Source:
Brisbane TimesNOE LEIVA
September 23, 2009 - 2:09AM
Honduran soldiers on Tuesday surrounded the Brazilian embassy ...
Zelaya said he had traveled for 15 hours through mountains, taking back roads to avoid military roadblocks, but declined to give details of those who had helped him return to the capital following his ouster June 28.
He told AFP Tuesday that he had spoken with police and soldiers the day before to "seek a way out of the crisis", accusing his rivals of trying to further isolate Honduras and preventing access to international negotiators.
"Fighting for democracy shouldn't be a crime. I think we have to seek to come together directly in order to achieve peace," he said, speaking by telephone from inside the embassy ...
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http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/honduran-soldiers-surround-brazilian-embassy-20090922-fzfk.html
MEXICO CITY — Honduran police officers used tear gas early Tuesday to disperse thousands of backers of Manuel Zelaya, the deposed leader, outside the Brazilian Embassy, where he was seeking refuge after sneaking back into the country the day before, according to witnesses and news reports.
The de facto government had declared a curfew Monday after learning that Mr. Zelaya, who was expelled three months ago in a dawn coup, had re-entered surreptitiously to rally his supporters and confront the officials who had arranged his removal. After backers of Mr. Zelaya defied the order to stay off the streets, heavily armed riot police officers and soldiers forced them to scatter and took up positions around the embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital.
At least two tear-gas canisters landed inside the embassy compound, Reuters reported, and Mr. Zelaya said in a television interview with Telesur, a Venezuelan broadcaster, that he foresaw “bigger acts of aggression and violence” by the de facto government and possibly even an invasion of the Brazilian Embassy ...
Police Break Up Rally for Ousted Honduran Leader
By ELISABETH MALKIN and MARC LACEY
Published: September 22, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/world/americas/23honduras.html?_r=1NEW YORK — Brazil's president said Tuesday he asked deposed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya not to provide a pretext for coup leaders to invade the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, where Zelaya has been staying since slipping back into the country.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he spoke with Zelaya by phone on Tuesday morning, and that Zelaya had passed the night as peacefully as could be expected. Zelaya has been holed up at the embassy since Monday.
"This morning I spoke to president Zelaya simply to ask him to take care to give no pretext to the coup leaders to engage in violence," Silva said. He added that the only thing Zelaya asked was that demonstrators outside the embassy keep the peace ...
Silva said that by allowing Zelaya into its embassy, Brazil only did what any democratic country would do ...
Brazil's president says he spoke with Zelaya
By MICHAEL ASTOR (AP) – 44 minutes ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g9cZ2I7eu3_0qKjwDKllsRHryonQD9ASF5V00TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (CNN) -- The Honduran military has placed sharpshooters near the Brazilian embassy where ousted President Manuel Zelaya has sought refuge since Monday, Zelaya said in an interview Tuesday morning with CNN en Español.
Military and police also were preventing people Tuesday morning from approaching the embassy, where a pro-Zelaya crowd spent the night, CNN en Español correspondent Elvin Sandoval reported.
According to Zelaya, who returned to his country Monday, Honduran authorities also have used tear gas and are blasting the embassy with loud music and noise to "drive crazy" the people inside ...
Sep 22, 2009
Honduran Military Places Sharpshooters Near Brazilian Embassy, Ousted President Says
http://www.wibw.com/nationalnews/headlines/60271737.html... Diplomats around the world, from the European Union to the U.S. State Department, were urging calm. And the secretary general of the Organization of American States, who is trying to convince Micheletti to step down and put Zelaya back in power, said he was "very concerned" that the situation could turn violent.
"They have been calling us a lot from there. It's a hostile situation and I hope the defacto government fulfills its obligation to respect this diplomatic seat," said Jose Miguel Insulza.
So far, the government of interim President Roberto Micheletti has refused to budge on demands to reinstate Zelaya.
It asked Brazil to hand him over for arrest on charges of violating Honduras' constitution as president and an adviser to the foreign ministry, Mario Fortin, denied that international law would keep officials from raiding the embassy to grab Zelaya ...
Honduran security breaks up pro-Zelaya demos
By FREDDY CUEVAS (AP) – 38 minutes ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9ASF8LO0... The embassy was in a state of virtual siege as soldiers surrounded the building and cut off electricity ...
Rafael Alegria, head of the Via Campesina pro-Zelaya movement, told The Times by telephone from Tegucigalpa that the situation in the country was "very tense" ...
"It's very difficult, whatever citizen is found in the street is considered suspicious, a member of the resistance. So they are capturing, intimidating, attacking very openly, a lot of repression. It is a very tense situation with the capital taken by the army, it is very difficult."
He expressed fears for the safety of Mr Zelaya at the embassy, saying: "They've cut the electricity, there is no water, there is no food, and the embassy is surrounded by the police and army. They have not yet entered but it is a very delicate situation" ...
From Times Online
September 22, 2009
Tear gas fired as Hondurans mark return of deposed President
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6844565.ece... The deposed president said that now is the time for the government to correct its mistakes and made an appeal for dialogue in order to avoid bloodshed.
"Honduras deserves a peaceful agreement, without violence, without bloodshed. People are defenseless, they have no weapons and it would be very unfortunate if, despite the international community vigilance, the government clamp down on the population. I believe that Mr. Micheletti should quickly correct the mistakes he made, avoiding bloodshed."
Zelaya thanked the Lula administration for opening the Brazilian embassy for him, even risking protests: "I'd like to thank president Lula, chancellor Celso Amorim and the (presidency advisor] Marco Aurélio Garcia who opened the doors to start the dialog. May the struggle for democracy in Honduras be useful for Latin America and for the continent."
The acting government in Honduras protested against Brazil for having sheltered Zelaya and said that it is holding the Brazilian government responsible for any violence that may occur around the embassy ...
Honduras Will Blame Brazil for Any Bloodshed in the Streets
Written by José Wilson Miranda
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/11236/1/ The police and army in Honduras on Tuesday morning swept away thousands of supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya who'd spent the night outside the Brazilian Embassy after his dramatic return to Honduras the day before.
Heavily armed government troops used tear gas and riot sticks to dislodge the supporters, the Associated Press reported.
The government's counter-move came after it extended a curfew throughout Tuesday, prohibited flights into the international airport in Tegucigalpa, the capital, and put up roadblocks on highways ...
Honduran troops rout Zelaya supporters outside Brazilian Embassy
By TYLER BRIDGES
McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1245792.html... Zelaya and news reports on Telesur TV said several people have been wounded.
Those reports could not be independently verified, but Telesur showed an ambulance headed to the scene.
Several people have been arrested, Zelaya and Telesur said. One image broadcast on the station showed a policewoman punching a handcuffed woman in the face ...
Honduran military uses tear gas on ousted leader's backers
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/22/honduras.embassy/