The interim president of Honduras vowed Tuesday not to resign the post he took over following a military coup and claimed that only an armed invasion would restore his ousted predecessor to power.
Roberto Micheletti said during an interview with The Associated Press that "no one can make me resign," even though the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Obama administration and leaders around the world have condemned the military uprising and refused to recognize his government.
The international community has called for the return of Honduras' democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya, but Micheletti said "he has already committed crimes against the constitution and the law. He can no longer return to the presidency of the republic unless a president from another Latin American country comes and imposes him using guns."
He did not name any specific nations, but earlier Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said any aggression toward Zelaya from Micheletti's government should prompt a military intervention by the United Nations. Such aggression may happen since Zelaya plans to return to his country on Thursday, accompanied by an international delegation, and Micheletti's government says it will arrest him.
Soldiers stormed Zelaya's residence and flew him into exile early Sunday, after he insisted on trying to hold a referendum asking Hondurans if they wanted to reform the constitution even though the Supreme Court, Congress and the military all deemed it illegal.
Clauses that cannot be legally altered in the Honduran constitution limit presidents to a single, 4-year term and Congress claims Zelaya, who leaves office in January, modified the ballot question at the last minute to help him eventually try and seek re-election. Chavez has used referendums to win the right to run repeatedly.
Both Micheletti and Zelaya are members of the Liberal Party, which controls Congress. But Zelaya has lost the support of nearly all lawmakers, who voted to promote Micheletti from head of the legislature to head of state to finish out Zelaya's term.
Police and soldiers have since imposed a nightly curfew which Micheletti said would remain in place "until things get back to normal because they have warned us that some South American countries were going to attack us and the population has to be ready and prepared."
"If there's an invasion against our country," he said, "we will see 7 and a half million Hondurans ready to defend our territory, our laws and our fatherland and government."
Micheletti now occupies the same office in the colonial-style presidential palace that Zelaya did until last weekend. He and his newly appointed Cabinet ministers were settling in, even as soldiers wandered the ornate hallways and manned barricades outside to keep Zelaya supporters away.
The interim president said he had not spoken to a single member of U.S. President Barack Obama's government or any president in Latin America, but he maintained that 80 percent of Hondurans support him.
Thousands rallied in downtown Tegucigalpa, the capital, to cheer Micheletti on Tuesday. But Zelaya supporters also protested behind a fence soldiers hauled in to keep them from getting within two long blocks of the presidential palace.
"I was named by Congress to represent the Honduran people," he said. "No one can make me resign if I do not violate the laws of the country."
Zelaya backed down from the referendum Tuesday, saying at the United Nations that he would no longer push for constitutional changes.
But Micheletti said giving up on modifying the constitution would not be enough for Zelaya to avoid arrest since the former president had "several" arrests warrants issued against him, including some dealing with drug smuggling.
Zelaya's popularity has sagged at home in recent years and his fiery brand of populism is similar to the kind that often irks Washington and some in the international community. Still, the world has lined up to support him.
Asked if Zelaya could one day return to power stronger than ever, Micheletti said "it's not about sympathy, it's not about being a martyr, but simply that we are following the letter of the law which he did not respect."
He said a key goal of his short term in office will be fixing the nation's finances, since Zelaya never submitted a budget to Congress last September, raising questions about what he was spending state coffers on.
Honduras holds a presidential election to succeed Zelaya in November, but Micheletti said he would not "even seek to be a candidate again."
Source: AP News
