend what this has cost us: living in peace and tranquility."

About 100 Zelaya supporters, many wearing "Yes" T-shirts for the referendum, blocked the main street outside the gates to the palace, throwing rocks and insults at soldiers and shouting "Traitors! Traitors!"

"They kidnapped him like cowards," screamed Melissa Gaitan. Tears streamed down the face of the 21-year-old, who works at the government television station. "We have to rally the people to defend our president."

Honduras has a history of military coups: Soldiers overthrew elected presidents in 1963 and 1972. The military did not turn the government over to civilians until 1981, under U.S. pressure.

Micheletti has been one of the president's main opponents in the dispute over whether to hold the referendum. The head of the Supreme Court was also opposed to the nonbinding referendum, on whether to ask voters whether they want to convoke an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

It appeared that the vote would no longer take place.

 

[The Bread Guy]

.... from a statement early this morning by Peter Kent, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas):

.... Canada condemns the coup d'état that took place over the weekend in Honduras, and calls on all parties to show restraint and to seek a peaceful resolution to the present political crisis, which respects democratic norms and the rule of law, including the Honduran Constitution.

Democratic governance is a central pillar of Canada’s enhanced engagement in the Americas, and we are seriously concerned by what has transpired in Honduras.

We will continue to closely follow developments on the ground. Through our mission to the Organization of American States (OAS), we are also working with hemispheric partners to determine what role the organization can play to help diffuse the situation.

The Government of Canada encourages Canadians in Honduras to exercise prudence, and for Canadians considering travel to the country to consult Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada’s travel report, which will be kept updated ....

 

[CougarKing]

A confrontation brewing?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090705/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup

Military ordered to turn back Zelaya's jet
          Will Weissert And Nestor Ikeda, Associated Press Writers – 8 mins ago
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras braced for confrontation Sunday as ousted President Manuel Zelaya insisted on coming home to reclaim his post, urging his supporters to mass at the airport for a showdown with the interim government in power since the army sent him into exile a week ago.

The interim government said it ordered the military to prevent the landing of a plane carrying Zelaya or any unidentified plane.

"The government of President (Roberto) Micheletti has order the armed forces and the police not to allow the entrance of any plane bringing the former leader," the foreign minister of the interim government, Enrique Ortez, told The Associated Press on Sunday.

At the main Tegucigalpa airport, soldiers outnumbered travelers and commercial flights were canceled after a final morning departure. Access roads were cut off by police checkpoints, with soldiers standing guard alongside.

The poor Central American country's Roman Catholic archbishop and its human right commissioner urged Zelaya to stay away, warning that his return could spark bloodshed. The interim government said it would arrest Zelaya and put him on trial despite near-universal international condemnation of the coup that removed him as he campaigned to revise the constitution.

In Washington, the Organization of American States suspended Honduras as a member late Saturday. Micheletti preemptively pulled out of the OAS hours earlier rather than comply with an ultimatum that Zelaya be restored.

(...)

 

[CougarKing]

Another major update:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090706/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup

Zelaya's plane circles Honduran runway, can't land
          Will Weissert And Nestor Ikeda, Associated Press Writers – 14 mins ago
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Ousted President Manuel Zelaya was kept from landing at the main Honduras airport Sunday because the runway was blocked by military vehicles and groups of soldiers, some of them clashing with a crowd of thousands outside.

His Venezuelan pilot circled around the airport and decided not to risk a crash.

Zelaya instead landed in Nicaragua on his way to El Salvador, and vowed to try again Monday or Tuesday in his high-stakes effort to return to power in a country where all branches of government have lined up against him, including the military that shot up his house and sent him into exile in his pajamas a week earlier.

"I am the commander of the armed forces, elected by the people, and I ask the armed forces to comply with the order to open the airport so that there is no problem in landing and embracing with my people," Zelaya said from the plane. "Today I feel like I have sufficient spiritual strength, blessed with the blood of Christ, to be able to arrive there and raise the crucifix."

But interim President Roberto Micheletti insisted on preventing the plane from landing, and said he won't negotiate until "things return to normal."

"We will be here until the country calms down," Micheletti said. "We are the authentic representatives of the people."

Micheletti alleged that Nicaragua is moving troops in an attempt at psychological intimidation, and warned them not to cross into Honduras, "because we're ready to defend our border." Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega called the allegation "totally false."

Violence broke out among the huge crowd surrounding the airport, with at least one man killed — shot in the head from inside the airport as people tried to break through a security fence, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene. At least 30 people were treated for injuries, the Red Cross said, after security forces fired warning shots and tear gas.

When Zelaya's plane was turned away, his supporters began chanting "We want blue helmets!" — a reference to U.N. peacekeepers.

