Honduras police break up pro-Zelaya protest
Honduran troops and police clashed on Tuesday with hundreds of supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya outside Brazil’s embassy where he took refuge after slipping back into the country in a bid to return to power.
Police fired tear gas at the demonstrators, who threw rocks back at the security forces. Soldiers patrolled streets around the embassy and enforced an all-day curfew called by Honduras’ de facto government to dampen the protests in support of Zelaya, who was toppled in a June 28 coup.
Zelaya ended almost three months of exile by sneaking back into Honduras on Monday. He sought refuge at the Brazilian embassy to avoid being arrested, and the accused security forces on Tuesday of preparing an attack.
Meanwhile, the US, the EU and the Organisation of American States have called for negotiations and a return to democratic rule in the Central American country. With Zelaya mobilising his supporters and the de facto government imposing a curfew, the EU also told all sides on Tuesday to “refrain from any action that might increase tension and violence”.
