World leaders slam Honduran leader’s arrest

[Richard Tafoya]

AFP:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20090628-212868/EU-calls-for-release-of-Honduran-president

International bodies and heads of states condemned Honduran soldiers' arrest of the country's president Sunday, amid rising tension over a controversial referendum.

The European Union was quick to call on the Honduran military to release him.

"The EU strongly condemns the arrest of the constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras by the armed forces," Czech Republic Foreign Minister Jan Kohout told reporters on the sidelines of an international meeting here.

"This action is an unacceptable violation of constitutional order in Honduras," said Kohout, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

"The EU calls for the urgent release of the president and a swift return to constitutional normality."
Soon after, Costa Rica's public security minister Janina del Vecchio confirmed media reports that Zelaya had been flown to the country.

United States President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by the events in Honduras and urged all parties to show respect for "democratic norms."

Earlier, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had denounced the arrest of Zelaya, describing it as a "coup d'etat" and suggesting that the United States was implicated.

[Regis Philbin]

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE55S5J220090629?sp=true

Obama says coup in Honduras is illegal

Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:26pm EDT
By Arshad Mohammed and David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed.

"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there," Obama told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Zelaya, in office since 2006, was overthrown in a dawn coup on Sunday after he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.

The Honduran Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, and the country's Supreme Court said it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya.

The European Union and a string of foreign governments have voiced support for Zelaya, who was snatched by troops from his residence and whisked away by plane to Costa Rica in his pajamas.

Obama said he would work with the Organization of American States and other international institutions to restore Zelaya to power and "see if we can resolve this in a peaceful way."

[pinky]

Of course you would prefer a military dictatorship over an elected president. :rolleyes: