World reaction: Honduran crisis

News that Honduran President Manuel Zelaya had been deposed by the army and forced out of the country drew strong condemnation from within Latin America and expressions of concern furrther abroad.

VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ

If our embassy were attacked, for example, if our ambassador were kidnapped or beaten, well that military junta of a government that is there, even though it doesn't show its face, would be entering a state of war, a de facto state of war. We would have to act, even militarily, we are obligated to do so. I couldn't sit here with my arms crossed, knowing by phone that they are massacring my ambassador or entering the Venezuelan Embassy. No. I have put the armed forces of Venezuela on alert.

BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT EVO MORALES

To allow people to participate and decide the future of their country through their vote, it is not possible that some groups ignore this, including the military. This is a discredit to the armed forces, who democratically participate in the decisions that the people of each country take. We no longer live under dictatorships. Those will continue to fail. What is currently happening in Honduras is an adventure of a group of the military who have assaulted democracy. Thus they will fail.

ECUADOREAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

[Ecuador] will not recognise any government that is not that of President Manuel Zelaya.

ARGENTINE PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ

I'm deeply worried about the situation in Honduras. It reminds us of the worst years in Latin America's history. We will demand that the OAS [Organization of American States] fully comply with the democratic charter that requires unconditional respect for democracy and, above all, the restoration of the Honduran president. I do not hesitate to call this a return to barbarity. All countries of the continent and the entire international community should demand the return of the democratically elected president.

US SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON

The action taken against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and thus should be condemned by all. We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue.

SPANISH PRIME MINISTER JOSE LUIS RODRUIGEZ ZAPATERO (THROUGH HIS OFFICE)

The head of the government expressed his strongest condemnation for the illegal detention and expulsion of the constitutional president of the republic of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. The solution to any dispute must always be found through dialogue and respect for democratic rules. There is not, neither can there ever be, a solution to the Honduran crisis outside the country's constitutional framework.

EUROPEAN UNION STATEMENT

The EU strongly condemns the arrest of the constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, by the armed forces. This is [an] unacceptable violation of constitutional order in Honduras. The EU calls for the urgent release of President Zelaya and a swift return to constitutional normality.

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