Honduras Barricades Zelaya, Cuts Off Water, Electricity

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»

(AP) - Ousted president Manuel Zelaya says he can't land at the main Honduras airport because soldiers are blocking the runway with several military vehicles. Groups of police and soldiers are also facing off against thousands of Zelaya supporters around the airfield. Speaking live from the plane carrying him back to Tegucigalpa, Zelaya asked that soldiers return their allegiance to him, "in the name of God, in the name of the people, and in the name of justice." More»

Interim gov't may hold Zelaya-free election in effort to end political crisis

(NEWSER) - The interim government installed by the military coup in Honduras is considering holding an early election to defuse the country's political crisis, Reuters reports. Roberto Michelletti, who heads up the caretaker government, says he is "in total agreement" with moving forward November's presidential election, in which ousted president Manuel Zelaya will not be allowed to stand. 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»