Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

July 24, 2009 By Fausta

Honduras: Is Zelaya heading to the border? UPDATED: He’s back

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a href=”http://www.miamiherald.com/newsalert/story/1155518.html” target=”_blank”>Ousted Honduran president steps into homeland

Ousted President Manuel Zelaya stepped across the border into his homeland Friday, vowing to reclaim his post a month after soldiers flew him into exile.

Zelaya’s supporters clashed with soldiers and police after the government ordered everyone off the streets along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) border with Nicaragua in a noon-to-dawn curfew.

Wearing his trademark white cowboy hat, Zelaya walked up to a sign reading “Welcome to Honduras” and smiled to cheering supporters at the remote mountain pass surrounded by banana trees.

He stopped a few steps into Honduran territory, however, saying he was negotiating with military officials to let him be reunited with his family in Honduras.

“I’ve spoken to the colonel and he told me I could not cross the border,” Zelaya said. “I told him I could cross.”

Zelaya said he was trying to get in touch with more senior military commanders.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Zelaya’s trip “reckless.” International leaders have urged Zelaya not to return to Honduras out of fear it would lead to bloodshed, but Zelaya said he had no choice after U.S.-backed talks with the coup-installed government failed to reinstate him.

That government has insisted it will arrest Zelaya once he returns, ignoring threats of sanctions from nations worldwide if he is not reinstated.

Soldiers formed a human chain near the border crossing but made no immediate move to approach Zelaya as he stood speaking on a mobile phone.

Live Ustream

Earlier today
Noticias 24 and Breitbart have the story:
osed Honduran leader prepares risky return

Honduras’ deposed president headed toward his nation’s border Thursday to prepare a risky return home to reverse an ouster that is testing the vitality of democracy in Latin America.

The interim government that sent Manuel Zelaya into exile vows to arrest the president if he sets foot in Honduras. Zelaya said he would make a second attempt to return home Saturday, saying U.S.-backed attempts at mediation had broken down.

And who’s behind Zelaya’s move?

Accompanied Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, Zelaya drove a white jeep out of the Honduran Embassy in Nicaragua, heading toward the northern town of Isteli, where he said he would spend Friday preparing for his return. Honduran Embassy officials broke into applause and chants of “Long live Mel!” using his nickname.

Zelaya said he hoped soldiers at the border would stand down when they see him. He called on supporters to meet him at the border, although he has not yet said exactly where he plan to cross into Honduras.

Zelaya had previously rejected Arias’s 7-point proposal.

Prior posts on Zelaya here

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Filed Under: Honduras Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Manuel Zelaya, Mel Zelaya

Comments

  1. ECM says

    July 24, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    Dude is going to get himself shot once he steps over that border. (Not that I am complaining.)

  2. Kate says

    July 24, 2009 at 4:44 pm

    He’s in; crossed from Las Manos, Nicaragua.

  3. Bill says

    July 24, 2009 at 5:08 pm

    He’s in; crossed from Las Manos, Nicaragua.

    Arrested yet?

  4. Kate says

    July 24, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    As yet, no.

    Here is a live stream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ruedalo!!!!#utm_campaign=twitter.com&utm_source=237258&utm_medium=social

  5. Mr.No says

    July 24, 2009 at 6:06 pm

    What I’m hearing, don’t know if it’s true or not, is that he came through the Nicaraguan border chained up to several of his supporters in that country waving a white flag. If this is true, this means Zelaya was using human shields.

  6. Macky says

    July 24, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    Cheering supporters? That was the whole problem! No supporters at all – only a few Nicaraguans, maybe a tenfold of Honduras and thousands of cameramen and reporters. No one was there to “carry him triumphantly into Honduras”, so he backed up!

  7. safariman says

    July 24, 2009 at 10:09 pm

    I’ve crossed that very border four times. There are two chains, a few yards apart. No mans land between. Mel crossed one chain. I’m not sure he officially got to Honduras, as was claimed.

  8. Pat Patterson says

    July 24, 2009 at 11:43 pm

    Zelaya’s Dance of the Seven Veils?

  9. Eduardo says

    July 24, 2009 at 11:48 pm

    “He stayed only about 15 minutes on his native soil, before leading the crowd back across the border into safe haven in Nicaragua.”

    “I am not afraid but I’m not crazy either,” Zelaya told the Venezuela-based television network Telesur.

    *****

    His comment (I am not afraid but I’m not crazy either) is hilarious. Two lies all at once.

    @ECM: You are wrong, he needs to stay alive :S his death would only build a rallying point, being a martyr is too good for him. He needs to be tried in a court of law and incinerated.

    This “man” is portrayed as a champion of democracy, and he turns tail *before* the first sign of trouble. Batman had it right “Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot”

    It was with a great breath of relief that I received the news of his retreat. Bloodshed has once again been averted 🙂

  10. Charles says

    July 25, 2009 at 6:36 am

    It isn’t helpful when SecState Clinton refers to Zelaya as “President Zelaya” and talks about “restoring constitutional order.”

    It appears Honduras knows more about how a constitutional republic works than the USA does.

  11. J says

    July 25, 2009 at 7:54 am

    With obama’s help, chavez was just handed Honduras.

  12. DP says

    July 25, 2009 at 10:40 am

    If he did indeed enter Honduras and then leave on his own, doesn’t this mean that his exile is voluntary? It seems that there is a difference between forcible exile and a refusal to repatriate. Jus sayin’.

  13. Gerry says

    July 25, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    Excellent point DP
    “”If he did indeed enter Honduras and then leave on his own, doesn’t this mean that his exile is voluntary?””
    This time no apparent effort was made to prevent his entry into the country. Therefore to take this thought a little further it might also be true to say that if he did voluntarily remove himself then he has abdicated his position as President by leaving the country and refusing to exercise his office. Perhaps the Lt. Colonel he spoke with was aware of this possibility.

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