.Pro-Zelaya protest turns violent in Honduras
A demonstration in support of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya turned violent when a group of protesters set fire to a fast-food restaurant, an AFP reporter witnessed.
The protesters were returning from a mass march near the presidential palace when some began hurling rocks at a Popeyes fried chicken restaurant, and then set fire to the establishment, the reporter said.
Earlier, a demonstrator on a motorcycle was shot in the ankle by a traffic policeman, enraging a crowd that then set fire to a bus, a leader of the march, Juan Barahona, told AFP.
Radio stations said police were deployed to disperse the protesters, who had gathered for the biggest show of support for Zelaya since his first aborted attempt to return to the country on July 5.
Some traveled by foot from eastern and central Honduras to converge upon the capital city.
"They are afraid of us because we are not afraid," said Zelaya's daughter, Hortensia, referring to the interim government led by Roberto Micheletti.
The National Resistance Front, which opposes the bloodless coup that sent Zelaya into exile, has held marches in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula to step up the pressure for his return.
A proposal Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who has acted as a mediator in the conflict, calling for Zelaya's return to office and early elections has been rejected by the interim government.
The Organization of American States (OAS) planned to send a delegation of Latin American foreign ministers to Honduras late next week or early the following week to press for a negotiated solution to the crisis.
Meanwhile, a group of 15 US lawmakers called on President Barack Obama to freeze the accounts of Honduras's interim leaders and ban them from entering the United States.
"We ask that you instruct the Treasury Department to freeze the bank accounts and assets of individuals involved in the coup, and deny them entry into the United States," Obama's fellow Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter dated August 7 but released on Tuesday.
"It is clear that further action is necessary to ensure that democracy is restored and the civil rights of Honduras's citizens are respected."
During a regional summit in Mexico on Monday, Obama reiterated his rejection of the coup and his desire to see democratic order restored to Honduras with Zelaya's return to power.
Breitbart
The protesters were returning from a mass march near the presidential palace when some began hurling rocks at a Popeyes fried chicken restaurant, and then set fire to the establishment, the reporter said.
Earlier, a demonstrator on a motorcycle was shot in the ankle by a traffic policeman, enraging a crowd that then set fire to a bus, a leader of the march, Juan Barahona, told AFP.
Radio stations said police were deployed to disperse the protesters, who had gathered for the biggest show of support for Zelaya since his first aborted attempt to return to the country on July 5.
Some traveled by foot from eastern and central Honduras to converge upon the capital city.
"They are afraid of us because we are not afraid," said Zelaya's daughter, Hortensia, referring to the interim government led by Roberto Micheletti.
The National Resistance Front, which opposes the bloodless coup that sent Zelaya into exile, has held marches in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula to step up the pressure for his return.
A proposal Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who has acted as a mediator in the conflict, calling for Zelaya's return to office and early elections has been rejected by the interim government.
The Organization of American States (OAS) planned to send a delegation of Latin American foreign ministers to Honduras late next week or early the following week to press for a negotiated solution to the crisis.
Meanwhile, a group of 15 US lawmakers called on President Barack Obama to freeze the accounts of Honduras's interim leaders and ban them from entering the United States.
"We ask that you instruct the Treasury Department to freeze the bank accounts and assets of individuals involved in the coup, and deny them entry into the United States," Obama's fellow Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter dated August 7 but released on Tuesday.
"It is clear that further action is necessary to ensure that democracy is restored and the civil rights of Honduras's citizens are respected."
During a regional summit in Mexico on Monday, Obama reiterated his rejection of the coup and his desire to see democratic order restored to Honduras with Zelaya's return to power.
Breitbart
posted by madtom at 8:16 PM
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