Honduran Military Ousts President During Pre-Dawn Siege
Sunday, June 28th, 2009Honduran troops staged a coup against President Manuel Zelaya Sunday morning and evicted him to Costa Rica.
Honduras’ unicameral National Congress later Sunday agreed to remove Zelaya from office and designated Congress Speaker Roberto Micheletti as his successor.
Soldiers apprehended Zelaya and forced him to depart to Costa Rica after days of mounting political tensions over a proposed referendum, which Zelaya’s opponents said was nothing more than a power grab.
A vote had been planned for Sunday that would have registered popular support for a proposed constitutional change that could have led to Zelaya’s re-election. Current law would have prevented him from running again after his term ended in November.
The country’s supreme court said it had authorized the coup to hinder the referendum. If approved, the non-binding referendum would have given Zelaya authority to progress with plans to rewrite the constitution. (more…)
