Supporters of
Ousted Honduran
President Continue Gathering Near Border
El Paraiso, Honduras -
Hundreds of supporters of deposed Honduran
President Manuel Zelaya defied a daytime
curfew to continue gathering near the border
with Nicaragua on Saturday as a Honduran man
was found dead on a road close to Nicaragua.
Interim leader Roberto Micheletti extended a
curfew along the border region from 18 to 30
hours ending at 6:00 pm Saturday (0000 GMT
Sunday) after Zelaya, surrounded by a throng
of supporters, stepped into Honduras briefly
before returning to Nicaragua.
Along with his media entourage, Zelaya
crossed the border into Honduras on Friday
and stayed in the neutral zone for about one
hour and a half before stepping back to
Nicaragua.
He has also asked his supporters to "stand
firm" as they set camps on the frontier to
welcome the president.
His "symbolic entry" was criticized by U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as
"reckless".
Zelaya's wife Xiomara Castro and his mother,
along with 100 supporters, were stopped on
Saturday at a roadblock on a highway leading
to the border and the police and soldiers
would not let her and others pass.
Zelaya's mother said that there are
demonstrations across the country, which
have been repressed by the interim
government.
"As mother of the constitutional president
of Honduras, I feel proud to have a son with
the honor, strength and desire to fight for
the people of Honduras", she said.
Meanwhile, a dead body of one of the
protestors, detained by security forces
Friday, was found next to a coffee field.
There is no official statement from the
Honduran side on the cause of his death, but
witnesses on Friday saw police arresting the
man after he participated in pro-Zelaya
demonstrations.
"They left his body to provoke fear", said
one of Zelaya's supporters. They are using
the same tactics they tried in the 1980s,"
he added.
A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by
Florida Republican Congressman Connie Mack
was due to arrive Saturday on a fact-finding
mission in Honduras.
Mack's office said he would be in the
country through Sunday "to meet with key
leaders and officials to discuss the ongoing
crisis."
Zelaya was ousted and forced into exile on
June 28 in a military coup, which was widely
condemned by the international community.
|
