Honduran military ousts president

UPDATED:

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Soldiers seized the national palace and flew President Manuel Zelaya into exile Sunday, hours before a disputed constitutional referendum. Mr. Zelaya, a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said he was the victim of a coup.

Hours later, Congress voted to accept what it said was Mr. Zelaya’s letter of resignation, but he said the letter wasn’t his and vowed to remain in power.

The Supreme Court said it was supporting the military in what it called a defense of democracy, and the Honduran ambassador to the Organization of American States said the military was planning to swear in Congressional President Roberto Micheletti — who is next in line to the presidency — to replace Mr. Zelaya.

Mr. Zelaya was arrested shortly before polls were to open in a referendum on whether to change the constitution. The Supreme Court ruled the referendum illegal, and everyone from Congress to members of his own party opposed it. Critics said Zelaya wanted to remove limits to his re-election.

Tanks rolled through the streets, and hundreds of soldiers with riot shields surrounded the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Mr. Zelaya, at the airport in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose, called the military action illegal.

“There is no way to justify an interruption of democracy, a coup d’etat,” he said in a telephone call to the Venezuela-based Telesur television network. “This kidnapping is an extortion of the Honduran democratic system.”

A majority of members of Congress voted with a show of hands to accept a letter of resignation that Congressional Secretary Jose Alfredo Saavedra said was signed by Mr. Zelaya and dated Thursday. The letter said Mr. Zelaya was resigning because of “the polarized political situation” and “insuperable health problems.”

But Mr. Zelaya told CNN the letter was “totally false.” He told Telesur he would not recognize any de facto government and pledged to serve out his term, which ends in January. He said he would attend a scheduled meeting of Central American presidents in Nicaragua on Monday. He said Mr. Chavez, who also is going, would provide transportation.

Mr. Chavez, who along with the Castros in Cuba is Mr. Zelaya’s top ally, said Venezuela “is at battle” and put his military on alert.

President Obama said he was “deeply concerned” by Mr. Zelaya’s expulsion, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the arrest should be condemned.

“I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” Mr. Obama’s statement read.

Mr. Zelaya told Telesur that he was awakened by gunshots and the shouts of his security guards, whom he said resisted troops for at least 20 minutes. Still in his pajamas, he jumped out of bed and ducked behind an air conditioner to avoid flying bullets, he said.

He said eight or nine soldiers in masks escorted him onto an air force plane that took him to Costa Rica.

Mr. Chavez said troops in Honduras also temporarily detained the Venezuelan and Cuban ambassadors, beating them.

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