SAN JOSE, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Ousted Honduran
President Manuel Zelaya said on Sunday that he was kidnapped and flown to Costa
Rica against his will and he did not sign a letter of resignation.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya attends
a news conference in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, on June 27, 2009.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was arrested at home on June 28, 2009 by
troops and was taken to an air force base near the capital Tegucigalpa,
Zelaya's private secretary told Xinhua. (Xinhua/David) Photo Gallery>>>
"I was kidnapped with force, violence and brutality,"
he told media at a joint press conference with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias
Sanchez.
He said that between eight and 10 hooded and heavily
armed soldiers had entered his home and forced him to board a plane without
telling him the destination.
"I was in my pajamas and did not even have socks on,"
he said.
"This move is a blow to a nation and a slap in the
face for the whole world," he added.
Zelaya also denied having signed a letter of
resignation, which was read to the Honduran congress by National Congress
Secretary Jose Alfredo Saavedra. The document read by Saavedra said that Zelaya
was leaving because of a "polarized political situation which could lead to
domestic conflict and insuperable health problems."
"I have not resigned and will not resign," Zelaya
said. "My government will end in 2010. I am Honduras' president and only the
people can remove me or appoint me," he said.
He added that he will participate Monday's Central
American Integration System summit held in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua on
behalf of his country.
"All lights in Honduras have gone out. They have shut
down the motors at factories and seized telephone switchboards. Honduras is
without radio and television, totally incommunicado and paralyzed," said Zelaya.
Honduras' congressional leader Roberto
Micheletti (C), is sworn in as the country's new President at the National
Congress in Tegucigalpa, Sunday, June 28, 2009. (Xinhua/AFP
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
Noting that Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Isabel
Rodas Baca had also been held captive as well as several ambassadors to Honduras
from the Latin American region, he called for international help.
"I have no doubts about Costa Rica's democratic
credentials today, but I need the support from all the Americas to rebuild and
reinstall the democratic rights of the Hondurans," he said.
The ousted leader said he had been betrayed by the
nation's military. "I am the president that has supported the armed forces the
most in the Honduran history during my three and a half-year service, and they
pay me back with a betrayal, especially their top leaders."
He described the events as a result of a conspiracy
with mafia who are trying to rule Honduras and have sought to undermine his
government.
Zelaya accused military leader Romeo Vazquez of a
creator of this situation because Zelaya sacked him a week ago.
Vazquez had refused to distribute material for a
referendum scheduled for Sunday, saying that judges considered the referendum as
illegal.
Honduran soldiers stand guard in
Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, June 28, 2009. Newly-appointed acting
Honduran President Roberto Micheletti said he has imposed a curfew of two
nights starting from late Sunday after the country's soldiers ousted
Manuel Zelaya before a national referendum. (Xinhua/David De La
Paz) Photo
Gallery>>>
"I am acting in line with the Citizens' Participation
Law," Zelaya defended himself. "But people from the deeply conservative
bourgeois are using the armed forces, as they have always done, and using the
whichever politician in office to keep their status and avoid changes," he said.
Zelaya was removed from office on Sunday afternoon,
just hours after some 200 soldiers surrounded his official residence in the
Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and forced him to board a plane to Costa Rica
after a referendum scheduled for Sunday on changing the country's constitution
has put Zelaya at odds with the military, the courts and the legislature.
Honduran Congress announced later Sunday that Roberto
Micheletti will replace Manuel Zelaya as the country's acting president.
In Sunday's vote, Hondurans were to be asked whether
they would back an official referendum in November, to be held alongside the
scheduled presidential election, to change the constitution to allow a president
to seek reelection.
Zelaya, in power since 2006, said he would not run
for a second term. His current term expires in January next year.
But oppositions accused Zelaya of violating the
country's laws by issuing a decree to hold the referendum. They said they would
ask the Congress to declare him unfit to rule.
The Supreme Court and the attorney general have
announced Sunday's vote as illegal.
TEGUCIGALPA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Newly-appointed acting
Honduran President Roberto Micheletti named Enrique Ortez Colindres as new
foreign minister on Sunday after soldiers ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas belonging to the camp
of Zelaya was reportedly under house arrest by the opposition
soldiers. Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Newly-appointed acting
Honduran President Roberto Micheletti said he has imposed a curfew of two nights
starting from late Sunday after the country's soldiers ousted Manuel Zelaya
before a national referendum. Full story
Honduras' congressional leader Roberto
Micheletti, third left, is sworn in as the country's new President at the
National Congress in Tegucigalpa, Sunday, June 28, 2009. (Xinhua/AFP
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
TEGUCIGALPA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Roberto Micheletti, who
was appointed Honduran president by Congress on Sunday, described his coming to
power as "completely legal" in his acceptance speech. Full story
SAN JOSE, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Honduran President Manuel
Zelaya said on Sunday that he was kidnapped and flown to Costa Rica against his
will and he did not sign a letter of resignation.
"I was kidnapped with force, violence and brutality," he
told media at a joint press conference with his Costa Rican counterpart Oscar
Arias. He said that between eight and 10 hooded and heavily armed soldiers had
entered his home and forced him to board a plane without telling him its
destination. "I was in my pajamas and did not even have socks on," he said. Full story
SAN JOSE, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela has sent an
aircraft to Costa Rica to pick up Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was
ousted earlier on Sunday from Honduras' presidency, Costa Rican Vice Security
Minister Jose Torres told media on Sunday. Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Honduran Congress on
Sunday formally removed President Manuel Zelaya from his post and put Roberto
Micheletti in his place.
Zelaya was seized by soldiers at his home in the early
hours of Sunday morning and put onto a plane which took him to Costa Rica. Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Honduran Supreme Court
said Sunday that it has authorized the removal from office of President Manuel
Zelaya and the nation's armed force has acted in defense of the rule of
law. Full story