Karin Antunez, 27, was in tears.

"We're scared. We feel sad because these coup soldiers won't let Mel return, but we're not going to back down," she said. "We're the people and we're going to keep marching so that our president comes home."

Zelaya said he would consult with the presidents of Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador and the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, who flew from Washington to El Salvador.

Zelaya won wide international support after his military ouster, but the presidents decided it was too dangerous to fly on Zelaya's plane, which carried only his close advisers and staff, two journalists from the Venezuela-based network Telesur and U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, a leftist Nicaraguan priest and former foreign minister.

Honduras' new government has vowed to arrest Zelaya for 18 alleged criminal acts including treason and failing to implement more than 80 laws approved by Congress since taking office in 2006. Zelaya also refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling against his planned referendum on whether to hold an assembly to consider changing the constitution.

Critics feared Zelaya might try to extend his rule and cement presidential power in ways similar to what his ally Hugo Chavez has done in Venezuela.

But instead of prosecuting him or trying to defeat him at the ballot box, his political opponents sent masked soldiers to fly Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint, and Congress installed Micheletti in his place.

The military solution drew condemnation at the United Nations, and Honduras was suspended by the OAS. Many called it a huge step backward for democracy, and no nation has recognized the new government. President Barack Obama has united with Chavez and conservative Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in insisting on Zelaya's return.

Without OAS membership, the isolated interim government faces trade sanctions and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidized oil, aid and loans for the impoverished nation.

Zelaya, a wealthy rancher who has shifted to left during his presidency, has drawn most of his support from the working and middle classes, while his opponents are based in the ranks of the well-to-do.

Micheletti's vice foreign minister, Martha Lorena Alvarado, said the interim government sent the OAS a letter expressing "willingness to conduct conversations in good faith." In Washington, senior Obama administration officials took that as a positive sign.

Speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the State Department, the officials said the United States and other OAS member countries are coordinating contacts and outreach to facilitate a resolution, despite their insistence on having no formal relations with the interim government.

The immediate concern, however, was avoiding more bloodshed. Both critics and supporters of Zelaya have staged large demonstrations. The country's Roman Catholic archbishop and its human rights commissioner urged Zelaya to stay away to avoid provoking them.

Moments after Zelaya's plane was turned away, about a dozen trucks filled with police ordered everyone off the streets, imposing a sunrise-to-sunset curfew.

"This is a war," said Matias Sauceda, 65, a human rights activist. "Imagine — things are so bad, that the president is in the air and they don't let him land."

 

[George Wallace]

A situation that warrants watching.  Neighbouring nations have already stated their support of President Zelaya, as has the UN given him support.  Could this result in a unified attack by neighbouring states to reinstate him?  How likely is that course of action?  Will it be UN sanctioned?

 

[CougarKing]

And Chavez opens his boca grande again:  :

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup

By MARIANELA JIMENEZ, Associated Press Writer Marianela Jimenez, Associated Press Writer – 29 mins ago
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced a U.S.-backed effort to ease Honduras' coup crisis on Friday as a second day of negotiations ended without a deal between rival contenders for the presidency.

The mediator of the talks, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, said the sides representing ousted Honduran President Manuela Zelaya and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti have agreed to continue talks at an undetermined future date.

While the talks have the support of most of the world community, some leftist leaders object to giving Micheletti the same treatment as Zelaya.

The talks "became a trap that set a very grave precedent," Chavez told a news conference in Caracas.

"How horrible to see a legitimate president receiving a usurper and giving him the same treatment," Chavez said, referring to Arias' Thursday night with Micheletti, the congressional leader who was sworn in as president when the military threw Zelaya out of the country on June 28.

Chavez said Micheletti should have been arrested in Costa Rica and that the United States should be putting more pressure on Honduras to return Zelaya to power.
"Why haven't they recalled their ambassador to Honduras? Why haven't they supported sanctions? Economic sanctions? Political sanctions? There have been timid measures."

Chavez said he spoke to the top U.S. diplomat for the Americas, Thomas Shannon, by telephone for a half hour on Thursday to express his opinion on the matter.

"They have a military base. Why don't they start some movements there at the military base?" Chavez said. "Or withdraw all their troops? ... Something. Do something. Obama, do something."

In Honduras, Micheletti brushed off Chavez's harsh criticism and calls for action against his government.

Chavez "said he was going to invade and he didn't invade us. He said he was going to hold back fuel to Honduras and he didn't. He said he was going to bring Manuel Zelaya back one day and he didn't. Hugo Chavez is losing credibility in the world," Micheletti said.

Arias, who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending Central America's civil wars, asked that outside critics of the talks "let Central Americans solve the problems of Central America like we did 20 years ago."

