and now.... Honduras.

[I Killed Kenny]

President Manuel Zelaya's decision to follow through with a constitutional referendum on June 28, 2009 that was rejected by Congress and ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, has provoked a serious political crisis in the country.[5] The military is in charge of elections in Honduras but the head of the army refused to pass out the ballots. Zelaya removed him from his position but the Supreme Court ordered him reinstated. The government staged a protest in a military base and took possession of the ballots. On June 28, they were seized by the military.[2]

[edit] Developments

The presidential residence was seized by military troops and surrounded by tanks. Zelaya's supporters have gathered outside the building protesting the coup. [6]

The power and telephone lines were suspended on Tegucigalpa about the time of the arrest of President Zelaya but they were restored at about 11:00 a.m. local time (19:00 GMT). Soldiers occupied several strategic areas of the capital but there are no restrictions on traffic, many stores are open, no shootings were registred, there are no further arrests being made and the ambient is quiet and calm. Some military jets overflew the capital early in the morning but they returned to their bases and at 11:30 local time (19:30 GMT)only some helicopters are patrolling in support of the police to prevent riots or looting, which have not been registred.

Within several hours of the coup, Zelaya spoke to media in San Jose, Costa Rica, calling today's events "a coup" and "a kidnapping." He stated that soldiers pulled him from his bed, and assaulted his guards. Zelaya stated that he will not recognize anyone named as his successor, and that he wants to finish his term in office. He also stated that he will now be meeting with diplomats.[7]

According to Venezuela's ambassador to the OAS the ambassadors of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua were kidnapped by the military and transported to the airport.[6] Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has stated that the Venezuelan ambassador was assaulted by Hondruan soldiers and left by the side of a road.[8]

Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas has called on the public to "fight in the streets for the president to return to Honduras."[9]

Later that day, the Supreme Court issued a statement that it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya from office.[1]

The national Congress has voted to accept what they claimed is Zelaya's letter of resignation, but Zelaya has said he did not write the letter.[10]

[edit] International reaction

The Organization of American States has called for an emergency meeting.[1][11] Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza called it a military coup.

The European Union called on the Honduran military to release the president and restore constitutional order.[1]

United States President Barack Obama is said to be "deeply concerned" about the developments in Honduras. He called on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.[1][9][12]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the "coup" worthy of "troglodytes" and called for Obama to speak out because the US "has a lot to do" with what happens in Honduras.[13] Bolivian President Evo Morales joined Chávez in the condemnation.[14]

A few hours later, Chavez put his military on alert and said that he will do everything necessary to abort the coup in Honduras.[15]

President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said the events were a return to "barbaric times".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

Will this revolution kill the michael jackson week? or will Michael jackson make veryone forget about this little country?

[Jaron]

If absolutely NOTHING happened this week, no one would still give a shit about Honduras.

[The Brain]

If absolutely NOTHING happened this week, no one would still give a shit about Honduras.

QFT

[Syt]

Will U.S. Fruit request assistance from the Marines?

[Ed Anger]

Will U.S. Fruit request assistance from the Marines?

Those were the days. 

[Maximus]

The military is in charge of elections in Honduras but...

lolwtf

[MadImmortalMan]

So how are the storage jars?

[Ed Anger]

So how are the storage jars?

[jimmy olsen]

So the President wanted to pull a Chavez and the military overthrew him with the backing of the Congress?

Don't get the storage jar reference.  

[Syt]

So how are the storage jars?

Re-watched the episode just yesterday.

[derspiess]

So the President wanted to pull a Chavez and the military overthrew him with the backing of the Congress?

Yeah, sounds good to me.  Been ages since we've seen a decent, successful Latin American coup

[CountDeMoney]

Countries throughout Latin America and the world condemned Zelaya's expulsion, and Chavez said before Micheletti was sworn in that if he was appointed president, "we will overthrow him." Chavez said Venezuela "is at battle" and put his military on alert.

What are they going to do, catch a bus to get there? Charter a Taca flight?

[derspiess]

Countries throughout Latin America and the world condemned Zelaya's expulsion, and Chavez said before Micheletti was sworn in that if he was appointed president, "we will overthrow him." Chavez said Venezuela "is at battle" and put his military on alert.

What are they going to do, catch a bus to get there? Charter a Taca flight?

Maybe the drug smugglers will let them borrow some planes.

[KRonn]

So the President wanted to pull a Chavez and the military overthrew him with the backing of the Congress?

Not sure, but it seems that something like that is going on there. Has to be more to it though, given that the Obama admin has issued strong concerns.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31604879/ns/world_news-americas/

Latin America on edge after Honduras coup
Regional leaders hold crisis talks after 1st Central American coup since '93

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Presidents from around Latin America were gathering in Nicaragua for meetings Monday after Honduras' military deposed the country's president, the first military overthrow of a Central American government in 16 years.

