TEGUCIGALPA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The interim Honduran
government rising from a military coup has been caught in fierce protests at
home and mounting international pressure.
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Supporters of ousted Honduran President
Manuel Zelaya demonstrate in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, June
29, 2009. The death toll from protests against the interim Honduran government
installed after a military coup increased to two on Monday
after a protestor died in hospital. (Xinhua/David De La
Paz)
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On Monday, at least two people died and 60 others
were injured as protesters clashed with military troops outside the Palace of
Government in Tegucigalpa.
VIOLENCE AT
HOME
Soldiers used tear gas and opened gun fire to
disperse demonstrators who were in defiance of a martial law imposed by Roberto
Micheletti, the interim president appointed by the Congress after President
Manuel Zelaya was toppled.
A man died from his injuries in protest against the
change of leadership at the state-run Honduras Telecommunications Corp, ordered
by Micheletti on Monday.
This has been the second death arising from the
protests against the coup-installed new government led by Micheletti, who was
appointed president hours after Zelaya was seized at his residence by hooded and
heavily armed troops and whisked to Costa Rica.
Sixty people were injured and one died in clashes
between Honduran troops and Zelaya's supporters outside the Palace of
Government, local television channel Canal 51 reported earlier.
Hundreds of protesters, their faces covered in red
masks, blocked the roads around the presidential residency with iron boards and
stones. They waved the national flag, chanting slogans calling the army
"betrayers that have toppled the nation."
A Union leader told Xinhua by telephone that he saw
several people with bullet wounds, adding that two ambulances have been sent
around.
The interim government has tightened control over
foreign reporters, and several of them have been arrested.
MOUNTING
PRESSURES
The coup was widely condemned by Honduras' neighbors
and regional groups in Latin America.
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The UN General Assembly hold an urgent
meeting at the UN headquarters in New York June 29, 2009, discussing the
situation in Honduras, where President Manuel Zelaya was ousted by a
military coup. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
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El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua have decided to
halt cross-border trade with the country for 48 hours as part of a broader
effort by the Central American Integration System (SICA) to help Zelaya return
to office.
The SICA also suspended financing to Honduras by the
Central American Bank for Economic Integration.
SICA leaders were joined by their counterparts from
the Group of Rio on Monday in a meeting held to discuss the Honduran coup. They
urged Honduras' Supreme Court to restore Zelaya to power immediately, saying
that they would not recognize anyone or any government rising from the coup.
Meanwhile, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas
(ALBA), a trade group led by Venezuela that Honduras joined last month, issued
the strongest statement defending Zelaya.
Ecuador, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba formally
withdrew their ambassadors and issued a statement saying "the only diplomatic
representation in our nations is staff appointed by Zelaya."
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(L-R) Bolivian President Evo Morales,
Honduran ousted President Manuel Zelaya, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega,
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Ecuador's Rafael Correa pose for a picture
during an emergency meeting of Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas
(ALBA) in Managua, capital of Nicaragua on June 29, 2009. The ALBA
presidents met here on Monday to discuss the Sunday coup in Honduras.
During the meeting, they ordered the withdrawal of their ambassadors from
Honduras until ousted President Manuel Zelaya is returned to office in the
nation. (Xinhua/Cesar Perez))
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Mexico used its consular services in Honduras to
provide safe passage for Zelaya's Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas to travel to
Managua where she represented her nation at the regional summits.
Meanwhile, the United Nations invited Zelaya to
address its General Assembly and U.S. President Barack Obama called the coup
"not legal" at a press conference.
Micheletti was appointed president in a legislative
session that began with the reading of a resignation letter, which was alleged
to be from Zelaya but denounced as fake by the president himself.
Micheletti said the country will go ahead with plans
for November presidential elections.
Sunday's coup began just hours before Honduras was
set to start a non-binding referendum on whether to appoint a constituent
assembly to write a new constitution promoted by Zelaya.
Zelaya said a new constitution was essential to mend
some "historical wrongs" in the nation, but opponents said he was only using the
process to seek a second term which is not allowed under the current
constitution.
