By WILL WEISSERT and FREDDY CUEVAS, Associated Press Writers Will Weissert And Freddy Cuevas, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 5 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.

Zelaya was violating his country’s constitution with his referendum that would have, Chavez-style, repealed term limits on the presidency. The Honduras Supreme Court ruled the referendum illegal, and the military refused to distribute the ballots. Instead of backing down, Zelaya fired the head of the military, which precipitated the ouster.

I was reading about this today and it seems a tough situation. As you mentioned Skippy it seems like the process was done with Nobel intentions but one thing that struck me was the response of almost every leader. They all called for an unconditional return of Zelaya to power.

It made me wonder if there was a way built-in already that should have been used to handle this. Of course that maybe tough as the president is firing people.

Central America to pull envoys from Honduras
MANAGUA (Reuters) - Central American nations will pull their ambassadors from Honduras in protest at its army ouster of leftist President Manuel Zelaya at the weekend, a senior diplomatic source said on Monday.

The source said members of the Central American Integration System body, known as SICA, would withdraw their envoys.

The group -- made up of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama -- was meeting in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, as the Honduran army coup drew worldwide condemnation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55S6JI20090629

BELIZE CONDEMNS THE FORCEFUL REMOVAL OF HONDURAN PRESIDENT
June 29, 2009

The forceful over throw of Honduras president Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales has caused rave concerns and reactions from regional and international bodies. Since the military take over on Sunday, the Organization American States along SICA and ALBA countries have been clamoring for the reinstatement of Rosales. Today the Government of Belize sent out a release condemning the actions of the military. The Government of Belize condemns the actions of the military against the constitutional and democratically elected President, his expulsion from the country and the illegal detention of members of his cabinet. The Government also rejects any attempt to have him replaced as the President and joins the international community in calling for the return of the rule of law and restoration of democracy in Honduras. And lastly, the release says that the Government is actively engaged in regional and international consultations on these developments in Honduras and is seeking an international response to this unfolding crisis. According to media reports things have remained generally calm in Honduras, despite the fact that police fired tear gas at demonstrators earlier today. OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin today reiterated the OAS’s position on the matter.

Albert Ramdin; Assistant Secretary General of the OAS

“Member States of the OAS in the strongest words condemns the coup and have requested and demanded the immediate, safe and unconditional return of President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales to assume his constitutional functions. All of this is meant to be the input for the meeting of the Special session of the OAS General Assembly which will take place at the OAS Headquarters in Washington DC on Tuesday June 30th at four 0’clock whereby foreign minister’s of the 34 member states will have the opportunity to listen to a report from the Ambassador from Honduras in Washington DC to the OAS on the then current situation in his country and also to listen to the Secretary General on the basis of the consultation he had in Central America with other heads of state.”

Following the overthrow yesterday, President Zelaya was flown to Costa Rica on Sunday. Reports are that the Honduran Foreign Minister was also detained. According to OAS radio reports, based on the Inter-American Democratic Charter and laws that Govern the OAS Tuesday’s special general assembly could see Honduras being suspended from the OAS.
http://www.lovefm.com/ndisplay.php?nid=10317

Methinks Zelaya needed to go. Methinks he needed to go with proper legal process.

Many Hondurans, perhaps a majority, are pleading with the world not to interfere with what they see as a necessary move of ousting Zelaya and supporting the new government.

Now, let me get this straight. Zelaya was attempting to extend his term(illegally) The Supreme Ct and Congress opposed but:

"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."
Just ANOTHER tin-horn??????????????????

hmmmmmmm, same "concern" expressed over the "unrest" in Iran.

Obama is a whore!

The C.I. A is a well funded gang of thugs.

bruce explained to me this morning that by condemnation of the action, the thinking is to attempt to eliminate [military or violent] coups from the americas, and implement a more democratic or diplomatic way to make changes, when necessary, within a government.

They'll get my donation check anytime

With reference to the nature of the Honduran crisis:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTBmMTUxMTk5NmY0MGVhYzhlNTk1MGIwODBlODI2YTg=

A local Honduran viewpoint,
Hello John,
Everything is well on the island.
Here is our point of view on the situation.
The sun shines bright on this new day with the expulsion of the former President Zelaya. In spite of what the press is saying, this is a great day. Zelaya had aligned himself with the communist leaders of the region and was moving the country in that direction. Of course, this made the investors and the business owners of the country very nervous. He started making agreements with Leftist governments without congressional approval and wouldn’t listen to the judicial or legislative branches of the government who opposed such things. The government, both parties, and business decided to tolerate his antics, knowing that it would end at the end of his elected term. The final straw came when he decided to change the constitution. One of the items he wanted to change was the term limitation. If he ran over items in the constitution, he could include things that prevent confiscation of private lands by the government – a real concern to
investors.

He decided to hold a referendum to garner support for his changes to the constitution. Both his party and the national party agreed in principle to amend the constitution in ways that made sense for the country but not to do it to help those in power. Zelaya took actions that were opposed by the Supreme Court and also by the Congress. He believed that he had control of the military, a supply of funds from Chavez in Venezuela and could do as he wished. When he told the military that he wanted them to help in the referendum that had been deemed illegal by the Legislative and Judicial branches of government, he was in effect telling his military leaders to break the law. They had vowed to protect and defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic and felt that they were not required to comply with an illegal order in conflict with the constitution. Zelaya fired the military Chief of Staff and the Secretary of Defense and the
other senior officers resigned in support of the position of the Chief of Staff. The Supreme Court told Zelaya that there were reasons that he could fire the Chief but not for failure to obey an illegal order and told Zelaya to reinstate him. Then a lot of political pushing and shoving took place and the government decided to expel Zelaya, which they did yesterday.

