MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New chapter for Honduras: Lobo takes office, Zelaya off to Dominican Republic

Porfirio Lobo must convince Latinamerica he is effectively a legitimate president

Honduras president elect Porfirio Lobo takes office on Wednesday the same day deposed Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya finally leave the Brazilian embassy where he has been holed up for more than four months.

Zelaya, ousted last July in a military-backed coup, said on Tuesday that he had accepted an invitation from Dominican President Leonel Fernandez to leave the country with him following the inauguration of his successor.

Porfirio Lobo, who was elected in controversial November polls called by de facto leader Roberto Micheletti, is to be sworn in at a ceremony in Tegucigalpa to be attended by President Fernandez and Panama’s Martinelli.

”I am going to take up his invitation and leave with him (Fernandez), logically with the approval of the government of Lobo Sosa,“ Zelaya told the local radio station Globo. He anticipated he plans to reside in Mexico.

Zelaya made a surprise return to the Central American nation on September 21 in a bid to wrestle power back from Micheletti, taking up refuge in the embassy of regional powerhouse Brazil.

This effort and subsequent attempts to be temporarily reinstated as president ahead of Lobo's swearing-in have ultimately proved unsuccessful.

An angry Zelaya issued a parting shot against the ”political persecution” that he said was forcing his departure, accusing Honduran judges in particular of treating him unfairly. He also promised to return at an unspecified date.

Zelaya's departure and the swearing-in of Lobo cap months of political turmoil that have gripped Honduras since Zelaya was ousted in a Supreme Court-Congress coup on June 28 executed by the military.

Zelaya was originally elected as a moderate conservative but took a sharp turn to the left while in office, aligning himself with Venezuela's populist leader Hugo Chavez and the ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative) group which among other benefits provides to its members Venezuelan oil on long term.

Elected in 2006 for a non-renewable four-year term, he was ousted after forging ahead with controversial plans to hold a referendum to change the constitution so that he could extend his stay in office.

The country's top court previously ruled the move was illegal, and was part of the bloodless coup during which Zelaya was bundled in his pyjamas onto a plane bound for Costa Rica.

Lobo said last week that Zelaya, his family and their entourage could leave Honduras with no fear of being arrested.

The United States condemned the June 28 coup and called but failed to have Zelaya reinstated. It has since recognized Lobo's election, as have several other Latinamerican countries, although the majority refuses to accept the election results held under a de facto government.

Meantime Honduras Supreme Court cleared military commanders of abusing their power by expelling then-President Manuel Zelaya from the country last June. The Court dismissed the charges brought by state prosecutors against the six commanders.