COUP LEADERS in Honduras shut the country’s main airport yesterday to stop ousted president Manuel Zelaya making another attempt to return, a day after military vehicles prevented his jet from landing.
The interim government, increasingly isolated and beleaguered, banned all flights for 24 hours to try to keep the exiled leader out and to dampen fresh protests.
Mr Zelaya promised on Sunday to make another attempted return from neighbouring El Salvador but US officials suggested he may instead fly to Washington for talks with representatives of the Obama administration and Latin American diplomats.
The Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, remained tense.
Mr Zelaya’s supporters promised to mobilise fresh demonstrations despite bloody clashes with security forces on Sunday.
Soldiers opened fire on a crowd marching towards the airport, killing at least two people, the first fatalities in the eight-day crisis.
Hospitals admitted many more people with gunshot wounds and staff told reporters there was an increasing number of victims shot by the military during the nightly curfew.
Mr Zelaya, speaking at a news conference in El Salvador, appealed to the army to avoid further casualties: “I call on the armed forces of Honduras to lower their rifles.”
The leftist leader was flanked by the presidents of El Salvador, Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador and the secretary-general of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza. “I am risking myself personally to resolve the problems without violence,” he added. He urged the United Nations, the OAS and European Union to “do something with this repressive regime”.
The interim government, which took power on June 28th after soldiers seized Mr Zelaya and bundled him into exile, slightly softened its position and said it wanted to negotiate with the OAS. But it ruled out Mr Zelaya’s return to power. “We will be here until the country calms down,” said the interim president, Roberto Micheletti. “We are the authentic representatives of the people.”
The coup was supported by those Hondurans who feared Mr Zelaya's leftist agenda. But the new government has been denounced internationally. – ( GuardianService)