President Manuel Zelaya had alienated powerful politicians, businessmen and the Catholic Church by seeking to hold a poll on changing the constitution. Many Hondurans saw the move as a bid to end a constitutional term limit and extend his presidency beyond a single four-year term. Zelaya denied any such intention. He took office as president in 2006, and his term was due to end in January 2010.
Reaction to his ouster was fierce in the hemisphere, and Honduras was suspended from the Organization of American States. Many countries, including the United States, cut off millions of dollars in aid to the impoverished country and threatened not to recognize the results of a presidential election scheduled for Nov. 29.
Zelaya sneaked back into Honduras last month and has been holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital.
WASHINGTON POST
