TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Shots were fired near the presidential palace in Honduras where protests erupted after the army ousted and exiled leftist President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday in Central America's first military coup since the Cold War. Hundreds of pro-Zelaya protesters, some masked and wielding sticks, set up barricades of chain link fences and downed billboards in the center of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and blocked roads to the presidential palace. Reuters witnesses heard shots outside the presidential palace that apparently came after a truck arrived at the protest, and an ambulance also appeared. It was not clear who fired the shots. One witness said shots were fired only in the air and there were no initial reports of injuries. In neighboring Nicaragua, leftist leaders from the region led by Zelaya's ally Venezuelan Hugo Chavez gathered in the capital Managua for late night talks on the crisis.
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Shots were fired near the presidential palace in Honduras where protests erupted after the army ousted and exiled leftist President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday in Central America's first military coup since the Cold War.
Hundreds of pro-Zelaya protesters, some masked and wielding sticks, set up barricades of chain link fences and downed billboards in the center of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and blocked roads to the presidential palace.
Reuters witnesses heard shots outside the presidential palace that apparently came after a truck arrived at the protest, and an ambulance also appeared. It was not clear who fired the shots. One witness said shots were fired only in the air and there were no initial reports of injuries.
In neighboring Nicaragua, leftist leaders from the region led by Zelaya's ally Venezuelan Hugo Chavez gathered in the capital Managua for late night talks on the crisis.
Newly appointed Honduran President Roberto Micheletti (photo) has announced a two-day nationwide curfew as supporters of the country's ousted leader erect barricades in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Gunfire was heard near the presidential palace. Former parliamentary speaker Roberto Micheletti, sworn in on Sunday as acting president by the Honduran Congress, swiftly imposed a 48-hour nationwide curfew starting on Sunday night, hours after a military coup which toppled President Manuel Zelaya pushed the Central American country into crisis. "He transformed this coup into a completely legal act with daring tact," said Laurence Cuvillier, FRANCE 24's correspondent in Mexico. "He claims to have been named president by a legal process and in accordance with the law. He is referring to the Constitution, according to which the army - which captured and expelled Zelaya - implements orders of the Supreme Court."
Former parliamentary speaker Roberto Micheletti, sworn in on Sunday as acting president by the Honduran Congress, swiftly imposed a 48-hour nationwide curfew starting on Sunday night, hours after a military coup which toppled President Manuel Zelaya pushed the Central American country into crisis. "He transformed this coup into a completely legal act with daring tact," said Laurence Cuvillier, FRANCE 24's correspondent in Mexico. "He claims to have been named president by a legal process and in accordance with the law. He is referring to the Constitution, according to which the army - which captured and expelled Zelaya - implements orders of the Supreme Court."
