Jun 29 2009
Honduras Coup Brings Chaos
A military coup in Honduras this week has brought the Central American nation two presidents. The original leader, Manuel Zelaya, is in detention in Costa Rica after Honduran soldiers arrested him and sent him to the neighboring country.
Honduras’s Congress elected Roberto Micheletti to replace Zelaya, an ally of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Micheletti and Zelaya both are members of Honduras’s Liberal Party but Micheletti opposed an upcoming referendum championed by Zelaya.
The Congress accepted Zelaya’s letter of resignation yesterday but Zelaya claims he never wrote such a letter. He maintains he is still the democratically elected leader of Honduras. Zelaya’s referendum, which would remove the ban on presidents serving more than one term, was deemed illegal by the nation’s supreme court. Today’s vote was expected to bring violence, even before the coup.
Chavez vowed to overthrow the new government. Many world leaders condemned the first military coup in Central America in 16 years. It’s clear though that the military supports Zelaya’s ouster. Their attitude must be changed–through economic, political or military means–if Zelaya is to return to power.
