T&T condemns Honduran coup

Prime Minister Patrick Manning has condemned the coup in Honduras and called for the deposed leader to be returned to office.

Soldiers arrested President Manuel Zelaya Sunday morning and deported him to neighbouring Costa Rica. Later the Congress approved what it said was Zelaya's resignation and appointed the head of congress as the the country's interim president. However, Zelaya said he never submitted any resignation and remains the Honduran leader.

The move came as Hondurans were getting ready to vote in a referendum that the Supreme Court had declared illegal. The vote was intended to abolish term limits for the president, who was first elected in 2006.

The military coup was immediately condemned by Latin American allies like Venezuela and Ecuador, with both countries saying they won't recognize any new government in the country.

And the United States also came out in full support of Zelaya, stating emphatically that Zelaya is the only person Washington recognizes as the constitutional head of the Honduran government.

In a news release Sunday Manning added his voice to the growing international condemnation of the coup and called for the "immediate restitution of the constitutionally-elected Government of President Zelaya."

Manning said, as Chairman of the Fifth Summit of the Americas, and "in keeping with the Inter American Democratic Charter, the situation in Honduras today clearly affects the development of that country's democratic political institutional process and the legitimate exercise of power."

The statement added, "the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will continue to take a keen interest in the developments in this matter in the organisations of American States."

More on the Honduran story from REUTERS