Ousted Honduras President Zelaya in his words: 'for this they do a coup d'etat--because of a question'

At a press conference held in the San Jose airport in Costa Rica upon his arrival in that country, ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya described his ordeal as he was kidnapped from his residence early this morning and put aboard a plane "without knowing where we were going."

"This was about a question on (whether or not) they wanted to be asked the question over the elections," he said referring to the contested referendum that was to take place today until the coup derailed Zelaya's plans. "And for this they do a coup d'etat--because of a question."

"Imagine if I had proposed an economic reform...imagine if I had proposed an important social reform for the country...they would've executed me right there."

Zelaya is not asking for political asylum.

"I want to return to my country," he said. "I'm the president of the Honduran people, and I expect the support of the democrats, oday there's no doubt of democracy in Honduras. The people are on the streets and many places."

Zelaya called for his supporters to use non-violent methods to defend their rights.

"I call them to (No.) 1, be calm, but (No.) 2, to defend the rights of our society...to defend the people's rights ourselves, in a peaceful resistance, with no violence, seeking civil disobedience methods...," he said.

"I expect the support of all of America, of the U.S....to recbuild and restore the right of the Honduran people to always be the people who choose the president."

Sunday night, Zelaya left for Mangua, Nicaragua, where he will meet with Venezuela President Hugo Chavez and Ecuador President Rafael Correa, among other area chiefs.

The people talk, too

Outside the presidential palace, protesters were agitated:



<--"They carried out a coup d'etat! They're illegal! The people wanted to be asked. The people...we were anxious to go to the polls."




"The troops--we'll see if they dare to fire at the people," a man right outside the gates told reporters. "Because it's the people who will restore the president to his presidential seat."-->




<-- "A coup d'etat in Honduras! The military has gone back to the 80s!"

Sources: YouTube
Copyright © 2009

Coup d'etat in Honduras, Zelaya safe in Costa Rica

Honduras President Jose Manuel Zelaya during the 61st session of the United Nations Assembly in June 2007. (UN photo)

Honduras President Manuel Zelaya has been arrested by troops over a disputed re-election bid and flown on board a military plane to an undisclosed location in Costa Rica.

Zelaya was pushing for a referendum to change the constitution of the Central American country so that he could run for re-election, and the arrest came minutes before polls in the controversial vote were to open.

In a press conference at the San Jose Airport in Costa Rica, Zelaya said he was awaken by bullets and kidnapped after his bodyguards fought off soldiers for about 30 minutes.

"They invaded my house...broke down doors...threatened to shoot me. This was a brutal kidnapping with no justification," the 56-year-old leftist leader said, noting he was taken in his pajamas. "There are ways to protest without arms."

Zelaya, who was elected in 2005, is not asking for political asylum. "I only ask for hospitality," he said.

The Honduran Congress has voted in favor to accept Zelaya's resignation and appoint Congress chief Robert Micheletti as acting president.

The Honduran Supreme Court said today it told the army to oust president Zelaya due to his attempt to hold illegal re-election vote, noting the presidential election will go ahead as planned on November 29.

Some 200 soldiers surrounded the presidential palace and heavy gunfire followed before arrest. The troops reportedly fired tear gas at a crowd of people gathered outside the palace to protest the coup. Armed troops roamed the streets urging residents to stay inside.

Moments after calling on supporters of the president to stage rally in the capital, the pro-government TV channel was taken off the air, radio stations played only music, and several websites of national media outlets went offline. Electricity, too, went out in parts of Honduras right after the arrest.

First Lady Xiomara Castro de Zelaya is hiding "in a mountain at the east of the country," news agency EFE reported; however, according to other reports, she was hiding in the capital city of Tegucigalpa in the southwest region of the country.

"We're in the process of filing an international complaint," the presidential secretary said according to local newspaper reports. I communicate with the international community to do something about it."

The Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Cuban ambassadors in Honduras, as well as San Pedro Sula Mayor Carlos Padilla Sula, and the Honduras foreign minister were also "kidnapped" and/or arrested by troops, local media reported.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez put his country's armed forces on alert, warning of military action if.said he will do "everything necessary" to abort the military coup and "bring down" any new government sworn-in in Honduras. Chavez threats intensified after he heard the Venezuelan ambassador had been kidnapped, beaten and left by a roadside. Venezuela is in the northern coast of South America, closest to Central America.

Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina, also in South America, blasted the coup and called for the international community to reject it. Ecuador said it would not recognized a new government, adding it would support military action if any of its diplomats or allies were threatened.

Military troops took over the streets of Honduras' capital city Tegucigalpa during a coup d'etat today . (Amateur YouTube video)

The Organization of American States was meeting about the crisis unfolding in Honduras, AFP reported.

"This is a tragic day," said Carlos Sosa, Honduras's ambassador to the Organization of American States."Hopefully it will be a historic day."

Zelaya called for "peaceful resistance" against the coup and asked the U.S. to "clarify if it had a role" in military coup, adding that the U.S. should demand the restitution of the legitimate government in Honduras. (Demand? Do we really rule the world?)

Wonderful. First we "interfere" with Iran's June 12 presidential elections and somehow incite massive, violent anti-government protests--Iran leaders had nothing to do with it, of course--and now we somehow mastermind a coup d'etat in Honduras. WTF? Before long, the U.S. government will be blamed for the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Billy Mays...Jeez.

