The Ambassador of Venezuela to the Organization of American States (OAS), Roy Chaderton Matos, expressed on behalf of Venezuelan people “the most categorical support to the legitimate elected Government of Manuel Zelaya.”
During his participation in the extraordinary session called urgently by the Government of Honduras to the Permanent Council of the OAS, Chaderton said that the governments of the Bolivarian Alliance for the People's of Our America, “after knowing about the serious destabilization attempts, we state that we will mobilize, in joint with the Honduran people, against any attempt of the oligarchy to break the institutionality of that nation.”
“It is a political destabilization maneuver supported by a military elite against the Government of Zelaya, aimed at preventing the democratic reforms that he has been carrying out with a massive people support,” Chaderton added.
Likewise, he said that Honduras is being victim of the same model suffered already by Venezuela and Bolivia.
“It is necessary that a commission of the OAS travel to Honduras, because the conspiracy is still in progress,” he stressed.
Mexico, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Venezuela, among others, expressed their support to the democracy and legitimacy of the Honduran Government.
Meanwhile the Honduran President has been ousted by a military coup and several embassies in Honduras have been violated. During the coup the ambassadors of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba were taken hostage. President Chavez said Honduran soldiers left the Venezuelan ambassador by a roadside, after beating him.
Venezuela may take military action against Honduras to restore democracy.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday has also condemned the action.
"We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation, and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue," she said in a statement.
President Zelaya was arrested at his home by around a dozen soldiers and taken to a military base on the outskirts of the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Mr Zelaya said soldiers rousted him out of bed, beat his bodyguards and arrested him in his pyjamas. It is believed a half hour gun battle occurred between his bodyguards and the soldiers assigned to capture him during the military coup.
He was then flown to Costa Rica from where he condemned his ousting from power.
He said he would not recognise any replacement, asked his compatriots to peacefully resist and said the United States (U.S.) should demand his government be reinstated.
U.S. President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned", while Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout, whose country holds the rotating European Union (E.U.) presidency, called for "a swift return to constitutional normality."
A neighbor of the President told Honduran television that about 200 troops arrived at Zelaya's home in a dawn swoop.
Shortly after, tanks rolled through the streets and Army trucks carrying hundreds of soldiers equipped with metal riot shields surrounded the presidential palace in downtown Tegucigalpa.
Pro-Zelaya protesters yelled insults at the soldiers while more troops could be seen surrounding the palace.
Tear gas was also fired by police as hundreds of supporters gathered in the centre of the capital city.
Mr Zelaya was elected in 2006 for a non-renewable four-year term but planned a vote asking Hondurans to sanction a future referendum to allow him to run for re-election.
He was opposed by the country's Supreme Court, the military, Congress and members of his own party, the Liberal Party of Honduras and according to Venezuela's popular democratic President Hugo Chavez, he was also opposed by the Bishops and the wealthy elite.
Last week he sacked the country's top military chief, General Romeo Vasquez, and also accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Edmundo Orellana after military commanders refused to distribute ballot boxes for Sunday's vote.
But in defiance of the president the Honduran Supreme Court unanimously voted to reinstate General Vasquez and the military then swiftly moved ahead to overthrow the president.
#
Shop
