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Chaos in Honduras
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Supporters of ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya raise their fists as they face off a line of Honduran army soldiers and police at the entrance to the international airport in Tegucigalpa, Saturday July 4, 2009. Honduras rebuffed demands by the international community to reinstate President Zelaya and pulled out of the Organization of American States, thrusting the poor Central American nation deeper into political crisis and isolation.(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Sunday ousted President Zelaya attempted to return to Honduras but his plane was refused landing. Soldiers surrounded the main airport in Honduras and blocked the runway with army vehicles. International airlines suspended flights. Thousands of Zelaya's supporters gathered at the airport. Zelaya and his pilots decided not to risk a crash and landed instead in Nicaragua on their way to El Salvador. They vowed to try again on Monday or Tuesday.
According to an A.P. photographer, violence broke out at the airport with one man killed and many others wounded. Zelaya's supporters chanted that they wanted blue helmets, a reference to the color of the U.N. peacekeeper helmets.
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez, the capital's archbishop and other Catholic leaders in Honduras asked Zelaya to reconsider coming back today as they were concerned about the possibility of violence. "We think that a return to the country at the moment could provoke a bloodbath," stated Cardinal Rodriguez.
Moments after the plane was turned away approximately a dozen trucks filled with police ordered everyone off the streets imposing nightly curfews. International rights organizations point out that some freedoms guaranteed by the constitution of Honduras have been suspended and media blackouts increase the tension.
The Organization of American States meets in emergency session, in at the OAS in Washington, to consider suspending Honduras' membership because of the coup that ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, Saturday, July 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Earlier today the Organization of American States (OAS) voted to suspend Honduras, which isolates the interim government of Honduras, causes them to face trade sanctions, and the loss of millions of dollars in subsidized oil, aid and loans. The members of the European Union (E.U.) have removed their ambassadors from Honduras and the United Nations (U.N.). has voted by acclamation to renounce a military coup and not recognize the interim government.
Interestingly enough, despite almost world wide renunciation of the military coup in Honduras, some on the extreme right in the U.S. have attempted to denounce President Obama for being against a military coup. Rush Limbaugh and others have tried to tie Obama to Chavez and Castro as they, like most other world leaders, have spoken out against it.
For information on the coup read:
Honduras President ousted - world leaders condem coup
Condemnation of coup d'état in Honduras is overwhelming
**Updated** Showdown in Honduras. What will happen when ousted President Zelaya returns?
International pressure mounts against Honduras and coup leaders crackdown
Travel Alert for Honduras
Honduras Travel Alert for June 30 – July 1
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