Honduras bars Zelaya plane from landing: official

UPDATE: Soldiers block ousted president from landing

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) – Military vehicles blocked the runway to prevent ousted President Manuel Zelaya from landing in Honduras, where he had planned to return after he was ousted one week ago, an AFP journalist witnessed Sunday.

At least half a dozen military vehicles blocked the only runway at the airport in Tegucigalpa, while tens of thousands of his supporters demonstrated outside.

Nicaragua denied Sunday moving its troops toward the border with Honduras, as claimed by interim Honduran leader Robert Micheletti ahead of the expected return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

“These reports are totally false… I have no information on why (Micheletti) made those statements,” said Nicaraguan military spokesman Brigadier General Adolfo Zepeda.

Micheletti had earlier told a televised news conference that “in the sector of Nicaragua, some troops are moving toward the border.”

But Zepeda retorted that “the army has clear instructions not to interfere in Honduras.”

Sunday is a day of rest for the troops, which “have to perform specific tasks and are bound to them on this day,” he added.

ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES

The interim government in Honduras banned the plane due to carry ousted President Manuel Zelaya home on Sunday from landing, foreign minister Enrique Ortez told local radio.

Ousted President Manuel Zelaya was set to attempt a return to Honduras on Sunday, one week after the army threw him out, amid fears of clashes after coup leaders threatened to arrest him on his return.

The Organization of American States suspended the Central American country late Saturday, in the first such move since the exclusion of Cuba in 1962, for failing to reinstate Zelaya.

It was unclear where Zelaya’s plane would touch down, after the interim leaders — who took over after soldiers sent Zelaya to Costa Rica — banned it from landing.

Soldiers surrounded the capital’s main airport as international airlines suspended flights, while thousands of Zelaya supporters from across the country prepared to gather there.

In Washington, 33 out of 34 members of the OAS voted in favor of suspending Honduras in an extraordinary late night session.

“The de facto authorities in Tegucigalpa are not disposed to restore Zelaya,” OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza told the assembly.

Members of the pan-American body slammed the leaders of the coup which saw the army remove Zelaya last Sunday at the peak of a dispute with the courts, politicians and the army over his plans to change the constitution.

“I am very optimistic because everyone has repudiated and rejected these acts” Zelaya said in Washington, insisting his country lived “under a regime of terror.”

But the interim leaders remained defiant Sunday.

“The landing of the plane which will bring the ex-president is banned,” foreign minister Enrique Ortez said ahead of Zelaya’s planned arrival at around midday.

“It doesn’t matter who accompanies him, what the plane is, the landing is prohibited,” Ortez said.

Zelaya has said he will be accompanied by a handful of Latin American leaders and other personalities.

The plane was due to leave Washington at around 10 a.m. (1400 GMT), to arrive in Honduras at around 3 pm (2100 GMT), according to Carlos Sosa, the former ambassador to the OAS.

After a week of mostly peaceful protests by Zelaya’s supporters and detractors, thousands of Zelaya backers — many from labor unions and indigenous groups — gathered in the capital.

In a climate of suspicion and anger, many said they were prepared for violence on Zelaya’s return.

“I imagine there’ll be blood and I’m ready for it. We’re not afraid,” said Marisol Velasquez, who said she was roughed up by soldiers at roadblocks on her three-day journey to reach the capital.

Catholic leaders in Honduras warned Saturday of potential violence and pleaded for Zelaya to reconsider.

“We think that a return to the country at the moment could provoke a bloodbath,” Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez — the capital’s archbishop — said on national radio and television.

Insulza agreed that Zelaya’s planned return to Honduras was risky.

“If you ask if it is a safe return, of course not,” the OAS chief told reporters.

Some clashes have broken out between the army and protesters in the past week of daily protests by both supporters and detractors of Zelaya.

It was unclear exactly how many people had been injured and detained, amid growing indignation from international rights groups.

Night time curfews — which suspend some freedoms guaranteed by the constitution — and media blackouts have increased tension in one of Latin America’s poorest countries.

Interim President Roberto Micheletti’s supporters say the army was justified in ousting Zelaya — on orders of Congress and the Supreme Court — because he had called a referendum to change the constitution that they claim he planned to use to extend his rule.

The interim government now looked set to try to hunker down until scheduled elections in November.

A freezing of millions of dollars of international aid, regional trade blockades and recalls of foreign ambassadors have hit the country in the past week.

Chavez — Zelaya’s main backer — has said that Venezuela would suspend key shipments of oil to Honduras, which he said would drive up gasoline prices.

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