Zelaya Flies, Military Says No Land

By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, July 5 — Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is in the air flying towards Honduras, just hours after the Organization of American States (OAS) suspended the Central American country on a unanimous 33-0 vote early Sunday in Washington.

The de-facto Honduran government announced they would not allow the plane carrying Zelaya to land in Tegucigalpa, although they did not indicate if they would attack the plane in the air or on the ground if it defies the threat.

Meanwhile, thousands of Honduran supporters of Zelaya continue to gather at the airport where the military has stationed sharpshooters. Despite calls for calm and peaceful protest from Zelaya, bloodshed appears only an order or a nervous trigger finger away.

President Zelaya is accompanied on his flight home by UN General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto.

Simultaneously, a second delegation including the presidents of Paraguay (Fernando Lugo), Argentina (Cristina Fernandez) and Ecuador (Rafael Correa), along with OAS Sec. Gen. Miguel Insulza, travels to neighboring El Salvador.

Zelaya was taken at gun point from his home in a military coup on Sunday June 28. He was forced onto a plane that took him to Costa Rica. Most civil liberties were suspended in Honduras and strict media censorship imposed.

A unanimous international outcry — including the United Nations, OAS, Rio Group, ALBA, European Union, etc. has demanded Zelaya’s return as the constitutional president of Honduras. The Obama administration has also said it would not recognize the de-facto government of Roberto Micheletti.