Thousands hit streets over Honduras coup

updated 6:41 p.m. ET July 1, 2009

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Thousands of Hondurans demonstrated Wednesday for the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who vowed to fly home this weekend despite a warrant for his arrest. Thousands more rallied in favor of the military-backed government.

Newly appointed President Roberto Micheletti said it would take a foreign invasion put Zelaya back in power, and said he was sending a delegation to Washington in an attempt to reverse the country's increasing international isolation, though his own foreign minister later denied that.

France, Spain, Italy, Chile and Colombia joined other nations Wednesday in recalling their ambassadors. The Pentagon suspended joint U.S.-Honduran military operations and the World Bank said it was freezing loans. Honduras' three neighbors have suspended cross-border trade.

Soldiers stormed Zelaya's residence and flew him into exile Sunday after he insisted on trying to hold a referendum asking Hondurans if they want to change the constitution. The Supreme Court, Congress and the military all deemed his planned ballot illegal. Zelaya backed down Tuesday, saying he will no longer push for constitutional changes.

Both sides of the dispute mobilized supporters in the streets Wednesday, with a pro-Zelaya march in the capital and pro-Micheletti demonstrations in other cities. No violence was reported.

"We want Mel!" 30-year-old farm hand Javier Santos yelled over a megaphone, using Zelaya's nickname, as marchers walked toward the local offices of the Organization of American States. The largest pro-Micheletti rally was in Choluteca, 75 miles south of the capital, where demonstrators wore the blue and white of the Honduran flag.

Protests remain peaceful
No violence was reported, though businesses quickly lowered their shutters as marchers approached.

The Organization of American States gave Micheletti until Saturday to step aside before Honduras is suspended from the group, an ultimatum Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said was meant "to show clearly that military coups will not be accepted. We thought we were in an era when military coups were no longer possible in this hemisphere."

Zelaya delayed plans to return Thursday to let that deadline play out.

"I'm going to respect those 72 hours that the OAS asked for," he said in Panama, where he attended a presidential inauguration.

Slideshow   Coup in Honduras The military ousts leftist President Manuel Zelaya from office. more photos

In an interview with The Associated Press, Micheletti vowed Zelaya would be arrested if he returns, even though the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador have agreed to accompany him, along with the heads of the OAS and the U.N. General Assembly.

"He can no longer return to the presidency of the republic unless a president from another Latin American country comes and imposes him using guns," Micheletti said.

He also made a bold claim, suggesting the entire Honduran population backs his interim government. Though Zelaya still enjoys strong support, especially among the poor majority, Micheletti warned that all "7.5 million Hondurans will be ready to defend our territory" against a foreign invasion.

His foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, also threatened Zelaya's escorts, saying: "We will let his companions enter if they represent friendly countries. If not, no."

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