Honduras heads toward crisis over referendum
2009-06-26

Category Legislature Nations Mexico City Mexico City States Federal District Category Regions People Fidel Castro Hugo Chavez Event 2009 Honduras Coup Source (AP)

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Honduras' embattled leftist president, fighting for a chance to revamp the constitution, hurled insults at congressional leaders Friday after rejecting the Supreme Court's order to reinstate the military chief he had fired.

President Manuel Zelaya is promoting a Sunday referendum on constitutional reforms that has plunged the country into crisis by setting the president at odds with the military, the courts and the legislature that have branded the vote illegal.

Many shops and gasoline stations were closed Friday in the capital, Tegucigalpa, after the city's leading business chamber advised its members to stay shut for fear of disturbances. Some supermarkets were filled with panic buyers.

The president led thousands of supporters to the country's main airport, where they seized referendum ballots to keep them from being destroyed at court order.

Then he returned to the presidential palace and lashed out at Congress early Friday for plans to investigate his mental stability.

He referred to Congressional President Roberto Micheletti -- a member of his own Liberal Party -- as "a pathetic, second-class congressman who got that job because of me, because I gave you space within my political current."

Zelaya, who counts Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Castro brothers as friends, says the current constitution favors the elite in a country where 70 percent of the population is poor. His backers warn an attempted coup d'etat is under way.

The president has not specified what changes he seeks, but opponents say he wants to rewrite the charter to allow re-election so he can stay in power, as other Latin American leaders, including Chavez, have done.

Zelaya, a wealthy landowner grappling with rising food prices and a sharp spike in drug violence, is currently barred from seeking re-election when his four-year term ends in January.

Sunday's referendum has no legal effect: it merely asks people if they want to have a later vote on whether to retool the constitution.

Honduras' top court, Congress and the attorney general have all said the referendum he is sponsoring is illegal because the constitution says some of its clauses cannot be changed.

Zelaya told thousands supporters outside the presidential offices Thursday that he would stand by his decision to oust Gen. Romeo Vasquez as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The general had refused to support the referendum, arguing he could not aid a process the courts said was illegal.

The defense minister and the chiefs of the army, navy and air force have all resigned in protest of the referendum and the Supreme Court ordered Zelaya to reinstate Vasquez.

Lawmakers voted late Thursday to open an investigation into the president's mental state and to determine whether Zelaya's refusal to obey the Supreme Court's order damages the rule of law, said lawmaker Ramon Velasquez, of the opposition Christian Democratic party.

Once the investigation by five lawmakers is concluded, "maybe we will take more drastic measures," Velasquez said.

Honduran Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi has urged Congress to oust Zelaya.

"Congress cannot investigate me, much less remove me or stage a technical coup against me because I am honest, I'm a free president and nobody scares me," Zelaya said in his two-hour speech Friday, at one point bursting -- Chavez-like -- into song.

"But we have to forgive them. Glory to God! We have to forgive, and I know who to forgive because the people are my support and my best ally in this political process," he said.

He warned legislators, "You have declared war against me. Now face the consequences."

Micheletti, who by law would take over the presidency if Zelaya were ousted, retorted, "We should not have to suffer the aspirations of a disturbed man who wants to hold onto to power."

Zelaya has won the support of labor leaders, farmers and civic organizations who hope constitutional reforms will give them a greater voice. His leftist allies have also cheered him on.

"There is a coup d'etat under way and it must be stopped," Chavez said during his television and radio program "Alo, Presidente!"

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro published an essay in Cuban state media late Thursday praising Zelaya: "He forcefully denounced the crude, reactionary attempt to block an important popular referendum. That is the 'democracy' that imperialism defends."

The Organization of American States called an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the Honduras crisis and the U.S. Embassy warned its citizens in Honduras of potential protests and violence.

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Associated Press Writers Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City and Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed to this report.