[Rurcextedutty]

Honduran Troops Surround Brazil Embassy, Cut Services (Update2)


Share | Email | Print | A A A



By Daniel Cancel
Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Honduran troops surrounded the Brazilian Embassy where deposed President Manuel Zelaya is taking shelter as the government cut off power, water and phone service to the diplomatic mission.
Acting President Roberto Micheletti called on Brazil to hand over Zelaya after he arrived unexpectedly in Tegucigalpa yesterday, almost three months after the military expelled him from the country at gunpoint. Soldiers dispersed his supporters with tear gas and rubber bullets this morning and Zelaya told Colombia’s Caracol Radio he’s worried about his safety.
“We know that we’re in danger, the embassy is surrounded,” Zelaya said. “They’ve thrown tear gas inside the embassy and scattered people with shots.”
Venezuela’s state-owned Telesur network showed images of the clashes. Soldiers with riot shields, batons, and rifles controlled the streets surrounding the embassy. A spokesman for Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in an interview that the embassy is “secure” and the U.S. is providing diesel for a power generator. Inside the mission are one diplomat and four Brazilian employees, Zelaya, his wife and about 70 supporters, the spokesman said.
Micheletti’s Foreign Ministry sent a letter to Brazilian officials asking them to clarify their position and to state whether Zelaya has been given political asylum, or is simply in the embassy as a guest. Micheletti plans to hold meetings today with members of civil society, his spokeswoman, Johanna Padgett, said in a telephone interview.
Embassy Shelter
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told reporters today in New York that he spoke with Zelaya this morning and called for the acting government to return him to power.
“I spoke to him this morning and asked him not to do anything that would incite violence,” Lula said. “We cannot accept political divergence as reason for a coup. Like it or not, the opposition has to wait for elections.”
Brazil’s Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said yesterday that Zelaya had arranged his shelter at the embassy through an intermediary a few hours before he arrived.
Zelaya crossed into Honduras and made it to the capital by hiding in the trunk of a car and using a tractor to skirt numerous roadblocks for several days, his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said yesterday.
Airports Closed
Micheletti ordered all airports closed today, imposed a curfew last night and closed a pro-Zelaya television channel, the EFE news agency reported.
Zelaya was overthrown in June and kicked out of the country after the Supreme Court ruled his push for constitutional change was illegal. His opponents claim he was planning to follow in the footsteps of Chavez and attempt to modify the Honduran charter so that he could stay in power after his term expired.
Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary-general of Washington-based Organization of American States, said he may travel to Tegucigalpa in the next 24 hours in a bid to jumpstart stalled talks aimed at resolving the political crisis in Honduras.
“It’s a delicate, complex situation,” Insulza told reporters in New York, where he is discussing the situation with regional foreign ministers gathering for the United Nations General Assembly. “But at the same time it opens up an opportunity that hasn’t existed for some time: a face-to-face conversation between the protagonists.”
‘Inviolability’
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington today that the U.S. is calling on all parties involved to refrain from violence and stressed the importance of respecting the “inviolability of the Embassy of Brazil in Tegucigalpa, and the individuals on its premises.”
Honduras was suspended from the OAS and aid from the U.S. and European lenders was cut after Zelaya’s ouster. Brazil, Venezuela and other countries have said they may not recognize presidential elections set for late November.
The elections will resolve the political conflict and will guarantee a democratic transition, Micheletti wrote today in an editorial published in the Washington Post.
“My country is in an unusual position this week,” Micheletti wrote. “Amid all the claims that are likely to be made in coming days, the former president will not mention that the people of Honduras have moved on since the events of that day or that our citizens are looking forward to free, fair and transparent elections on Nov. 29.”
Zelaya aborted an attempt to return to Honduras aboard a Venezuelan jet in July, when the military prevented his landing at the capital’s airport. He briefly crossed the border from Nicaragua to speak with soldiers later that month.
At least three protesters in Honduras have been killed since Zelaya’s ouster, and Amnesty International has alleged police targeted Zelaya supporters at protests for beatings and mass arrests.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Cancel in Caracas at dcancel@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 22, 2009 15:24 EDT