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Honduran coup has repercussions for all of Central America, General Assembly hears

Honduran coup has repercussions for all of Central America, General Assembly hears

Álvaro Colom Caballeros, President of Guatemala
The recent coup d’état in Honduras affects all of Central America, the leaders of Guatemala and Panama told the General Assembly today, calling for the reinstatement of deposed President José Manuel Zelaya.

Deploring the Honduran leader’s ouster, Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom Caballeros said at the Assembly’s annual high-level debate that “what is at stake for the whole world is much more than President Zelaya.

“We cannot and should not accept the establishment of a precedent to remove a government through a coup d’état,” he stressed.

The announcement of presidential elections to be held in the near future does not legitimize Mr. Zelaya’s overthrow, Guatemala’s leader said.

Since Monday, the Honduran leader, who was forced from office in late June, has been seeking refuge in the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal called for the return to the rule of law in Honduras.

He said that the San José accord, which calls for the restoration of Mr. Zelaya and calls for early polls, “constitutes the best method for formulating a consensus government that can oversee new elections and guarantee a peaceful return to democracy.”

Mr. Martinelli Berrocal appealed for the Honduran people “to resolve their destiny and future with one another, democratically.”

The call for the reinstatement of Mr. Zelaya by the presidents of Guatemala and Panama echoes the statements made by a half dozen other Latin American nations so far at the Assembly debate.