Honduras clamps down on dissenters

The de facto government of Honduras on Monday frustrated attempts by supporters of Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president, to hold mass protests in Tegucigalpa as it posted troops throughout the nation’s capital and closed down two opposition media outlets.

Soldiers and anti-riot police descended on the Globo de Tegucigalpa radio station on Monday morning and stopped it from broadcasting. Cholusat, a television satellite channel, was also taken off the air.

The media crackdown follows a decree passed on Sunday by the de facto government that strips Hondurans of constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties, including the right to hold unauthorised protests.

Critics saw the move as a direct response to calls by Mr Zelaya to mark the three-month anniversary of his removal from office by holding mass demonstrations as part of what he dubbed the “final offensive” in his bid to regain office.

There were media reports on Monday that only a few hundred Zelaya supporters gathered at the capital’s Pedagogica University, fazed by the decree and unsure of their next move. Many wore tape across their mouths, alluding to the media crackdown.

Mr Zelaya was removed from power on June 28 at gunpoint and forced to leave the country. Last week, however, he returned and is now in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.

Honduras’ de facto government has invited a commission from the Organization of American States to visit next week, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday according to Reuters.

At an extraordinary meeting of the OAS earlier on Monday, Lewis Amselem, US representative to the international body, criticised the de facto government headed by Roberto Micheletti, and its actions as “deplorable and foolish”. However, he also criticised the unexpected return of Mr Zelaya, a theatrical figure known for his trademark oversized white cowboy hat. In particular, he said that Mr Zelaya should “desist from making wild allegations and from acting as though he were starring in an old movie”.

International organisations said on Monday that the suspension of liberties and media crackdown signalled a deterioration in the crisis.

José Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch told the Financial Times: “Things are getting out of hand.”

Yet in spite of mounting international pressure to reinstate Mr Zelaya to the presidency, the de facto government appears determined to remain in office until the next presidential elections, which are scheduled for November 29.

On Sunday, it denied entry to four members of an advance diplomatic mission sent, with Mr Micheletti’s initial agreement, by the OAS to help to mediate a solution to the crisis. Carlos López, the de facto government’s foreign minister, justified the decision by arguing that the group had arrived ahead of the agreed time.

On the same day, Mr López issued Brazil with a 10-day deadline either to grant Mr Zelaya political asylum or hand him over to Honduran authorities. Mr Zelaya stands accused of more than a dozen charges, among them treason and abuse of authority.

Mr López said that if Brasilia failed to comply with the deadline, the ring-fenced embassy could lose its diplomatic status. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazilian president, responded by saying that his country would not bow to threats from “coup plotters”
FT