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Honduras - coup d'état

Criticism of military coup spreads

Article published on the 2009-06-29 Latest update 2009-06-29 14:46 TU

Ousted Honduras president Manuel Zelaya (L) and Costa Rican head of state Oscar Arias speaks to the press at Juan Santamaria airport, Costa Rica, 28 juin 2009.(Photo : Reuters)

Ousted Honduras president Manuel Zelaya (L) and Costa Rican head of state Oscar Arias speaks to the press at Juan Santamaria airport, Costa Rica, 28 juin 2009.
(Photo : Reuters)

Roberto Micheletti has been sworn in as the interim president of Honduras. He's imposed a 48-hour curfew in the Central American country with a population of eight million. The United Nations' general assembly was holding an emergency meeting on Monday to consider the political situation after Sunday's coup.

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Micheletti, is a member of the same Liberal party as ousted leader Manuel Zelaya who was flown out of his country to Costa Rica by mutineering army officers on Sunday, after what was reported as a rough exit.

The caretaker president says that Zelaya will be allowed back into Honduras but will be barred from political office. Although he won elections in 2006 on the centre-right Liberal ticket, he had aligned with more left-wing policies.

Many countries have issued critical statements about the coup d'état in Honduras, as well as the Organisation of American States. Cuba's foreign minister has described the ouster as criminal and brutal, and former president and coup leader Fidel Castro said that the coup leaders have committed a "suicidal mistake."

Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez has lashed out at the Honduran soldiers whom he said, manhandled Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan diplomats who had tried to protect the Honduran foreign minister Patricia Rodas.

Elsewhere in the region, Brazil's president Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, said that his country will not recognise the new government.

Eric Chevallier also stressed that "the arrest of diplomats and their expulsion constitutes a serious violation of the Vienna Convention. It is unnacceptable."

France criticised Sunday's coup d'Etat in Honduras and called for "constitutional order" and democracy to be restored promptly".

Foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said, "the future of Honduras is inextricably linked to democracy and any development contrary to its standards is a serious step back for the country."

Zelaya who had been in office since 2006, wanted to hold a referendum on Sunday, that could have led to extending his non-renewable four-year term.