Zelaya, who was exiled by the coup leaders, has expressed his intention to return to his home country.
Thirty-three out of 34 members of the pan-American body, gathered here for an extraordinary session of its General Assembly, voted in favour of the expulsion.
The assembly acted on the basis of Article 21 of the OAS Charter that gives member-nations the right to suspend membership of a country in case of an "unconstitutional interruption of democratic order" and when "efforts to address the situation through diplomatic means have failed."
The article was used by the organization for the first time since 1962, when Cuba was suspended from the OAS following its joining the Soviet bloc.
Published 05 July 2009, 05:48 IST