- Title: BOLIVIA: Bolivia's Morales condemns Honduras coup
- Date: 30th June 2009
- Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (JUNE 28, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF BOLIVIA'S GOVERNMENT PALACE
- Embargoed: 15th July 2009 18:34
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAED1ZPWNKS2S5WGKA1RFFKKSBU
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Bolivia's President Evo Morales calls on the international community to condemn the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
Bolivia's President Evo Morales on Sunday (June 28) condemned the arrest of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the Honduran military.
The Honduran army ousted President Manuel Zelaya and threw him out of the country on Sunday in Central America's first military coup since the Cold War, after he upset the army by trying to win re-election.
"I am calling on international organisations, I am calling on the social movements of Latin America and of the world, I am calling on the president of democratic countries to condemn and repudiate this coup in Honduras," Morales told reporters in La Paz.
"What is happening in Honduras is an adventure by a group of soldiers that are against democracy and against the people and that is why I am making this call to condemn it (the coup)," added Morales.
A military plane flew Zelaya to Costa Rica and CNN's Spanish-language channel said he had asked for asylum there.
Police fired tear gas at pro-government protesters in the capital, Honduran radio said, and two fighter jets screamed through the sky over the capital.
The impoverished Central American country had been politically stable since the end of military rule in the early 1980s, but Zelaya's push to change the constitution to allow him another term has split the country's institutions.
Zelaya fired military chief Gen. Romeo Vasquez last week for refusing to help him run an unofficial referendum on Sunday on extending the four-year term limit on Honduran presidents.
Zelaya told Venezuela-based Telesur television station that he was "kidnapped" by soldiers and called on Hondurans to peacefully resist the coup.
Pro-Zelaya demonstrators gathered at the presidential palace, which was surrounded by soldiers.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on Sunday put his troops on alert over the Honduras coup and said he would respond militarily if his envoy to the Central American country was attacked or kidnapped.
Chavez said Honduran soldiers took away the Cuban ambassador and left the Venezuelan ambassador on the side of a road after beating him during the coup against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, his close ally.
Speaking on Venezuelan state television, Chavez said he would do everything necessary to "abort" the coup.
The EU condemned the coup and U.S. President Barack Obama called for calm.
Honduras was a staunch U.S. ally in the 1980s when Washington helped Central American governments fight left-wing guerrillas.
It was the first successful military ouster of a president in Central America since the Cold War era.
Honduras's Supreme Court last week came out against Zelaya and ordered him to reinstate fired military chief Vasquez.
The global economic crisis has curbed growth in Honduras, which lives off coffee and textile exports and remittances from Honduran workers abroad. Recent opinion polls indicate public support for Zelaya has fallen as low as 30 percent.
Honduras, home to around 7 million people, is a major drug trafficking transit point.
It is also a big coffee producer but there was no immediate sign the unrest would affect production. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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