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 President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil condemned the military
coup d'état in Honduras that overthrew president José Manuel Zelaya
this Sunday, June 29, and is urging the military to return Zelaya to
the presidency.
According to sources in the Brazilian government, Lula is following closely the situation in that Central American country and is in touch with other Latin American chiefs of state.
"Military actions of this kind constitute an assault against democracy and do not correspond to the political development of the region", said a communiqué from the Brazilian Foreign Relations Ministry.
"Eventual questions dealing with constitutional should be solved peacefully, by dialog and respecting the democratic institutionality," continues the document.
"The Brazilian government shares the Honduran people pain and urges that president Zelaya be immediately and unconditionally brought back to his post," concludes the Brazilian note.
The removal early Sunday by the military of Honduras elected President Jose Manuel Zelaya and his forced exile to neighboring Costa Rica has received world condemnation.
The Union of South American Nations, Unasur, energetically rejected the military coup in Honduras and extended its full and committed support to the constitutional president Jose Manuel Zelaya.
Unasur pro-tempore president, Chilean leader Michelle Bachelet said on Sunday that "Unasur does not recognize any situation which implies the rupture of democratic institutional order, rule of law or which compromises the stability of the Republic of Honduras," reads the official communiqué released by the Chilean Foreign Affairs Ministry.
It specifically "condemns the kidnapping of President Zelaya and cabinet ministers and the taking over of government offices by groups that which are intent in destabilizing democracy and will not recognize any other government which is not legal and legitimately elected."
The communiqué also demands the immediate reestablishment of democratic institutions and the return of the legitimately elected President Jose Manuel Zelaya.
Finally Unasur underlines its conviction that internal conflicts must be only solved in the framework of democratic institutions and the rule of law.
US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton said that "the action taken against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and thus should be condemned by all.
"We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue".
The European Union also condemned the arrest of the constitutional president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, by the armed forces. "This is an unacceptable violation of constitutional order in Honduras. The EU calls for the urgent release of President Zelaya and a swift return to constitutional normality".
A more energetic Hugo Chavez, whose diplomatic representatives in Honduras apparently were "beaten and detained", warned that he did not discard a "military reply".
"If our embassy were attacked, for example, if our ambassador were kidnapped or beaten, well that military junta of a government that is there, even though it doesn't show its face, would be entering a state of war, a de facto state of war. We would have to act even militarily; we are obligated to do so. I couldn't sit here with my arms crossed, knowing by phone that they are massacring my ambassador or entering the Venezuelan Embassy. No. I have put the armed forces of Venezuela on alert".
On Saturday before the early Sunday morning arrest of President Zelaya by the Honduran Army, Mercosur firmly expressed its full support to the "constitutional order" of the Republic of Honduras.
It expressed concern over the Honduran situation and called on all political and social forces to contribute to the democratic governance through the immediate establishment of dialogue process and understanding to help preserve democratic institutions".
Bzz/Mercopress
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While the underlying reasons for such a Coup may have been questionable, such events in Latin America never fail to stir old passions, fears, and expectations...
Today Tegucigalpa... Tomorrow Managua... Next Week Brasilia & Caracas????