The Obama administration worked in recent days to prevent President Zelaya's ouster, a senior U.S. official said according to a Wall Street Journal report. The State Department, in particular, communicated to Honduran officials on the ground that President Obama wouldn't support any non-democratic transfer of power in the Central American country, WSJ reported.

"We had some indication" that a move against Mr. Zelaya was a foot, said a U.S. official briefed on the diplomacy. "We made it clear it was something we didn't support."

The White House rejected any involvement in the coup and released the following statement from President Obama:

"I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Zelaya. 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. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference."

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton said the military coup "violates democratic precepts" and should "condemned by all."

"We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation, and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue," Clinton said.

The European Union is demanding Zelaya's release. "Military coup is unacceptable violation of the constitutional order in Honduras," the EU said in a statement.

"The EU strongly condemns the arrest of the constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras by the armed forces," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout told reporters.

The military had ruled Honduras for 25 years, until a democratically elected civilian government came to power in 1982.

Zelaya won the presidency in 2005 with 49.8% of the vote. His term ends in January.

Sources: BNO, AFP, WSJ, AP, Reuters
Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved

Speidi back in the jungle?

One of Speidi's cheesiest moments. (Photo pacificcoastnews.com)

Speidi just can't get enough of the jungle.

After several attempts to quit before officially leaving I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! on June 8, the The Hills stars are returning to the show again, US magazine reported Thursday.

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt will join the entire cast of the NBC reality series on the June 25 finale, a network source told US.

The last time the Pratts were in the Costa Rican jungle, Heidi was rushed to a local hospital to be treated for a gastric ulcer after spending the night in the "Lost Chamber."

When they return to the show, they will be joined by Heidi's sister, Holly Montag, who made her debut on the I'm a Celebrity last week when she took Speidi's place.

I really don't like this pair, but I think that for the first time in a looong time I'm acting like a normal person, slowing down to stare at the gruesome scene of a wreck. And I can take comfort in that .

Source: US Magazine

Speidi: "The devil made us do it!"

It's official. Speidi is back.

After a number of conflicting reports surfaced in the media, it's official that celebrity wanna-be's Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are returning to the jungle in Costa Rica to complete their run on NBC's I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

The married couple had already tried to quit the NBC reality show twice, and went as far as planting decoys at the Los Angeles International Airport to give the illusion that they had returned home, Ryan Seacrest said in his website Thursday.

Planting decoys? Ugh...

Life in the jungle is really getting to Spencer.

In a deleted scene from Monday's show, he went off (again) on comedian Angela Shelton and pro-wrestler Torrie Wilson for (get this) defacing a bottle of wife Heidi's shampoo, US magazine reported.

"Why would you do that? How dare your disrespect my wife's possessions like that," screamed Spencer, who is rumored to be working on a shampoo line.

“This is a billion dollar brand!" he went on. "I want a billion dollars from them! I want a $100 million for the label and a billion for the branding!"

“As soon as we get some paper and a pen, we can write something down," said a fellow cast member.

"IOUs! I just want an IOU...on paper, or on a tree! Spencer yelled back."

The Pratts, who quit the show after Monday's show, apologized for leaving Wednesday night.

"The devil got to us and said, 'Get out of the jungle'," Heidi explained. "[But] it's not even about us. It's about the charity, and it's about the experience here, and we really took that for granted."

Thursday night the remaining cast members will vote on whether the Pratts should stay, US reported.

Their childish antics will not go without consequences, according to Paul Telegdy, NBC's executive vice president of alternative programming. In an exclusive statement to Ryan Seacrest, Telegdy explained how Speidi will be dealt with back in the jungle:

"They are everything that's wrong with America...they are insincere, lazy, entitled and they claim the devil has possessed them.

They are back and this time they are contrite...yeah right. What they don't realise is that they are now going to be examined and their value system utterly deconstructed.

They are going to spend the night somewhere in isolation and guarded with lots of surprises...but not traditional reality [stunts].

These people really are going to bare their souls."

"Wow," posted Seacrest. "How do you really feel Paul? We can wait to see what he's talking about!" The show airs Monday through Thursday, 8/7c on NBC.

Can you believe these dunces are claiming the devil made them leave? In the show, Heidi is heard preaching about Jesus and Halleluyah-ing this and that while continually--I mean, nonstop--spraying who knows what on her jungle hair given the lack of hair dryers and flat irons, on which she depends for her daily bread.

I'm sorry, my friends, but I find Heidi's pseudo-religiousness repulsive.

Earlier this week, while in the show, she told the camera--with a straight face, mind you--that what's important to her is to God, Jesus, what's inside, her soul...that her goal is to be like Mother Teresa (I'm not making this up!), help people...that clothes and things and looks don't matter...

Are you fucking kidding me?

Left: Heidi in Chanel shorts and bracelet, Dior shoes and Valentino tote. Wanna guess how many thousands of dollars this "casual" outfit costs?

Then why the hell is she prancing around Hollywood in obscenely expensive designer wear, not only in an attempt to convince herself and others that she's an A-list celebrity, but to get paid by the designers for parading in front of the paparazzi in these outfits. In what shape or form does that resemble Mother Teresa?

Hey, Heidi--this is how it's done:

Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved