New Honduran president keeps military chief behind coup that ousted Zelaya

Honduran leader keeps military chief behind coup

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The new president of Honduras is keeping in place military leaders who ordered his elected predecessor flown into exile in a June coup.

President Porfirio Lobo, who took office last month, met with military chief Gen. Romeo Vasquez and other commanders for three hours and informed them of his decision, an armed forces spokesman said Tuesday.

“The president told us he is no hurry to make changes to the military leadership, that he will do that when he thinks it’s convenient,” Col. Ramiro Archaga said at a news conference. “That means there will be no changes for now.”

Vasquez was in charge when soldiers flew Manuel Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint in a June 28 coup sparked by a dispute over changing the Honduran Constitution.

Lobo was elected in regularly scheduled presidential elections in November. He took over from Roberto Micheletti, the former congressional president named by lawmakers to carry out the remainder of Zelaya’s constitutional term, which ended Jan. 27.

Last month, the Supreme Court cleared the Vasquez and five other top-ranking officers of any wrongdoing in the coup, ruling that they did not act with malice and did not abuse their authority.

Zelaya sneaked back into the Honduras in September, took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy, and struggled in vain to return to power. He flew back into exile in the Dominican Republic on the day of Lobo’s inauguration.

Lobo is also keeping Defense Minister Lionel Sevilla, who was appointed by Micheletti after Zelaya’s defense minister quit in protest after the coup.

The coup received near-universal international condemnation, but months of pressure, including the suspension of U.S. aid, failed to put Zelaya back in office.

Zelaya was ousted after defying a Supreme Court order to drop plans for a referendum to ask Hondurans if they wanted to change the constitution. Critics say he was trying to extend his rule by lifting a ban on presidential re-election, as his ally Hugo Chavez has done in Venezuela.

Zelaya denies such intentions, saying he was trying to shake-up a political system dominated by a few wealthy families.

The coup had the support of the Supreme Court and Congress, including much of Zelaya’s own centrist Liberal Party. Lobo belongs to the conservative National Party.