honduras coup
While acknowledging that Zelaya's conduct in office is open to debate, Zapatero stressed the need for a "firm" position vis-a-vis a deed like the one perpetrated in Honduras
03.07.09 - 09:51 -
The Prime Minister speaks to RNE radio. / EFE
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on Thursday called for firmness and the restoration of legality in Honduras after the toppling and exile of elected President Mel Zelaya.
"The president cannot be kidnapped. That is not a matter of discussion, and violating this principle opens up the door to something that we believed forgotten in Latin America," the premier said in an interview with Spain's Radio Nacional.
The Spanish government on Wednesday took the initiative in the European Union by calling its ambassador in Honduras back for consultations, a measure with which it intends to show its "firmness" in rejecting the military coup.
While acknowledging that Zelaya's conduct in office is open to debate, Zapatero stressed the need for a "firm" position vis-a-vis a deed like the one perpetrated in Honduras.
When asked if he would accompany Zelaya on his return to Honduras, as several Latin American leaders have offered to do, Zapatero said that that "would not be a factor that would facilitate for us a way out" of the crisis.
In this situation, the prime minister expressed his support for the Organization of American States and its secretary general, José Miguel Insulza.
The OAS has given the new authorities in Honduras 72 hours to restore Zelaya to his office and duties, and the latter agreed to let that period run out before returning to Honduras.
Zelaya had originally planned to return to Tegucigalpa on Thursday, accompanied by Insulza, U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto and the presidents of Argentina - Cristina Fernández - and Ecuador, Rafael Correa.
Finally, Zapatero warned of the risk of "social breakdown" in Honduras if the situation of political instability continues.
Honduran soldiers, acting with the blessing of the country's Congress, rousted Zelaya from his official residence before dawn last Sunday and put him on a plane to Costa Rica.
Lawmakers have justified Zelaya's removal on the grounds that he threatened the constitutional order by trying to hold a non-binding referendum on his proposal for a national assembly next year to overhaul the country's constitution.
Zelaya's foes say he wants to change the charter so he can run for re-election, a charge he flatly denied Tuesday during a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Noting that the current Honduran constitution limits the president to a single four-year term, Zelaya, whose mandate was due to end next January, said any change would apply only to his successors.