The Constitution describes the order of succession that takes place when a leader is no longer able to perform his duties. This order was followed and the President of the Congress was designated to fulfill the duties of President until the regularly scheduled elections in November.

There was neither military coup nor any other kind of coup, the military were the tool of government and there was a peaceful transition of government. There was not even a change in the party in power. CNN and other news outlets are quick to describe the action as a grasp for power, which is a story that fits the picture that many hold when they think of Latin American governments. This was anything but that. This was a government, all parties and branches working together, trying to prevent a tyrannical ruler from running roughshod over the constitution for his own purposes – trying to prevent a ruler from taking the country down the road to communism. This issue is so important to the nation of Honduras that for the first time in its history both major parties and other minor parties were galvanized in support of this necessary change. In a country of over 7 million people with 4.5 million voters, the silent majority is in support of the
government action. They are not silent out of fear but out of agreement that right has prevailed. There are hundreds of Zelaya supporters seen on TV, not even thousands but those crowds make better press than a well researched and documented story. Much of the press needs to take another class in responsible journalism and not just take the side of a story that is easiest to sell. Don’t be led down the path of ignorance - today is a great day for the Republic of Honduras.

Thanks for the above post but it reads like a well written C.I.A. slant.

ok danny2, whats up with the new CIA obsession? Sounds like too much reading to me! Time to can the fiction.
btw: read any good CIA slant publications lately?

A very sad situation in Honduras...as the President elect circles the international airport and is blocked from landing. Democracy is dead!

They should let him land so they can arrest and impeach him.

Yes, that's right. Now go take a lie down, dearie, you've been getting too worked up over this.

Democracy is dead. Gawd, what a drama queen.

Um, Waterdog got it right this time. Let the Chavez understudy land, take him into "protective custody" impound the Venezuelan plane and take control of the "situation". With Zelaya in Managua or San Salvador all we'll hear is what Chavez wants heard (via Telesur), Tegucigalpa is silenced and Caracas will continue to show Z how to goad uniformed Hondurans to hurl stones.

Seems to me that the ousting of Zelaya was constitutional and even peaceful. At least their military and congress had the cajones to act as they did on behalf of the Republic.

Thanks for a well informed post: of course, the facts will be of little consequence to some of the leftists* here who are just pi$$ed off that one of theirs got ousted



*I did note H20 was advocating arrest and trial

US Deplores Honduras Violence, Urges Dialogue
By David Gollust
State Department
06 July 2009

The United States is deploring the violence associated with ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's aborted effort to return to his country on Sunday, and has again appealed for dialogue among parties to that country's political conflict. Secretary of State Clinton is expected to meet Mr. Zelaya Tuesday.

The State Department is reiterating its call for the return to office of the elected president of Honduras, and officials say Secretary of State Clinton will likely meet Mr. Zelaya in Washington Tuesday in a high-level show of support for the ousted leader.

The United States joined in a unanimous vote Saturday by the Organization of American States to suspend Honduras because of the refusal of authorities there to reverse the June 28 coup, in which the elected president was detained by the military and put on a plane to Costa Rica.

Supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya demonstrate in Tegucigalpa, 5 July 2009
Supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya demonstrate in Tegucigalpa, 5 July 2009
Prior to his ouster, U.S. diplomats had been trying to mediate a dispute triggered by Mr. Zelaya's effort to stage a referendum that would have allowed him to seek another term as president.

Despite complaints of his critics that he was acting illegally, the United States has strongly opposed his unceremonious ouster. In a statement Monday, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said the U.S. goal remains "the restoration of the democratic order in Honduras" - while urging all the country's political actors to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

Kelly expressed regret that the situation required the suspension of Honduras from the OAS, and said the United States looks forward to the day when circumstances will allow its return to the region body.

He also lamented the violence surrounding Mr. Zelayas attempted return home Sunday, in which troops barred his aircraft from landing, and a pro-Zelaya airport protester was killed.

"We deplore the use of force against demonstrators in Tegucigalpa in recent days," said Ian Kelly. "We once again call on the defacto regime, and all actors in Honduras, to refrain from all acts of violence, and seek a peaceful constitutional and lasting solution to the serious divisions in that country through dialogue."

Kelly also called on OAS member countries to reject incitement and the use of violence to effect political change, an apparent reference to threats by left-leaning OAS states supportive of Mr. Zelaya to return him to power through military intervention.

Though more than a week has passed without the restoration of the ousted president, a senior State Department official reiterated support for negotiations through the regional grouping, saying he does not think "the moment for the OAS has passed."

To back up OAS diplomacy, the United States is withholding disbursement of most U.S. aid money for Honduras pending a formal determination by State Department lawyers that the events of June 28 constitute a military coup and require an aid cut-off under U.S. law.

Kelly said under questioning the Obama administration is disinclined to make such a determination while OAS diplomacy is ongoing, but in the meantime has frozen aid categories that would be covered by an aid ban.

Annual U.S. aid to Honduras has recently averaged more than $50 million a year.

Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-06-voa52.cfm