The Supreme Court of Honduras ruled on Wednesday that ousted President Manuel Zelaya cannot be returned to office, the latest in a series of rulings upholding his overthrow. The court did not release the full text of its ruling, which is not binding, as Congress is set to vote Dec. 2 on whether Zelaya can be reinstated.
The Supreme Court of Honduras ruled on Wednesday that ousted President Manuel Zelaya cannot be returned to office, the latest in a series of rulings upholding his overthrow.
The court did not release the full text of its ruling, which is not binding, as Congress is set to vote Dec. 2 on whether Zelaya can be reinstated.
Reporting from Mexico City and San Salvador - The de facto rulers of Honduras will observe more than elections Sunday: They staged the first military-backed coup in Central America in 16 years -- and got away with it. Months of international efforts failed to reinstate President Manuel Zelaya, ousted June 28 and deported to Costa Rica. Instead, the most powerful outside mediator, the United States, agreed to recognize the outcome of Sunday's vote for a new president. Several other countries will not, saying that a "free and fair" vote cannot be held under the watch of a de facto government. Does an election that is not recognized count? Many in Honduras and elsewhere hope the choosing of a new leader will allow the slate to be cleaned and Honduras to emerge from the diplomatic and political isolation that followed Zelaya's removal. But Zelaya's backers and others say that, far from a solution, the election will only further deepen the impoverished nation's stark divisions, as well as set a bad precedent by allowing a coup to stand. Zelaya, who sneaked back into the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, on Sept. 21 and has been sheltered in the Brazilian Embassy since, on Friday called on supporters to boycott the "spurious electoral process." Major international election-monitoring groups, such as the Organization of American States and the Carter Center, refused to send observers. Several human rights organizations Friday denounced a "climate of terror" after weeks in which de facto authorities have cracked down on opposition media and arrested scores of opponents. A handful of low-charge explosives have detonated in recent days at the Supreme Court and pro-coup businesses.Reporting from Mexico City and San Salvador - The de facto rulers of Honduras will observe more than elections Sunday: They staged the first military-backed coup in Central America in 16 years -- and got away with it.
Months of international efforts failed to reinstate President Manuel Zelaya, ousted June 28 and deported to Costa Rica. Instead, the most powerful outside mediator, the United States, agreed to recognize the outcome of Sunday's vote for a new president. Several other countries will not, saying that a "free and fair" vote cannot be held under the watch of a de facto government.
Does an election that is not recognized count? Many in Honduras and elsewhere hope the choosing of a new leader will allow the slate to be cleaned and Honduras to emerge from the diplomatic and political isolation that followed Zelaya's removal. But Zelaya's backers and others say that, far from a solution, the election will only further deepen the impoverished nation's stark divisions, as well as set a bad precedent by allowing a coup to stand.
Zelaya, who sneaked back into the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, on Sept. 21 and has been sheltered in the Brazilian Embassy since, on Friday called on supporters to boycott the "spurious electoral process." Major international election-monitoring groups, such as the Organization of American States and the Carter Center, refused to send observers.
Several human rights organizations Friday denounced a "climate of terror" after weeks in which de facto authorities have cracked down on opposition media and arrested scores of opponents. A handful of low-charge explosives have detonated in recent days at the Supreme Court and pro-coup businesses.Reporting from Mexico City and San Salvador - The de facto rulers of Honduras will observe more than elections Sunday: They staged the first military-backed coup in Central America in 16 years -- and got away with it.