U.S. officials have promoted the talks in Costa Rica's capital, hoping to ease Zelaya back into the presidency without violence while resolving the concerns of Honduras' Supreme Court, Congress and military, which say they legally removed the president for violating the constitution by maneuvering to extend his time in power.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday the pace of negotiations will be set by Arias but that U.S. officials would continue consultations and would work "within the OAS in the coming days to see if we can't help President Arias create momentum that leads to a peaceful resolution of this."

U.S. mediation at least briefly overshadowed Chavez's more belligerent crusade to have his ally Zelaya returned to power.

The United Nations and Organization of American States — including the Obama administration — have demanded that Zelaya be returned to power so he can serve out a term that end in January. No foreign government has recognized Micheletti.

Arias met both Honduran leaders on Thursday, but failed to convince them to talk together. Each continues to insist that the other give up claims to lead the country.

Friday's talks between Arias' team and delegations representing Zelaya and Micheletti — but lacking the leaders themselves — ended without an announced breakthrough.

"In the coming days we will announce the date for the next round" of talks, said Arias. "It is not viable that a conflict this deep could be solved in one meeting."

Silvia Ayala, a leftist lawmaker with Zelaya's delegations, said the sides agreed to let Arias set the date for future talks, but urged that they be held soon "because the country can't support weeks of this intolerance."

Former Honduran Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez, of the Micheletti delegation, said his side hasn't ruled out the possibility of early elections as a way out of the crisis.

A new CID-Gallup poll indicated that Hondurans were split on the coup, with a slight majority appearing to oppose it.

Forty-six percent said they disagreed with Zelaya's ouster and 41 percent said they approved of it, according to the face-to-face survey of 1,204 Hondurans in the days following the ouster. Another 13 percent declined to answer.

They were about evenly divided on Zelaya himself, with 31 percent saying they had a positive image of him and 32 percent negative. That was close to findings of a similar poll four months ago in which positive views outpaced negative by 4 percentage points.

The pollsters said the survey, conducted in 16 of Honduras' 18 provinces from June 30 to July 4, had a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

Zelaya, meanwhile, flew to the Dominican Republic, where President Leonel Fernandez received him with full military honors and promised to speak for Zelaya at the upcoming summit of the Nonaligned Movement in Egypt.

Thousands of Zelaya supporters blocked a road and burned tires in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa on Friday, but there were no reported clashes with troops or police.

Chavez said that Zelaya was still seeking to enter Honduras, despite a thwarted previous attempt in which his plane was not allowed to land. Micheletti has said he would arrest Zelaya if he returned.

"Zelaya is going to enter. He's determined to enter" Honduras, Chavez said. "I don't know where, whether by water, by air or by land. But Zelaya is going to enter Honduras."

Chavez also read a note from his mentor Fidel Castro, saying the Cuban leader told him: "Chavez, that meeting in Costa Rica is opening the door for a coming wave of coups in Latin America."

___

Associated Press Writers Ian James in Caracas, Venezuela; Juan Zamorano and Will Weissert in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Juan Carlos Llorca in San Jose, Costa Rica, and Ramon Almazar in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, contributed to this report.

 

[CougarKing]

Another update:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090713/ts_nm/us_honduras

Honduras leader may allow Zelaya amnesty, curfew off
          By Gustavo Palencia and Daniel Trotta Gustavo Palencia And Daniel Trotta – 1 hr 42 mins ago
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras' interim president held out the possibility of an amnesty for ousted President Manuel Zelaya Sunday after the lifting of a curfew that had been imposed on the country since the June 28 coup.

Caretaker President Roberto Micheletti, sworn in hours after the armed forces removed Zelaya from power and expelled him to Costa Rica, held firm in a Reuters interview to his position that Zelaya could not return to power under any circumstances.

No foreign government has recognized Micheletti as president and the United States and the Organization of American States have called for Zelaya to be restored.

Micheletti's interim government is holding talks with Zelaya's representatives through the mediation of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, but the talks have resulted in little apparent progress, aside from an agreement to keep talking.

(...)

Micheletti plans to hand over power after scheduled November elections, which he says will go ahead as planned. He told Reuters the poll could be held earlier if the country's judicial powers agreed to this.

He has asked citizens to prepare for austerity after foreign lenders suspended about $200 million in credits and the United States cut off $16.5 million in military assistance while threatening to halt a further $180 million in aid.

The coup was triggered by a planned vote on June 28 called by Zelaya to measure support for convening a constitutional assembly that could have lifted limits on presidential terms. The Supreme Court and Congress deemed the vote unconstitutional and ordered Zelaya's removal.

(...)

