Chronology: Zelaya's
Struggle To
Regain Power
Ousted
Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has
struggled to recover power for three months
since the military and opposition forced him
into exile in a coup on June 28.
On Monday, after one week since Zelaya
returned to Honduras by surprise and has
been holed up in the Brazilian embassy, the
de facto leaders are seeking to arrest
Zelaya on charges of treason and abuse of
authority.
The following is a chronology of the events
leading up to the coup and the crisis:
The conflict began on March 24, when Zelaya
announced a plan to hold what he called a
non-binding referendum on June 28 to ask
voters if they would like to hold another
referendum alongside November's presidential
elections on whether to revise the
constitution to allow a president to run for
a second term.
On May 20, the leader of Congress said the
referendum was a stunt to allow Zelaya to
seek re-election. This was banned by
Honduras' current constitution.
On June 24, Zelaya dismissed the country's
army chief Romeo Vazquez as he refused to
mobilize armed forces to help distribute
referendum ballot boxes, a task usually done
by the army during elections.
On June 25, the supreme court ordered the
reinstatement of Vazquez, arguing that there
was no valid reason for his dismissal.
However, Zelaya refused to do so.
On June 28, the day of the planned
referendum, Zelaya was seized in the
presidential palace by a group of soldiers
and forced onto a plane bound for Costa
Rica.
Congress then assigned former legislature
leader Roberto Micheletti to be acting
president after a letter was read to
Congress saying that Zelaya had resigned due
to health problems. But Zelaya denied having
signed the letter.
Countries and international organizations
immediately condemned the coup, and a series
of street protests broke out in Honduras.
On June 29, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico,
Nicaragua and Venezuela all withdrew their
ambassadors from Honduras.
On June 30, the UN General Assembly approved
a resolution asking all its 192 members only
to recognize Zelaya's government.
On July 1, the Organization of American
States (OAS) gave the post-coup government
72 hours to return to democracy or face
expulsion. Micheletti rejected the call and
said that Zelaya would be arrested if he
tried to return.
The European Union and its 27 member nations
pulled their ambassadors out of Honduras.
On July 2, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel
Insulza arrived in Honduras for a two-day
fact-finding visit.
On July 4, the OAS expelled Honduras because
Micheletti refused Zelaya's instatement. The
action automatically suspended disbursements
of new loans from the World Bank and the
Inter-American Development Bank to Honduras.
On July 5, Zelaya made an attempt to return
to Honduras from Washington, D.C., in a
private plane, accompanied by the presidents
of Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Nicaragua and Paraguay. However, the de
facto government denied landing permission.
The aircraft landed in El Salvador instead.
On July 8, the United States warned
Micheletti that it would cancel up to 180
million U.S. dollars in military and
development aid to Honduras if Zelaya was
not restored soon.
On July 12, the de facto government lifted
the curfew in Honduras, which had been in
effect since the coup. Micheletti said that
if Zelaya returned, he would be tried for
treason, abuse of power and corruption.
On July 18, talks resumed in San Jose, where
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, trying to
mediate a settlement, made a seven-point
proposal to end the crisis. The proposal
included Zelaya's return to power, a point
that was rejected by Micheletti's team.
On July 20, the EU suspended all aid to
Honduras. Micheletti restated his
government's position that it would not
accept Zelaya.
On July 24, Zelaya briefly crossed into
Honduras for a couple of hours, hoping to
meet with his family and asking to speak
with senior military officers. He retreated
to the Nicaraguan town of Ocotal after his
demand was refused.
On July 28, Zelaya visited his followers'
camps in Nicaragua to organize the "pacific
resistance" against the coup government.
On Aug. 4, Zelaya began a tour to some Latin
American countries including Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela.
On Aug. 13, the Honduran interim government
announced that it had sent a delegation to
Washington to "agree the composition of the
foreign ministers' mission" to be sent by
the Organization of American States (OAS) to
Honduras.
On Aug. 18, the de facto Honduran government
ordered the withdrawal of its Argentine
diplomatic staff and restricted the level of
its ties with Argentina.
On Aug. 24, the OAS' mission of foreign
ministers from Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico,
Argentina, Jamaica and the Dominican
Republic, as well as OAS Secretary General
Miguel Insulza as observer, arrived in
Tegucigalpa to try to solve the political
crisis in Honduras.
On Aug. 31, Zelaya urged his fellows not to
participate in the electoral campaign for
the general elections to be held on Nov. 29.
On Sept. 4, Micheletti led a march against
ousted Zelaya and Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez.
On Sep. 21, Zelaya surprised the world when
entering Honduras without advice and staying
in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.
Since that day, Zelaya started meetings with
Catholic clerks, syndicate leaders and
presidential candidates to negotiate a
solution to the conflict.
Zelaya also denounced the de facto
government's attack on the Brazilian embassy
with toxic gases.
On Sept. 24, the de facto Honduran
government accepted the mission led by Arias
and Panamanian Vice President Juan Carlos
Varela, which was proposed by former U.S.
president Jimmy Carter, to discuss the
situation of the country.
On Sept. 27, Micheletti ordered to detain
the five members of the OAS delegation for
six hours and then expelled four of them.
On Sept. 28, the de facto government closed
radio station RadioGlobo and TV channel
Canal 36, which had been supporting Zelaya.
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