MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World condemnation of the military coup in Honduras

Speaking for Unasur, Chilean leader Michelle Bachelet called for the immediate return of democratic institutions and President Zelaya.

The removal early Sunday by the military of Honduras elected President Jose Manuel Zelaya and his forced exile to neighbouring Costa Rica has received world condemnation.

The Union of South American Nations, Unasur, energetically rejected the military coup in Honduras and extended its full and committed support to the constitutional president Jose Manuel Zelaya.

Unasur pro-tempore president, Chilean leader Michelle Bachelet said on Sunday that “Unasur does not recognize any situation which implies the rupture of democratic institutional order, rule of law or which compromises the stability of the Republic of Honduras”, reads the official communiqué released by the Chilean Foreign Affairs Ministry.

It specifically “condemns the kidnapping of President Zelaya and cabinet ministers and the taking over of government offices by groups that which are intent in destabilizing democracy and will not recognize any other government which is not legal and legitimately elected”.

The communiqué also demands the immediate reestablishment of democratic institutions and the return of the legitimately elected President Jose Manuel Zelaya.

Finally Unasur underlines its conviction that internal conflicts must be only solved in the framework of democratic institutions and the rule of law.

US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton said that “the action taken against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and thus should be condemned by all. 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”.

The European Union also condemned the arrest of the constitutional president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, by the armed forces. “This is [an] unacceptable violation of constitutional order in Honduras. The EU calls for the urgent release of President Zelaya and a swift return to constitutional normality”.

A more energetic Hugo Chavez, whose diplomatic representatives in Honduras apparently were “beaten and detained”, warned that he did not discard a “military reply”.

“If our embassy were attacked, for example, if our ambassador were kidnapped or beaten, well that military junta of a government that is there, even though it doesn't show its face, would be entering a state of war, a de facto state of war. We would have to act even militarily; we are obligated to do so. I couldn't sit here with my arms crossed, knowing by phone that they are massacring my ambassador or entering the Venezuelan Embassy. No. I have put the armed forces of Venezuela on alert”.

On Saturday before the early Sunday morning arrest of President Zelaya by the Honduran Army, Mercosur firmly expressed its full support to the “constitutional order” of the Republic of Honduras.

It expressed concern over the Honduran situation and called on all political and social forces to contribute to the democratic governance through the immediate establishment of dialogue process and understanding to help preserve democratic institutions”.