MEXICO CITY AND TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS — In a throwback to Latin America's unstable past, the Honduran army ousted President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday, sending the leftist leader into exile as a hastily convened Congress replaced him with its speaker, one of Zelaya's fiercest enemies.
The coup was a brazen blow to the region's seemingly solid move to democratic rule, the first such military action in Central America in 16 years. It followed weeks of confrontation between Zelaya and conservative forces in Honduras that came to a head over possible changes to the constitution. Zelaya was seized from his home, still in his pajamas, hours ahead of a nonbinding vote on the reforms, including one that could allow presidential reelection in Honduras.
"This has been a brutal kidnapping," Zelaya said later Sunday in a news conference at the airport in San Jose, the Costa Rican capital.
He described how masked soldiers burst into his home before dawn, firing warning shots, shouting and pointing a gun at his chest. He was hauled away to a Honduran air force jet, he said, and flown to Costa Rica.
Zelaya declared that he remained the president of Honduras and vowed to finish out the last six months of his term.
"They have betrayed our country," Zelaya said of the coup plotters. "They have betrayed democracy."
The military action came hours ahead of a referendum in which Zelaya was hoping to gauge public opinion on proposed changes to the constitution, including one that would end presidential term limits.
Army leaders, as well as the Congress, the Supreme Court and election officials had opposed the national vote, calling it illegal. In response, Zelaya fired the nation's top military commander and ignored a Supreme Court order to reinstate him.
Zelaya's foes suspected he was seeking to amend the constitution to stay in power, as other Latin American leaders have done. But Zelaya, prone to fiery rhetoric, has said he is not interested in reelection.
Condemnation of the coup from world leaders -- including President Obama and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez -- was swift.
Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by the developments and called on "all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms [and] the rule of law."
"Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference," he said.