Once again, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took center stage, casting the dispute as a rebellion by the region's poor.

"If the oligarchies break the rules of the game as they have done, the people have the right to resistance and combat, and we are with them," Chavez said in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua.

Between ousted leader, replacement
Honduras is now torn between two presidents: one legally recognized by world bodies after he was deposed and forced from the country by his own soldiers, and another supported by the Central American nation's congress, courts and military.

There is a deep rift between the outside world — which is clamoring for the return of democratically elected, but largely unpopular and soon-to-leave-office President Manuel Zelaya — and congressionally designated successor Roberto Micheletti.

Micheletti rejected any outside interference and declared a two-night curfew, while Chavez vowed that "we will overthrow (Micheletti)."

Zelaya was seized by soldiers and hustled aboard a plane to Costa Rica early Sunday, just hours before a rogue referendum Zelaya had called in defiance of the courts and Congress, and which his opponents said was an attempt to remain in power after his term ends Jan. 27.

The Honduran constitution limits presidents to a single 4-year term, and Zelaya's opponents feared he would use the referendum results to try to run again, just as Chavez reformed his country's constitution to be able to seek re-election repeatedly.

Micheletti said the army acted on orders from the courts, and the ouster was carried out "to defend respect for the law and the principles of democracy." But he threatened to jail Zelaya and put him on trial if he returned. Micheletti also hit back at Chavez, saying "nobody, not Barack Obama and much less Hugo Chavez, has any right to threaten this country."

Obama 'deeply concerned'
Earlier, Obama said in a statement he was "deeply concerned" about the events, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Zelaya's arrest should be condemned.

"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read.

For those conditions to be met, Zelaya must be returned to power, U.S. officials said.

Two senior Obama administration officials told reporters that U.S. diplomats were working to ensure Zelaya's safe return.

The officials said the Obama administration in recent days had warned Honduran power players, including the armed forces, that the United States would not support a coup, but Honduran military leaders stopped taking their calls.

Zelaya said soldiers seized him in his pajamas at gunpoint in what he called a "coup" and a "kidnapping." The United Nations, the Organization of American States and governments throughout Latin America called for Zelaya to be allowed to resume office.

"I want to return to my country. I am president of Honduras," Zelaya said Sunday before traveling to Managua on one of Chavez's planes for regional meetings of Central American leaders and Chavez's leftist alliance of nations, known as ALBA.

Zelaya's call for civil disobedience and peaceful resistance appeared to gain only modest support in Honduras, where a few hundred people turned out at government buildings to jeer soldiers and chant "Traitors!"

Some of Zelaya's Cabinet members were detained by soldiers or police following his ouster, according to former government official Armando Sarmiento. And the rights group Freedom of Expression said leftist legislator Cesar Ham had died in a shootout with soldiers trying to detain him.

A Honduran Security Department spokesman said he had no information on Ham.

Armored military vehicles with machine guns rolled through the streets of the Honduran capital and soldiers seized the national palace, but no other incidents of violence were reported.

Click for related content
Protests erupt after coup in Honduras
U.S. talks with deposed Honduran leader

Former allies turn against president
Sunday afternoon, Congress voted to accept what it said was Zelaya's letter of resignation, with even the president's former allies turning against him. Micheletti, who as leader of Congress is in line to fill any vacancy in the presidency, was sworn in to serve until Zelaya's term ends.

Micheletti belongs to Zelaya's Liberal Party, but opposed the president in the referendum.

Micheletti acknowledged that he had not spoken to any Latin American heads of state, but said, "I'm sure that 80 to 90 percent of the Honduran population is happy with what happened today."

The Organization of American States approved a resolution Sunday demanding "the immediate, safe and unconditional return of the constitutional president, Manuel Zelaya."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the coup and "urges the reinstatement of the democratically elected representatives of the country," said his spokeswoman, Michele Montas.

The Rio Group, which comprises 23 nations from the hemisphere, issued a statement condemning "the coup d'etat" and calling for Zelaya's "immediate and unconditional restoration to his duties."

And Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou canceled a planned visit to Honduras, one of just 23 countries that still recognize the self-governing island.

Coups were common in Central America for four decades reaching back to the 1950s, but Sunday's ouster was the first military power grab in Latin America since a brief, failed 2002 coup against Chavez. It was the first in Central America since military officials forced President Jorge Serrano of Guatemala to step down in 1993 after he tried to dissolve Congress and suspend the constitution.

[viper37]

Obama and other countries are worried that the military may not give back power to the civilian authorities.  A genuine concern for sure, but it's still a good sign that people stepped up to prevent another Chavez.