Monday, 6 July 2009Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the OAS in Washington, 01 Jul 2009Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is on his way to El Salvador to meet with other Latin American leaders, after a failed attempt to return to his own country late Sunday. After failing to land in Tegucigalpa the ousted president made a temporary stopover in Nicaragua.
The presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, and Paraguay will meet with Mr. Zelaya, as well as the secretary general of the Organization of American States in San Salvador.
President Zelaya told Telesur television late Sunday that his plane was turning away from the Tegucigalpa airport because soldiers were blocking the runway. The ousted president says he will try again to return to Honduras as soon as possible.
Meanwhile the interim Honduran government has imposed a curfew until dawn, after a protester was killed at the airport.
PDVSA jet with Manuel Zelaya on board departs from Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, 05 Jul 2009Thousands of protesters gathered for Sunday's demonstrations, which turned violent. In addition to at least one death, several people were wounded during a confrontation between security forces and thousands of Mr. Zelaya's supporters.
A cameraman for the Al-Jazeera news network who saw the body of the victim described it as a young boy.
Mr. Zelaya's plane was attempting to land despite a warning from the interim government that the ousted president would be arrested if he touched down on Honduran soil.
Earlier, members of the Honduran interim government told the Organization of American States they are ready to start a dialogue. The OAS voted unanimously Saturday to suspend Honduras for failing to reinstate Mr. Zelaya.
Soldiers forcibly expelled the president from Honduras one week ago. He was arrested the same day he planned to hold a referendum on a constitutional change that would have allowed him to seek another term. The Supreme Court had ruled the referendum was illegal.
Authorities in the interim government accuse him of treason and abuse of power.
This is the first time the OAS has suspended a member since Cuba was excluded from the group in 1962.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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Monday, 6 July 2009
VOA News
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