TEGUCIGALPA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' interim
government announced Friday that the country decided to quit from the
Organization of American States (OAS).
In a letter to the OAS read by Honduras' Vice
Minister of International Relations Martha Lorena de Casco, it said "This
government believes that inside the organization (of the OAS), there is no room
for Honduras, for the states that love its freedom and defend its sovereignty."
The reading of the letter was made in presence of
Honduran Acting President Roberto Micheletti.
Honduras will face freezing of loans from Central
American Bank of Economic Integration (CABEI), while other international help
and donations can be suspended.
The interim government's announcement came after OAS
chief Jose Miguel Insulza said in Tegucigalpa Friday that he would recommend the
suspension of Honduras from the regional group due to its post-coup rulers'
refusal to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
Organization of American States (OAS)
chief Jose Miguel Insulza (M) leaves after a news conference at a
hotel in downtown Tegucigalpa July 3, 2009. (Xinhua/AFP
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
The OAS has given the Honduran interim government
until noon on Saturday to restore Zelaya to power, or face expulsion.
Insulza, who is on a fact-finding mission in
Honduras, said Zelaya must be reinstalled to lead the country.
"Zelaya is the only one that we recognize as Honduran
President, and he must be returned to his position as soon as possible," Insulza
said at a press conference.
"Honduras is exposed to an international sanction,
because the world unanimously has declared this action as a violation of
democracy. I have spoken with several people, and apparently no one wants to
accept responsibility for what happened last weekend."
"I'm going back to Washington and I will report what
I found out here to the OAS Assembly. We will discuss it and then we're going to
make a decision," Insulza said.
Enrique Ortez Colindres, foreign minister of
Honduras' post-coup government, told media that the government would not
negotiate with the OAS.
"We have a very firm position that we do not
negotiate Honduras' sovereignty," Ortez said.
Honduran soldiers stormed the presidential palace and
flew Zelaya into exile in Costa Rica early Sunday.
Later, the country's legislature voted to appoint
Roberto Micheletti, head of the legislature, as acting president to serve out
Zelaya's term, which ends in January.
TEGUCIGALPA, July
3 (Xinhua) -- The secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS)
said here Friday he would immediately recommend the suspension of Honduras from
the regional group due to its post-coup rulers' refusal to reinstate ousted
President Manuel Zelaya.
OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza was speaking to
reporters after he failed to persuade the interim government of Honduras to
reinstate Zelaya, who was deposed after Sunday's military coup. Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Enrique Ortez Colindres,
the foreign minister of Honduras' post-coup government, told media on Friday
that the government will not negotiate with the Organization of American States
(OAS).
"We have a very firm position that we do not negotiate
Honduras' sovereignty," Ortez said. Full story
QUITO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said Friday that he
is ready to accompany Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to
Tegucigalpa this weekend.
"It was an invitation from Honduras' President Manuel
Zelaya," Correa said in a radio interview, adding that "the Honduras
dictatorship has its hours numbered." Full story
MEXICO CITY,
July 3 (Xinhua) -- Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted on Sunday from Honduras'
presidency, left El Salvador Friday night after a whistle-stop visit, according
to news reaching here.
Zelaya, who arrived from Panama, met briefly with El
Salvador's President Mauricio Funes and left on a private plane, Salvadorian
presidency communication minister David Rivas said, without specifying where
Zelaya went.Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of
supporters of Manuel Zelaya on Thursday continued to protest the military coup
that ousted the president and drew worldwide condemnation.
A pro-Zelaya protestor rallies in front
of the UN Bureau to Honduras in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, July 2,
2009. (Xinhua/David De La Paz) Photo
Gallery>>>
Meanwhile, an explosion was heard late Thursday near
the Tegucigalpa airport. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Full Story
QUITO, July 2
(Xinhua) -- The heads of nine Latin American legislatures promised to accompany
ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya back to his country, Ecuadorian congress
leader said Thursday.
Fernando Cordero said he would seek to "accompany
President Zelaya" on his return, together with eight other legislature leaders
from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, the Andean Parliament
and the Latin American Parliament. Full Story
TEGUCIGALPA, July 2
(Xinhua) -- The 48-hour trade embargo imposed by Honduras' three neighbors in
response to a military coup came to an end on Thursday, with a cost to the
nation worth 16 million U.S. dollars.
El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua had all halted trade
with Honduras after Sunday's military coup against President Manuel Zelaya. Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' ambassador to the United Nations,
Jorge Arturo Reina, on Thursday told a radio station here that he does not
recognize Roberto Micheletti's government, which came to power via a Sunday
coup.
"I do not abide by it, by whatever name it may be called,
because I do not recognize the legal legitimacy of those who have sent it," he
said of a letter firing him sent by the Micheletti government, which took office
on Sunday just hours after soldiers seized President Manuel Zelaya and forced
him to board a plane to Costa Rica. Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' post-coup
government will not negotiate with the OAS and allow ousted President Manuel
Zelaya to return to office, the interim government said Wednesday.
"Anyone who has violated the law cannot be reinstated,"
the newly-appointed foreign minister Enrique Ortez Colindrez told the media. Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Interim Honduran President
Roberto Micheletti Wednesday accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of
intervening Honduras' affairs.
"The intervention of the government of Hugo Chavez is
clear and definite in the situation that Honduras is experiencing," Micheletti
said. Full story
The ousted President of Honduras Manuel
Zelaya speaks during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New
York, the United States, June 30, 2009. Manuel Zelaya expressed his
gratitude toward the international community and tearfully described the
last moments in his home country before being thrown onto a plane and
whisked away. (Xinhua/Gu Xinrong) Photo
Gallery>>>
WASHINGTON, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Ousted Honduran
President Manuel Zelaya said here on Wednesday that he would postpone his plan
to return home after the Organization of American States (OAS) gave the country
an ultimatum to restore him to power. Full story
TEGUCIGALPA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The deposed Honduran
President Manuel Zelaya on Tuesday vowed to return to the country despite an
arrest threat that could put him in jail for 20 years.
Zelaya has won wide international supports, and he
will make a high-profile comeback flanked by the president of the UN General
Assembly, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS) and
presidents of Argentina and Ecuador on a flight to Honduras on
Thursday. Full story
UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN General
Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution to condemn the military coup in
Honduras and demand the immediate restoration of the government of ousted
President Manuel Zelaya.
The resolution also asked all the countries not to
recognize the military regime that took power by force. Full story