(Additional reporting by Simon Gardner, Enrique Andres Pretel, Juana Casas in Tegucigalpa, Patricia Zengerle in Caracas, Shrikesh Laxmidas in Lisbon; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)

 

[CougarKing]

An unexpected development? Zelaya did after all say earlier this week that he was going to return to Honduras no matter what and had set a deadline for midnight of Saturday night (7/18)if talks didn't work till then.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090718/world/international_us_honduras

Honduras' Zelaya accepts unity government proposal

24 minutes ago

By John McPhaul and Ana Isabel Martinez

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya agreed on Saturday to give his enemies a share of power if he is allowed to return to office, but they rejected any deal that puts him back in the presidency.


Zelaya, who was toppled in a military coup on June 28 and is in exile in neighboring Nicaragua, backed the proposal for a government of national reconciliation put forward by the mediator in talks aimed at ending Honduras' political crisis.


Zelaya also said in an interview with a Honduran radio station that he would return to Honduras in the coming days despite warnings by the de facto government that he would be arrested.


Costa Rica's Nobel Peace Prize-winning president, Oscar Arias, is trying to broker a compromise deal between Zelaya and interim president Roberto Micheletti, the former speaker of Congress who replaced him in a June 28 military coup.


A new round of talks opened in Costa Rica on Saturday with Arias laying out seven points for discussion, including Zelaya's return to power to complete his term ending in January 2010 and the formation of a coalition government with all the country's political parties represented.


Arias also proposed an amnesty for any political crimes committed after the coup and that Zelaya abandon his plans to hold a referendum on extending presidential terms.


But a spokesman for Micheletti's interim government again insisted it will not allow Zelaya's return to power.


The Honduran army was on maximum alert and boosted its presence in Zelaya home region of Olancho, where about 100 of his supporters gathered on his ranch, and other places seen as possible points of return, an army source said.


(...)

 

[Yrys]

Q&A: Crisis in Honduras
Why Honduras matters to Chavez
Ousted Zelaya issues 'ultimatum'
Hondurans 'have right to revolt'
Zelaya 'to return if talks fail'
Honduras night curfew reimposed


Honduras rivals in 'crunch' talks

Rival sides in Honduras's political crisis are holding talks, which deposed President Manuel Zelaya
has said are the last chance for reaching a deal. The negotiations are taking place in Costa Rica,
mediated by the host country's President Oscar Arias.

Mr Zelaya was forced into exile on 28 June. His wife has said he will return home unless a deal
to reinstate him is reached by midnight local on Saturday. The interim government says Mr Zelaya
will be arrested if he comes back. It prevented Mr Zelaya's earlier attempted homecoming on 5 July.

Mr Arias has put forward a plan involving Mr Zelaya returning as the head of a reconciliation
government. He suggested that early elections could then be held in October, with Mr Zelaya
relinquishing control of the military a month before the poll date, to ensure "the transparency
and normalcy" of the vote. Mr Arias has also proposed an amnesty for political crimes committed
before and after the 28 June coup. A few hundred pro-Zelaya demonstrators gathered outside
Mr Arias' house in Costa Rica, where the talks were taking place.

Thousands of his supporters also continued to protest in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa,
blocking roads and chanting slogans. "Nothing will come out of the negotiations and people
know that," said Cesar Silva, an organiser of the demonstration.

Options exhausted

Speaking from Nicaragua on Friday, Mr Zelaya promised to return to Honduras "one way or
another" regardless of the outcome of Saturday's negotiations. His wife, Xiomara Castro, said
midnight was "the deadline" for an agreement. "All the diplomatic avenues are nearly exhausted.
We hope there is a decision tomorrow (Saturday)," she said on Friday.

Interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti heads a military-backed government, which ousted
Mr Zelaya amid a dispute with Congress and the courts. Mr Zelaya had planned to hold a non-binding
public consultation to ask people whether they supported moves to change the constitution. His critics
said the move was unconstitutional and aimed to remove the current one-term limit on serving as
president and pave the way for his possible re-election.

 

[CougarKing]

The start of a new era and the final end to the political chaos that's been gripping this nation since last year?

Associated Press link

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras ended months of political turmoil as it swore in a new president Wednesday, turning the page on a thwarted quest by ousted leader Manuel Zelaya to be restored to power after a coup that drew international condemnation.

President Porfirio Lobo's first task: personally escort Zelaya from the Brazilian Embassy to the airport, where he'll fly to exile in the Dominican Republic.

"We have emerged from the worst crisis in the democratic history of Honduras," said Lobo, 61, after taking the oath of office. "We want national reconciliation to extend to a necessary and indispensable reconciliation with the international community."
(...)