World leaders denounce ousting of Honduran President
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Honduras
*Second largest country in Central America
*Population of 7.2 million
*Second poorest country in the region
*Economy forecast to grow less than two per cent this year
*Former Spanish colony gained independence in 1821
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International bodies and heads of states condemned Honduran soldiers'
arrest of the country's President Sunday, amid rising tension over a
controversial referendum.
President Manuel Zelaya was arrested Sunday by troops who surrounded
his home, said a top government aide.
"Troops have taken the president from his home to the air force
(base)," the president's personal secretary, Enrique Reina, told
reporters.
The European Union was quick to call on the Honduran military to
release him.
"The EU strongly condemns the arrest of the constitutional president
of the Republic of Honduras by the armed forces," Czech Republic Foreign
Minister Jan Kohout told reporters on the sidelines of an international
meeting here.
"This action is an unacceptable violation of constitutional order in
Honduras," said Kohout, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
"The EU calls for the urgent release of the president and a swift
return to constitutional normality."
Soon after, Costa Rica's public security minister Janina del Vecchio
confirmed media reports that Zelaya had been flown to the country.
US President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by the
events in Honduras and urged all parties to show respect for "democratic
norms."
Earlier, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had denounced the arrest of
Zelaya, describing it as a "coup d'etat" and suggesting that the United
States was implicated.
Speaking in Caracas, Chavez urged had US President Barack Obama to
speak out about Zelaya's arrest, saying "the Yankee empire has a lot to
do" with developments in Honduras.
Jose Miguel Insulza, the Secretary General of the Organization of
American States also issued a statement condemning the coup.
Insulza "severely condemned the coup that a group of soldiers have
carried out against the government of President Jose Manuel Zelaya."
The statement was issued from Washington after an emergency meeting
of the OAS.
Zelaya's arrest came just hours after he had vowed to ahead with a
referendum Sunday, despite it having been ruled illegal by the country's
top court, and denounced not just by the military but even by his own
party.
Elected in 2006 for a non-renewable four-year term, Zelaya had
planned a vote Sunday asking Hondurans to sanction a future referendum
to allow him to run for re-election. |
