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Honduran Military Ousts President

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS – Soldiers ousted leftist President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras on Sunday, and the Honduran Congress named Congressional leader Roberto Micheletti as a successor.

The first military takeover of a Central American government in 16 years drew widespread condemnation from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and the leftist Chavez vowed to overthrow the country's apparent new leader.

President Manuel Zelaya was awakened Sunday by gunfire and detained while still in his pajamas, hours before a constitutional referendum many saw as an attempt by him to stay in power beyond the one-term limit. An air force plane flew him into forced exile in Costa Rica as armored military vehicles with machine guns rolled through the streets of the Honduran capital and soldiers seized the national palace.

Congress voted to accept what it said was Zelaya's letter of resignation, with even Zelaya's former allies turning against him. Congressional leader Roberto Micheletti was sworn in to serve until Jan. 27 when Zelaya's term ends. Micheletti belongs to Zelaya's Liberal Party, but opposed the president in the referendum.

Zelaya denied resigning and insisted he would serve out his term, even as the Supreme Court backed the military takeover and said it was a defense of democracy.

Micheletti was sworn in at a ceremony inside the Congress building with cheers and chants from fellow legislators of "Honduras! Honduras!"

Micheletti insisted that he did not arrive at his new post "under the aegis of a coup d'etat. I have reached the presidency as the result of an absolutely legal transition process," he said.

He reached out to Zelaya's supporters, saying "Today in Honduras, there are neither victors, nor defeated. The motherland is for all."

He also defended the army, saying "the armed forces have complied with the constitution and the laws."

But he warned against outside interference after Chavez remarked that if Micheletti was appointed president, "We will overthrow him."

"We are going to demand respect from any nation that threatens to trample our sovereignty," Micheletti said.

Zelaya's overthrow came hours before polls were to open on a constitutional referendum that he was pushing ahead even after the Supreme Court and the attorney general said it was illegal. The constitution bars changes to some of its clauses, such as the ban on a president serving more than one term, they said.

Some businesses in the capital, Tegucigalpa, closed earlier this week amid the rising tension, and many speculated there would be a coup. Those who opposed the referendum warned against voting, fearing violence at the polls.

Countries throughout Latin America and the world condemned Zelaya's expulsion. Chavez said Venezuela "is at battle" and put his military on alert.

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.

The vote did not take place on the referendum, which asked whether another vote should be held on convoking an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

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