France, Spain, Italy, Chile, and Colombia joined other nations yesterday in recalling their ambassadors. The Pentagon suspended joint US-Honduran military operations, and the World Bank said it was freezing loans. Honduras’s three neighbors have suspended cross-border trade.
Soldiers stormed Zelaya’s residence and flew him into exile Sunday after he insisted on trying to hold a referendum asking Hondurans whether they want to change the constitution. The Supreme Court, Congress, and the military all deemed his planned ballot illegal. Zelaya backed down Tuesday, saying he will no longer push for constitutional changes.
Both sides of the dispute mobilized supporters in the streets yesterday, with a pro-Zelaya march in the capital and pro-Micheletti demonstrations in other cities. No violence was reported.
“We want Mel!’’ 30-year-old farmhand Javier Santos yelled over a megaphone, using Zelaya’s nickname, as marchers walked to the local offices of the Organization of American States and sang the national anthem, fists thrust skyward. Businesses quickly lowered their shutters as marchers approached.
The largest pro-Micheletti rally was in Choluteca, 75 miles south of the capital, where demonstrators wore the blue and white of the Honduran flag.
Those demonstrations received heavy coverage on Honduran television stations, which all but ignored the pro-Zelaya protests. Leftist broadcasters say they have been forced off the air or had signals interrupted by soldiers under orders of the new government. Micheletti said he would look into the allegations.
Seeking to stem internal unrest, Congress passed a bill yesterday that toughens a curfew in place since the coup. The law gives authorities the power to conduct warrantless searches and removes constitutional rights to assembly and movement during the 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew.
The OAS gave Micheletti until Saturday to step aside before Honduras is suspended from the group, an ultimatum Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said was meant “to show clearly that military coups will not be accepted. We thought we were in an era when military coups were no longer possible in this hemisphere.’’
Zelaya delayed plans to return today.
