COSTA RICA: Ousted Zelaya holds newser in Costa Rica

Record ID: 624226

  • Title: COSTA RICA: Ousted Zelaya holds newser in Costa Rica
  • Date: 29th June 2009
  • Summary: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (JUNE 28, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF AIRPORT SECURITY OUSTED HONDURAN PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA AND COSTA RICAN PRESIDENT OSCAR ARIAS AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) OUSTED HONDURAN PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA, SAYING: "They aimed at me, about eight or 10 masked men wearing green or olive helmets. They were real guerrillas, they thr
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Costa Rica
  • Country: Costa Rica
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVABCSPLXNOY5U2JSETIIZX43AV2
  • Story Text: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya describes the circumstances around his arrest by the military in what was Central America's first military coup since the cold war.
    Exiled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was removed from power on Sunday (June 28) in Central America's first military coup since the cold war, described the circumstances around his arrest after his arrival in Costa Rica.
    The Honduran army ousted and exiled leftist Zelaya in a coup triggered by his bid to make it legal to seek another term in office.
    The dawn coup was strongly condemned by Zelaya's regional ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- who has long championed the left in Latin America. Chavez put his military on alert in case Honduran troops moved against his embassy or envoy there.
    U.S. President Barack Obama's administration and the European Union also voiced backing for Zelaya, who was taken by troops from his residence and whisked away by plane to Costa Rica.
    "They aimed at me, about eight or 10 masked men wearing green or olive helmets. They were real guerrillas, they threatened me and told me that if I didn't hand them my cellular phone, they would shoot, they said 'we are going to kill you, put the phone down'," Zelaya told a joint news conference with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.
    "On the flight they didn't want to tell me where we were going. They only stopped in the city of Comayagua to refuel, then I saw that the plane was going south and then we landed in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a democratic country and thank God these people did not kill me," he said.
    Hundreds of pro-Zelaya protesters massed outside the presidential palace and demanded Zelaya be reinstated, but most residents of the capital, Tegucigalpa, stayed at home.
    Honduras, an impoverished coffee, textile and banana exporter with a population of 7 million, had been politically stable since the end of military rule in the early 1980s.
    But Zelaya has moved the country further left since taking power and struck up a close alliance with Chavez, upsetting the army and the traditionally conservative rich elite.
    Zelaya tried to fire the armed forces chief, Gen. Romeo Vasquez, last week in a dispute over the president's attempt to hold an unofficial referendum on Sunday about extending his four-year term in office. Zelaya took office in 2006 and under the constitution as it stands would have been due to leave office in early 2010.
    His move on changing the constitution put him at odds with the army, the courts and Congress.
    Zelaya was set to fly to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, to meet Chavez and other regional leftist leaders on Monday, said a spokesman for Zelaya who was still in Honduras.
    A former businessman who sports a cowboy hat and thick mustache, Zelaya 56, told Venezuela-based Telesur television station that he was "kidnapped" by soldiers and barely given time to change out of his pyjamas. He was later bundled onto a military plane to Costa Rica.
    Speaking on Venezuelan state television, Chavez said he had put his troops on alert over the Honduran coup and would do everything necessary to abort the ouster.
    Chavez has in the past threatened military action in the region but never followed through.
    The EU condemned the coup and Obama called for calm.
    Honduras was a staunch U.S. ally in the 1980s when Washington helped Central American governments fight left-wing guerrillas.
    Democracy has taken root in Central America in recent decades after years of dictatorships and war, but crime, corruption and poverty are still major problems.
    Honduras is a big coffee producer but there was no immediate sign the unrest would affect production.
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