Chavez: Ousted Prez Back to Honduras 'in Hours'

New gov't blows off Saturday deadline to reinstate Zelaya

(NEWSER) - Honduras has been suspended from the Organization of American States for refusing to reinstate its ousted president, CNN reports. The OAS had given the country’s new leaders until yesterday to hand power back to Jose Manuel Zelaya. Meanwhile, thousands held an airport demonstration to support Zelaya, who says he’ll return to Honduras from Costa Rica today. The new president says he’ll be arrested if he does. More»

Condemnation of Honduran coup parries accusations of US complicity

(NEWSER) - President Obama confounded Hugo Chávez’s attempts to implicate Washington in the Honduran coup by calling for President Manuel Zelaya’s reinstatement, Simon Romero writes for the New York Times. When the coup was announced, Chávez immediately suggested that the US was financing Zelaya’s opponents or, as happened during a coup against Chávez himself in 2002, knew of the coming putsch and did nothing to stop it. More»

(AP) - Honduras' ousted president, bolstered by international support, said he will return home to regain control and urged soldiers to stop cracking down on thousands of supporters who have protested his overthrow. Flanked by Latin American leaders who have vowed to help him regain power, Manuel Zelaya said yesterday he would accept an offer by the OAS secretary-general to accompany him back to Honduras. More»

US recognizes result, though deposed president was never restored

(NEWSER) - Conservative Porfirio Lobo has emerged as the winner in yesterday's Honduran election, and appears set to take the central American nation's disputed presidency as it continues to reel from the crisis sparked by last summer's coup. After initially condemning the coup, Washington shifted gears to support this weekend's election, which most of Latin America refused to recognize, the New York Times reports. More»

Regime curtails freedoms as Zelaya remains holed up

(NEWSER) - The interim government in Honduras moved to prevent protests late last night, outlawing public assemblies and giving the army broad new arrest powers. Manuel Zelaya, who has been holed up for a week in Tegucigalpa's Brazilian embassy alongside about 65 family members, has called on his supporters to take to the streets today. The de facto regime also expelled international mediators and called on Brazil to kick Zelaya out, but President Lula said he wouldn't respond to "an ultimatum from a government of coup-mongers." More»