Military Coup in Honduras

This afternoon I went down to Millennium Plaza to watch the U.S.A vs. Brazil soccer game in the championship of the Confederations Cup. It was a good game, even though Brazil came from behind in the second half and won 3-2. But I was surprised to see a scrolling message on the bottom of the TV throughout the game. It seems that this morning there was a military coup in Honduras, and the president, Manuel Zelaya had to flee to Costa Rica. This is the first military coup in Central America since the Cold War.

On the TV, the message was encouraging people to protest outside the embassy and consulate of Honduras in Quito and Guayaquil, to support the democracy and the president. From what I read in an article on The New York Times Web site, President Zelaya had recently started the process for a referendum to allow himself to be elected again, even though the constitution only allows one term per president. The congress and supreme court ruled it unconstitutional, and this led to a series of events which led to the army taking over and kicking out the president this morning.

The coup d'etat has brought a lot of attention to leaders in the surround countries, and President Rafael Correa, of Ecuador, will be flying to Nicaragua as well for some kind of conference. I haven't heard any opinions from Ecuadorians yet, but based off of the messages shown during the game, it seems like the government wants people to think in favor of the ousted Honduran president. This is an interesting situation that will develop more over the coming days.