Honduras heads toward crisis over referendum

[June 26, 2009]  TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- A standoff between Honduras' president and its military, Congress and courts over a referendum on constitutional change escalated, with the leftist leader rejecting the Supreme Court's decision to reinstate a military chief he had fired.

Zelaya told about 2,000 supporters outside the presidential offices that he would stand by his decision to oust Gen. Romeo Vasquez as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after the military refused to provide support for a non-binding referendum Sunday designed to gauge popular backing for retooling the constitution.

"The court, which only imparts justice for the powerful, the rich and the bankers, only causes problems for democracy," he said following Thursday's Supreme Court ruling.

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.

But opponents say he wants to rewrite the charter to allow re-election so he can seek to stay in power. And Honduras' top court, Congress and the attorney general have all said his plans are illegal since they would violate constitutional clauses barring some changes.

Late Thursday, lawmakers voted to open an investigation to determine whether Zelaya's refusal to obey the Supreme Court's order damaged the rule of law in the country, 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 but they will be to save the republic," said Velasquez. Honduran Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi has urged Congress to oust Zelaya.

After his speech Thursday, Zelaya and his supporters took referendum ballots and other materials from a military base in trucks and headed to an undisclosed location. The Supreme Court had ordered the electoral material removed and stored at an air force base.

"I'm taking the people on a mission to guarantee the democracy and rule of law," said Zelaya. "Nobody is going to take away my legal authority because the people, who are the voice of God, are with me."

Zelaya has galvanized the support of labor leaders, farmers and civic organizations who hope constitutional reforms will give them a greater voice -- as well as Latin America's leftist leaders.

"There is a coup d'etat under way and it must be stopped," Chavez said during his television and radio program "Alo, Presidente!" Venezuela's socialist president offered Zelaya his full support.

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro published an essay late Thursday backing Zelaya.

"It was impressive to see (Zelaya) ... lecturing the Honduran people. He forcefully denounced the crude, reactionary attempt to block an important popular referendum. That is the 'democracy' that imperialism defends," Castro wrote in one of his periodic "Reflections" carried in state media.

Zelaya's dismissal of Vasquez prompted the chiefs of the army, navy and air force to resign. The president himself announced Wednesday night that Defense Minister Edmundo Orellana had resigned.

Vasquez said he could not support a referendum that the courts had declared illegal, but he ruled out the possibility of a coup.

"We are prudent and we accept the decision of the president, whom we respect and who has the right to dismiss whom he wants," Vasquez said.

The Organization of American States called an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the Honduras crisis.

The president's nonbinding referendum asks voters if they want a further, formal election on whether to call an assembly to write a new constitution.

Zelaya has argued that Honduras' social problems are rooted in the 27-year-old constitution.

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.

U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, a leftist Nicaraguan priest and former foreign minister, "clearly and strongly condemns the attempted coup d'etat that is currently unfolding against the democratically elected government of President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras," his spokesman said.

Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi, who was appointed by Congress, is urging the legislators to remove Zelaya from office. It is unclear if there is support in Congress for Zelaya's ouster, but the legislature clearly opposes the referendum.

On Wednesday, the 128-seat unicameral chamber voted unanimously to ask a group of international election observers to leave, arguing their presence legitimized an illegal vote.

[Associated Press; By FREDDY CUEVAS]

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

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