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
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