Caracas, July 06: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called Honduras coup leaders ‘coward’ after they did not allow the deposed president’s jet to land in Honduras.
The Venezuelan plane carrying ousted President Manuel Zelaya was kept from landing at Tegucigalpa’s airport by troops who blocked the runway.
At least one person was killed and two others were wounded in clashes with soldiers after thousands of pro-Zelaya supporters rallied at the airport, emergency service officials said on Sunday.
Later, Zelaya’s plane flew on first to Nicaragua and then on to El Salvador where a group of leftist presidents were gathered to support him.
He was due to meet with OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner and Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa.
Last week, the military ousted Zelaya after his decision for holding a referendum to change the constitution to allow presidents to serve more than a single four-year term despite oppositions from Congress and the military.
The Venezuelan leftist president also reiterated that the generals and politicians now ruling Honduras have “Yankee support.”
He added that he is “not saying they have the support of Obama” and that he hopes the US president takes a stronger stance against the coup leaders.
Zelaya has been the last leftist leader elected as president in Latin America.
The ousted President who had moved Honduras away from its traditional ally, the United States, has allied his country with Venezuela, Ecuador and other leftist leaders in Latin America.
—–Agencies