Who is manuel zelaya and what happened to him?
Manuel Zelaya: José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, also known as Mel Zelaya, (born September 20, 1952) is President of Honduras, currently in exile in Costa Rica after a 2009 Honduran coup d’état after his attempt to have a constitutional referendum on June 28, 2009, to change the constitution and allow him to be re-elected had provoked a serious political crisis in the country and led to his detention on June 28, 2009, by the country’s military. He defeated PNH (National Party of Honduras) candidate Porfirio Pepe Lobo in a national election on November 27, 2005 and was inaugurated on January 27, 2006, replacing Ricardo Maduro and becoming the country’s fifth PLH (Liberal Party of Honduras) president. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
Soldiers seized the national palace and flew President Manuel Zelaya into exile Sunday, hours before a disputed constitutional referendum. Zelaya, a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said he was victim of a coup. Hours later, Congress voted to accept what it said was Zelaya’s letter of resignation, but Zelaya said the letter wasn’t his and vowed to remain in power. The Supreme Court said it was supporting the military in what it called a defense of democracy, and the Honduran ambassador to the Organization of American States said the military was planning to swear in Congressional President Roberto Micheletti â who is next in line to the presidency â to replace Zelaya. Zelaya was arrested shortly before polls were to open in a referendum on whether to change the constitution. The Supreme Court ruled the referendum illegal and everyone from Congress to members of his own party opposed it. Critics said Zelaya wanted to remove limits to his re-election. Tanks rolled throug
