HONDURAS: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya addresses his supporters from the rooftop of the Brazilian embassy

Record ID: 766051

  • Title: HONDURAS: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya addresses his supporters from the rooftop of the Brazilian embassy
  • Date: 24th September 2009
  • Summary: TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS (SEPTEMBER 22, 2009) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SCENES) FIRES BURNING ON THE STREET ZELAYA SUPPORTERS THROWING ROCKS VARIOUS OF ZELAYA SUPPORTERS WALKING AMONG BURNING DEBRIS ON STREETS
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Honduras
  • Country: Honduras
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5MCF2UIAZ5M8I976ETFF2HRJ8
  • Story Text: Ousted President Manuel Zelaya sneaked back into Honduras on Monday (September 21) almost three months after he was toppled in a coup, and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy to avoid arrest by the de facto government.
    Zelaya's ouster on June 28 in a dispute over presidential term limits plunged Honduras into its worst political conflict in decades, and was condemned by U.S. President Barack Obama, the European Union and Latin American governments.
    Zelaya said he had braved many obstacles, crossing over mountains and through valleys to avoid military checkpoints. He did not reveal which country he had arrived in Honduras from.
    "I had to travel for 15 hours, sometimes walking, other times marching in different areas in the middle of the night because I wanted to celebrate the country's independence day with the Honduran people," Zelaya said from the rooftop of the Brazilian embassy.
    Zelaya was in exile, mostly in Nicaragua, while a de facto government that backed the coup against him became more entrenched in office, defying international calls to allow the leftist president to return.
    His sudden reappearance in Honduras heightened pressure on the country's interim ruler, Roberto Micheletti, to cede power and raised the possibility of violent protests or a standoff at the embassy.
    Several thousand Zelaya supporters gathered outside the Brazilian embassy while a military helicopter clattered overhead and a small group of police stood some 100 yards (metres) away. Many of the protesters stayed into the evening in defiance of a curfew imposed by Micheletti's administration, and some 50,000 school teachers declared a strike to support Zelaya.
    Micheletti's government ordered all airports to close. Honduras is a major coffee producer but exports so far have not been affected by the crisis.
    Zelaya also criticized those who believed he would not return, saying that governing "requires talent, dedication, and a love for the people."
    Micheletti, a conservative, wants Zelaya arrested on charges of corruption and trying to change the constitution, and is backed by the country's military, supreme court and Congress.
    He urged Brazil to hand Zelaya over to authorities during an earlier address to the nation.
    In June, soldiers toppled Zelaya at gunpoint and sent him into exile in his pajamas after he upset conservative opponents who accused him of wanting to change the constitution to allow presidents to seek re-election. Honduran business leaders also distrusted his alliance with Chavez.
    Zelaya was due to leave office in January after elections in November and denied he was seeking to extend his rule.
    Honduras' de facto government said on Tuesday (September 22) it is willing to talk to ousted President Manuel Zelaya if he recognizes the legality of the country's presidential elections scheduled for November.
    The Foreign Minister for the de facto government, Carlos Lopez, read the statement, saying that he would discuss ways of resolving the country's political crisis.
    "Indeed I am ready to discuss how to resolve the political crisis under the framework provided to us by the Honduran constitution, and I am ready to do so with Mr. Zelaya as long as he explicitly recognizes the constitutionally mandated presidential elections scheduled for November 29, where Honduras will elect it's next president," Lopez read from a statement written in English.
    Following the statement, Lopez took questions from journalists and said Honduran security forces would not enter the Brazilian embassy where Zelaya has taken refuge.
    "Honduras' government doesn't have any plans to penetrate Brazilian government property in Tegucigalpa to apprehend Mr. Zelaya," he said.
    Small groups of Honduran youths defied a curfew on Tuesday and took to the streets of a neighbourhood close to the Brazilian embassy.
    Wearing masks and chanting "we want Mel", the Zelaya supporters set piles of debris on fire in the middle of the street and threw rocks at objects.
    Earlier in the day, Honduran security forces clashed with thousands of Zelaya supporters outside Brazil's embassy when they moved in to disperse the crowds and set up a security cordon around the diplomatic mission.
    Security forces blasted the embassy for 15 minutes with a high-pitched sound from a speaker perched in a truck but Honduras' de facto leader, Roberto Micheletti, said he would stop short of ordering the storming of the embassy.
    Hundreds of police blocked entrances to the streets around the embassy and electricity in the building was intermittently cut off. Small protests broke out in half a dozen districts of the capital and police fired tear gas at demonstrators.
    The United States, the European Union and the Organization of American States have called for dialogue to return the Central American country to democratic rule.
    But Micheletti, a bitter rival of Zelaya who was named president by Congress on the day of the coup, said the leftist had first to hand himself over to legal authorities before any talks. He said Zelaya could stay holed up in the embassy for five to 10 years.
    At one point, the de facto leader rejected calls for a negotiated settlement that would allow Zelaya to return with limited powers ahead of a scheduled presidential election in November.
    Obama has cut U.S. aid to Honduras since the coup and pushed for Zelaya's return but refused his demands for tougher sanctions against the coup leaders.
    Latin American leftist governments have accused Obama of not doing enough to force Zelaya's return to power.
    Brazil, the continent's economic powerhouse which is seeking more political and diplomatic weight, has been thrown into the centre of the Honduras conflict with Zelaya's decision to take refuge in its Tegucigalpa embassy.
    In New York, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said he was hopeful Zelaya's return could start a new stage in negotiations to end the Honduran crisis. Amorim said his country was happy to play a role in any future settlement.
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