Honduran coup widely condemned

Paraguay: Countries, leaders and movements throughout the Americas condemn the Coup d’Etat in Honduras and demand the return of constitutional President Manuel Zelaya.

Ecuador’s Democratic Popular Movement (MPD) rejected on Monday the coup in Honduras against the legitimate government of President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales.

In a communique, MPD’s national leader Luis Villac¡s Maldonado expressed solidarity with the Honduran people and refuted the unpatriotic behavior of the National Congress in Honduras in appointing Roberto Micheletti as a de facto head of State.

The document says the coup was perpetrated by ruling economic power groups, Honduran oligarchy aided by the Army and with the complicity of the US State Department, which are trying to avoid the advance of current processes of change in Latin America. Maldonado called on all Ecuadorians to mobilize in support of their country’s democracy and self-determination.

Meanwhile, in Panama, the government defended on Monday the restoration of executive power in Honduras, a process that implies the restitution of constitutional President Manuel Zelaya.

In remarks to local radio stations, Panamanian Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis ratified his country’s strongest condemnation of the coup against Zelaya.

MERCOSUR condemns Honduras coup

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo affirmed that the South Common Market (MERCOSUR) does not recognize the naming of Roberto Micheletti as Honduras new president following Sunday military coup against President Manuel Zelaya.

Speaking as MERCOSUR pro tempore president, Lugo said the bloc categorically rejects a president other than Zelaya, who was elected by the Honduran people in free, democratic elections. He said his government is in permanent contact with the presidents of the MERCOSUR member states, and there is a common stance against any event that endangers the constitutional order and the Honduran people’s will.

He said they all rate as unacceptable “violent situations against diplomats who are doing their functions in that country.” Lugo highlighted the chancellery of MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay) was told to design joint measures allowing Zelaya’s immediate restitution.

The president also called for the full reestablishment of democratic institutions as the only alternative to solve the conflict, so “we will recognize no other authority.”

Asuncion, Prensa Latina