URGENT: Just when you thought things were quieting down a bit in Iran, another country is on the brink of unrest -- Honduras. More than a dozen soldiers have arrested President Manuel Zelaya and disarmed his security guards after surrounding his residence before dawn this morning, his private secretary, Carlos Enrique Reina, said in an interview. Protesters have called the latest action a coup and have flocked to the presidential residence as the Zelaya was sent into exile. He was reportedly detained shortly before voting was to commence on a constitutional referendum Zelaya insisted on holding even though the country's Supreme Court has ruled it illegal and everyone from the military to Congress and members of his own party opposed it. President Zelaya has reportedly been flown from the country to Costa Rica, where he is seeking asylum.Reina said Zelaya was taken into military custody at his house outside the capital, Tegucigalpa, and whisked away to an air force base on the outskirts of the city. Tanks rolled through the streets and Army trucks carrying hundreds of soldiers equipped with metal riot shields surrounded the presidential palace in the capital's center. About 100 Zelaya supporters, many wearing "Yes," T-shirts for the referendum, blocked the main street outside the gates to the palace, throwing rocks and insults at soldiers and shouting "Traitors! Traitors!"
It was not immediately clear who was running the government. Soldiers appeared to be in control, but the constitution mandates that the head of Congress is next in line to the presidency, followed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Neither military nor presidential officials have said who's in charge. Source: AOL News
Honduras has a history of military coups, with soldiers overthrowing elected presidents in 1963 and again in 1972. The military did not turn the government over to civilians until 1981, under U.S. pressure. This is another headache the Obama Administration could do without.
URGENT: Just when you thought things were quieting down a bit in Iran, another country is on the brink of unrest -- Honduras. More than a dozen soldiers have arrested President Manuel Zelaya and disarmed his security guards after surrounding his residence before dawn this morning, his private secretary, Carlos Enrique Reina, said in an interview. Protesters have called the latest action a coup and have flocked to the presidential residence as the Zelaya was sent into exile. He was reportedly detained shortly before voting was to commence on a constitutional referendum Zelaya insisted on holding even though the country's Supreme Court has ruled it illegal and everyone from the military to Congress and members of his own party opposed it. President Zelaya has reportedly been flown from the country to Costa Rica, where he is seeking asylum.
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