Monday, June 29, 2009, TEGUCIGALPA: Interim leader Roberto Micheletti prepared to govern a tense Honduras on Monday as President Manuel Zelaya sought to return to power after a coup which revived memories of Cold War unrest.Soldiers removed Zelaya from his bed early Sunday and sent him to Costa Rica, sparking international outcry.Zelaya's overthrow was triggered by a standoff between the president and the military and legal institutions over his bid for a vote on changing the constitution, which would allow him a stab at a second term.The UN General Assembly was meeting in emergency session Monday to discuss Honduras, after the presidents of the leftist regional grouping ALBA met in neighboring Nicaragua, also with Zelaya, late Sunday.UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for Zelaya to be reinstated, while the Obama administration said the United States considered Zelaya to be the only president of the nation of some 7.5 million people.The Honduran Congress voted Micheletti in as the country's new leader just hours after Zelaya left the country, but Zelaya has said he is determined to return and "reclaim his post."Micheletti on Monday began naming members of his government and called on all government workers to return to work as normal, after a politically powerful national union of teachers announced an indefinite strike.Shots were heard in the Honduras capital late Sunday after Micheletti imposed a nationwide 48-hour curfew.Venezuelan President and regional leftist champion Hugo Chavez said the international community should teach the Honduran government "a lesson" after throwing his weight behind Zelaya at the Nicaragua meeting on Sunday.Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said leaders were determined to avoid "bloodshed." In Honduras, Micheletti brushed off international condemnation of the takeover.He said he "had come to the presidency not by a coup d'etat but by a completely legal process as set out in our laws."The interim leader also warned Chavez his country was ready to "go to war" if there was interference by "this gentleman."Micheletti said he had information that several batallions of troops were being prepared outside of Honduras for intervention.In a veiled warning to Chavez and his allies, a senior US State Department official said that "a process" in Honduras should not be "interfered with bilaterally by any country in the Americas."Washington was working with other members of the Organization of American States (OAS) on a consensus resolution to condemn the effort to depose the president and call for full restoration of democratic order, he said.Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas, who was initially detained Sunday along with other government ministers, arrived in Mexico on Monday.Rodas was due to travel with Mexican President Felipe Calderon to Nicaragua later Monday for an extraordinary summit of the Central American Integration System (SICA) regional grouping.
Monday, June 29, 2009, TEGUCIGALPA: Interim leader Roberto Micheletti prepared to govern a tense Honduras on Monday as President Manuel Zelaya sought to return to power after a coup which revived memories of Cold War unrest.Soldiers removed Zelaya from his bed early Sunday and sent him to Costa Rica, sparking international outcry.Zelaya's overthrow was triggered by a standoff between the president and the military and legal institutions over his bid for a vote on changing the constitution, which would allow him a stab at a second term.The UN General Assembly was meeting in emergency session Monday to discuss Honduras, after the presidents of the leftist regional grouping ALBA met in neighboring Nicaragua, also with Zelaya, late Sunday.UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for Zelaya to be reinstated, while the Obama administration said the United States considered Zelaya to be the only president of the nation of some 7.5 million people.The Honduran Congress voted Micheletti in as the country's new leader just hours after Zelaya left the country, but Zelaya has said he is determined to return and "reclaim his post."Micheletti on Monday began naming members of his government and called on all government workers to return to work as normal, after a politically powerful national union of teachers announced an indefinite strike.Shots were heard in the Honduras capital late Sunday after Micheletti imposed a nationwide 48-hour curfew.Venezuelan President and regional leftist champion Hugo Chavez said the international community should teach the Honduran government "a lesson" after throwing his weight behind Zelaya at the Nicaragua meeting on Sunday.Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said leaders were determined to avoid "bloodshed." In Honduras, Micheletti brushed off international condemnation of the takeover.He said he "had come to the presidency not by a coup d'etat but by a completely legal process as set out in our laws."The interim leader also warned Chavez his country was ready to "go to war" if there was interference by "this gentleman."Micheletti said he had information that several batallions of troops were being prepared outside of Honduras for intervention.In a veiled warning to Chavez and his allies, a senior US State Department official said that "a process" in Honduras should not be "interfered with bilaterally by any country in the Americas."Washington was working with other members of the Organization of American States (OAS) on a consensus resolution to condemn the effort to depose the president and call for full restoration of democratic order, he said.Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas, who was initially detained Sunday along with other government ministers, arrived in Mexico on Monday.Rodas was due to travel with Mexican President Felipe Calderon to Nicaragua later Monday for an extraordinary summit of the Central American Integration System (SICA) regional grouping.
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