COUP LEADERS in Honduras yesterday defied an international deadline for President Manuel Zelaya to return to power within 72 hours and said only a foreign invasion could reinstate him.
Roberto Micheletti, the interim leader of a government that forced Mr Zelaya into exile last Sunday, said his predecessor would be arrested if he returned to the central American country.
Arrest warrants have been issued accusing the ousted leader of 18 crimes, including treason and abuse of authority, and Interpol will be asked to detain him.
The new foreign minister Enrique Ortez accused Mr Zelaya of turning Honduras into a hub for cocaine en route to the US. Three or four Venezuelan-registered planes with money and drugs landed every night, he told CNN. “We have proof of all of this. Neighbouring governments have it. The DEA [US Drug Enforcement Administration] has it.” The DEA refused to comment.
The defiant comments came amid hardening international resolve to reverse a coup that is seen as an unwelcome throwback to central America’s cold war era of military overthrows.
An emergency session of the pan-regional Organisation of American States (OAS) on Tuesday gave Honduras 72 hours to end the crisis and ensure the “immediate, safe and unconditional return of the president to his constitutional functions”. No other president would be recognised.
Mr Zelaya said he would return to the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, with the head of the OAS, the president of the UN general assembly and the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador. The trip was pushed back to this weekend to give the interim government time to respond.
Mr Micheletti was sworn in hours after soldiers seized Mr Zelaya and put him on a plane.
His government’s isolation appeared complete. The US, which has had cool relations with Mr Zelaya, joined denunciations of the coup. The UN general assembly condemned it by acclamation.
The World Bank “paused” lending to Honduras, several Latin American countries suspended trade and Spain recalled its ambassador. Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made a strongly worded statement during a trip to Libya. “We do not accept the return of coups in Latin America.” – (Guardian service)